Adrian Beltre homered, Shin-Soo Choo had three hits in his return to the leadoff spot and the Texas Rangers snapped their longest losing streak in nearly nine years, holding on to win 5-4 over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.
Nick Tepesch (3-3) allowed only three singles over 7 1-3 scoreless innings for the Rangers, who entered the series opener mired in an eight-game losing streak for the first time since August 2005.
Minnesota has lost its last nine road games, including a three-game sweep at the Los Angeles Angels before getting to Texas.
Manager Ron Washington decided to shake up his lineup a bit, with Choo leading off for the first time in 18 games. Carlos Pena, in only his fourth game back with the Rangers, took over in the No. 3 spot where Choo had hit .149 (10 for 67) since June 7.
The change paid off immediately when Choo had a leadoff single in the first and scored on Beltre's ninth homer, which just cleared the fence and landed in the Rangers bullpen in right-center field.
Beltre added what proved to be a deciding run with a sacrifice fly in the eighth.
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.
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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.
Joakim Soria, the closer in only his second appearance since June 14, allowed four runs in the ninth, including Jorge Polanco's two-run triple for his first major league hit that made it 5-4. Soria had given up just one earned over 20 2-3 innings his previous nine games.
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 Willingham's glove when he ran into the 14-foot fence.
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.
