NEW YORK YANKEES 4, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 11, 2002.

Batting star:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out five.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Bernie Williams was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs.  Robin Ventura was 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBIs.  Ted Lilly pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out one.  Mike Stanton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The only man to get as far as second base in the first three innings was Dustan Mohr, who led off the game with a single and advanced to second on a wild pitch.  Each team scored once in the fourth.  For New York, Derek Jeter singled and Jason Giambi walked.  Jeter went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a double play.  For the Twins, Matthew LeCroy hit a two-out double and scored on a Bobby Kielty single.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth, as Torii Hunter hit a one-out double and scored on a two-out single by Brian Buchanan.  The Yankees tied it right back up in the seventh when Bernie Williams tripled with one out and scored on a Robin Ventura single.

New York threatened in the eighth.  John Vander Wal singled and went to third on a one-out double by Alfonso Soriano.  Nick Johnson then grounded to second, and pinch-runner Gerald Williams was thrown out at the plate.  In the ninth, however, Bernie Williams doubled with one out and Robin Ventura followed with a two-run homer, making the score 4-2.  The Twins got a man on first with one out in the bottom of the ninth, but could do no more.

WP:  Mike Stanton (2-0).

LP:  Eddie Guardado (0-1).

S:  Mariano Rivera (12).

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Matthew LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Denny Hocking was at second in place of Luis Rivas.  Casey Blake was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Dustan Mohr was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Mohr made most of his appearances in right, but Bobby Kielty was in right.  Brian Buchanan was the DH in place of David Ortiz.  

Torii Hunter was batting .345.  He would finish at .289.  Tom Prince was batting .323.  He would finish at .224.  Matthew LeCroy was batting .329.  He would finish at .260.  Dustan Mohr was batting .329.  He would finish at .269.  Jacque Jones was batting .308.  He would finish at .300.

J. C. Romero had an ERA of 0.45.  He would finish at 1.89.  Mike Jackson had an ERA of 1.32.  He would finish at 3.27.  Eddie Guardado had an ERA of 2.12.  He would finish at 2.93.

I don’t know why Ron Gardenhire went with what we used to call the “B” lineup in this game.  I had thought perhaps it was a day game after a night game, but b-r.com indicates this was a night game, too.

Bernie Williams had fifty-five triples in his career, but this was his first since 2000.  He would have one more in 2002 and just four more for his career.

Record:  New York was 23-14, in second place in the AL East, three games behind Boston.  They would finish 103-58, in first place, 10.5 games ahead of Boston.

The Twins were 22-15, in first place in the AL Central, one game ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 94-67, in first place, 13.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 24-26 (.480).