CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 7 IN CHICAGO
Date: Tuesday, July 23.
Batting stars: Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and a stolen base, his seventh. Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-5 with a double. Denny Hocking was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching stars: Bob Wells retired all seven men he faced. LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twentieth. Aaron Rowand was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second. Bob Howry struck out three in two perfect innings.
The game: Corey Koskie singled in a run in the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead but it was quickly erased, as Ordonez hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the first to give the White Sox a 3-1 lead. It went to 8-1 in the fourth, as Frank Thomas and Rowand each hit two-run homers and Royce Clayton had an RBI single. The Twins fought back. They scored two in the fifth to make it 8-3 and Doug Mientkiewicz hit a three-run homer in the sixth to cut the lead to 8-6. The Twins opened the seventh with two walks but could not score. In the ninth, a single, a walk, and a double steal put men on second and third with one out. David Ortiz grounded out, scoring one but making the second out, and Torii Hunter grounded out to end the game.
WP: Mark Buehrle (13-7). LP: Johan Santana (4-2). S: Antonio Osuna (7).
Notes: Hunter was 0-for-5 to drop his average to .306.
Cuddyer raised his average to .320.
Matthew LeCroy was the catcher in place of A. J. Pierzynski. He was 1-for-4.
Hocking was again the second baseman, replacing Luis Rivas. Rivas would return to the lineup the next day.
This was easily the worst start Santana had all season. He lasted just 3.2 innings and allowed eight runs on seven hits and two walks. He did strike out four. His ERA went up by over a run, from 2.62 to 3.83. He would make one more start, be skipped once in the rotation, make five more starts, and then be sent to the bullpen for September.
Wells had not pitched since June 11. He would make ten consecutive scoreless appearances, dropping his ERA from 7.36 to 5.28, before giving up three on August 22.
The White Sox never did settle on a closer in 2002. They had started the season with Damaso Marte. At this juncture, it was Osuna. Keith Foulke would eventually lead the team in saves with eleven. Three other pitchers had one each.
Bob Howry pitched a lot longer than I remembered. He came up with the White Sox in 1998 and was a mainstay in their bullpen, appearing in over sixty games each season from 1999-2002, when he was traded to Boston at the July deadline. He was their closer in 1999, getting 28 saves, and was a set-up man thereafter. He was injured much of 2003, appearing in only four games with the Red Sox, and was released after the season. He went to Cleveland in 2004 and had two outstanding seasons there, going 11-6, 2.57, 0.99 WHIP. He then signed with the Cubs and was solid for them in 2006-2007, but had a bad 2008. He signed with San Francisco for 2009 and had a very good year with the Giants. It was his last good year, though. He had a bad 2010 split between Arizona and the Cubs and then his playing career ended. It was a pretty good career, though: 45-52, 3.84, 66 saves, 1.25 WHIP. For a set-up man, he was very consistent, having only two down years from 1998-2009. At last report, Bob Howry was living in the Phoenix area and was helping coach high school baseball there.
Record: The Twins were 60-42, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.