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.

CHICAGO 3, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 30.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  David Ortiz was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out three.  Bob Wells retired all four men he faced.  Kevin Frederick pitched a scoreless innings, walking one.

Opposition stars:  Mark Buehrle pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Aaron Rowand was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Magglio Ordonez was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twenty-third.

The game:  There was no score, and not even much of a threat to score, until the sixth.  With one out Rowand doubled, Carlos Lee walked, and Ordonez hit a three-run homer.  That was pretty much that.  The Twins threatened in the ninth, as Koskie led off with a double and went to third on an Ortiz single.  A wild pitch moved Ortiz to second.  Kielty then hit into a fielder's choice, as Koskie was thrown out at the plate.  Michael Cuddyer then hit into a double play to end the game.

WP:  Buehrle (14-7).  LP:  Lohse (10-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was out of the lineup, with Dustan Mohr in left, Kielty moving to center, and Cuddyer in right.  Luis Rivas batted leadoff and went 0-for-4.

Tom Prince caught in place of A. J. Pierzynski and was 0-for-3.

Kielty raised his average to .332.

This was Frederick's first appearance in ten days.  He would make two more appearances, go back to the minors, and come up to play two games in September.

Wells had now pitched 5.2 scoreless innings since coming back from injury.  He would not give up a run until August 22.

Due to a lack of time on my part, there will probably be no player profiles for at least a week or so, unless I happen to see someone who really interests me.

Record:  The Twins were 64-43, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.