veteran in his third career start, striking out eight in seven innings to lead
the Minnesota Twins to a 3-2 victory over the Texas Rangers on Friday night.
Duensing (2-1) allowed three hits and walked one for the
Twins, who have won eight of their last 10 games to creep back into contention
in the AL Central.
Tommy Hunter (6-3) gave up three runs and seven hits in
seven innings for the Rangers, who got an RBI-double from David Murphy in the
ninth and had the tying run on second base.
But Joe Nathan got Chris Davis looking on a close call
for his 33rd save to pull Minnesota within four games of first-place Detroit in
the division.
Twins catcher Joe Mauer had a run-scoring single and then
made a key play when he threw out Elvis Andrus trying to steal second base in
the eighth.
Duensing spent almost all of the first three months at
Triple-A Rochester, and was being used primarily as a long reliever after being
recalled at the beginning of July. But manager Ron Gardenhire inserted him into
the rotation after injuries to Kevin Slowey, Glen Perkins and Francisco Liriano.
The left-hander picked up his first career win in his
last outing against Kansas City, then managed to keep the powerful Rangers at
bay Friday night to keep the Twins on a roll.
Duensing walked Ian Kinsler to start the game, but
retired the next 11. He didn't allow a hit until Nelson Cruz singled with two
outs in the fourth.
Both teams are in the thick of the playoff chase. The
Rangers were fresh off taking two of three from the surging New York Yankees in
the Bronx to put them 1 1/2 games behind Boston in the AL wild card race when
the day started.
The Twins have a steeper hill to climb to catch Detroit
and get to the postseason.
They started the game Friday night with a sense of
urgency, getting an RBI-single from Mauer, an RBI-triple from Jason Kubel and
made it 3-0 when Michael Cuddyer bounced one off Hunter's thigh for an infield
hit.
It was a rough night in that regard for Hunter, who
later took a liner to the chest off the bat of Justin Morneau. But he was able
to stay in the game after both shots, showing the kind of toughness that should
endear him to manager Ron Washington and the rest of his teammates as they chase
their first playoff appearance since 1999.
Michael Young extended his hitting streak to 15 games
with a single in the sixth inning.
Notes
Twins 3B coach Scott Ullger can add another title
to his resume: groundskeeper. The game paused briefly in the top of the third
inning when Hunter complained about a high spot on the pitching mound. Ullger
came out of the dugout with a rake and pounded it down, and the game resumed.
… If all goes well, Gardenhire said RHP Jeff Manship will pitch Tuesday
against Chicago. … Texas RHP Pedro Strop worked a perfect eighth inning in his
ML debut. … Kinsler stole two bases and has 26 this season.