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The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 4-3 on Sunday to complete a three-game sweep and improve to 8-2 on the season. Josh Hamilton hit the game-changing home run in the top of the eighth inning. After an Ian Kinsler lead-off walk and Elvis Andrus triple, Hamilton hit his fourth home run of the season and did so off lefty Glen Perkins. That gave the Rangers a 4-3 lead.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for the second consecutive game, and this was a save opportunity. He worked a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his third save.

On the mound: Starter Neftali Feliz was perfect through 10 batters. Jamey Carroll singled with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning for the Twins' first hit. As a major league starting pitcher, Feliz pitched 11 2/3 scoreless before allowing his first runs on Clete Thomas' home run. Feliz lasted just three batters into the sixth inning, the shortest outing of the season for a Rangers starting pitcher. He did not factor in the decision.

Taking a chance: The Rangers, trailing 2-1, had a chance to tie the game in the sixth, but Adrian Beltre was thrown out at home plate trying to score from first base on Michael Young's third hit of the day. Right fielder Thomas to second baseman Alexi Casilla to catcher Joe Mauer was a perfect play.

Nails: For the second consecutive day, lefty Robbie Ross impressed. He relieved Feliz with two on and no outs in the sixth inning. He struck out Justin Morneau and Josh Willingham before getting Chris Parmalee to fly out to left. Ross also pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

Hold on: RHP Mike Adams pitched the eighth inning. It was his seventh appearance in 10 games. He entered this game tied for the American League lead in appearances and with four holds.

Young season: Young has hit safely in eight of 10 games this season, and he has hit safely in five straight. Young was 3-for-4 with a single and two doubles on Sunday.

Superman: Hamilton began the day as the American League’s leader with 14 hits. He singled in his first at-bat, which meant he has hit safely in nine of the Rangers' 10 games. Hamilton has hit a home run in two straight games.

On a good run: Kinsler has scored 11 runs in 10 games.

The backstop: Yorvit Torrealba made his fifth start of the season. The Rangers are 4-1 when he is the starting catcher.

Missing the dome? On a rainy day in Minnesota, it’s easy to say one misses the Metrodome. Mike Napoli might miss it a little more than others because he was a career .395 hitter (15-for-38) in the Metrodome. He is now 6-for-31 at Target Field after going 1-for-4 on Sunday with his first homer of the season. Napoli was 1-for-8 in this series before hitting connecting in the fifth inning.

What’s in a name? According to www.baseball-reference.com, the Rangers faced the first player ever in Major League Baseball with the first name of Liam. Eric Nadel pointed this out at the beginning of the radio broadcast on the Texas Rangers ESPN Radio Network. Liam Hendrik allowed just one run Rangers run in six innings.

It's Jackie Robinson Day in the majors, with all players wearing No. 42 as the Rangers try to complete a sweep of the Twins. The game is being broadcast on FSSW and KSKY 660 AM.

Here are the starting lineups:

RANGERS
1. Ian Kinsler 2B
2. Elvis Andrus SS
3. Josh Hamilton CF
4. Adrian Beltre 3B
5. Michael Young DH
6. Nelson Cruz R
7. David Murphy L
8. Mike Napoli 1B
9. Yorvit Torrealba C
Neftali Feliz RHP

TWINS
1. Denard Span CF
2. Jamey Carroll SS
3. Joe Mauer C
4. Justin Morneau DH
5. Josh Willingham LF
6. Chris Parmelee 1B
7. Danny Valencia 3B
8. Clete Thomas RF
9. Alexi Casilla 2B
Liam Hendriks RHP

The Texas Rangers won their third straight Saturday afternoon, beating the Minnesota Twins 6-2. The Rangers have won all three series they have played this season.

Yu Darvish made his second start and he managed just one 1-2-3 inning in his 5 2/3 innings. Darvish worked out of a bases-loaded jam twice, and he left the game with the bases loaded. Robbie Ross relieved Darvish, and he induced an inning-ending foul pop out hit by Justin Morneau. That kept the score tied, 2-2, and Darvish did not factor into the decision.

The Rangers gave Darvish a lead in the second when Nelson Cruz led off with a double. David Murphy moved Cruz to third with a ground out, and Mike Napoli drove him home with a sacrifice fly.

Texas could've used some fundamentals in the bottom of the frame when Michael Young dropped Alexi Casilla's line drive that allowed Danny Valencia to tie the score.

