MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, May 6.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a walk and three RBIs.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched five innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Tony Fiore pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Damian Jackson was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Jose Macias was 2-for-4.  Steve Sparks pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on eleven hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

The game:  Macias' RBI single in the third put the Tigers up 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the fourth, when Jones delivered a two-out two-run single.  In the sixth, the Twins had the bases loaded with one out when Jones hit a sacrifice fly to make it 3-1.  The Tigers had the tying run in scoring position with two out in the eighth, but their last four batters were retired.

WP:  Reed (4-1).  LP:  Sparks (2-3).  S:  Guardado (12).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was again the DH, going 0-for-4...Buchanan was in right field, replacing the Bobby Kielty/Dustan Mohr combination...Denny Hocking was again at second base, going 1-for-4...It is unclear why Reed was removed after just five innings.  He had thrown only 62 pitches.  He had given up a couple of hits in the fifth, but he also got a double play and was not in that much trouble.  It could be that the hits made Ron Gardenhire think it was time to pull him, but it could also be that he had some sort of minor health issue.  He did not miss a start, however...Sparks threw 125 pitches...Jones pulled his average back over .300 at .306...Hunter raised his average to .363...Corey Koskie was 0-for-3 to make his average .304...Buchanan raised his average to .326...A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .315...Fiore's ERA fell to 0.63...Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning to make his ERA 1.38...J. C. Romero gave up a hit and no runs in two-thirds of an inning and dropped his ERA to 0.49...Guardado' ERA went to 1.13...Damian Jackson had a surprisingly long career, playing in parts of twelve seasons.  He was only a regular for three of those seasons, 1999-2001, when he played for San Diego.  The Tigers may have expected him to be their regular second baseman when they traded for him, but he lost time to injury and gradually lost the job to Damion Easley.  He went on to play for Boston, the Cubs, Kansas City, San Diego again, and Washington.  He also spent three years in independent ball before ending his playing career after the 2009 season.  His final career numbers were .243/.323/.356.  He played some outfield in addition to middle infield, which probably extended his career.

Record:  The Twins were 21-12, in first place, a game and a half ahead of Chicago.

DETROIT 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, May 5.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and a walk.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Bobby Higginson was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his second.  Wendell McGee was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Robert Fick was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his third.

The game:  Detroit scored two in the top of the second and Minnesota got one in the bottom of the second.  The Tigers then took control with a five-run fifth.  Fick hit a two-run homer, a sacrifice fly brought in a third run, and McGee hit a two-run homer.  The Twins got one back in the bottom of the fifth on a Doug Mientkiewicz RBI single, but it was still 7-2 going to the seventh.  The Twins then got back into the game, with LeCroy hitting a three-run homer and Brian Buchanan contributing a run-scoring single.  The Twins had men on first and third with one out, but A. J. Pierzynski hit into a double play to end the inning.  Koskie hit a one-out double in the ninth, but did not advance.

WP:  Jeff Weaver (2-4).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (2-2).  S:  Juan Acevedo (2).

Notes:  LeCroy was again the DH in place of David Ortiz.  His average was .318...Bobby Kielty played center field, with Torii Hunter given the day off...Buchanan played right field and was 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .300...Denny Hocking got the call at second base and went 0-for-3...Koskie raised his average to .313...Pierzynski was 0-for-2 with two hit-by-pitches, dropping his average to .318...Lohse pitched well for four innings, but his line was 4.2 innings, six runs, eight hits, two walks, and two strikeouts...Hawkins' ERA dropped to 1.93...Guardado's ERA fell to 1.20...Weaver pitched well for six innings, but did not retire anyone in the seventh.  His line was six innings, four runs (two earned), six hits, three walks, and four strikeouts.  2002 was the best year he had, going a combined 11-11, 3.52, 1.21 WHIP with Detroit and the Yankees.  It was the only year he had an ERA under four as a starter, although he was at 4.01 with the Dodgers in 2004 when he went 13-13, 1.30 WHIP.  He had one other decent year, 2009, when the Dodgers used him mostly in relief.  He was 6-4, 3.65, but with a WHIP of 1.52.  For his career, he was 104-119, 4.71, 1.37 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 20-12, in first place by a half game over the White Sox.

MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 4.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his sixth.   Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base, his second.  The Twins had just four hits.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts.  Mike Jackson pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second), a double, and a walk.  Mark Redman pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on two hits and six walks while striking out five.  Brandon Inge was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the second on a walk, a single, and another walk.  A popup was the first out, but Tom Prince delivered a sacrifice fly to put the Twins on the board.  With Koskie on first and Hunter on third, they pulled off a double steal of second and home to make it 2-0.  A sacrifice fly put got the Tigers a run in the fifth and Halter homered in the sixth to tie it 2-2.  Detroit got a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, but did not score.  In the ninth, Koskie walked and was bunted to second.  Pinch-hitter  A. J. Pierzynski was intentionally walked and pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty reached on an error to load the bases.  Jacque Jones fouled out, but Cristian Guzman delivered an RBI single to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Jackson (2-1).  LP:  Fernando Rodney (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Guzman was back in the lineup at shortstop and batted second.  He went 1-for-5, but the one was obviously a big one...Matthew LeCroy was the DH and went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .333...Prince started at catcher and went 0-for-1 to make his average .333 as well...Jay Canizaro again filled in at second, but was dropped to ninth in the order.  He went 0-for-1 with two walks...Hunter raised his average to .361...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.50...J. C. Romero pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run, making his ERA 0.51...Shane Halter had a pretty undistinguished career other than 2001.  In that season, he batted .284/.344/.467.  The rest of his career he hit .235/.299/.360.  He mostly played shortstop and third base, although he played some second and first, some outfield, and also pitched and caught in two games each.  On October 1, 2000, he pulled off the stunt of playing all nine positions against the Twins.  He faced just one batter as a pitcher, walking LeCroy.  He was with Kansas City from 1997-98, spent most of 1999 in AAA for the Mets, and was with the Tigers from 2000-2003.  He finished his major league career in 2004 with Anaheim, although he also played briefly in AAA for the Cubs in 2005.  He is currently a coach for the Southern Athletics Baseball Academy in Texarkana, Texas.

Record:  The Twins were 20-11, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.  I don't remember, but I would think that even this early in the season, it was frustrating to be playing this well and not be able to increase the lead over the White Sox.

MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second) and a double, driving in four.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jay Canizaro was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero and Bob Wells each pitched a scoreless inning and recorded one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-4 with a double.  Randall Simon was 2-for-4.  Craig Paquette hit a three-run homer, his third.

The game:  The Tigers had a man on second with two out in the first.  Then came an RBI single by Simon, a single by Halter, and a three-run homer by Paquette to give Detroit a 4-0 lead.  As you might have guessed, Brad Radke was pitching.  After allowing four runs on four hits in the first inning, however, Radke allowed no runs on one hit over the next six innings.  Meanwhile, the Twins got back into the game in the third.  They started the inning with three singles, loading the bases.  Canizaro brought one home with a ground out and Mientkiewicz hit a two-run double to pull the Twins within one at 4-3.  In the fifth, with the bases loaded and two out, Koskie came through with a two-run single to give the Twins their first lead, 5-4.  They got some insurance runs in the seventh on a two-run homer by Mientkiewicz and an RBI single by Pierzynski.

WP:  Radke (3-2).  LP:  Nate Cornejo (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Canizaro once again got the call at second base.  He was on a small hot streak, going 6-for-17 to raise his average to .228...Brian Buchanan got the call at DH and went 1-for-4...Denny Hocking was again at shortstop and went 1-for-4 to get his average back to the Mendoza line at .200...Radke struck out seven in seven innings, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk...Romero's ERA dropped to 0.53 in 17 innings.  It will get as low as 0.31, as he won't give up another run until May 29...Nate Cornejo, who had shut the Twins down in a complete game victory April 27, did not have as much success in this game.  He pitched six innings but allowed six runs on ten hits and a walk with two strikeouts...The win was the Twins' fifth straight...Eddie Guardado got a night off, having recorded saves in each of the three previous games...Paquette had been a decent player, but he was about out of gas in 2002.  He was never a regular, only once getting over 400 at-bats in a season (1996 with Kansas City).  He got between 250 and 400 at-bats in six other seasons, though.  His highest OPS in those seasons was .791 in 2001.  His primary position was third base, but he played 200 games in the outfield, 100 at first base, and 43 games in the middle infield.  He would start 2003 with the Tigers, but be released in late April, ending his major league career.  He played eleven AAA games for St. Louis later that season and did not play again until 2007, when he had his swan song for Camden in the Atlantic League.  He actually has a Twins connection--he was drafted by them in the 36th round in 1987, but did not sign.  Could he have beaten out Scott Leius and Ron Coomer?  I guess we'll never know.

