Wells shines in debut as Rangers rout Twins

Aug 2, 2006, 20:45 GMT

Minneapolis, MN - Kip Wells had a solid outing in his Texas debut and Mark Teixeira homered twice as the Rangers downed the Minnesota Twins, 10-2, in the rubber match of a three-game set at the Metrodome.

Wells (1-0) allowed just one run on seven hits over five-plus innings for Texas, which has won three of its last four games. The right-hander came over from Pittsburgh just before the trade deadline in exchange for minor league pitcher Jesse Chavez. The 29-year-old native of Houston was 1-5 with a 6.69 ERA in seven starts for the Pirates this year, and didn't make his first appearance of the season until June 20 after undergoing surgery to repair a blood clot in his shoulder in the spring.

Gerald Laird drove in three runs and Mark DeRosa finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored in the win.

Francisco Liriano was scheduled to oppose Wells in this one, but was scratched Tuesday night due to inflammation in his left elbow.

Minnesota instead called upon emergency replacement Boof Bonser (2-3), who allowed seven runs -- four earned -- on six hits in four innings of work. Bonser was recalled from Triple-A Rochester following Tuesday night's contest.

Torii Hunter and Mike Redmond each had an RBI for the Twins, who have dropped two in a row and four of six.

The Rangers jumped in front in the second on a leadoff homer by Teixeira, his 16th long ball of the season.

Ian Kinsler then started the third frame with a base hit, advanced to third following a Gary Matthews Jr. single and a Bonser wild pitch, and came home on Carlos Lee's sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

A five-run fourth inning by Texas turned the contest into a rout. With two men on and one out, Laird roped a double to left that cleared the bases and upped the lead to 4-0. Laird came in to score during the next sequence on a fielding miscue by first baseman Justin Morneau that allowed Matthews to reach safely. Michael Young then came through with an RBI double, and scored on a throwing error by third baseman Nick Punto moments later.

Young appeared to have increased the lead to 8-0 in the sixth with a long fly ball to left, but Jason Tyner made a spectacular leaping catch against the wall to rob him of a home run.

The Twins finally got on the board in the sixth with an RBI single by Hunter, but the newly-acquired Matt Stairs countered with a run-scoring base hit of his own in the top of the seventh to push the advantage back to seven runs.

Redmond's two-out double in the eighth plated Michael Cuddyer to bring Minnesota within six. Teixeira belted his second homer of the day in the ninth and Laird added an RBI double, though, to keep Texas well in front.

Game Notes

The Rangers defense came up with six double plays in the game, just one shy of a major league record. It is the most in franchise history.

Wells' first win of the season came last Friday versus San Francisco when he allowed just five hits over seven shutout innings.

© 2006 The Sports Network