PODCAST
Ron Washington discusses Yu Darvish's progress, Robbie Ross' maturity and Brandon Snyder's defense after the Rangers' win. Listen

The Rangers rebounded in the top of the third. Josh Hamilton hit his third home run of the season, a solo shot deep to right field with one out that put the Rangers up 2-1. The Rangers produced those two runs and seven hits against Twins starter Nick Blackburn, who left after 5 1/3 innings due to shoulder stiffness.

Texas scored a pair in the top of the seventh thanks to consecutive RBI singles from Adrian Beltre and Michael Young that put the Rangers ahead 4-2.

Hitting machine: Hamilton began the game as the American League's co-leader with 11 hits. He has now hit safely in eight of nine games to begin the season. He reached on a two-out double in the first and hit a solo home run in the third. Last year, Hamilton had just one home run in 123 daytime at-bats. He has one in the daytime this season. Hamilton was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a home run. His hustle in the seventh prolonged the seventh inning, in which the Rangers later plated two.

RISPy business: With runners in scoring position, Michael Young was 1-for-4 on Saturday and drove in the fourth run. He is 7-for-14 on the season with runners in scoring position. On the opposite end, Darvish got out of bases-loaded jams in the second and fifth innings.

Cruz Control?: Cruz ended a 0-for-15 stretch with a double in the second. For the game, he was 3-for-5 with a single and two doubles.

In the field: Young played third base today, and Adrian Beltre was the designated hitter. In the second, Young dropped a line drive hit by Alexi Casilla that resulted in the Twins' first run. The error was just the second of the season for the Rangers' infield. Ian Kinsler made a diving play to his left to rob Joe Mauer of an RBI single in the eighth.

Partial day: As the DH, Beltre went 3-for-4 with a single, two doubles and two RBI. He started the first eight games at third base.

Covering the plate: As advertised, Darvish fields his position well. Most notably, he covered home when a pitch got away from catcher Mike Napoli. Darvish covered the plate, received the throw from Napoli and applied the tag to retire Ryan Doumit, who came diving head-first toward home plate.

Bench: Mitch Moreland has an abscessed tooth, and that kept him out of the starting lineup. Brandon Snyder made his first start for the Rangers, playing first base and batting ninth. Snyder singled his first three times up, and he added a couple of nice fielding plays. This was the first three-hit game of his major league career.

Closing time: The Rangers were not in a save situation in the top of the ninth, but former Twins closer Joe Nathan finished the game. He was pitching after two days of rest.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Yu Darvish returns to the mound to see if he can get off to a better start than last week's outing. The game starts at 12:05 p.m. on Fox and KSKY 660 AM. Here's the matchup:

Yu Darvish (1-0, 7.94 ERA): In his highly anticipated MLB debut, Darvish was shelled in the first inning before turning things around. The Rangers' offense lifted him to the win, but he gave up five runs on eight hits in 5 2/3 innings. ... His second start could be a little better against a Twins team that's near the bottom in almost every batting category so far this season.

Nick Blackburn (0-1, 7.50 ERA): Things got off to a bad start in Blackburn's fifth season in the Twins' rotation. The Angels burned him for four runs off five hits in six innings to take the loss. The Rangers dominated Blackburn in two starts last season. He gave up 21 hits and eight runs over 10 innings of work.

Hitters: Ian Kinsler is 5-for-12 with two home runs and seven RBIs against Blackburn. ... Michael Young is 6-for-20 with two home runs. ... Josh Hamilton is 8-for-14. ... Mitch Moreland is one of the few Rangers who hasn't been successful against him at 2-for-10 in his career.

Up next:

Sunday at Minnesota (1:10 p.m., FSSW): RHP Neftali Feliz (1-0, 0.00 ERA) vs. RHP Liam Hendricks (first start)
Tuesday at Boston (6:10 p.m., FSSW): RHP Colby Lewis (1-0, 1.42 ERA) vs. LHP Jon Lester (0-1, 2.40 ERA)
Wednesday at Boston (6 p.m., ESPN2): LHP Derek Holland (0-0, 4.50 ERA) vs. RHP Josh Beckett (1-1, 5.68 ERA)

The Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins, 4-1, behind solid pitching from Matt Harrison, as well as great fielding. The game began the Rangers' three-city, nine-game road trip and was the first of three in Minnesota.

