MINNESOTA 6, ANAHEIM 1 IN ANAHEIM
Date: Thursday, August 28.
Batting stars: Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two runs, and two RBIs. Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his thirteenth.
Pitching stars: Kyle Lohse pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and five walks and striking out three. LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.
Opposition star: Jeff DaVanon was 3-for-4 with a stolen base, his thirteenth.
The game: There was no scoring until the third. Chone Figgins walked, stole second and third, and scored on a Garret Anderson single to give the Angels a 1-0 lead. The Twins did little on offense for the first five innings. Anaheim loaded the bases in the bottom of the fifth, but did not score.
It cost them, as the Twins took the lead in the sixth. Cristian Guzman singled, Rivas hit a two-out double, and Matthew LeCroy delivered a two-run single to make it 2-1 Minnesota. The Twins took control in the eighth. Guzman reached on an error and Shannon Stewart was hit by a pitch. Rivas then hit a two-run double to make it 4-1. With two out, Jones hit a two-run homer to increase the lead to 6-1, and that's how it ended.
WP: Lohse (11-10). LP: Ramon Ortiz (15-11). S: None.
Notes: LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski. Denny Hocking remained at third in place of Corey Koskie. Shannon Stewart was in left, with Dustan Mohr in right and Jones at DH.
Stewart was 1-for-3 and was batting .313. Jones was batting .311.
By game scores, this was Lohse's best start in over two months. He got his ERA below five at 4.85. Hawkins dropped his ERA to 2.13.
Future Twin Ortiz started for the Angels and pitched seven innings. He allowed five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk and struck out three.
Kansas City won but Chicago lost, so while the Twins remained in third they moved closer to first.
Record: The Twins were 69-64, in third place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Chicago and Kansas City, who were tied for first.