BALTIMORE 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN BALTIMORE
Date: Tuesday, August 5.
Batting star: Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out three. Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.
Opposition stars: Brook Fordyce was 2-for-3 with two runs. Jose Leon was 2-for-3. Brian Roberts was 2-for-4. Jason Johnson pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out one.
The game: The Twins put men on second and third in the first inning but did not score. In the third Fordyce singled, Larry Bigbie walked, an error scored one run, Brian Roberts singled, and a ground out made it 2-0 Orioles.
The Twins got on the board in the fifth. Jacque Jones singled, stole second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on Stewart's single to cut the lead to 2-1. But Baltimore got the run right back in the bottom of the fifth when Fordyce singled, was balked to second, and scored on a Luis Matos single.
The Orioles loaded the bases in the sixth but did not score. In the seventh, A. J. Pierzynski singled, Michael Restovich walked, and a bunt put men on second and third. But all the Twins could do is score one on a ground out, cutting the margin to 3-2. And that's where it stayed. The Twins put a man on second with two out in the ninth, but a fly out ended the game.
WP: Johnson (9-5). LP: Rogers (8-6). S: Jorge Julio (26).
Notes: Stewart was again in left, Restovich in right, and Jones at DH. Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Jones in the eighth. Todd Sears pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the ninth.
Restovich was 1-for-2 and was batting .333. Stewart was batting .317. Jones was batting .309. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was battinb .304. Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 and was batting .301. Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-2 and was batting .300.
Rogers lowered his ERA to 5.03. The Twins really had a poor starting rotation in 2003. And yet it took them until past mid-season to find room there for Johan Santana.
The Twins had gotten over .500, but couldn't stay there. Would they get back over .500 tomorrow? We'll see.
Record: The Twins were 56-56, in third place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City. They were 2.5 games behind second-place Chicago.