The Rangers erased a 1-0 deficit with a three-run fourth inning, highlighted by back-to-back RBI singles from Adrian Beltre and Michael Young. Young’s single tied him with Juan Gonzalez for most total bases in franchise history with 3,073. He moved up to sole possession as the total base leader with a base hit in the sixth inning.

Slow start, strong new beginning: Elvis Andrus entered this game with the slowest start of his career at 3-for-24, but he doubled in his first at-bat as he hit it the opposite way to right field off RHP Anthony Swarzak. Andrus added singles in the fourth and fifth innings.

PODCAST
Ron Washington explains his decision to go with Alexi Ogando instead of Joe Nathan in the ninth inning of the Rangers' win. Listen

Sweet D: The Rangers had a stellar display of fielding in the first two innings. Harrison fielded his position well, leaping to grab the ball and then threw out Denard Span at first base. Nelson Cruz dove and caught a Jamey Carroll fly ball. Ian Kinsler backhanded and threw off-balance to first base in order to retire Joe Mauer. David Murphy made a great diving catch to rob Danny Valencia of a hit, but turned it into a sac fly.

Not in the box score: Murphy was able to track down a Trevor Plouffe double in the second inning that kept Ryan Doumit from scoring. The score stayed at 1-0 in favor of the Twins at the end of the second.

Walk of life: Harrison walked Josh Willingham with one out in the second. That walk snapped a stretch of 27.1 innings without a free pass for the Rangers' pitching staff. It was the Rangers' longest stretch without a walk allowed since 27 innings July 21-24, 2010.

The right stuff: Each of the five Rangers' starting pitchers has a win. Entering this game, no other Major League team could claim that. Harrison added his second by primarily inducing ground ball outs (15). He retired Mauer in two key situations: to end the fifth with two on by striking him out swinging and to get the first two outs in the eighth with a 4-6-3 double play. Harrison pitched eight innings, allowing seven hits and one run with two walks and four strikeouts.

Leaderboard: Kinsler enhanced the Rangers lead to 4-1 when he led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a home run. It’s his fourth of the season, and he has driven in seven. He entered this game leading the majors in total bases and tied for first in runs scored and extra-base hits.

Closing time: Joe Nathan did not pitch Thursday in Arlington after working back-to-back games. However, Alexi Ogando pitched the ninth inning. He hit a batter and gave up a single before closing out the game.

The Texas Rangers head to Minnesota to take on the Twins in a three-game set starting tonight. Here are a few things to watch for:

* Yu-mania heads to the Twins Cities, taking the act on the road for the first time. The Rangers' starters were 5-0 and had six quality starts during the seven-game homestand. The only pitcher without a QS? Darvish. But he enters his Saturday start (12:05 p.m., Fox) with a little momentum. After struggling mightily with his command in the first inning of his major league debut Monday, Darvish was able to settle down and get through his final three-plus innings unscathed. The most important thing is he got the win. Watch to see if the slider has better feel and if he can throw his fastball for strikes earlier against the Twins.

* Ian Kinsler comes in on a hot streak. He leads the team with a .370 batting average and three homers. He got off to a hot start last year, too, and hopes to keep it going on the road. But hitting away from Arlington was something Kinsler never did in 2011. His road average: 214. He still hit the same number of homers (16) on the road as he did at home, but he couldn't hit for average. Will this season be different?

* Nelson Cruz has just four hits in his first 28 at-bats and he's struck out 10 times -- that's second-most in the league. Minnesota may not be the place where Cruz gets going. He was 2-for-15 with seven strikeouts in four games there a year ago.

* Target Field hasn't been a kind place for Texas since the Twins moved in to start the 2010 season. It was was where Josh Hamilton fractured his ribs in early September 2010 and the club is just 1-9 there. The only winning pitcher for Texas? C.J. Wilson, who is now with the Angels.

* Joe Nathan. The former Twins closer returns home and looks to find consistency. Both of the Rangers' losses have come with Nathan on the mound. He got a rest Thursday and should be ready to go if the club winds up in a save situation tonight.

* Mother Nature. The forecast isn't pretty for the weekend, as the teams may be trying to dodge wet weather. Click here for a forecast from weather.com

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers hit the road for the first time this season, a three-game series at Minnesota. Tonight's game is on TXA21 and starts at 7:10 p.m. Here are the probables for the road opener:

Matt Harrison (1-0, 0.00 ERA): The lefty looked sharp in his first outing. He gave up four hits in six scoreless innings against the White Sox. He went 1-1 against the Twins last season but gave up just two runs in two starts. ... In three appearances (one start) at Target Field, Harrison is 0-1 with a 2.89 ERA. ... He was also shelled for eight runs over five innings in his first career road start at the old Metrodome in 2008.

