MINNESOTA TWINS 12, OAKLAND ATHLETICS 10 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 19, 2001.

Batting stars: Brian Buchanan was 4-for-5 with a double, a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.  Tom Prince was 3-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 3-for-6 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Luis Rivas was 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBIs.  Casey Blake was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Frank Menechino was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Terrence Long was 2-for-4.  Jason Giambi was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Johnny Damon was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Jeremy Giambi hit a two-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  Damon led off the game with a single and Menechino followed with a two-run homer, giving Oakland a 2-0 lead two batters into the game.  The Twins had men on first and second in each of the first two innings and had a man on second in the third, but it was still 2-0 until the fourth, when Long hit a two-out single and Jeremy Giambi followed with a two-run homer, making the score 4-0 Athletics.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth on one-out singles by Denny Hocking and Blake and a Prince sacrifice fly.  They then took the lead in the fifth.  With one out, Mientkiewicz was hit by a pitch.  Buchanan and Koskie had consecutive RBI doubles to cut the deficit to 4-3.  With two out, Hocking walked and Blake and Prince delivered RBI singles, putting the Twins in front 5-4.

The Twins kept adding to the lead.  In the sixth, one-out singles by Mientkiewicz and Buchanan were followed by Koskie’s two-run double, making the score 7-4.  Prince led off the seventh with a triple.  One-out singles by Rivas, Mientkiewicz, and Buchanan followed, putting the Twins up 9-4.

Oakland tried to get back into the game in the eighth.  Menechino led off with a walk, Jason Giambi singled, and Ron Gant delivered a two-run double to cut the lead to 9-6.  There were still none out, but the next three batters were retired to end the inning.  The Twins got the runs back with interest in the bottom of the eighth.  A walk and a strikeout/passed ball put men on first and second with two out.  Rivas delivered an RBI single, Mientkiewicz walked, and Buchanan drove in two with a single, giving the Twins a seemingly comfortable 12-6 lead going to the ninth.

But the Athletics weren’t done.  Giambi walked.  Damon singled with one out, and Menechino singled to drive home a run.  Menechino then drove in a run with a single, Jason Giambi doubled home another, and Billy McMillon hit a two-run double, cutting the lead to 12-10.  The tying run was at the plate, but Miguel Tejada popped up and Eric Chavez grounded out to end them game.

WP:  Eric Milton (9-3).

LP:  Barry Zito (6-7).

S:  LaTroy Hawkins (25).

Notes:  Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Buchanan was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Blake was at DH in place of David Ortiz.

Mientkiewicz was batting .319.  He would finish at .306.  Blake was batting .318.  That’s where he would finish as a Twin in 2001, because he was sent to AAA after this game, was waived in September, and finished the season with Baltimore.  He would come back to the Twins in 2002, but be released after the season and sign with Cleveland, where he would go on to have some fine seasons.  Matt Lawton was batting .307.  He would finish at .293.

This was the third of four triples Prince would hit in his career.  His last would come the following season.

The Twins used five relief pitchers:  Eddie Guardado, Bob Wells, Travis Miller, Jack Cressend, and Hawkins.

Eric Milton was an all-star in 2001, something I had forgotten.  I suppose the Twins had to have somebody.  He was 8-3, 3.73 in the first half, decent numbers but not numbers that scream “all-star”.  He was 7-4, 5.01 in the second half, for a total of 15-7, 4.32.

Record:  Oakland was 50-45, in second place in the AL West, 18 games behind Seattle.  They would finish 102-60, in second place, 14 games behind Seattle.  This, of course, was the year the Mariners won 116 games.  It must stink to win 102 games and be nowhere close to the division title.

Minnesota was 58-37, in first place in the AL Central, 3 games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, 6 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 8-6 (.571).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX 8, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 22, 2022

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 3-for-5 with a double.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Michael Restovich was 2-for-4.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Johan Santana pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  

Opposition stars:  D’Angelo Jimenez was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourth) and two runs.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-seventh) and three RBIs.  Magglio Ordonez hit a home run, his thirty-sixth.  Mark Buehrle pitched six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out three.  Antonio Osuna struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins got singles from Rivas and LeCroy in the first, and a passed ball put men on second and third with two out, but a ground out ended the inning.  In the bottom of the first, Jimenez singled and Thomas hit a two-run homer, making it 2-0 Chicago.

The Twins got on the board in the second.  Michael Cuddyer walked and singles by Restovich and A. J. Pierzynski produced a run.  The Twins still had men on first and second with none out, but Denny Hocking popped up a bunt and a double play ended the inning.  The White Sox got the run back in the bottom of the inning when Jeff Liefer doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly, making it 3-1.  

The Twins threatened in the third.  Mohr led off with a double, but was thrown out trying to go to third on a fly to center.  They had a chance to score anyway, as LeCroy singled and Corey Koskie walked, but a ground out ended the inning.  Chicago got another run in the bottom of the inning when Jose Valentin walked, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Thomas single, increasing the lead to 4-1.  The White Sox put it away in the fourth.  Joe Crede and Aaron Rowand hit one-out singles, and with two down Jimenez hit a three-run homer.  

The lead was 7-1, and the Twins would not get back into the game.  They did get one more run in the fifth, when singles by Rivas and Mohr put men on first and third with none out and a double play brought a run home, but that was it.  Ordonez rounded out the scoring with a home run leading off the eighth.

WP:  Buehrle (19-11).

LP:  Joe Mays (4-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Restovich was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Cuddyer was in right field, with Mohr moving from right to center.  Torii Hunter was the DH in place of David Ortiz.  The Twins had clinched the division at this point.

Pierzynski was batting .304.  He would finish at .300.  Restovich was batting .300.  He would finish at .308 in 13 at-bats.  Javier Valentin, who came in at catcher for Pierzynski late in the game, was batting .667.  He would finish at .500 (2-for-4).

Hawkins had an ERA of 2.18.  He would finish at 2.13, easily his best season in the majors up to this point.  J. C. Romero had an ERA of 1.96.  He would finish at 1.89.

We talked about Mays a few days ago.  He did pitch much better in the second half of 2002, after he came back from injury.  Not great, but his ERA in the second half was 4.52 with a WHIP of 1.30.

Santana made fourteen starts and had thirteen relief appearances in 2002

Jimenez was a future Twin, playing in their farm system in 2010.  Another future Twin, Joe Crede, was 1-for-4.  I always remember him as “Home Run Greedy Crede” because of a Twins radio commercial at the time.

The Twins out-hit Chicago 12-9, but still lost by six runs.  Eleven of the twelve hits were singles.  They stranded nine men and went 1-for-12 with men in scoring position.

Record:  Chicago was 79-77, in second place, 10.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 81-81, in second place, 13.5 games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 89-66, in first place, 10.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 94-67, in first place, 13.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 7-5 (.583).