ANAHEIM 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, October 9.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and no walks.  Mike Jackson struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Brad Fullmer was 2-for-3 with a home run and a double.  Darin Erstad was 2-for-5 with a home run.  Troy Glaus was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk.

The game:  Erstad hit a home run in the first inning to give the Angels a 1-0 lead.  Anaheim opened the second with a Glaus single, a Fullmer double, and a Scott Speizio double to make it 2-0 with men on second and third.  Starter Rick Reed retired the next two batters, leaving men on first and third, and it appeared the Twins might get out of the inning.  But then Spiezio and Adam Kennedy pulled off a double steal of second and home and David Eckstein followed with a single to make the score 4-0.  It stayed 4-0 until the sixth, when Fullmer hit a two-run homer to increase the lead to 6-0.  The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the sixth.  Guzman led off with a double and scored on Koskie's single.  With one out, Torii Hunter doubled and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run single to cut the lead to 6-3.  That was as good as it got, however.  The Twins put two on with two out in the eighth, bringing the tying run to the plate, but pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty was caught looking to end the threat.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Ramon Ortiz.  LP:  Reed.  S:  Troy Percival.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer again was the right fielder, going 1-for-3.

Reed lasted 5.1 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and no walks, striking out none.

Ortiz also lasted 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and one walk and striking out three.

The Twins were 2-for-3 with men in scoring position, which of course is good news and bad news.  It's a good batting average, but you're not going to win many games if you only have three at-bats with men in scoring position.

Record:  The best-of-seven series was tied one apiece.

MINNESOTA 2, ANAHEIM 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, October 8.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a double.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-2 with a walk.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched eight innings, giving up an unearned run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Kevin Appier pitched five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  Adam Kennedy was 1-for-3.  Brad Fullmer was 1-for-3.

The game:  Hunter led off the second with a double and got to third with none out on a wild pitch.  With one out, A. J. PIerzynski delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Angels put together a rally in the third, getting two-out singles from Kennedy and David Eckstein, and Cristian Guzman booted a Darin Erstad ground ball to tie the score.  A single and a walk put men on first and second with one out for the Twins in the fourth, but they could not score.  In the fifth, Rivas walked, Guzman singled, and Koskie doubled to right to give the Twins a 2-1 advantage.  Mays took it from there, as he retired the last thirteen men he faced.  Guardado came on to pitch the ninth.  He gave up a one-out walk to Tim Salmon, but he never advanced past first as the Twins took the victory.

WP:  Mays.  LP:  Appier.  S:  Guardado.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer remained the right fielder, going 0-for-2 with a walk.

I'd forgotten how many gritty, grindy guys the Angels had on that team.  David Eckstein.  Darin Erstad.  Adam Kennedy.  Chone Figgins probably fits that category, too.  Ben Weber and Al Levine are probably in there as well, among others.

in the notes to game two of the ALDS I explained the reasons why making Joe Mays the Twins' number two starter for the playoffs seemed like a really strange decision.  That explanation was very well reasoned and insightful, and the fact that Mays had a tremendous game here should not be taken as a refutation of that explanation.  Seriously, Mays pitched really well in this one.  I still don't know that it was the logical thing to do, but it worked, so there's not much you can do but give Gardy credit for it.

Record:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-seven series.

MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Sunday, October 6.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a stolen base.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks and striking out four.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ray Durham was 3-for-5 with a home run and a stolen base.  Mark Mulder struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and a walk.  Mark Ellis was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the second, but missed a chance for more.  LeCroy opened the inning with a single and Torii Hunter doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  Doug Mientkiewicz lined to short, Cuddyer was intentionally walked, and A. J. PIerzynski popped up.  Denny Hocking singled in one run, but Jacque Jones fanned, leaving the Twins up by just 1-0.  They got another run in the third, as Guzman doubled and scored on a LeCroy single to make it 2-0.  The Athletics scored in the bottom of the third on a Durham homer, making it 2-1.  The Twins had men on second and third with one out in the fourth but did not score.  It stayed 2-1 all the way until the ninth inning.  Dustan Mohr led off the inning with a walk and Pierzynski homered to give the Twins a 4-1 lead.  With two out, Guzman got an infield single, stole second, and scored on David Ortiz' double to push the lead to 5-1.  The Twins needed every run.  Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the ninth.  Eric Chavez led off with a single.  Jermaine Dye popped up, but David Justice doubled and Ellis hit a three-run homer to cut the margin to just 5-4.  Terrence Long flied out, but Randy Velarde singled, bringing up the go-ahead run in Durham.  Durham fouled out to the second baseman to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Radke.  LP:  Mulder.  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy started the game at DH.  Ortiz batted for him in the fourth inning.  The two combined to go 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

Cuddyer again was in right field.  Mohr came in for defense in the eighth and, of course, got a key walk in the ninth.

Hocking started at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  He went 2-for-4 with a double.  He also caught Durham's foul popup for the last out of the game.  As you probably remember, he got his finger spiked in the celebratory dogpile after the game and missed the League Championship Series.

On a personal note, I was listening to the end of this game on the radio.  I was on my way to Rapid City, where the next day I would be arguing in front of the state Supreme Court for the first time.  As the bottom of the ninth wore on, and the Athletics came back to within one run and then brought the go-ahead run to the plate, I was prepared for the worst.  John Gordon was on the call.  Durham swung, and Gordo said, "There's a HIIIIIGH..." and I thought, "Oh, no, we've lost."  Then Gordo continued, "...pop up!"  And of course, Hocking caught the ball and the rest is history.

Record:  The Twins won the best-of-five series, three games to two.  They would next face the Anaheim Angels, who defeated the Yankees three games to one.