ARLINGTON, Texas — Zebby Matthews allowed his only run on a leadoff homer while pitching seven innings for the Minnesota Twins in a 4-1 win Tuesday night over the Texas Rangers, who lost their eighth game in a row and were eliminated from the playoff chase.
The Rangers (79-78) were within two games of the AL West lead on Sept. 13 and in the thick of the wild-card chase after a 13-3 span with a pair of six-game winning streaks. They haven’t won since and dropped to 5 1/2 games behind Houston for the American League’s final playoff spot with five games left.
Joc Pederson’s ninth homer gave Texas the quick lead. Matthews (5-6) allowed only three singles after that and struck out six without a walk while matching the longest of his 25 career starts.
Minnesota (68-89) went ahead after Kody Clemens had a leadoff double in the third and scored on a fielder’s-choice grounder by Byron Buxton, who came home on a single by Ryan Jeffries. Clemens added an RBI single in the sixth.
Patrick Corbin (7-11), the first of six Texas pitchers, allowed two runs on four hits over 3 2/3 innings.
Cole Sands worked a 1-2-3 ninth for his third save.
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