It's a good

Mike Minor apparently isn’t superstitious. Rolling along in June after a rough May Bob Lilly Jersey , Minor didn’t flinch when asked how he’s feeling about his new mustache.

”I think I might take it off,” the veteran left-hander said, adding that he’s getting tired of the new look.

Everything else is working pretty well at the moment.

Minor threw six solid innings, Shin-Soo Choo homered and the Texas Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 8-1 on Friday night for their sixth consecutive victory.

Minor’s sharp performance continued a string of solid outings by Texas starters, easing the blow of a roller-coaster news day for the team’s minor league pitchers.

Aside from a 13-12 win at Colorado, Texas’ pitching staff has held opponents in check during the streak; the Rangers have outscored their opponents 26-9 in the other five games.

”Our starting pitching has been quality for us in this stretch,” manager Jeff Banister said. ”We’ve played clean defense.”

Minor (5-4) has thrown three straight quality starts for the first time since throwing six straight in 2014 for Atlanta. He allowed one run and three hits, lowering his June ERA to 2.84. Banister called it one of Minor’s best starts this year.

”Yeah, just because they haven’t been very good this year,” Minor quipped when told of Banister’s comment.

Minor faced the minimum number of batters through five innings despite a first-inning single by Brian Dozier to deep left. Dozier tried to stretch for second, but Joey Gallo had a good jump and easily threw him out to end the inning. Minor retired his next 12 batters before Max Kepler doubled in the sixth.

”He was good Geron Christian Jersey , especially early,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. ”He didn’t have to throw a lot of pitches, got some first-pitch outs leading off innings, which kind of hampers the next guy up.”

Texas opened the fourth with three straight singles off Fernando Romero (3-3), including a run-scoring hit up the middle by Adrian Beltre. Rougned Odor then drove in Nomar Mazara with a fielder’s choice.

Choo’s two-run shot off Romero made it 4-0 in the fifth.

Chris Martin got three outs before Jesse Chavez finished for his first save. Choo, Mazara and Beltre each drove in runs off Matt Belisle in the ninth.

QUOTE OF THE NIGHT

”I forgot to turn my invisible powers on hoping he wouldn’t see me, but he did,” Dozier said of getting thrown out at second after his single in the first.

MINOR SHAKEUPS

Texas had both good and bad pitching news in the minors on Friday. Joe Palumbo will continue his comeback from Tommy John surgery when he starts for the Arizona League Rangers on Sunday, and Martin Perez (elbow) is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment for Class-A Hickory on Monday. On the other hand, prospect Alex Speas is set for Tommy John surgery, and Yohander Mendez – demoted to Triple-A this week for breaking unspecified team rules – was sent all the way down to Class A on Friday. The team said the move was not punitive.

WHAT A PLAY

Dozier made a diving grab at second to begin a flashy inning-ending double play in the seventh.

CHOO’S STREAK

It was Choo’s second homer on Texas’ six-game road trip Josh Bellamy Jersey , and Friday marked his 35th straight game reaching base – the longest such streak of his 16-year career.

”I know people always talk about it, the TV, my teammates,” Choo said. ”A lot of people talk about it, but I tell myself I just focus every at-bat.”

BATTERED TWINS

Minnesota lost by seven for the second straight night. The Twins finally broke through in the sixth when Joe Mauer’s one-out double scored Kepler, putting runners on second and third. But Minor retired Eddie Rosario and Dozier on popups, ending the threat.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rangers: Martin (calf) was reinstated from the 10-day DL. Texas optioned Ricardo Rodriguez to Triple-A Round Rock on Thursday to make room for Martin, who was hurt while attempting to run onto the field during a benches-clearing brawl with the Dodgers last month. … Banister said he expects Perez to work at least three innings. … Sunday will mark Palumbo’s first action since April 2017.

Twins: Rosario went 0 for 4 after missing a game with shoulder soreness. … INF Eduardo Escobar pinch-hit in the eighth after taking a pitch to the elbow Thursday against Boston. Molitor said before the game he was optimistic Escobar would be ready to start Saturday. … RHP Ervin Santana (finger) threw 35 pitches to hitters on Friday. ”He said it’s one of the better days he’s had in a while, so I was encouraged by that,” Molitor said.

UP NEXT

Rangers: Yovani Gallardo (0-0) will make his second start of 2018 after exiting Sunday’s game against Colorado trailing 5-1.

Twins: RHP Jake Odorizzi (3-4) makes his seventh career start against the Rangers and first of the season. He’s 4-0 with a 2.02 ERA against Texas.

Because he isn't likely to play more than a series or two in Friday's preseason opener, Detroit quarterback Matt Stafford has a few modest goals for the Lions offense.

"Just execute and communicate at a high level Sonny Jurgensen Jersey ," Stafford said Wednesday. "Get out there and communicate and make sure everybody's on the same page. At the end of the day, on offense if everybody's communicating on the same page you're going to have a chance to be successful. That's the biggest thing, go out there and make sure that we're just playing good, sound football."

The Lions spent the past two days conducting joint workouts with Oakland at the Raiders' training camp facilities in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.

Following Tuesday's 2 1/2-hour practice, which was highlighted by a multi-player brawl that ended a team scrimmage session, the Lions packed up to travel to a hotel 75 miles south of Napa where they'll stay until Friday's game.

Detroit first-year coach Matt Patricia declined to say how much Stafford and the rest of the Lions starters will play.

"I'm just trying to get through today's practice and make sure I get everybody going in the right direction," Patricia said prior to Tuesday's practice. "We'll find out on Friday."

The Lions' first offense had an uneven day against the Raiders during the team scrimmage. They were flagged for three penalties and sputtered on their initial drive before Stafford found wide receivers Kenny Golladay and Marvin Jones Jr. for deep completions.

"I feel physically good," Stafford said. "Obviously another year in the system is going to hopefully help me expand my ability within the system to get us into the best plays possible. I feel very comfortable at the line of scrimmage doing our thing, but I can always be better. I'm always trying to find ways to improve and to get the ball to those playmakers at a higher clip."

Stafford passed for 4,446 yards with 29 touchdowns and 10 interceptions in 2017, his seventh consecutive season with 4 http://www.greenbaypackersteamonline.com/dean-lowry-jersey ,200 yards or more. The 30-year-old quarterback also had a career-best 99.3 passer rating.

Detroit, which hasn't made it past the wild card round of the playoffs since 1991, won three of its final four games down the stretch but failed to advance to the postseason.

Although he won't be on the field very long Friday, Stafford is relishing playing in a game after mostly practicing against Detroit's defense before the two workouts with Oakland.

"It's a good change-up," Stafford said. "We have to go out and prepare for another defense a night before. You don't have a ton of time to look at them. You just go out there and try to execute your stuff as well as you can. I've got players on this team that I've never played an NFL game with before so it's going to be to see how they go about their business and how they react."

Tuesday's practice got chippy when Lions defensive end Anthony Zettel hit Raiders backup guard Jon Feliciano from the side, sparking a fracas involving multiple players before they were eventually pulled apart.

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