DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, May 5.
Batting stars: Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and a walk. Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5. Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer.
Pitching stars: LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit. Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Shane Halter was 2-for-2 with two walks. Bobby Higginson was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his second. Wendell McGee was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third. Robert Fick was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his third.
The game: Detroit scored two in the top of the second and Minnesota got one in the bottom of the second. The Tigers then took control with a five-run fifth. Fick hit a two-run homer, a sacrifice fly brought in a third run, and McGee hit a two-run homer. The Twins got one back in the bottom of the fifth on a Doug Mientkiewicz RBI single, but it was still 7-2 going to the seventh. The Twins then got back into the game, with LeCroy hitting a three-run homer and Brian Buchanan contributing a run-scoring single. The Twins had men on first and third with one out, but A. J. Pierzynski hit into a double play to end the inning. Koskie hit a one-out double in the ninth, but did not advance.
WP: Jeff Weaver (2-4). LP: Kyle Lohse (2-2). S: Juan Acevedo (2).
Notes: LeCroy was again the DH in place of David Ortiz. His average was .318...Bobby Kielty played center field, with Torii Hunter given the day off...Buchanan played right field and was 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .300...Denny Hocking got the call at second base and went 0-for-3...Koskie raised his average to .313...Pierzynski was 0-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches, dropping his average to .318...Lohse pitched well for four innings, but his line was 4.2 innings, six runs, eight hits, two walks, and two strikeouts...Hawkins' ERA dropped to 1.93...Guardado's ERA fell to 1.20...Weaver pitched well for six innings, but did not retire anyone in the seventh. His line was six innings, four runs (two earned), six hits, three walks, and four strikeouts. 2002 was the best year he had, going a combined 11-11, 3.52, 1.21 WHIP with Detroit and the Yankees. It was the only year he had an ERA under four as a starter, although he was at 4.01 with the Dodgers in 2004 when he went 13-13, 1.30 WHIP. He had one other decent year, 2009, when the Dodgers used him mostly in relief. He was 6-4, 3.65, but with a WHIP of 1.52. For his career, he was 104-119, 4.71, 1.37 WHIP.
Record: The Twins were 20-12, in first place by a half game over the White Sox.