The Texas Rangers will try to build on a season-best performance at the plate when they take on the Minnesota Twins on Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
Texas has a chance to secure a series win after scoring a season-high 16 runs on 17 hits in Tuesday’s series opener. The Rangers’ 16 runs matched the team’s previous five games combined.
Now Texas hopes to put together a high-scoring sequel to its 16-4 victory.
“It’s super exciting,” said Rangers outfielder Evan Carter, who has homered in back-to-back games. “Obviously, we had a ton of hits (Tuesday), so everybody was feeling it.
“I think this is hopefully one of those sparks that this offense can use to keep going forward with what we’ve got. We’re hot right now, so keep swinging it.”
Texas will try to do so against a Twins squad that has lost four of its past five games.
Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said he liked his players’ approach at the plate on Tuesday but wanted to see a better performance in other aspects of the game — namely, pitching and defense.
“We know they have a good offense,” Baldelli said of Texas. “I think that offense will probably show itself even more as the season goes on. I don’t think anyone would be surprised to see that.
“But we didn’t do ourselves any favors (Tuesday) on a lot of fronts. I don’t focus necessarily on what the Rangers were doing out there. We like to pay attention to all the things that we’re doing and try to get all those things right. We could have gotten a few more things right.”
Twins right-hander David Festa (0-1, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to take the mound Wednesday for his fifth start of the season. He is aiming for his first victory since Aug. 5, 2024, and is looking to bounce back from a rough performance last Thursday when he allowed eight runs on six hits in 3 2/3 innings of a 14-3 loss to the Athletics.
Festa has made one start against the Rangers, finishing with a no-decision last season after allowing two runs on six hits in five innings. He walked none and struck out six.
The Rangers plan to counter with right-hander Jack Leiter (4-2, 3.48 ERA), who is set to make his 11th start of the season. He limited the Tampa Bay Rays to one run on three hits in five innings in his most recent outing last Thursday but came away with a no-decision in Texas’ 4-3 loss.
This will be Leiter’s first career start against Minnesota.
Carter said he hopes the Rangers’ success at the plate will be contagious.
“When you keep getting hits back-to-back-to-back, hitting with runners in scoring position … that just shows a good ballclub right there,” he said.
“When everybody’s rolling, you hope that the opposing pitching staff doesn’t see any holes in our lineup. I think that’s the way we feel. One big unit. I think we’re feeling really good about ourselves right now.”
–Field Level Media
