Twins rookie looks to repeat teammate's gem vs. Rangers

Simeon Woods Richardson has hit a roadblock in his bid for his fourth win of the season.

The Minnesota Twins rookie gets another opportunity when he takes the mound against the Texas Rangers on Friday in the second game of a four-game series night in Arlington, Texas.

Woods Richardson (3-3, 3.78 ERA) is 0-2 in his past seven starts with a 4.46 ERA, but he has thrown a few gems against strong teams in that span.

The right-hander allowed two runs over six innings against the visiting Houston Astros on July 7, but he departed with the score tied. Minnesota won 3-2 with a run in the bottom of the ninth.

Woods Richardson tossed six shutout innings against visiting Philadelphia on July 23, but the Phillies eventually won 3-0.

And on Saturday, Woods Richardson limited another powerful opponent to two runs over seven innings, but the Cleveland Guardians came away with a 2-1 victory in Minneapolis.

"Just doing my job," Woods Richardson said after his latest start. "Trying to stay as consistent as possible. I feel pretty happy given where we're at in the season with how my stuff is playing. Yeah, I'm happy about that, but the job's not finished. One day at a time, one game at a time. We've still got our main goal. We're not done yet."

Woods Richardson's teammates have taken notice of his effectiveness.

"Seemingly, every time he pitches, he gives us as an offense the ability to win a game," catcher Ryan Jeffers said. "And that's all we can ask from any starting pitcher."

Woods Richardson, who has never faced Texas, is trying to follow up another strong outing by teammate Bailey Ober.

Ober limited the Rangers to two runs and seven hits in six innings of the 3-2 win in the series opener, his 10th consecutive quality start.

"It's a good team over there," Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said of the Twins. "They have good pitching. They pitched well (Thursday) night. We pitched well, too, against a good-hitting ballclub. We've just got to find a way to put another run or two across the board."

The Texas offense went silent after scoring two runs in the first inning, and the defending World Series champions lost for the fourth time in the past five games. Rangers closer Kirby Yates walked back-to-back batters with one out in the ninth, then threw a wild pitch and then gave up a sacrifice fly to veteran Carlos Santana to push across the go-ahead run.

"We just couldn't get anything going after the first inning," Bochy said. "Had a couple chances there and couldn't get another hit to tack on or add another run or two. ... It's a tough one. They scored a cheap run there in the ninth, and (we) just couldn't get much going against their bullpen."

The Rangers plan to start left-hander Andrew Heaney on Friday.

Heaney (4-12, 4.05 ERA) lost his most recent outing, surrendering up four runs (three earned) and five hits in 4 2/3 innings during an 8-7 loss to the host New York Yankees on Sunday.

Heaney is 1-0 with a 2.83 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Twins.

--Field Level Media