Anthony Swarzak (0-1, 1.80 ERA): The 26-year-old was outdueled by Jason Hammel in his first start but proved he deserved another shot in the rotation by giving up four hits and one earned run in five solid innings. ... He earned the start after Liam Hendricks was hospitalized with food poisoning. He's struggled against the Rangers in his career. ... In his three appearances (one start) he has given up 16 hits and nine earned runs over 12 1/3 innings. Another bad outing against Texas could send him back into the bullpen as a long reliever.

Hitters: Mike Napoli is 2-9 against Swarzak with a double. ... Nelson Cruz is 1-6 with the only home run against him on the roster. ... Elvis Andrus is 0-5 and Ian Kinsler is 0-3. ... Joe Mauer is 2-7 with the only home run against Harrison. ... Josh Willingham is 1-7 with five strikeouts. ... Justin Morneau is 2-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.

Up Next:

Saturday at Minnesota (12:05 p.m., FOX): RHP Yu Darvish (1-0, 7.94) vs. RHP Nick Blackburn (0-1, 7.50)
Sunday at Minnesota (1:10 p.m., FSSW): RHP Neftali Feliz (1-0, 0.00) vs. Liam Hendricks (first start)

FRISCO, Texas -- The Texas Rangers' 37-year old closer isn't going to be limited in what he does in 2012, but one thing manager Ron Washington doesn't want to do is make Joe Nathan go more than one inning.

Nathan didn't pitch more than one inning last season for Minnesota, his first year back after missing 2010 due to Tommy John surgery. The last time Nathan pitched at least two innings was 2009, when he threw 53 pitches August 21 in a 5-4 win over Kansas City.

Washington said Nathan isn't limited in what he can do because he's fully recovered from surgery.

It's just a personal preference.

"I don't intend on him doing that very often," Washington said regarding going beyond Nathan's one-inning limit. "I don't have a formula on it but I don't plan on him throwing two innings, that's for sure. There may be a time he may have to get me extra outs, but that's not something planned."

Washington said there will be no difference between how he uses Nathan and how he used last season's younger closer, Neftali Feliz. He says the depth of his bullpen as another reason why Nathan should be one-and-done.

"We should have enough guys so he shouldn't have to go two innings," Washington said. "We got Mike Adams, Koji [Uehara], [Alexi] Ogando, [Scott] Feldman. He shouldn't have to go two innings."

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Join us for a live in-game chat as the Rangers take on the Twins in the final game of this four-game series. Jeff Caplan and Mike Peasley (and maybe Richard Durrett joining in if he can) will be in the room to answer questions and talk about Heath Bell, the trade deadline and all things Rangers. The room is open, so come on in.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Michael Young might have moved back to designated hitter anyway Thursday night as the Rangers try to even the four-game series with the Minnesota Twins and squeak out a winning record on the seven-game homestand. But his fielding error in the ninth inning that opened the floodgates was one of the last remaining images of the 7-2 loss.

Young will bat cleanup tonight as the designated hitter and Chris Davis will take over the hot corner and look to keep his bat hot after going 2-for-4 in Tuesday's loss.

Other moves include Mitch Moreland returning to first base and Mike Napoli getting the night off.

Here's tonight's lineups:

Texas Rangers (59-46)

2B Ian Kinsler
SS Elvis Andrus
LF Josh Hamilton
DH Michael Young
RF Nelson Cruz
1B Mitch Moreland
C Yorvit Torrealba
3B Chris Davis
CF Endy Chavez
P Matt Harrison (8-7, 3.05)

Minnesota Twins (49-55)
CF Ben Revere
SS Tsuyoshi Nishioka
C Joe Mauer
1B Michael Cuddyer
RF Jason Kubel
DH Jim Thome
3B Danny Valencia
LF Delmon Young
2B Matt Tolbert

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The final game of this four-game series with the Twins features LHP Matt Harrison and RHP Scott Baker. A quick look at the matchup:

Harrison (8-7, 3.05 ERA): This will be his 20th start of the season and his second of the homestand. ...Harrison, 25, gave up four runs on eight hits in 6 2/3 innings getting a no-decision in a 5-4 win over Toronto on Saturday. ...He had eight strikeouts, matching his career high. ...He has induced 22 double plays in 2011, the most in the majors. ...He has won five of his last eight decisions since May 22, posting a 2.26 ERA over that span of 11 starts. ...Harrison is 0-2 with a 6.46 ERA in six career appearances against the Twins, including 0-2 with a 7.36 ERA in two starts. ...He took the loss after giving up two runs on five hits in six innings against the Twins on June 12.

