MINNESOTA TWINS 7, TAMPA BAY DEVIL RAYS 3 IN TAMPA BAY

Date:  Tuesday, May 6, 2003.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 5-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third), a double, and three runs.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4.  Torii Hunter hit a two-run homer, his fourth.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and  striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Rey Ordonez was 2-for-4 with a double.  Rocco Baldelli was 2-for-4.  Nick Bierbrodt pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out two.  Jesus Colome struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a home run, giving the Twins a quick 1-0 lead.  Tampa Bay threatened in the bottom of the inning.  Baldelli hit a one-out single and stole second with two out.  Travis Lee walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.  In the second, Kielty hit a one-out single followed by Mohr’s two-run homer, making it 3-0.  In the third, Jones again led off with a home run.  With two out, Todd Sears walked and Hunter hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a 6-0 lead.  The Twins threatened in the fourth, as A. J. Pierzynski led off with a single and Jones singled with one out.  A force out put men on first and third, but a fly out ended the inning.

Meanwhile, Radke was in control.  He retired nine in a row before Al Martin reached on an error.  Toby Hall followed with a single, but a fly out ended the threat.  The Twins threatened again in the sixth, as Pierzynski was hit by a pitch with one out and Jones hit a two-out double, but a ground out ended the inning.

The Devil Rays finally got to Radke in the sixth.  Singles by Baldelli, Aubrey Huff, and Lee loaded the bases with none out.  Martin grounded out to score one and Hall hit a sacrifice fly to bring in another, but that was all Tampa Bay could do.  They threatened again in the seventh, getting one-out singles from Ordonez and Marlon Anderson, but a double play ended the inning.

Each team tallied one in the ninth.  Jones singled, stole second, and scored on a Corey Koskie single.  Chris Truby drew a two-out walk and scored on an Ordonez double.  That brought us to the final score of 7-3.

WP:  Radke (3-3).

LP:  Steve Parris (0-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Sears was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Chris Gomez was at second in place of Luis Rivas.  Kielty was the DH.  The Twins didn’t really have a regular DH in 2003, with Matthew LeCroy getting the most starts there.

Jones was batting .336.  He would finish at .304.  Kielty was batting .310.  He would finish at .252.  Radke got off to a very slow start in 2003–this would lower his ERA to 5.53.  His ERA was 5.49 in the first half of the season and 3.24 in the second half.

While Tampa Bay got a couple of men on base, Radke did not give up a run in the first inning.

Johan Santana pitched the last two innings.  This was in the “Free Johan” days, with Santana (and many fans) believing he should be starting, but Ron Gardenhire and the Twins believing he was more valuable in relief.  He would start a game three days later, on May 9, but would not join the rotation until mid-July.

This would be the last major league start and last major league decision for Parris.  He would make three more appearances, all in relief, and be released June 18, never to return to the major leagues.

Whatever became of Rocco Baldelli, anyway?

Record:  Tampa Bay was 12-20, in fifth (last) place in the AL East, eleven games behind the Yankees.  Not that the Devil Rays had high expectations, but it has to be discouraging to already be eleven games out in early May.  They would finish 63-99, in fifth (last) place, 38 games behind the Yankees.

The Twins were 16-15, in second place in the AL Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.  They would finish 92-70, in first place, four games ahead of the White Sox, with KC falling to third.

Random Record:  The Random Twins have a four-game winning streak and are 5-3 (.625).

MINNESOTA TWINS 6, DETROIT TIGERS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 1.

Batting stars:  Alexi Casilla was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Justin Morneau was 3-for-4 with a double.  Craig Monroe was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer (his eighth) and a walk.  Carlos Gomez was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Mike Redmond was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Scott Baker pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out five.  Joe Nathan pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Guillen was 3-for-4 with three runs.  Marcus Thames was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixteenth.  Gary Sheffield was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ivan Rodriguez was 2-for-4.  Zach Miner pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and four walks.  Bobby Seay pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

The game:  The Twins threatened in the first.  Gomez walked, Casilla got a bunt single, and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third with none out, but a home-and-first double play took the Twins out of the inning.  Detroit started the scoring in the fourth, when Guillen singled, went to third on Thames’ single, and scored on a wild pitch.  The Twins came right back in the bottom on the fourth.  Redmond and Morneau led off the inning with singles and Monroe followed with a three-run homer, putting the Twins up 3-1.  Minnesota added to their lead in the fifth.  Denard Span led off with a double, Gomez followed with a bunt single, Casilla hit an RBI double, and Redmond delivered a two-run single, making the score 6-1 Twins.

Detroit got back into the game in the sixth when Guillen hit a one-out single and Thames followed with a home run, making it 6-3.  The Twins got three one-out walks in the bottom of the sixth, loading the bases, but a double play ended the threat.  Detroit got one more in the eighth.  Guillen singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Sheffield’s two-out double.  But the next four batters were retired and the Twins took a 6-4 win.

WP:  Baker (5-2).

LP:  Nate Robertson (6-7).

S:  Nathan (23).

Notes:  Redmond was behind the plate in place of Joe Mauer.  Brendan Harris was at short, with Nick Punto going to third and sort-of regular third baseman Brian Buscher on the bench.  Monroe was at DH in place of Jason Kubel.

Casilla was batting .327.  He would finish at .281.  Morneau was batting .314.  He would finish at .300.  Redmond was batting .300.  He would finish at .287.

