MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, September 29.
Batting stars: Jacque Jones was 3-for-3 with two doubles. Todd Sears was 2-for-2 with a double. Bobby Kielty was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.
Pitching stars: Eric Milton struck out six in five shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk. Rick Reed struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Jon Garland pitched seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk and striking out three. Aaron Rowand was 2-for-4. Willie Harris was 1-for-3 with a walk.
The game: There was no score until the third, when Luis Rivas hit a two-out single and scored from first on Jones' double. The White Sox nearly tied it in the fifth, but were thwarted when Aaron Rowand was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on an infield single. They did tie it in the seventh, when Rowand scored on a double by Miguel Olivo. The Twins started the bottom of the seventh with two singles but did not get the runners past first and second. The first two Twins in the eighth were retired, but Matthew LeCroy walked and Kielty delivered a two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-1. Joe Crede opened the ninth with a double, bringing the tying run up to bat. The next two batters were retired, but a wild pitch and a walk put men on first and third. Harris then struck out to end the game.
WP: Bob Wells (2-1). LP: Mike Porzio (2-2). S: J. C. Romero (1).
Notes: The Twins again treated this like a spring training game. The only player to play the entire game was Michael Cuddyer, and he shifted from right field to third base in the fifth inning.
Jones raised his average to .300.
Sears ended the season at .333 (4-for-12).
A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-2 and closed out his season at .300.
Michael Restovich was 0-for-1 and ended the season at .308 (4-for-13).
Reed made his only relief appearance of the season and his first since 1997. Presumably he just wanted an inning to help stay sharp for the playoffs.
Eddie Guardado was held out of the game. As shown above, Romero got his lone save of the season.
Record: The Twins closed out the season 94-67, in first place, leading Chicago by 13.5 games. They would take on Oakland in the American League Division Series.