Baker (8-5, 2.88 ERA): The 29-year-old has won six of his last seven starts, including his last one in Detroit. ...Baker gave up no runs on three hits in five innings with five walks and threw 82 pitches. Baker was just coming off the DL with the flexor muscle strain and they were easing him back in. He should be able to get to 100 pitches if needed tonight. ...He has one start against the Rangers this season, getting a complete-game win in June after allowing one run on five hits. ...In his career versus Texas, Baker has a 4-2 mark with a 4.41 ERA in eight starts. ...The Twins are 8-10 when he starts and he has quality starts in half of his 18 outings in 2011.

Hitters: Ian Kinsler is 7-for-23 off Baker in his career, the best batting average of the healthy Rangers with at least 11 at-bats off him in their careers. ...Baker has held Elvis Andrus to 4-for-15 against him. ...Jim Thome has the most at-bats of any Twin off Harrison. He's 2-for-7 with both hits being doubles. ...Luke Hughes is 2-for-3 off Harrison and the lefty has worked around Michael Cuddyer, issuing three walks in four plate appearances against him.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- The Rangers offense couldn't get the key hits when needed and lefty Brian Duensing did an excellent job with his command and changing speeds, going 6 2/3 innings. The Rangers pounded a lot of balls into the ground off him. Some quick reaction (more to come from the clubhouse):

* The loss drops the Rangers' lead to two games in the AL West (thanks to an assist from Ervin Santana, who threw a no-hitter for LAA). That's the closest the Angels have been to Texas since after games on July 14, the first day of the second half when the Rangers had a 1.5-game lead.

* Colby Lewis surrendered a first-inning home run to Joe Mauer on Wednesday, Mauer's first of the season. It was the 25th home run allowed by Lewis, which leads the AL.

* Lewis' slider wasn't where he wanted it to Michael Cuddyer to lead off the fourth and the first baseman sent it out to left-center. That put Lewis' homer total at 26. The silver lining: 18 of those homers are solo shots.

* Lewis had trouble getting the final out of the fifth inning. Looking for a shutdown inning after the Rangers scored in the fourth, Lewis gave up a two-out double to Alexi Casilla. That was followed by a single to left by Mauer. Josh Hamilton tried to throw home to get Casilla and the throw was just a little late. Mauer went to second on the throw and scored on Cuddyer's single. The inning ended when the throw home to get Mauer was cut off and Cuddyer was thrown out at second.

* Aggressive baserunning has helped the Rangers this season. But it has to be smart aggression. Elvis Andrus made a good, aggressive move by tagging up from first on a deep fly ball to center by Hamilton in the sixth with Texas down 4-1. That put a runner at second with no outs for Michael Young. But then Andrus tried to steal third. The throw was there well before Andrus arrived and he was an easy out. That was not the kind of move you want to see with Young -- second on the club with 71 RBIs -- at the plate. The caught stealing ended any hopes of a rally that inning.

* Having productive at-bats -- even if they are outs -- matters. It's something hitting coach Scott Coolbaugh has stressed (Clint Hurdle came in and talked about it his first day here last year) since his arrival. The Rangers did that in the fourth inning. Andrus led off with a double in the fourth and then moved over to third on Hamilton's ground ball to the right side and came home on Michael Young's grounder. It put the Rangers on the board.

* Ian Kinsler came up in a big moment in the fifth. With runners at second and third and two outs (Rangers down 4-1), Kinsler struck out looking on a sinker that he thought was inside (he moved his legs slightly, but it was called a strike). He argued briefly as did third-base coach Dave Anderson. That got manager Ron Washington out of the dugout to try to protect both of them and argue it. No one was thrown out, but everyone was unhappy. The strikeout for Duensing got him out of his biggest jam of the game to that point.

* Kinsler's next at-bat was yet another two-out opportunity with a runner in scoring position. This time, it was runners at first and second and he grounded out in two pitches against reliever Matt Capps. Kinsler is now 9-for-43 (.209) with runners in scoring position and two outs this season.

