CHICAGO WHITE SOX 12, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, June 8, 2008.

Batting stars:  Jason Kubel hit a home run, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  Craig Breslow pitched a perfect inning.  Jesse Crain pitched a perfect inning.  Dennys Reyes pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Alexei Ramirez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and three RBIs.  Nick Swisher was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), two runs, and four RBIs.  Joe Crede was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Jermaine Dye was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-5.  Gavin Floyd struck out nine in seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk.

The game:  It started well.  Chris Gomez led off with a single and Brendan Harris followed with a double, putting men on second and third with none out.  But the Twins could only manage a run-scoring ground out after that, giving them a short-lived 1-0 lead.

Chicago took control after that.  In the second, Paul Konerko hit a ground-rule double, Jim Thome walked, and Nick Swisher hit a three-run homer to make it 3-1.  In the third, the White Sox got a single, two doubles, another single, another double, and two more singles, scoring five runs to take an 8-1 lead.  In the sixth, Jermaine Dye and Swisher doubled, Joe Crede singled, and Alexei Ramirez hit a two-run homer, making the score 12-1.

The Twins never threatened to get back into the game.  Jason Kubel homered leading off the seventh, but that was it, bringing the final score to 12-2 Chicago.

WP:  Gavin Floyd (7-3).

LP:  Kevin Slowey (2-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at first base in place of Justin Morneau, who was the DH.  Jason Kubel, who played the most games at DH with 85, was in right field.  Denard Span, who played the most games in right field, also with 85, was on the bench.  Matt Macri was at second in place of Alexi Casilla.  Brendan Harris was at short.  He played 55 games at short, just a few fewer than Nick Punto (61).  Adam Everett played 44 games at short.  Mike Lamb was at third.  He played 55 games at third, a few fewer than Brian Buscher (64).  Harris played 34 games at third.  As he often did, Ron Gardenhire went with a B lineup in a day game after a night game.

This was Matt Macri’s sixth major league game, and he was batting .429.  He would be sent down about two weeks later, coming back for four games in September.  He would finish at .324.  As this was his only year in the majors, that would be his career batting average.  While it’s certainly not a record, it seems likely this is one of the higher career batting averages among players with 30 or more at-bats.

Joe Mauer was batting .328.  He would finish at .328, which would lead the league.

Craig Breslow had an ERA of 1.93.  He would finish at 1.63.  Dennys Reyes had an ERA of 2.33.  He would finish at 2.33.

A.J. Pierzynski had played for the Twins from 1999-2003.  Jim Thome, who went 0-for-2, played for the Twins from 2010-2011.  Joe Crede played for the Twins in 2009.  Carlos Quentin, who went 1-for-4, went to spring training with the Twins in 2016.

This was the worst start Kevin Slowey made in 2008.  He lasted just three innings and allowed eight runs on ten hits and a walk.  He did strike out four.  You can’t tell it from this game, but he had a pretty good year:  12-11, 3.99, 1.15 WHIP, the best season of his career.  

Gavin Floyd was having the best season of his career.  He would finish 17-8, 3.84, 1.26 WHIP.  

Record:  Chicago was 36-27, in first place in the AL West, five games ahead of Minnesota.  They would finish 89-74, in first place, one game ahead of Minnesota.

The Twins were 31-32, in second place in the AL West, five games behind Chicago.  They would finish 88-75, in second place, one game behind Chicago.  This, of course, was the year the Twins lost game 163 to the White Sox.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-29 (.473).