MINNESOTA TWINS 9, TEXAS RANGERS 6, IN TEXAS
Date: Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Batting star: Joe Mauer was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twenty-fourth and twenty-fifth) and three RBIs. Michael Cuddyer was 3-for-5 with two doubles. Brendan Harris was 2-for-3 with a walk. Denard Span was 2-for-4 with a walk. Delmon Young was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh), a double, and four RBIs. Orlando Cabrera was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: Jesse Crain pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one. Matt Guerrier pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one. Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one. Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer, his twenty-sixth.
Opposition star: Julio Borbon was 3-for-4 with a walk. Omar Vizquel was 2-for-4. Michael Young was 2-for-5.
The game: Julio Borbon and Michael Young led off the bottom of the first with singles, putting men on first and third, but could only score one on a double play. In the third, though, they appeared to take control of the game. Borbon led off the inning with a walk. With one out, Josh Hamilton hit an RBI double. Marlon Byrd walked. The next man went out, but Ian Kinsler hit a three-run homer, giving Texas a 5-0 lead.
Joe Mauer led off the fourth with a home run, but it was still 5-1 going to the sixth. In the sixth, however, Orlando Cabrera led off with a single-plus-error and scored on a Brendan Harris single. Singles by Michael Cuddyer and Joe Crede produced another run, and Delmon Young followed with a two-run double, tying the score 5-5.
The Rangers got the lead back in the bottom of the sixth on two-out singles by Omar Vizquel, Julio Borbon, and Michael Young. Undaunted, the Twins went into the lead to stay in the seventh. Joe Mauer again led off with a home run to tie the game. Brendan Harris followed with an infield single, and with two out Delmon Young delivered a two-run homer to put the Twins ahead 8-6. They got an extra insurance run in the eighth on consecutive singles by Denard Span, Orlando Cabrera, and Mauer to make it 9-6. Texas did not bring the tying run to bat after that, and the Twins came away with a victory.
WP: Jesse Crain (4-4).
LP: Jason Jennings (2-4).
S: Joe Nathan (30).
Notes: Michael Cuddyer was at first base in place of Justin Morneau. Nick Punto was at second base. Alexi Casilla played the most games there with 72, with Punto right behind at 63. Denard Span was in right field in place of Cuddyer.
Joe Mauer was batting .383. He would finish at a league-leading .365. Jason Kubel was batting .311. He would finish at .300.
Carl Pavano started for the Twins. This was his third start as a Twin, having been traded from Cleveland for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Yohan Pino. He would pitch for the Twins through 2012. He was really good in 2010, going 17-11, 3.75, 1.20 WHIP and leading the league in complete games and shutouts. He was still decent in 2011, but that was about it for him.
Philip Humber pitched 1.1 innings of relief for the Twins. He would appear in only three more games for the Twins. He would pitch for four more seasons and was pretty good in one of them, 2011 with the White Sox. He was somehow able to pitch in parts of eight seasons and make 51 starts while compiling a record of 16-23, 5.21, 1.42 WHIP.
Joe Mauer won his third batting title in 2009 and had his best season. He batted .365/.444/.587, leading the league in each of those categories, and, of course, in OPS and OPS+. Plus Gold Glove defense. An amazing season.
Texas catcher Taylor Teagarden played for parts of eight seasons, but this was the only one in which he got more than eighty-five at-bats. He had 510 at-bats in his career and batted .202/.260./376. One assumes he was considered good defensively and a good guy in the clubhouse.
Record: Texas was 67-51, in second place in the AL West, 5.5 games behind Los Angeles. They would finish 87-75, in second place, ten games behind Los Angeles.
The Twins were 57-62, in third place in the AL Central, 6.5 games behind Detroit. They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit due to winning game 163.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 43-46 (.483).