CHICAGO 10, MINNESOTA 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, June 30.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and two runs.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Juan Rincon pitched 4.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:   Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his thirteenth and fourteenth), a walk, and three RBIs.  Jose Valentin was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.  Willie Harris was 2-for-5 with a triple.  Carlos Lee was 1-for-3 with a home run (his thirteenth), a walk, and three runs.  Joe Crede was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.  Jon Garland struck out seven in seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks.

The game:  It got late early, as they say.  Harris led off the bottom of the first with a triple and scored on an Aaron Rowand single.  Crede hit a two-run homer in the second.  In the third Rowand walked and scored on a Frank Thomas double.  Ordonez followed with a two-run homer.  After an error, Valentin hit a two-run homer, making the score 8-0 White Sox.

There's not a lot to say after that.  The Twins got on the board in the seventh on back-to-back homers by Kielty and Pierzynski.  In the eighth Ordonez and Lee homered.  The Twins got one more in the ninth when Pierzynski singled and scored on a Lew Ford double.  And that was that.

WP  Garland (6-6).  LP:  Joe Mays (8-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Ford was 1-for-3 and was batting .357.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 and was batting .309.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-2 and was batting .302.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-2 to get back up to .300.

Mays lasted just 2.1 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on six hits and striking out two.  His ERA was 6.30.

Micheal Nakamura gave up a run in 1.1 innings.  His ERA went to 7.82.  He had been with the Twins for 22 games and had appeared in 12 of them.  He then would be sent down to AAA and would not return the rest of the season.  He went from being used every day to being in Rochester in a big hurry.

Eight of the ten Chicago runs were scored on homers.  Two of the three Twins runs were scored on homers.

This was Rincon's second-longest appearance of the season.  He had gone five innings on April 6, his first game of the season.  He had six other games in which he pitched three innings or more.

We are now half-way through the 2003 season.  Kansas City was swept in a doubleheader, so despite getting beaten badly the Twins moved into first place.

Record:  The Twins were 43-38, in first place in the American League Central, a half game ahead of Kansas City.