SEATTLE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Monday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out nine in 4.1 innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joel Pineiro pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out six.  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a double and scored on a couple of productive outs to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the third, but could only get a David Ortiz sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.  Eric Milton had only given up a pair of harmless singles over the first three innings, but Seattle started the fourth with a single, a double, and two singles to tie the score.  Johan Santana came in to strike out the side and keep the score tied.  There was no more scoring until the eighth.  Santana was still in the game and gave up a single and a walk to open the inning.  A ground out put men on second and third with one out.  LaTroy Hawkins came in and struck out Mike Cameron, but then gave up a two-run single to Ruben Sierra and an RBI double to Desi Reliford to give the Mariners their first lead of the game at 5-2.  The Twins got a leadoff walk in the ninth, but a double play wiped out the runner and a strikeout ended the game.

WP:  Arthur Rhodes (8-3).  LP:  Santana (8-6).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (34).

Notes:  Milton pitched three innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out two.

It was Santana's first relief appearance since August 3.  He would stay in the bullpen the rest of the season.

It was Pineiro's second consecutive start against the Twins.  He pitched well in both, giving up a total of four runs on fifteen hits and two walks and striking out nine in thirteen innings.  He won one and lost one.

Arthur Rhodes had a very long career, starting at age 21 in 1991 and ending at age 41 in 2011.  He was a starter early in his career, moving to the bullpen in 1995 and making his last major league start in 1996.  He was twentieth in MVP balloting in 1997, when he went 10-3, 3.02 with one save.  From 2001-2002, he went 18-4, 2.03 with a WHIP of 0.84 in 137.2 innings.  He made his only all-star team in 2010 at age forty, when he went 4-4, 2.29, 1.02 WHIP in 55 innings (69 games).  He had 33 saves, with a high of 9 in 2004.  He had some bad years, too:  his career stats are 87-70, 4.08, 1.30 WHIP.  But when he was good, he was really good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-59, in first place, leading Chicago by twelve games.  This was the Twins' fifth consecutive loss.

OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Sunday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mike Jackson pitched a perfect inning.  Tony Fiore pitched a scoreless inning, walking one.

Opposition stars:  Miguel Tejada was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twenty-ninth and thirtieth) and five RBIs.  Ray Durham was 3-for-5.  Scott Hatteberg was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

The game:  Oakland loaded the bases with none out in the first but did not score, as their next three batters fanned.  They broke through in the third, however, as Tejada hit a two-run homer.  The Twins tied it in the sixth when Hunter hit a two-run homer.  The tie didn't last long, though, because John Mabry homered leading off the bottom of the sixth and Durham had an RBI single later in the inning to give the Athletics a 4-2 lead.  The Twins took the lead in the top of the ninth.  LeCroy and Koskie led off the ninth with back-to-back homers to tie it and Michael Cuddyer hit a two-out homer to put the Twins up 5-4.  Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the ninth.  He walked Ramon Hernandez and gave up a single to Durham, putting men on first and second.  Olmedo Saenz was called out on strikes, but Tejada hit a three-run homer to end the game.

WP:  Billy Koch (7-2).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Luis Rivas was the leadoff batter, with Jacque Jones on the bench.  Rivas was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter and grounded out.

Dustan Mohr played left field, with Michael Cuddyer in right.  Cuddyer was 1-for-4.  The go-ahead home run was his third of the season.

Tom Prince was the catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski on the bench.  Prince was 0-for-2 with two walks.

Joe Mays started and the pitched six innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks and striking out three.

It was Guardado's and last sixth blown save of the season.

The first two Twins home runs in the ninth inning came off Oakland starter Mark Mulder, who was going for a complete game.  He pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on five hits and four walks and striking out seven.

The Cuddyer home run came off Oakland closer Billy Koch.

I'd forgotten what a good batter Miguel Tejada was.  Seven consecutive seasons with an OPS over .800, and the string was broken in 2007 when his OPS was .799.  He hit over 30 homers four times and had 100 or more RBIs six times.  He made the all-star team six times and got some sort of MVP consideration seven times, winning the award in 2002 (although it really should have gone to Alex Rodriguez) and finishing fifth in 2004.  His career numbers are .285/.336/.456 with 307 home runs and 468 doubles (he led the league in doubles twice).  Plus, he played 162 games for six consecutive seasons.  I'm not saying he belongs in the Hall of Fame, but he's certainly in the Hall of Very Good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-58, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.