CLEVELAND 8, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND
Date: Thursday, April 11.
Batting stars: Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a double. Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5. Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk.
Pitching stars: LaTroy Hawkins pitched two shutout innings. J. C. Romero and Bob Wells each pitched a scoreless inning.
Opposition stars: Omar Vizquel was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk, scoring three times and driving in three. Ellis Burks was 2-for-5 with a double. Jim Thome was 1-for-2 with a home run (his second) and a walk.
The game: Jones led off the game with a home run, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. Starter Kyle Lohse walked the first two batters (not the recommended way to start a game) and then gave up a two-run double to Burks, giving the Indians a 2-1 advantage. Hunter led off the second inning with a home run to tie it 2-2. Solo home runs don't hurt you, though, at least not when you have Thome to hit a two-run shot in the third to put you ahead 4-2. In the fourth, an error by Guzman (his third in two games) brought home one run and Vizquel followed with a three-run homer to give Cleveland an 8-2 lead. Doug Mientkiewicz singled home a run in the fifth and Bobby Kielty had an RBI double in the sixth, but that was as close as the Twins would come.
WP: Bartolo Colon (3-0). LP: Lohse (0-1). S: None.
Notes: Kielty made his first start of the season, playing right field and going 1-for-4. His average was .167...Denny Hocking started at second base and was 0-for-3, dropping his average to .083...Jones average dropped to .415...Hunter raised his average to .325...Lohse pitched 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts. His ERA was 11.74...Colon didn't have a great game, either, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts...Lawton was 1-for-3 with two walks to raise his average to .308...Thome's average went up to .200.
Record: The Twins were 5-5, tied for second with Chicago and Kansas City, four games behind Cleveland.