Texas @ Minnesota preview

Last Meeting ( Aug 11, 2015 ) Texas 2, Minnesota 3

The Minnesota Twins were looking for a spark when they held a players meeting before Tuesday’s series opener and found it on the field with a walk-off win. The Twins attempt to parlay that momentum into back-to-back victories when they host the Texas Rangers in the middle contest of their three-game series on Wednesday.

Minnesota entered Tuesday’s series opener with 15 losses in 21 games and had watched the pitching staff surrender 52 runs in its previous five contests. The pitching was stronger from the beginning against the Rangers, but the offense did not show up until the eighth inning, when the Twins tied it with a pair of runs before earning the 3-2 win on Eduardo Escobar’s walk-off double in the ninth. The Rangers are trying to jump back into the wild-card race as well but have dropped three of four to fall a game under .500 at 55-56. Texas will try to even the series behind Nick Martinez, while Mike Pelfrey attempts to bounce back from a rough outing for Minnesota.

TV: 8:10 p.m. ET, FSN Southwest (Texas), FSN North (Minnesota)

PITCHING MACHUP: Rangers RH Nick Martinez (7-6, 3.91 ERA) vs. Twins RH Mike Pelfrey (5-7, 4.06)

Martinez picked up his second straight win last Wednesday, when he held Houston to one run on one hit and three walks in five innings. The 25-year-old went six straight starts without a win but has turned things around, surrendering a total of three runs in his last two outings. Martinez yielded three runs and eight hits in seven innings but did not factor in the decision against Minnesota on June 14.

Pelfrey followed up eight scoreless innings against Seattle on Aug. 2 by failing to make it out of the fourth at Cleveland on Friday. The Wichita State product was lit up for seven runs on 10 hits in 3 2/3 frames but ended up with a no-decision. Pelfrey, who has not won since June 7, was even worse at Texas on June 13 as he allowed eight runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings to suffer the loss.

WALK-OFFS

1. Rangers SS Elvis Andrus has scored 15 runs in his last 19 games, including one in four straight contests.

2. Minnesota 3B Trevor Plouffe is 0-for-10 with three strikeouts in his last three games.

3. Texas 1B Price Fielder has recorded multiple hits in three straight games to raise his AL-leading batting average to .327.

PREDICTION: Rangers 5, Twins 3