MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second) and a double, driving in four.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jay Canizaro was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero and Bob Wells each pitched a scoreless inning and recorded one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-4 with a double.  Randall Simon was 2-for-4.  Craig Paquette hit a three-run homer, his third.

The game:  The Tigers had a man on second with two out in the first.  Then came an RBI single by Simon, a single by Halter, and a three-run homer by Paquette to give Detroit a 4-0 lead.  As you might have guessed, Brad Radke was pitching.  After allowing four runs on four hits in the first inning, however, Radke allowed no runs on one hit over the next six innings.  Meanwhile, the Twins got back into the game in the third.  They started the inning with three singles, loading the bases.  Canizaro brought one home with a ground out and Mientkiewicz hit a two-run double to pull the Twins within one at 4-3.  In the fifth, with the bases loaded and two out, Koskie came through with a two-run single to give the Twins their first lead, 5-4.  They got some insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run homer by Mientkiewicz and an RBI single by Pierzynski.

WP:  Radke (3-2).  LP:  Nate Cornejo (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Canizaro once again got the call at second base.  He was on a small hot streak, going 6-for-17 to raise his average to .228...Brian Buchanan got the call at DH and went 1-for-4...Denny Hocking was again at shortstop and went 1-for-4 to get his average back to the Mendoza line at .200...Radke struck out seven in seven innings, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk...Romero's ERA dropped to 0.53 in 17 innings.  It will get as low as 0.31, as he won't give up another run until May 29...Nate Cornejo, who had shut the Twins down in a complete game victory April 27, did not have as much success in this game.  He pitched six innings but allowed six runs on ten hits and a walk with two strikeouts...The win was the Twins' fifth straight...Eddie Guardado got a night off, having recorded saves in each of the three previous games...Paquette had been a decent player, but he was about out of gas in 2002.  He was never a regular, only once getting over 400 at-bats in a season (1996 with Kansas City).  He got between 250 and 400 at-bats in six other seasons, though.  His highest OPS in those seasons was .791 in 2001.  His primary position was third base, but he played 200 games in the outfield, 100 at first base, and 43 games in the middle infield.  He would start 2003 with the Tigers, but be released in late April, ending his major league career.  He played eleven AAA games for St. Louis later that season and did not play again until 2007, when he had his swan song for Camden in the Atlantic League.  He actually has a Twins connection--he was drafted by them in the 36th round in 1987, but did not sign.  Could he have beaten out Scott Leius and Ron Coomer?  I guess we'll never know.

Record:  The Twins were 19-11, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.