BALTIMORE 9, MINNESOTA 2 IN BALTIMORE
Date: Tuesday, August 6.
Batting stars: David Ortiz was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, his thirteenth. Luis Rivas was 1-for-3.
Pitching star: Johan Santana struck out nine in six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks.
Opposition stars: Luis Lopez was 2-for-5 with a grand slam. Marty Cordova was 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run homer, his fifteenth. Sir Sidney Ponson pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.
The game: Baltimore opened the scoring in the fourth by Jose Leon. The Twins took the lead in the top of the sixth, as Ortiz hit a two-run homer. The Orioles took the lead right back in the bottom of the sixth on Cordova's two-run homer. The Orioles put the game out of reach in the seventh. LaTroy Hawkins started the inning and gave up two singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out. Lopez then hit a grand slam to make the score 7-2. The grand slam did not kill the rally, as as Hawkins walked the next batter and came out of the game. Kevin Frederick came in, walked the next two batters, threw a wild pitch to bring home a run, and got a ground out that allowed one more run to score, making the lead 9-2.
WP: Ponson (6-5). LP: Santana (6-3). S: None.
Notes: Corey Koskie remained out of the lineup. He would return the next day. Michael Cuddyer played third base and Dustan Mohr moved into the third spot in the lineup. Each was 1-for-4.
Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 and was batting .311.
Eric Milton is listed as the starting pitcher in the box score, but he did not face a batter. Santana made the emergency start and would remain in the rotation through the end of August. Milton would not pitch again until September 2.
Hawkins was charged with five runs in a third of an inning, raising his ERA from 1.49 to 2.15.
This was Frederick's last game as a Twin. He would make it back to the majors with Toronto in 2004.
The grand slam was one of two homers Luis Lopez would hit in 2002 and one of twenty-two he would hit in his career. It was a surprisingly long career for a guy who was a career utility infielder. He made his big league debut as a September call-up for San Diego in 1993. He was with the Padres through 1996 with the exception of 1995, when he missed the entire season due to injury. He never had a full season with them, but appeared in 77 games in 1994. He was most used at shortstop, but played a decent number of games at second base and a handful at third. He moved on to the Mets in 1997 and finally got his first full season in the majors in 1998. He stayed in the majors through 2002, playing for Milwaukee from 2000 through June of 2002 and going to Baltimore after that. He was in the minors all of 2003 but got back for another full season in the majors with the Orioles in 2004. That was about the end of the line, though. He played in seventeen games with Cincinnati in 2005 and that was it. He never hit a lot, which of course is why he was a utility player rather than a regular. He had a few seasons when he batted in the .270s, but his career line is .241/.293/.343. His highest OPS was .732 with Milwaukee in 2000, the year he set his career high in homers with six. But he could play all over the infield, and in he at least wasn't usually an automatic out. If you can find managers who like you, that can sometimes lead to a long career.
Record: The Twins were 69-45, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.