CHICAGO 15, MINNESOTA 7 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, June 25.
Batting stars: Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a double. Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4. Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with three RBIs.
Pitching star: Mike Jackson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.
Opposition stars: Magglio Ordonez was 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his sixth), scoring three times and driving in five. Paul Konerko was 3-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth), scoring three times and driving in three. Ray Durham was 3-for-5 and scored three times.
The game: The Twins led a couple of times early. They loaded the bases with one out in the first, but only scored one on a fielder's choice to take a 1-0 lead. In the second the White Sox got five singles to score three runs and take a 3-1 lead. The Twins came back in the third. With two out and none on, Matthew LeCroy singled, Corey Koskie was hit by a pitch, Mohr hit a two-run double, and Mientkiewicz had an RBI single to give the Twins a 4-3 lead. It was downhill from there, though. Josh Paul hit a two-run double in a three-run fifth to put the White Sox up 6-4. They scored three more in the sixth to make it 9-4. In the sixth, the Twins put men on second and third with one out, but could only score one on a ground out to cut the lead to 9-5. Ordonez hit a two-run single in the seventh to make it 11-5. Guzman homered leading off the bottom of the seventh to bring the Twins within five at 11-6, but in the ninth Ordonez hit a two-run double followed by Konerko's two-run homer. The Twins again put men on second and third in the bottom of the ninth, but a sacrifice fly scored the only run of the inning.
WP: Mark Buehrle (11-5). LP: Eric Milton (8-6). S: None.
Notes: LeCroy was the DH, going 1-for-4 with a walk. His average was now .337...Tom Prince was behind the plate, going 1-for-4...Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .304...Mohr's average was now .303...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.95...Milton lasted just 4.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out one...Buehrle pitched six innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out one...Sorry, there's no player profile today. I don't really have the time, and I don't see anyone who played in this game in whom I'm particularly interested at the moment. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel differently.
Record: The Twins were 43-34, in first place by six games over Chicago.