mers in his last 15 games against the Angels

ARLINGTON, Texas -- Texas Rangers manager Ron Washington decided it was time to shake up his lineup a bit. With a few switches in the batting order, and an impressive performance by young starter Nick Tepesch, the Rangers ended their longest losing streak in nearly nine years. Adrian Beltre homered and Shin-Soo Choo had three hits in his return to the leadoff spot while Tepesch allowed only three singles over 7 1-3 scoreless innings, and the Rangers beat the Minnesota Twins 5-4 on Friday night. "He was outstanding. We needed a well-pitched game and he gave it to us," said Washington, who liked his lineup. "Well run the same one out there tomorrow and see what happens." The Rangers went into the opener of the weekend series mired in its first eight-game losing streak since August 2005. "Its nice to end any negative streak," said Beltre, who added a sacrifice fly in the eighth that proved to be the margin of victory. "Its one of those things, you dont want to throw any at-bat away." Minnesota has lost its last nine road games, including a three-game sweep at the Los Angeles Angels before getting to Texas. The Twins came up short after scoring four runs in the ninth off Texas closer Joakim Soria, making only his second appearance since June 14. Choo led off for the first time in 18 games while Carlos Pena, in only his fourth game back with the Rangers, took over the No. 3 spot where Choo had hit .149 (10 for 67) since June 7. And Washingtons change paid off immediately when Choo had a leadoff single in the first and scored on Beltres ninth homer, which just cleared the fence and landed in the Rangers bullpen in right-centre field. "I said earlier that doesnt make a difference. I knew this would happen after the game and I was sure people would ask me about it, but its not ... I dont think anything changed as far as approach," Choo said about leading off, though he acknowledged that, "Im a little more comfortable there, Ive done it for the last two years." Tepesch (3-3) struck out five, walked two and hit two batters, while matching his longest major league start. He has won all three of his career starts against the Twins, allowing only three earned runs in 20 2-3 innings. "Just able to command all four of my pitches, and just commanding them in the zone and out of the zone," Tepesch said. Kevin Correia (4-9) allowed four runs and six hits over six innings. The right-hander, who struck out three and walked two, had given up only two earned runs over 18 innings his previous three starts. Jason Frasor and Neal Cotts each got an out in the eighth after Tepesch gave up a one-out hit to Minnesota leadoff hitter Brian Dozer. Jorge Polancos two-run triple in the ninth for his first major league hit that made it 5-4. Soria, who had given up just one earned over 20 2-3 innings his previous 22 games, then got a strikeout and grounder to end the game. Luis Sardinas and Choo had RBI doubles in the fifth, both on balls that left fielder Josh Willingham tried to catch. Sardinas hit a sinking liner down the left-field line that rolled into the corner after Willingham made a diving attempt to catch it. Choo hit a flyball that glanced off Willinghams glove when he ran into the 14-foot fence. "Diving full out down the line, diving up against the wall in left field," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "What cant you like about that? Hes trying to make a play." NOTES: Rangers ace Yu Darvish (7-4, 2.62 ERA) is scheduled to start Saturday. He lost his last two starts, allowing 12 runs (eight earned) over 11 innings. ... Phil Hughes (8-3) pitches the middle game for the Twins. ... 1B/OF Brad Snyder declined an outright assignment to Triple-A Round Rock and took free agency Friday, three days after the Rangers designated him for assignment. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- C.J. Wilson isnt too particular about the way he gets his victories. He will take them any way he can get them -- no matter how ugly they are. Wilson surrendered five runs in the second inning after his teammates had scored five in the first, but Mike Trout regained the lead for the Los Angeles Angels in the bottom of the second with a two-run homer, and manager Mike Scioscias much maligned bullpen hung on for an 8-6 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday night. "It was the best luck I had to get that run support and win despite giving up all those runs," Wilson said. "The bullpen had their backs up against the wall. I didnt really give them that much to work with. They had to throw four scoreless innings and they came through." Wilson (8-6) barely navigated through five innings and left with the lead after allowing six runs and nine hits, including back-to-back home runs for the second time in his last three starts. The left-hander, who came in 5-0 with a 1.58 ERA in his previous six outings at Angel Stadium, blew a 5-0 lead in the second before Trout hit his 17th homer in the bottom half. "It was an interesting approach that their team had today. They took a lot of pitches -- first-pitch strikes down the middle -- and then with two strikes they would fight the pitches off," Wilson said. "I dont know how many first-pitch strikes I threw. It felt like a ton. All the hits were deep in the count, so it was kind of a Twilight-Zone type of thing. "After the two home runs, it was like paper cuts to death. Obviously, Willingham and Morales hit the ball really hard, but a lot of the other hits were in-between guys or under the coverage," Wilson added. Trouts homer was Los Angeles last hit until David Freeses one-out single in the sixth. The Twins got a run closer in the fifth on a sacrifice fly by former Angels slugger Kendrys Morales, but Joe Smith got three outs for his sixth save to help extend the Angels four-game winning streak and snap a season-best four-game streak by the Twins. Kyle Gibson (6-6) threw 50 pitches over two innings in his 25th career start, equaling his shortest outing in the big leagues. The 26-year-old right-hander gave up seven runs, four hits and two walks, after coming in with a streak of 22 consecutive scoreless innings. "I juust didnt really have a good feel out there from pitch one in the bullpen," Gibson said.dddddddddddd "It felt like I was searching the whole time. It was just one of those weird nights. I didnt feel like I was repeating my delivery. It was pretty clear that I wasnt very sharp. I was leaving sliders over the middle, sinkers up -- I mean, it was a confusing, frustrating night overall." The right-hander found himself in a bases-loaded, no-out jam after 16 pitches and failed to retire any of his first six batters -- although Albert Pujols reached on a fielders choice when shortstop Danny Santana fielded his grounder deep in the hole and Trout beat the rookies throw to second. By the time the inning ended, Los Angeles had pushed across five runs. Josh Hamilton and Howie Kendrick both came up with the bases loaded and hit two-run singles. Erick Aybar, who was hit by a pitch, scored the fifth run on a double-play grounder by C.J. Cron. But Minnesota needed only one inning to erase the deficit. Josh Willingham, who has eight homers in his last 15 games against the Angels, drove an 0-2 pitch to centre field that barely eluded Trouts glove -- which was about 3 feet above the fence. Morales followed with first homer in a Twins uniform, sending a 3-2 pitch into the lower seats in the left field corner. No. 9 hitter Sam Fuld kept the rally alive with a two-out RBI single, Santana drove in another run with a double and Brian Dozier tied it with an RBI single. NOTES: Angels hitting coach Don Baylor was in the dugout during a game for the first time since breaking his right leg while catching a ceremonial first pitch from Vladimir Guerrero on opening night. ... Gibson lasted just two innings on May 10 at Detroit, allowing six runs in a 9-3 loss. ... Joe Mauer, who won three AL batting titles as a catcher and the MVP award in 2009, is hitting .260 in his first season as a full-time first baseman. Only two of his 22 RBIs have come on the road. ... Mauer and C Kurt Suzuki each entered the game 2 for 22 against Wilson. Mauer was 1 for 3 this time against the two-time All-Star and Suzuki was 0 for 3. ... LHP Tyler Skaggs, who hasnt pitched for the Angels since June 5 because of a right hamstring strain, is scheduled to make a rehab start for Triple-A Salt Lake on Thursday in Fresno. 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