MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Wednesday, July 3.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-3 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out eight in 6.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and three walks.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Mark Mulder struck out twelve in a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk.  Jermaine Dye was 2-for-4 with a double.  Olmedo Saenz was 2-for-4.

The game:  Terrence Long led off the third with a single, went to second on a balk, and scored on a Ramon Hernandez single to put Oakland up 1-0.  The Twins came back in the top of the fourth.  Koskie hit a one-out double.  With two out, Kielty doubled and Doug Mientkiewicz singled to put the Twins up 2-1.  At that was it for the scoring.  The Athletics had their chances.  They put men on first and second in the fifth on a pair of walks and in the sixth on a pair of singles.  Dye hit a two-out double in the eighth.  They never got the tying run farther than second base, though.

WP:  Santana (4-1).  LP:  Mulder (9-5).  S: Guardado (26).

Notes:  Denny Hocking was at shortstop in place of Cristian Guzman.  He was 1-for-4...Matthew LeCroy was the DH.  He went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .323...Buchanan was in right field and was now batting .319...Kielty shifted to center as Torii Hunter was not in the lineup...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.56...Guardado got back on track after some rough outings.  He had given up runs in three of his four prior appearances, although twice the Twins won the game anyway...By game scores, this was the best game Mulder had pitched so far this season.  At the end of the year it would tie for second with another game against the Twins, on September 7.  His best game would be September 17 against Anaheim, a twelve-strikeout, complete game shutout.

Record:  The Twins were 48-37, in first place, leading Chicago by 6.5 games.