KANSAS CITY 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, July 23.
Batting stars: Shannon Stewart was 2-for-4 with a walk. Luis Rivas was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Jeremy Affeldt struck out five in five shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks. Carlos Beltran was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, a stolen base (his twenty-eighth), and a walk. Michael Tucker was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk. Aaron Guiel was 2-for-5 with two home runs, his seventh and eighth. Raul Ibanez was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth. Angel Berroa was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twelfth.
The game: Each team put runners in scoring position, but there was no score through the first three innings. That changed in the fourth, as Beltran led off with a home run. The Royals added another run in the fifth when Guiel homered, making it 2-0.
Kansas City broke it open in the sixth. Raul Ibanez hit a one-out home run. Ken Harvey walked, Tucker doubled, and Desi Relaford walked, loading the bases. A wild pitch scored one and Berroa followed with a three-run homer. It was 7-0.
The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the sixth when Rivas homered. Three walks later in the inning loaded the bases, but the Twins could do no more damage in the inning. They put men on first and second in the seventh, but again could not make the margin smaller.
Guiel hit his second home run in the ninth to make it 8-1. The Twins got two in the bottom of the ninth. Stewart walked, Justin Morneau singled, and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third. A ground out scored one and Torii Hunter singled home another to make it 8-3, and that's how it ended.
WP: Affeldt (6-5). LP: Johan Santana (4-3). S: None.
Notes: Chris Gomez remained at third in the continued absence of Corey Koskie. Stewart was in right. Morneau pinch-hit for Rivas in the ninth.
Stewart raised his average to .308. Jones was 0-for-2 and was batting .306.
Santana pitched 5.1 innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks and striking out four.
Joe Mays pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run to lower his ERA to 6.73.
I don't remember if this was the origin of the term "Jeremy", but it's a good example of it. Affeldt was a decent pitcher in 2003, but nothing special. It was his first full season. This was actually his last start of the season--he would be moved to the bullpen after this game. At this point he was 6-5, 4.34. He would finish 7-6, 3.93.
The Twins sank farther into third place with the loss.
Record: The Twins were 49-51, in third place in the American League Central, 6.5 games behind Kansas City. They were 1.5 games behind third-place Chicago.