ARLINGTON, Texas _ One day after Ervin Santana pitched about as clean and efficient two-hitter as you could imagine, Tyler Duffey emulated him Thursday. Except for the clean and efficient part.
Duffey battled, sometimes unsuccessfully, with his control and watched his pitch count soar as he worked his way into _ and out of _ trouble at Globe Life Park. But when his six long innings in the muggy Texas heat were finished, the Twins right-hander had given up two hits, both of them leadoff singles that didn't lead to any Texas runs.
The Rangers never did get a run, and the Twins ended up beating the team with the AL's best record for the third meeting in a row, winning 10-1. It's the Twins' fifth victory in six games, and they have scored at least 10 runs in three of those games.
That Duffey contributed six other baserunners to the Rangers offense, in the form of four walks and two hit batters, ended up being just a footnote in the Texas native's string of three positive starts, a stark turnaround after a month of terrible results that threatened his hold on a spot in the Twins rotation. From May 20 to June?21, Duffey posted a 9.17 ERA and gave up at least four runs in his seven starts.
But since then? He's thrown 20 innings, 12 of them against Texas, owners of the AL's best record, and he has given up only five runs while striking out 19. That's a 2.25 ERA, and a re-emerging identity as a reliable workhorse in the middle of the Twins rotation.
Even better for the Twins, it was their second consecutive game in which the starting pitcher allowed no runs _ that hasn't happened in a year, since Santana and Phil Hughes did it on July 23 and 24 _ and their seventh consecutive start of four runs or fewer. Since the Twins' starting pitcher allowed five or more runs 10 times in May and 12 in June, that represents progress.
While Duffey wrestled with his control, frequently looking disgusted on the mound, the Twins battered Texas starter Chi Chi Gonzalez for the second time in six days. Gonzalez didn't finish the first inning in his last start, a 17-5 victory Saturday at Target Field, and the Twins picked right up Thursday with nine hits.
The Twins loaded the bases in the first inning and scored twice, on a Max Kepler sacrifice fly that was caught by shortstop Elvis Andrus _ Eduardo Nunez alertly tagged up and scored after Andrus' diving catch _ and a single by Robbie Grossman. Kepler has driven in runs in six consecutive games, starting with his seven-RBI game against the Rangers on Saturday.
Kurt Suzuki led off the second inning with a solo home run, and Brian Dozier added a two-out run-scoring single.
But the Twins failed to score again off Gonzalez, though they had their chances. They again loaded the bases in the fourth inning with one out, but this time Gonzalez was able to strike out both Kepler and Grossman.
The Twins continued to threaten, and they finally broke through in the eighth off Texas right-hander Shawn Tolleson. Kepler hit a two-run homer and Suzuki, Byron Buxton and Nunez followed with RBI singles, giving the Twins seven hits in the inning. That led to Texas outfielder Jared Hoying pitching the ninth inning, and Kennys Vargas hit a home run off him. On Saturday, Rangers catcher Bryan Holaday retire the final four Twins batters.
The Twins finished out the game with an inning each from right-handers Ryan Pressly, Trevor May and Michael Tonkin, but the Rangers scored off Tonkin in the ninth inning to break up the Twins' bid at back-to-back shutouts.
