MINNESOTA 2, CHICAGO 1 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, July 31.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  David Ortiz was 1-for-2 with three walks.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins retired all five men he faced, striking out two.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jon Garland pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and four walks and striking out five.  Aaron Rowand was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Willie Harris led off the game with a single, went to second on a walk, took third on a double play, and scored on a wild pitch to give the White Sox a 1-0 lead.  In the third, Jacque Jones singled and scored from first on a Koskie double to tie it 1-1.  And there things stayed, with no one scoring and hardly any threats until the tenth.  Rivas led off the tenth with a double and went to third on a bunt.  With one out and the bases loaded, Ortiz lined a single to right to win the game.

WP:  Romero (6-1).  LP:  Antonio Osuna (5-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 with a walk to make his average .327.

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was batting .300.

Torii Hunter was again out of the lineup, with Kielty playing center, and Dustan Mohr in right.  Hunter would return to the lineup August 2.

This was Mays' best start of the season to this point.  He would have two better ones, at least according to game scores.  He actually pitched fairly well in September, but overall it was not a good season for him.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.55.

Romero lowered his ERA to 1.92.

We hope to resume player profiles in a week or so.  Of course, we don't always get what we hope for.

Record:  The Twins were 65-43, in first place, leading Chicago by fourteen games.