* One inning after his baserunning blunder, Andrus made a defensive gem. He backhanded a very tough hop off the bat of Mauer and threw to first to get the final out of the seventh inning.

* Craig Gentry normally plays in center against lefties instead of Endy Chavez. But with Gentry still feeling the effects of that hard slide into second on Sunday, Chavez got the call. Statistically, the Rangers are better off with Chavez in there despite the fact that he's a left-handed hitter and Gentry is a righty. Chavez had two hits off lefty Duensing on Wednesday. He's now 12-for-24 (.500) against lefties this season. Chavez also had a nice catch to end the sixth, sprinting to get a ball after Kinsler fell down.

* Darren Oliver came in with two outs in the seventh and got left-handed hitter Mauer to ground out (on that good play by Andrus). He got two of the next three hitters on strikeouts and left with two outs in the eighth and a runner on first as Mark Lowe came in to face right-handed hitting Danny Valencia. He surrendered a hit but got Delmon Young to end the inning with no damage done.

* In the ninth, Michael Young charged a soft chopper at third base and couldn't quite get the ball from his glove to his hand cleanly on the tough play. But he was given an error. That loaded the bases with two outs and Jason Kubel cleared them with a double to deep right-center. All three runs were unearned, giving the Rangers 52 allowed this season. They had 51 unearned runs allowed in all of 2010.

* Lowe allowed the runs, though if Young makes that play the inning is over with no damage done. Yoshi Tateyama came in and, after walking Valencia on a close pitch, got Jason Repko on a strikeout to end the inning with bases loaded.

* The Rangers had 35,950 at the park on Wednesday and moved past the 2 million mark in attendance. They did it on the 55th home date, the earliest they've hit 2 million since 2001 (also 55). The only other seasons to reach the 2 million mark in 55 dates or fewer were: 1994 (50), 1997 (53) and 1998 (55). The Rangers have now had at least 2 million fans attend home games in 15 of the last 16 seasons (and 20 of the last 22 years starting in 1989).

ARLINGTON, Texas -- New Hall of Famer Bert Blyleven has been honored by the Texas Rangers, one of his former teams.

Blyleven returned to work Wednesday as a broadcaster for the Minnesota Twins, who are playing in Texas.

The Rangers gave out cards commemorating Blyleven's time with Texas, which acquired the right-hander from Minnesota on June 1, 1976. He made 54 starts for the Rangers, including a no-hitter in his last start with Texas on Sept. 22, 1977.

Blyleven threw a ceremonial first pitch before the game.

Blyleven was inducted into the Hall of Fame on Sunday as a Twin. His 22-year major league career started in Minnesota, and he was part of the 1987 World Series championship in a second stint with the Twins.

ARLINGTON, Texas -- We will be chatting about all things Rangers, trade deadline, maybe even a bit about the Cowboys in the room tonight. You can click on the play button and head into the room to ask some early questions and participate in polls. Join us!

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Though stretched because of an atypical short outing by C.J. Wilson, the first three links in the Rangers bullpen did their job Tuesday night.

Tommy Hunter, Yoshinori Tateyama and Darren Oliver combined to allow only one run in four innings.

They put Neftali Feliz in a position he relishes.

The closer needed three ninth-inning outs to nail down the 60^th Rangers victory of the season. He only got one. Minnesota scored twice on him to win, 9-8, Tuesday night before 30,581 at Rangers Ballpark.

“Things like that are going to happen,’’ said Feliz in the Rangers’ clubhouse.

Pinch-hit doubles by Jim Thome and Joe Mauer were the key hits of the inning.

“I tired to keep them low and outside,’’ Feliz said of his pitches to Thome. “But he was able to get ahold of it. The pitches weren’t high, but weren’t that low, either.’’

The blown save was the fifth of the season by Feliz, his first in a little over a month. It ended a streak of six straight save conversions.

Feliz had trouble putting Twins hitters away with two strikes. A year ago, he struck out 71 in 69.1 innings. His strikeouts are down this year to 26 in 37.1 innings.

“We had the ball in the hand of the guy we wanted,’’ manager Ron Washington said. “He just didn’t get it done tonight.’’

The manager was asked what he would do the next time a similar situation arose.

“I’ll give him the ball again," Washington said. "There’s not much else I can do.’’