Record:  The Twins were 19-11, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.

MINNESOTA 7, TAMPA BAY 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his third and fourth) and three RBIs.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4 with a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 with a triple and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Matt Kinney pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts.  Tony Fiore pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Steve Cox was 3-for-5 with a double.  Ben Grieve was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Devil Rays scored once in the fourth to take a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Tampa Bay scored five times to take a 6-0 lead.  They opened the inning with three consecutive hits and then put together four consecutive two-out hits, two of them doubles.  The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the seventh.  Koskie hit a two-run homer to put them on the board.  Later in the inning, Bobby Kielty walked and scored on Pierzynski's triple.  Jacque Jones delivered an RBI single to score Pierzynski and cut the lead to 6-4.  It was still 6-4 going to the bottom of the ninth.  Esteban Yan came in and walked Pierzynski and Denny Hocking to start the inning.  Steven Kent then came in.  Jones bunted the men over to second and third.  Jay Canizaro fouled out, but Doug Mientkiewicz singled in two runs to tie the score 6-6.  In the bottom of the tenth, Koskie hit his second home run to win the game.

WP:  Fiore (2-0).  LP:  Kent (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Canizaro again started at second base, going 0-for-5...LeCroy again was the DH and raised his average to .361...Hocking was again the shortstop and was 0-for-2 with two walks, dropping his average to .196...It was Pierzynski's second triple of the season.  He would go on to hit six in 2002, his career high.  He had 24 triples for his career...It was Kinney's second good start in three outings in 2002...Jack Cressend gave up the first three hits in the seventh inning and was charged with three runs.  This was his twelfth game of the season.  He had gone unscored upon in eight of them (8.1 innings).  In the other four games, he gave up twelve runs (4.2 innings)...This was Fiore's fifth game.  He had given up just one run in thirteen innings for an ERA of 0.69.  He obviously wouldn't keep that up, but he had a fine season in 2002, going 10-3, 3.16, 1.29 WHIP.  He finished eighth in Rookie of the Year voting at age thirty.  It was the only good year he had and in fact, he would only pitch in the majors for one more year.  He would continue to pitch through 2007, ending his playing career in Italy.

Record:  The Twins were 18-11, taking over first place by a half game over Chicago.

MINNESOTA 5, TAMPA BAY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, May 1.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a stolen base, his third.  Jay Canizaro was 3-for-5 with a double.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed struck out seven in six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks.  Mike Jackson retired all four batters he faced, striking out one.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Steve Cox was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Greg Vaughn was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  in the first, Jason Tyner tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Devil Rays a 1-0 lead.  It went to 3-0 in the third when Cox delivered a two-out two-run single.  The Twins took the lead with a four-run fourth.  Brian Buchanan led off with a single followed by a Torii Hunter double.  Koskie then came through with a two-run double and, with one out, Tom Prince hit a two-run homer to give Minnesota a 4-3 advantage.  Tampa Bay loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but Reed was allowed to work his way out of it and did, getting a strike out and a ground out.  In the seventh the Devil Rays got a pair of two-out singles, but Jackson came on to strike out Vaughn to end the inning and Tampa Bay did not get another man on base.  In the eighth, Jones doubled, stole third, and scored on a Canizaro single to round out the scoring.

WP:  Reed (3-1).  LP:  Tanyon Sturtze (0-3).  S:  Guardado (11).

Notes:  Canizaro again played second base...Buchanan was once again the DH.  He went 1-for-5 to make his average .303...Prince replaced A. J. Pierzynski behind the plate and went 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.  His average was .348...Denny Hocking filled in at shortstop and went 2-for-3, raising his average over the Mendoza line to .204...Jones raised his average to .319...Hunter went 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .370...Dustan Mohr was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .347...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.69 and Guardado's ERA fell to 1.29...The Devil Rays started three players who would have Twins connections:  Brent Abernathy, Tyner, and Chris Gomez.  They combined to go 3-for-14, with each getting one hit...Vaughn was batting just .116 after this game.  He was thirty-six and nearly to the end of his career at this point.  He had been a fine player for several years, making four all-star teams and twice finishing fourth in MVP voting.  He hit fifty home runs for San Diego in 1998, leading the Padres to the World Series, and hit over forty two other times.  In 2002, however, he would bat only .163 with an OPS of .601 and 8 home runs.  He would struggle through a month and a half with Colorado in 2003, used mostly as a pinch-hitter, and then his playing career was over.  He ended with 355 home runs and a career OPS of .807.  That's the most home runs for a player with a last name beginning with V, ahead of his cousin Mo Vaughn.  He's also a cousin of former major league player Jerry Royster.  He is currently involved in raising money for diabetes research.

