MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 15.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse struck out eight in 6.1 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Pena was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk, and two runs.  Dmitri Young was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Hunter homered leading off the second to put the Twins up 1-0.  They put two on with two out in the third but did not score.  It cost them, as the Tigers took the lead in the fourth.  With one out, Ramon Santiago doubled and Pena hit a two-run homer, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead.

The Twins tied it in the fifth.  Rivas singled with one out in the first and Guzman hit a two-out triple.  The Twins went into the lead to stay in the sixth.  They opened the inning with singles by Hunter, Mientkiewicz, and LeCroy to take a 3-2 advantage.  With two out, Rivas hit an RBI double and Jacque Jones delivered a two-run single, making the score 6-2.

The Tigers did not go away quietly.  Pena walked and Young reached on an error to start the seventh.  With one out, Eric Munson hit a two-run double to cut the lead to 6-4 and bring the tying run to the plate.  LaTroy Hawkins came in to retire the next two batters and end the inning.  Detroit still wasn't done.  Young led off the ninth with a double and Shane Halter hit a two-out single, bringing the go-ahead run to bat.  But Craig Paquette flied out and the Twins won.

WP:  Lohse (2-1).  LP:  Mike Maroth (0-4).  S:  Guardado (5).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer remained in right field.  Dustan Mohr replaced him for defense in the ninth.

Jones was 1-for-5 to drop his average to .347.  Guzman raised his average to .317.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .314.

Hunter raised his average to .149.  Cuddyer went 0-for-4 and was batting .167.  A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and was batting .179.

Lohse had an ERA of 1.69.  Hawkins retired both men he faced and had an ERA of zero.  Romero's ERA was 2.57.  Guardado was at 1.59.

Rivas was 8-for-16 with a triple and a double in the last four games.

The Twins had stretched their winning streak to four games.  Would this be their fifth consecutive series sweep?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 7-6, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.