The Twins and Rangers played a competitive game until Texas took advantage of a couple of errors and opened the floodgates for a six-run eighth inning, and a 10-6 win. Minnesota responded with two runs in the ninth, but couldn’t complete the comeback.
The game got a little heated in the third inning after Rangers’ starter Roy Oswalt hit Joe Mauer in the back on a 3-0 count. The Twins retaliated in the bottom of the inning when Scott Diamond threw a fastball behind Josh Hamilton. Diamond was immediately thrown out of the game, and Ron Gardenhire quickly followed when he came out of the dugout to argue the ejection.
Denard Span returned after missing 11 games with a sore shoulder and collarbone. He batted leadoff and played centerfield, finishing 2-5 at the plate with a double, RBI and a stolen base.
The middle of the order was missing Josh Willingham, who slept awkwardly and was scratched from the lineup with a sore neck.
