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MINNEAPOLIS -- Texas closer Joakim Soria bobbled a slow-bouncing ball hit by Minnesotas Danny Santana to the left of the mound with two outs and the bases loaded in the ninth inning, allowing the winning run to score in the Twins 4-3 victory over the Rangers on Tuesday night. The day began ominously for the Rangers when star pitcher Yu Darvish was scratched from his scheduled start with stiffness in his neck. Fill-in Scott Baker gave up three hits over six innings and Chris Gimenez hit a tiebreaking two-out RBI single in the sixth off Phil Hughes. But Soria (1-2) took his first blown save in nine chances with a shaky ninth inning patched together by the Twins, who ended their four-game losing streak. Oswaldo Arcia hit a one-out double off the wall in right-centre, just a few feet shy of where he homered off Baker in the second inning, and Eduardo Nunez tied the game with a two-out single. Then Nunez kept the rally alive with some nifty running. He moved up on the throw home that was up the line by right fielder Alex Rios. On a fielders choice grounder to Adrian Beltre, Nunez stopped short of the third basemans glove, scooted right and circled around to the bag before the tag. Then he scored the winning run when Santana ended the game with the softest of contact. Glen Perkins (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth for the victory, stranding Rios after a leadoff triple that Santana, normally a shortstop, appeared to misplay in centre field and couldnt catch after getting twisted around. Hughes had his winning streak stopped at five. Over his last five turns, he had a 1.08 ERA and a 27-0 strikeout-walk ratio. Aaron Hicks saved Hughes from a huge deficit by sprinting to the warning track and snagging the ball with a perfectly timed leap above and beyond the centre field wall to steal a three-run homer from Donnie Murphy, who settled for a sacrifice fly. Rougned Odor followed with an RBI double to get one of those runs back. Shortstop Eduardo Escobar and left fielder Josh Willingham let a ball by Mitch Moreland bounce between them for a single to start the sixth. After giving up six runs in six innings in his only other start this season, last Friday at Detroit, Baker was supposed to resume a role as a long reliever. But he was in control the entire night. Baker was a second-round draft pick by the Twins in 2003 who spent five years in their rotation, including a 15-win season in 2009, but he developed elbow trouble and needed Tommy John ligament replacement surgery in 2012. So the last three years for the right-hander have been all about rehabilitation and re-establishing his place in the majors. The Rangers, who picked up Baker at the end of spring training, are his third team in two seasons. This was a stellar performance for him, even if hes bound to return to the bullpen soon. Baker didnt allow a walk and struck out four. He surrendered an RBI double to Joe Mauer with two outs in the third before retiring the last 10 batters he faced. NOTES: Rangers manager Ron Washington passed Bobby Valentine on the franchises all-time list for most games managed with 1,187. ... The Rangers will reinstate LHP Joe Saunders (0-1, 9.82) from the DL to start on Wednesday night, with RHP Kyle Gibson (4-4, 4.68 ERA) pitching for the Twins. ... Saunders was hit by a line drive on the left ankle in his first start on April 4, and after nearly two months of rehabilitation he will pitch with no restriction, Washington said. "The Minnesota Twins are going to tell us how limited hes going to be," he said. ... Gibson is 3-1 with a 2.25 ERA in four starts this year at home. ... Twins assistant GM Rob Antony said OF Sam Fuld, on the DL since May 8 due to concussion symptoms, has yet to resume on-field workouts, still lacking the three straight symptom-free days required for clearance. 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Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach.When Kevin Martin decided to retire this year, he thought hed have plenty of company. The dean of Canadian curlers -- with four national titles, a world championship, both a gold and silver at the Olympics and a record 18 Grand Slams on the World Curling Tour -- looked around and saw plenty his age or older holding brooms. "I thought this year there would be a lot of guys retiring," Martin, 47, said Tuesday. "I thought I would just be one of the many. As it turns out, Im the only one. Theres nobody else, Im the only guy!" Instead of retiring, other senior skips have played a game of musical chairs as teams have reformed and players have moved about the country. And Martin says the desire to secure that all-important Olympic berth is the reason. "The shuffling I think is completely because of the Olympics and that curling has become a four-year sport," he said. Younger teams are looking at skips at or near 50-plus and wondering whether they have what it takes to compete, not just next season but also down the road. And those skips who have never won that Olympic berth (as Martin did three times, failing to earn a medal in 1992) are reluctant to give up while they think theres still a chance. Manitobas Jeff Stoughton, 50, who has parted ways with his former team and formed a new one and Ontarios Glenn Howard, 51, who has seen his squad fragment as well, are cases in point. "Its hard I think for young guys to be with a 50, 51, 52 or whatever age guy and think four years down the road," Martin said. "Thats not easy. "Jeff and Glenn still play brilliantly but will they in four years? I dont think they can answer that." The result has been a lot of movement. "Its really exciting. Its probably the most excitement Ive seen in our sport in a long time," said Martin. "I think the young guys that are coming up are dealing with it really well by doing all of these shakeups and trying to figure out how they can get the very, very best team." The latest move was Kevin Koes former Alberta team, which is the reigning national champion, picking up former B.C. skip John Morris on Tuesday to take them into key events next season, including a return trip to the Tim Hortons Brier. Its the first time the current mens champion will get an automatic ticket without haviing to win a provincial title.dddddddddddd Two younger teams at the elite level remain intact: Olympic gold-medallist Brad Jacobs, 28, and his team from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., and Mike McEwen, 33, from Winnipeg. Former Olympic champ Brad Gushue, 33, from Newfoundland and Labrador has made only one move, returning former teammate Mark Nichols, who had been curling with Stoughton. After finishing out of the medals at the world championships, Koe, 39, announced a new team that includes Marc Kennedy at third, Ben Hebert at lead and Brent Laing at second. Kennedy and Hebert won Olympic gold with Martin and Laing was a two-time world champion with Howard. "Those are your top four I think going forward," said Martin of those four teams. After watching all the moves, though, does Martin have any second thoughts about his decision to quit the game? "I am so ready. To be honest with you, I think I was ready after Vancouver," he insists. But Martin recognizes that had he pulled the plug then, at the age of 43, he might have come out of retirement. Theres no chance of that now. "Im in a real good spot, Im busy outside the ice," he said. "Theres tons of stuff going on." First, hes got a new job as a broadcaster and curling ambassador with Rogers Sportsnet. Then theres his curling store in Edmonton, part interest in a golf-course development in Phoenix and his curling academies to run. For Martin, the icing on the cake this year was going out a winner after being disappointed at the Olympic curling trials. He beat Jacobs 4-3 in the mens final Sunday to win the Players Championship in the final tournament of his career, his 18th Grand Slam win on the professional tour he played a role in developing. "To have the 18th Slam work out . . . it makes it all that much easier," he said. As for the only thing he regrets in a lifetime of curling, it was that failure to medal in 1992, when curling was still an Olympic demonstration sport. He knew he wasnt good enough to win gold that year. "But then we played the U.S. in the bronze game and thats a game I think we should have won," Martin said. For one thing, it would have given him one of each medal. "The one game . . . over all the years that Id like to have back is that bronze game in 1992," he added. 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