MINNESOTA 6, CHICAGO 0 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Thursday, August 1.
Batting stars: A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-4 with a double. Jacque Jones was 2-for-5 with two doubles. Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his second homer.
Pitching star: Eric Milton struck out eleven in a complete game shutout, giving up three hits and no walks.
Opposition stars: Paul Konerko was 2-for-3. Royce Clayton was 1-for-3 with a double. Keith Foulke pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.
The game: The Twins put men on second and third with two out in the first, but could not score. The Twins broke through in the third, though, scoring five times. They started the inning with a Jones double and a Cristian Guzman infield single. Corey Koskie then singled home the first run. With two out, Doug Mientkiewicz drew a walk to load the bases and Cuddyer unloaded them with a grand slam. It killed the rally, but it put the Twins ahead 5-0. The Twins added a run in the eighth on a Jones RBI double. The White Sox only twice got a man as far as second base, both times with two out.
WP: Milton (13-7). LP: Dan Wright (7-9). S: None.
Notes: Torii Hunter was again out of the lineup, with Bobby Kielty in center and Michael Cuddyer in right. Hunter would be back in the lineup the next day.
It was easily Milton's best game of the season, as he earned a game score of 92. He also threw 131 pitches. He would miss the next month of the season, not appearing again until September 2 due to a knee injury.
Chicago starter Dan Wright pitched struck out eight in six innings, but gave up five runs on seven hits and three walks. He pitched well other than in the third inning.
I know I said no player profiles for a week or so, but Wright's career was relatively short. He was drafted by the White Sox in the second round in 1999 and reached the majors in 2001. He had not pitched above AA, although he had done very well there in 27 starts. He came up in late July and pitched well at times, but his numbers were 5-3, 5.70, 1.75 WHIP. He was in the Chicago rotation all of 2002, his only full season in the majors, and went 14-12, but with an ERA of 5.18. 2003 was worse--he missed a month due to an elbow injury, lost his spot in the starting rotation, and then went to AAA. His major league numbers that year were 1-7, 6.15. In 2004, he made only four starts with the White Sox and two in AAA before missing the rest of the year due to Tommy John surgery. He later said he hurt his shoulder trying to compensate for the elbow injury. He was released after the season and signed with Seattle, but never really came back from the injury. He missed all of 2005 and made just four AAA appearances in 2006 before being released. His career big league numbers, all with the White Sox, are 20-26, 5.65. 1.53 WHIP. He appeared in 70 games, 64 of them starts. He became a scout and has worked for Seattle and Philadelphia. I'm sure the injuries didn't help him, but he really hadn't been all that good before. I know I've said this many times before, but it fascinates me how some guys never really do anything and get chance after chance, while others dominate in AAA and have to fight to get a brief trial.
Record: The Twins were 66-43, in first place, fifteen games ahead of Chicago.