SAN DIEGO 9, MINNESOTA 4 IN SAN DIEGO

Date:  Sunday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventh) and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and two runs.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Mark Loretta was 4-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.  Ryan Klesko was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his eleventh, two doubles, and a walk.  Sean Burroughs was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Donaldo Mendez was 2-for-4.  Gary Matthews was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and two runs.  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his third.  Brian Lawrence pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Padres put men on second and third with two out in the first but did not score.  The Twins put men on first and second with two out in the second but did not score.  San Diego got on the board in the third.  Matthews led off with a home run.  Singles by Mark Kotsay, Loretta, and Burroughs plated another, making it 2-0 Padres.  The Twins got one of them back in the fourth on consecutive one-out singles by Mientkiewicz, LeCroy, and Denny Hocking, cutting the lead to 2-1.

The Twins went ahead in the sixth.  Hunter led off with a single and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run homer, making it 3-2 Twins.  The lead lasted until the seventh.  With one out Loretta singled, Klesko doubled, and an intentional walk loaded the bases.  LaTroy Hawkins gave up a single to Dave Hanses to tie the score, but got out of the inning without further damage.  Hunter then homered with one out in the eighth, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead.

But in the bottom of the eighth, it all fell apart.  Keith Lockhart walked and Matthews singled.  A bunt put men on second and third with one out.  Loretta singled home two and Klesko hit a two-run homer, making in 7-4 San Diego.  Micheal Nakamura then came in and gave up a single to Burroughs and a two-run homer to Buchanan, making it 9-4.  The next two batters went out, but it was too little, too late.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the ninth but could do no more.

WP:  Lawrence (4-7).  LP:  Hawkins (4-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Denny Hocking was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Lew Ford was in right.

Tom Prince came in for LeCroy in the eighth.  Dustan Mohr and Bobby Kielty were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.

Mays was 0-for-2 and was batting .333.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .301.

Hocking went 1-for-4 to raise his average to .180.

Mays lowered his ERA to 5.21.  That was the lowest it would be the rest of the season.

Juan Rincon gave up a run in a third of an inning to make his ERA 2.88.

Hawkins was charged with four runs in one inning.  His ERA nearly doubled, from 1.27 to 2.45.

Record:  The Twins were 35-26, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Kansas City.