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Monday, Sep. 18 8:05pm ET
Mays' return to Twins keys victory | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME LOG
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- After a month "on assignment" in Utah, the Metrodome felt like home again to Joe Mays. The Twins right-hander took advantage of those familiar surroundings, allowing just one run in 5 1/3 innings as Minnesota beat the Texas Rangers 3-1 Monday night. "It felt fantastic to get a chance to start again," said Mays (7-14), recalled from Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday. "I think that this is where I belong, but there were some mechanical things I had to work on, so I went down and made some adjustments." Mays, who was sent down on Aug. 21, allowed eight hits, struck out four and did not walk a batter in earning his first major league win since July 25. "Mays threw strikes, put the ball in play, used all his pitches and gave us just what we wanted from him," Twins manager Tom Kelly said. "In the major leagues, you've got to get your fastball over the plate to be successful. He threw strikes and did a really nice job." Rick Helling (15-12) allowed six hits and three runs -- two earned -- walked three and struck out four in seven innings for the Rangers. "I really haven't pitched that well here at the Dome," said Helling, who has lost two straight starts at Minnesota and is 2-3 lifetime in the Metrodome. Minnesota opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning. Corey Koskie led off with a single and advanced to third on Torii Hunter's single to left. Koskie scored on Randy Knorr's passed ball, and Hunter came home on Jacque Jones' double to right. Texas got a run back in the third with a trio of two-out singles by Luis Alicea, Frank Catalanotto and Rafael Palmeiro. Minnesota made it 3-1 in the fourth. Hunter led off with a walk and reached third on Jones' single and a flyout. When Jones got caught leaning off first, Hunter came home while the Rangers were retiring Jones in a rundown. "Rick pitched a pretty good game," Rangers manager Johnny Oates said. "What hurt us was the passed ball and the lack of execution on the rundown." Texas threatened in the sixth with a runner on third and one out, but reliever Bob Wells retired the next two Rangers. "It looked like (Mays) got the ball up a little bit in the strike zone in the sixth, and his (pitch) count was getting high," Kelly said. "So I took him out. Then Wells came in and did a really nice job." Wells pitched into the eighth before giving way to Eddie Guardado, who got four outs for his ninth save in as many chances. "We got enough hits to win, but the bottom line was we pitched really well and held the Rangers to one run," Kelly said. Alicea went 4-for-4 and is batting .400 in the last 17 games. Game notesMonday's game marked the first time fans could use the Internet to look inside the Metrodome. The team installed three cameras and users are able to control them to view specific areas of the stadium. The cameras can be accessed at the team's Web site, www.twinsbaseball.com. ... The Rangers, who will play eight of their final 11 games on the road, have a league-worst 27 road wins this season. ... After sweeping all 12 games against Minnesota last season, the Rangers have won just three of 10 games against the Twins this year. ... When Texas was eliminated from playoff contention Saturday after its 149th game, it marked the earliest that the Rangers were out of the postseason race since 1992. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Texas Clubhouse Minnesota Clubhouse RECAPS Oakland 12 Baltimore 3
Minnesota 3
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