2002 Rewind: Game Eight

CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his second.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-3 with two walks and a stolen base, his second.

Pitching stars:  Bob Wells pitched three shutout innings.  J. C. Romero retired all four batters he faced, three by strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Chuck Finley struck out seven in six shutout innings, giving up four hits and four walks.  Milton Bradley was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Matt Lawton was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.

The game:  The Indians scored four runs in the second inning, getting an RBI single from Gutierrez, a two-run homer by Bradley, and a Lawton solo homer.  Gutierrez delivered another RBI single in the third to make it 5-0.  The Twins left the bases loaded in the third but didn't do a lot else off Finley.  After Finley left, however, the Twins got back into the game.  A. J. Pierzynski had an RBI double and Guzman delivered a run-scoring single in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-2.  The Twins missed a chance to get more, leaving men on first and third.  It was still 5-2 going to the ninth.  With two out and none on, Pierzynski reached second on an error and scored on Jones' single.  Jones then stole second and scored on a Guzman single.  That was as good as it got, though, as Doug Mientkiewicz struck out to end the game.

WP:  Finley.  LP:  Joe Mays.  S:  Bob Wickman.

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy replaced David Ortiz at DH and went 0-for-3...Jay Canizaro played second base and was 1-for-2...Warren Morris pinch-hit for him and went 0-for-1, his last at-bat as a Twin...Tom Prince gave Pierzynski a partial day off behind the plate, although Pierzynski pinch-hit for him in the seventh and caught the rest of the way.  Prince was 0-for-1 with a walk...Starter Joe Mays lasted only three innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks with one strikeout.  His ERA was 12.15...Jones was batting .455...Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 and was batting .375...Bobby Kielty made his season debut for the Twins as a pinch-hitter, going 0-for-1...Future Twin Jim Thome was 0-for-2 with two walks.