Rangers arrest Twins' streak

So the Rangers finally beat the Twins. How many hits did they muster?

Uh, three. One of them was a homer by Taylor Teagarden (who?), and that was all Texas needed to win 1-0 at the Metrodome on Sunday.

The Twins definitely wasted a great performance by Scott Baker, who had a perfect game into the sixth inning. But the team, which scored six and 14 runs in the first two games of the series, couldn't muster a single run in this series.

Joe Mauer was on third in the bottom of the ninth after walking and advancing on a wild pitch, but Justin Morneau grounded out to end the game.

Mauer, Brian Buscher and the red-hot Delmon Young had the Twins' only hits. I'm not surprised the Rangers scraped out a win in the series -- they're much improved -- but the 1-0 score is a shock. Both teams had been scoring plenty of runs.

Baker took the hard-luck loss, allowing two hits and one run in eight innings while striking out eight. He lowered his ERA to 3.26 while dropping to 6-3.

The only good news is that the White Sox also lost, so the Twins are still just a half-game out. The team's a game and a half behind the Red Sox for the Wild Card, which could end up as a wild competition at the end of the season.

Now the Twins face a longtime nemesis, the Yankees, who have tormented them in Yankee Stadium. Three in New York, four games in Cleveland, then a four-game set at home vs. the White Sox.