3B coach interferes for final out, Twins hold on
In a bizarre ending, Texas third base coach Dave Anderson was called for interfering with runner Michael Young for the final out Sunday, giving the Minnesota Twins a 6-5 win over the Rangers.
Down 6-2 in a matchup for AL division leaders, the Rangers scored twice in the ninth inning and had the bases loaded with two outs.
Vladimir Guerrero grounded an RBI single up the middle that Twins second baseman Orlando Hudson fielded behind the bag. Young, who had been on second, came running around third and appeared to tap hands with Anderson before stopping and scrambling back to the bag.
Young made a dive back into third and appeared to beat Hudson's throw to third baseman Matt Tolbert. But third base umpire Alfonso Marquez pointed and made the interference call for the third out.
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Rangers manager Ron Washington argued the call, but the game was ruled over.
Texas' comeback in the ninth against Jon Rauch and Matt Capps fell short. The interference call was the only out Capps got while posting his ninth save in 11 tries with Minnesota. Capps has 35 saves overall with Washington and the Twins.
The Twins remained 3½ games ahead of Chicago in the AL Central and completed a difficult stretch for them. Over the past five weeks, Minnesota played 17 games against contenders Tampa Bay, Texas and the White Sox.
Beginning with Monday's game against Kansas City, the Twins play 18 of their final 25 games against teams that are currently under .500.
Nick Blackburn (9-9) went seven innings in his third consecutive quality start since being recalled from the minors. C.J. Wilson (14-6) struggled for 5 1-3 innings and has his seven-game winning streak come to an end.
Denard Span and Michael Cuddyer each drove in two runs and J.J. Hardy scored twice for the Twins.
Leading 3-2, Minnesota scored three times in the sixth. After Jason Kubel and Delmon Young opened the inning with singles, Hardy hit an RBI single. Walks to Jason Repko and Span forced home a run and Hudson added a sacrifice fly.
Wilson, who entered the game with a 1.99 ERA since the All-Star break, didn't make it out of the inning. The six runs were the most allowed by Wilson since May 18 and his 5 1-3 innings equaled his shortest outing since July 11.
After giving up a pair of runs in the second, Blackburn didn't allow another run.
Minnesota took a 2-0 lead in the first when Hudson singled, Joe Mauer was hit by a pitch and Michael Cuddyer doubled them home.
Texas tied it in the second with a two-run single.
Notes: As expected, Texas OF Josh Hamilton was not in the Rangers lineup a day after crashing into the left-field wall at Target Field and injuring his ribs. There is no timetable for a return to action for Hamilton, who leads the majors with a .361 batting average ... After calling up OF Ben Revere from Double-A New Britain, the Twins made room on their 40-man roster by designating pitcher Matt Fox for assignment. Fox started and pitched 5 2-3 innings for the Twins on Friday night. ... Washington said he put SS Cristian Guzman into the starting lineup in part because of the six years he spent playing for the Twins.
(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
