SEATTLE 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, August 29.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Tom Prince was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed struck out eight in 7.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jamie Moyer struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk.  Desi Relaford was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Each team got a one-out double in the second but did not advance the runner.  The Twins had a man on second with two out in the third.  They got another one-out double in the fifth and did not advance the runner.  The Mariners left the bases loaded in the sixth.  Relaford led off the eighth with a home run to put Seattle in front 1-0.  The Twins again got a man to second with one out in the bottom of the eighth.  He went to third on a ground out but was stranded.  In the ninth, two singles, a bunt, and a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Mariners.  The Twins went 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.

WP:  Moyer (13-6).  LP:  Reed (12-7).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (33).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was the DH in this game, going 0-for-3.

Prince was the catcher in place of A. J. Pierzynski.

Denny Hocking was the shortstop, with Cristian Guzman out of the lineup.  He went 1-for-3.

Torii Hunter was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .299.  He would not get above .300 the rest of the season and would end the year at .289.

This was the fourth of eight consecutive starts in which Reed would give up two runs or fewer.  He would go 6-1, 1.62 in those eight starts, lowering his ERA from 4.63 to 3.71.

Relaford hit forty career home runs.  His season high was eight, in 2001 and 2003.

Moyer was thirty-nine in 2002.  He would pitch in nine more major league seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 80-55, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.