ARLINGTON (AP) — With his recent success against the Texas Rangers, Cole De Vries was glad he got a second chance to face the top-scoring team in the majors.
De Vries won for the first time in nearly two months, Ben Revere had four hits and the Minnesota Twins held off the Rangers 6-5 Sunday to snap a five-game losing streak.
The Twins rookie right-hander threw five pitches in the first inning before he endured a rain delay of 1 hour, 26 minutes. Manager Ron Gardenhire said he normally would replace a starter after that lengthy of a break.
Instead, De Vries (3-5) was sent back to the mound. He responded by allowing two runs and three singles in five innings against the high-powered Rangers.
“I was pretty much 100 percent sure that it wasn’t going to happen because our bullpen has just been killed the past couple of days,” De Vries said. De Vries was 0-4 in 10 starts since beating Kansas City on June 30. Included in that drought was a tough-luck start against the Rangers on July 8 where he pitched seven shutout innings before his bullpen blew a lead.
“I’m happy to have a performance like that against a powerful offense,” De Vries said.
The Twins avoided getting swept in the four-game series. They finished a 10-game road trip with a 2-8 record.
Revere lined an RBI triple in the sixth that gave the Twins a 6-2 lead. The speedy right fielder reached base five times and scored three runs.
“We finally got one to go our way,” Revere said. “We’re a good enough team that we should be able to compete with these guys.”
Josh Hamilton hit his 35th homer for Texas and drove in four runs, giving him a major league-leading 111 RBIs.
Scott Feldman (6-10) lost his fourth straight start. He gave up six runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.
Texas jumped on De Vries after the rain delay.
The AL West leaders got three straight singles after play resumed, capped by Hamilton’s two-run hit that put Texas on top 2-1.
De Vries retired 15 of the next 16 he faced. The only batter to reach was Geovany Soto, who struck out but got to first on a passed ball.
Relievers Casey Fien and Jared Burton combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings and Glen Perkins worked a perfect ninth for his seventh save in 10 chances.
Hamilton hit a two-run homer off Jeff Gray and Nelson Cruz added a solo shot two batters later to bring Texas within 6-5 in the sixth.
The Twins a took the lead for good with an unearned run in the third as first baseman Mitch Moreland and third baseman Adrian Beltre committed errors. Justin Morneau’s sacrifice fly to shallow left, which Hamilton dropped while transferring the ball from his glove, put the Twins ahead 3-2.
Mauer and Trevor Plouffe had RBI singles in the fifth that extended Minnesota’s lead to 5-2.
