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.

MINNESOTA 2, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 28.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-3.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-sixth.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joel Pineiro pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bret Boone was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-first) and a walk.  Mike Cameron was 3-for-4.

The game:  Boone homered in the first inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  Each team put two men on in the second but did not score.  Each team put two men on in the fourth and did not score.  Seattle put two men on in the sixth and did not score.  In the bottom of the sixth, however, Corey Koskie led off with a single and Hunter hit a one-out two-run homer to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.  In the eighth the Mariners had two singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out, but John Olerud hit into a double play to end the threat.  Cameron hit a leadoff single in the ninth but did not move from first base.

WP:  Santana (8-5).  LP:  Pineiro (13-5).  S:  Guardado (38).

Notes:  Hunter's average was .301.

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was also batting .301.

It was Santana's best start in a month.  For his reward, he was sent to the bullpen.  Eric Milton was back from the disabled list, someone had to go to the bullpen, and it was the kid.  I understand that you weren't going to send Brad Radke or Rick Reed to the pen, but Joe Mays certainly wasn't getting much accomplished.  To his credit, while Santana wasn't happy about the situation, he pitched very well in relief in September, posting a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings.

Romero's ERA was 1.51.

Guardado's ERA was 2.62.

Joel Pineiro was in the middle of a three-year run in which he went 36-20, 3.10.  He struggled from 2004-2008, but he hung in there, and teams kept giving him chances.  In 2009-2010 he put together another good run, going 25-19, 3.64.  He pitched in twelve seasons, and in about half of them he was a pretty good pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 80-54, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen and a half games.