The Twins had fourteen hits.  Their first five batters went 12-for-18 with a home run, two doubles, and four walks.

Nathan did not allow an obligatory baserunner, retiring Detroit in order in the ninth.

This was the last home run Monroe would hit as a Twin.  He was released on August 8.

I think of Span as a center fielder, but he was in right in 2008, with Gomez in center.  He would not become the regular center fielder until 2010.

Future Twin Clete Thomas played left field for the Tigers, going 0-for-3.

Record:  Detroit was 42-41, in third place in the AL Central, 5.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 74-88, in fifth place, 14.5 games behind Chicago.

Minnesota was 46-38, in second place, two games behind Chicago.  They would finish 88-75, in second place, one game behind Chicago, due to losing game 163.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 4-3 (.571).

MINNESOTA TWINS 10, BOSTON RED SOX 4 IN BOSTON

Date:  Saturday, July 23, 1966

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs.  Jerry Zimmerman was 2-for-3 with a double.  Don Mincher was 2-for-5.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-6 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew hit a home run, his twenty-first.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Mike Ryan was 2-for-3.  George Thomas hit a home run, his fourth.

The game:  Each team missed scoring chances in the first two innings.  Zolio Versalles led off the game with a walk and Oliva hit a one-out double, putting men on second and third, but nothing came of it.  Carl Yastrzemski’s two-out double in the bottom of the inning similarly produced nothing.  Bob Allison led off the second with a walk and went to second on a ground out, but he was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Tovar single.  Boston got another two-out double in the second, this time from Mike Ryan, but again the game remained scoreless.

Uhlaender put the Twins on the board in the third with a home run.  They had a chance to lengthen the lead in the fourth, as Allison singled with one out and went to second on Tovar’s two-out single, but a popup ended the inning.  In the fifth, however, the Twins took control.  Singles by Versalles and Uhlaender opened the inning.  A groundout put men on second and third and led to an intentional walk to Killebrew.  Mincher made the Red Sox pay with a two-run single.  Allison walked, re-loading the bases, and Jimmie Hall singled home a run.  Mincher was thrown out trying to score from second, but Tovar was hit by a pitch to load the bases once again.  Kaat came through with an RBI single and Uhlaender was hit by a pitch to force home another run, making the score 6-0.

The Twins added one more in the sixth.  With two out Mincher singled, Allison was hit by a pitch, Zimmerman singled, and Tovar singled home a run.  Boston got on the board in the sixth.  Eddie Kasko led off with a double.  Joe Foy hit a two-out double, but Kasko was only able to get to third.  He scored on a ground out, however, to make the score 7-1.

With two out in the seventh, Tony Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer, making it 9-1.  Ryan hit a two-out double in seventh, but was stranded.  The Twins loaded the bases in the eighth–Zimmerman hit a one-out double, Tovar walked, a wild pitch sent runners to second and third, and Versalles drew a two-out intentional walk–but a liner to third ended the inning.

George Thomas homered in the eighth to make it 9-2.  The Twins got the run back in the ninth.  Oliva led off with a single, and walks to Killebrew and Allison loaded the bases with none out.  Andy Kosco hit a sacrifice fly to push the lead to 10-2.  The Red Sox rounded out the scoring in the bottom of the inning.  Tony Conigliaro doubled and scored on a Don Demeter single.  An error put men on second and third, and Bob Tillman singled home a run.  Kaat then retired the next three men go close out the game.

WP:  Kaat (14-6).

LP:  Rollie Sheldon (5-11).

S:  None.

Notes:  Regular catcher Earl Battey started the game, but Hall pinch-hit for him in the fifth, bringing Zimmerman into the game.  Tovar shared second base with Bernie Allen, with Allen getting a few more starts.  Allison had a down year in 1966 and slipped to part-time status, with Hall seeing most of the action in left.

Oliva was batting .327.  He would finish at .307.  Kaat had an ERA of 2.84.  He would finish at 2.75.  

Zimmerman was your basic good-field, no-hit backup catcher, but 1966 was one of his better years.  He batted .252/.338/.328 in 119 at-bats.  His career numbers were .204./.269/.239.  Still, he played eight major league seasons, the first with Cincinnati, the last seven with the Twins.

Kaat, of course, would never be allowed to pitch a complete game in a game like this today.  He would lead the league in complete games with 19 and in innings with 304.2 in 1966.  He would also lead in starts with 41 and in batters faced with 1227.  For comparison, the leader in innings in 2024 was Logan Gilbert with 208.2 and the leaders in complete games had 2.  It was a different time.

This was Sheldon’s last year.  He’d been a good pitcher for the Yankees and the Kansas City Athletics, but he was 1-6, 4.97 for Boston in 1966.

Ex-Twin Dick Stigman played for Boston, facing two batters and giving up a hit and a walk.  This was his last season, and it was not a good one, as he posted an ERA of 5.44.

Boston pitchers hit three Twins batters.  It does not appear that there was any retaliation.

Record:  Boston was 42-57, in ninth place, 24.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 72-90, in ninth place, 26 games behind Baltimore.

Minnesota was 48-49, in fifth place, 17.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 89-73, in second place, nine games behind Baltimore.  After this game, the Twins would go 41-24, the best record in baseball over that span.  But it wasn’t enough to overcome their slow start.

The Yankees finished last in 1966 with a record of 70-89.  The good old days.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 3-3 (.500).