Texas Rangers (36-30) at Minnesota Twins (25-39) Preview Series Finale

The Rangers lost terribly last night barely even getting hits in making their chances of winning consecutive games at Target Field this series impossible. However, they will still look to tie this series in the fourth and final game of this four-game set in the Twin Cities.

Pitching Matchups

The Twins will place LHP Francisco Liriano on the mound. Liriano is 3-6 with a 5.20 ERA and has 41 strikeouts and 35 walks. He just made his first start June 7 since May 22 and since being activated from the DL, where he was due to shoulder inflammation. Last time out against Cleveland, he allowed one run on three hits over five innings. Back on May 3, he pitched a complete game shutout against the Chicago White Sox. In four of his last five starts, he has allowed two or fewer runs.

Against Texas, Liriano has made six appearances, four of which were starts, and went 2-1-1 with a 4.15 ERA. Last year, he had one start against the Rangers in which he won with a 2.57 ERA.

While he has not yet passed his kidney stone, LHP

is slated to make his scheduled start this afternoon against the Twins. The 25-year-old is 5-5 with a 3.48 ERA this year and has 39 strikeouts as well as 29 walks. His last outing was against Detroit on June 7 in which he lasted only four innings allowing four runs on eight hits; however, he did strike out five batters during that time. His previous two outings – May 22 and 28 against Philly and Kansas City – he pitched scoreless five-hitters over 8.1 and six innings respectively.

Harrison is 0-1 along with a single save over five games, one career start, with an ERA of 9.64. He has not started against the Twins since his rookie season in 2008, which was at the Metrodome rather than the new Target Field. On the road this year, the lefty is 3-1 in five starts with a 2.53 Earned Run Average.

Pitchers vs. Hitters

LHP Francisco Liriano: Adrian Beltre is 6-for-22 with two doubles, one homer, two RBIs, three walks and three strikeouts. Michael Young is 3-for-10 with two walks and two strikeouts. Ian Kinsler and Josh Hamilton are both 2-for-7 with Kins having a homer and one RBI. David Murphy is 4-for-6 with three RBIs and one walk. Elvis Andrus and Mike Napoli are a combined 1-for-9 with Napoli having a home run.

LHP Matt Harrison: Only three Twins have faced Harrison. Delmon Young is 2-for-3 with one homer and three RBIs. Justin Morneau is 2-for-4 with two doubles, three RBIs and one walk while Alexi Casilla, one of the hottest Twins right now, is 1-for-3.

Some Thoughts on Harrison

Harrison started the season off fantastically but then lost his mental ability to stay focused on the game, which really hurt him. I like Harrison and am hoping that he can get back to the way he started the 2011 MLB season off because he has true potential in my opinion.