KANSAS CITY 9, MINNESOTA 8 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Monday, June 16.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-5.  Lew Ford was 2-for-2 with a three-run homer (his second), a double, a walk, and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

Pitching star:  Micheal Nakamura pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Beltran was 2-for-2 with a double, a stolen base (his seventeenth), three walks, and two runs.  Mike Sweeney was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth), a walk, two runs, and five RBIs.  Angel Berroa was 2-for-4 with a double.  Michael Tucker was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-5.

The game:  It was all Royals early.  Beltran's two-out RBI double put Kansas City up 1-0 in the first.  It stayed 1-0 until the fourth, when Aaron Guiel hit a run-scoring single to make it 2-0.

Then the Royals really took control.  Sweeney hit a three-run homer in the fifth to take the lead to 5-0.  In the sixth a double and two walks loaded the bases, a ground out scored one, and Sweeney's two-run single made it 8-0 Kansas City.

Then the Twins mounted a comeback.  With one out in the seventh, Ford's double, a Mientkiewicz single, and a walk to Dustan Mohr loaded the bases.  A. J. Pierzynski singled to get the Twins on the board and a ground out made it 8-2.  In the eighth an error, a Koskie single, and Ford's three-run homer cut the lead to 8-5.  The Twins started the ninth with consecutive singles by Jacque Jones, Cristian Guzman, and Koskie to score one run and LeCroy doubled home to more to tie the score.  The Twins had the go-ahead run on second with none out, but could not take the lead.

It cost them.  Beltran walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and went to second on a wild pitch.  Ibanez then singled him home for the deciding run.

WP:  Mike MacDougal (3-3).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Ford pinch-hit for Torii Hunter in the seventh, leading one to think Ron Gardenhire had probably given up on the game at that point.  He stayed in the game in center field.  Bobby Kielty pinch-hit for Luis Rivas in the seventh.  Denny Hocking went to second in the eighth.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Hocking in the eighth.  He stayed in the game at first base, with Mientkiewicz moving to second.  Tom Prince pinch-ran for LeCroy in the ninth, which probably tells you all you need to know about LeCroy's speed.

Ford raised his average to .500.  Morneau was 0-for-1 and was batting .333.  Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting .307.  LeCroy was batting .305.  Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and slipped back below .300 at .299.

Kyle Lohse started for the Twins.  He did okay for four innings, but his line is five innings, five runs, eight hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.  His ERA went up to a still good 3.23.  Guardado gave up a run without retiring anyone, so his ERA went up to 2.83.

Nakamura had been on the team for nine games and had appeared in seven of them.  The Twins already had "Everyday Eddie"--was he "'Most every day Micheal"?

This was actually the second time Prince had been used as a pinch-runner this season.  The other time was on May 13, when he also ran for LeCroy.  I could not quickly find if he had any other pinch-running appearances in his career.

While the Twins were a good team, one thing that is becoming clear as we go through these games is how much they benefited from playing in a weak division.  I know it was commented on at the time, too, but the Twins' winning percentage would have put them in third place in four of the other five divisions.

Record:  The Twins were 38-30, in first place in the American League Central, three games ahead of Kansas City.