Pineda scheduled to start as Minnesota hosts Texas
Texas Rangers (15-17, fourth in the AL West) vs. Minnesota Twins (11-18, fourth in the AL Central)
Minneapolis; Thursday, 1:10 p.m. EDT
PITCHING PROBABLES: Rangers: Jordan Lyles (1-2, 7.39 ERA, 1.61 WHIP, 23 strikeouts) Twins: Michael Pineda (2-1, 2.31 ERA, .92 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)
BOTTOM LINE: Nate Lowe and the Rangers will take on the Twins Thursday.
The Twins are 6-10 on their home turf. Minnesota has slugged .421, good for third in the American League. Byron Buxton leads the team with a .805 slugging percentage, including 19 extra-base hits and nine home runs.
The Rangers are 8-8 on the road. Texas is hitting a collective .237 this season, led by Nick Solak with an average of .286.
The Rangers won the last meeting 3-1. John King earned his third victory and Solak went 1-for-3 for Texas. Lewis Thorpe registered his first loss for Minnesota.
TOP PERFORMERS: Buxton leads the Twins with nine home runs and has 17 RBIs.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa leads the Rangers with 34 hits and is batting .264.
LAST 10 GAMES: Twins: 4-6, .233 batting average, 4.60 ERA, outscored opponents by four runs
Rangers: 6-4, .253 batting average, 3.90 ERA, outscored opponents by five runs
INJURIES: Twins: Edwar Colina: (right elbow), Luis Arraez: (concussion protocol), Alex Kirilloff: (right wrist).
Rangers: Jose Leclerc: (elbow), Jonathan Hernandez: (elbow), Kyle Cody: (right shoulder), Matt Bush: (elbow), Khris Davis: (quad), Brock Holt: (hamstring), Ronald Guzman: (knee), Sam Huff: (hamstring).
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.