TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Saturday, July 13.
Batting stars: Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4. Tom Prince was 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch. Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a double.
Pitching star: Tony Fiore pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and one walk and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks and striking out four. Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-ninth), a double, and a walk, driving in three. Rafael Palmeiro was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and four RBIs.
The game: The Twins got on the board first, as Cristian Guzman scored from first on a Hunter double. Alex Rodriguez homered in the third to tie it 1-1. in the fifth, Rafael Palmeiro hit a two-run double and Carl Everett had an RBI single later in the inning to give the Rangers a 4-1 lead. Texas scored three more in the sixth, getting a two-run double from Alex Rodriguez and another two-run double from Palmeiro. The Twins did not get a man past second after the fifth inning.
WP: Rogers (10-5). LP: Juan Rincon (0-1). S: None.
Notes: Jacque Jones was again out of the lineup, with Guzman moving up to the leadoff spot. He was 1-for-5...Matthew LeCroy was the DH, going 0-for-4...Doug Mientkiewicz was also out of the lineup, with Michael Cuddyer playing first base. Interestingly, when Denny Hocking was inserted into the lineup in the eighth inning he went to first base, with Cuddyer going to third. Cuddyer went 1-for-4...Prince was the catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski out of the lineup...Dustan Mohr went 0-for-4 and was batting .300...Hunter raised his average to .305...Kielty raised his average to .317...Rincon pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks and striking out five. He would make one more start, then move to the bullpen permanently...Jose Rodriguez relieved Rincon and pitched just two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk. It would be the last major league appearance of his career...Carl Everett is probably more remembered for his opinions about dinosaurs than for his playing career. That's too bad, because he was a pretty good player. He got a few weeks with the Florida Marlins in 1993 and 1994, then got to the majors permanently when he was traded to the Mets that off-season. He was with the Mets for three seasons, 1995-1997, and got more playing time each season despite the fact that he was pretty average for them. He was traded to Houston after the 1997 season, and that was when he really got things going. He hit .310/.378/.526 in two years with the Astros, getting minor MVP consideration in 1999. He then was traded to Boston and had a very good 2000 season, making his first all-star team. He declined after that, although he was still a good enough player for the next two seasons. He bounced back in 2003, batting .287 with 28 home runs and making his second all-star team. He was traded to the White Sox at mid-season. That was his last really good season, although again, he was still a decent player through 2005. He signed as a free agent with Montreal for 2004 but was traded back to the White Sox at mid-season. He stayed there through 2005, had a poor year with Seattle in 2006, played well in the Atlantic League from 2007-2010, and then was done. His major league numbers are .271/.341/.462 with 202 home runs. Those are obviously not Hall of Fame numbers, but they're still quite respectable.
Record: The Twins were 52-40, in first place, leading Chicago by nine games.