Record:  The Twins were 17-11, in second place, a half game behind Chicago.

MINNESOTA 6, TAMPA BAY 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with a double.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jason Conti was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Ben Grieve was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.  Chris Gomez was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Twins scored three in each of the first two innings.  That was all they got, but it was enough.  In the first, Kielty had a leadoff double, went to third on a bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Doug Mientkiewicz.  Buchanan then singled and scored on Hunter's two-run homer to make it 2-0.  In the second, Dustan Mohr doubled, A. J. Pierzynski singled, and Denny Hocking walked to load the bases.  Kielty singled one home, another scored on a ground out, and a third came in on an error, making it 6-0 Twins.  The Devil Rays got on the board in the fifth on a two-run double by Conti.  Grieve homered with two out in the eighth to finish the scoring.

WP:  Lohse (2-1).  LP:  Ryan Rupe (3-2).  S:  Guardado (10).

Notes:  Kielty played left, giving Jacque Jones a day off.  He batted leadoff...Jay Canizaro again played second, going 1-for-2 with a walk...Buchanan was the DH and raised his average to .321...Hunter raised his average to .371.  He couldn't be expected to keep that up, of course, and he didn't, batting .270 the rest of the season...Mohr went 1-for-3 with a walk to make his average .366.  He couldn't keep it up, either, batting .247 the rest of the way...Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .316...Denny Hocking played short, again replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 1-for-2 with a walk...Guardado's ERA dropped to 1.38...Steven Kent pitched two shutout innings for the Devil Rays.  This was his only season in the majors.  He was a Rule 5 player and Tampa Bay kept him all year.  He started the season pretty well, and had a 3.77 ERA through June 19.  He didn't do so well after that, though, finishing the season 0-2, 5.65.  Oddly, after keeping him on the roster all season, the Devil Rays waived him in November and he went to Florida.  He eventually went to the Colorado, Atlanta, and Houston organizations, never making it back to the majors.  He had an excellent season in AA in 2004 for Atlanta and did well in AAA in 2006 for Houston, but didn't have much other success.  He started playing independent ball in 2007 and continued to do so through 2012.

Record:  Minnesota was 16-11, in second place, a half game behind Chicago.

MINNESOTA 3, TAMPA BAY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, April 29.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Randy Winn was 2-for-4 with a double.  Brent Abernathy was 2-for-4.  Joe Kennedy pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

The game:  Tampa Bay took the lead in the first on three singles, the last a run-scoring hit by Ben Grieve.  The Twins took the lead in the second.  Hunter led off with a double.  Mohr tied it with a one-out single.  Pierzynski doubled to put men on second and third and Denny Hocking followed with a sacrifice fly to make it 2-1 Twins.  The Devil Rays tied it in the fifth when Russ Johnson led off with a walk, stole second, and scored on Abernathy's single.  The Twins got the lead back in the seventh when Mohr doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on another Hocking sacrifice fly.

WP:  Milton (4-2).  LP:  Kennedy (1-2).  S:  Guardado (9).

Notes:  Jay Canizaro again got the call at second base and also batted second.  He went 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping his average to .175...Matthew LeCroy was again the DH and went 1-for-4, making his average .344...Hocking started at shortstop, replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 0-for-1, but delivered two important sacrifice flies.  Guzman apparently had a minor injury, as he would not play again until May 4...Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .306...Hunter raised his average to .366...Mohr raised his average to .368...Pierzynski was now batting .320...Guardado's ERA fell to 1.50...This was probably Joe Kennedy's second-best major league season as a starter.  He went 8-11, 4.53 with a WHIP of 1.32.  He spent six seasons as a starter in the big leagues and only once had an ERA below 4.50.  For his career, he was 43-61, 4.79, 1.47 WHIP.  Oddly, his best season as a starter came when he was playing in Colorado:  9-7, 3.66.  He had a fine season out of the bullpen for Oakland in 2006, going 4-1, 2.31 in 39 appearances (34 innings, leading one to think he may have often been used as a LOOGY).  It's possible that if he'd remained in that role he might have stuck around a long time, but the Athletics put him back into the starting rotation in 2007 and he went back to pitching the way he had the rest of his career.  He finished 2007 with Toronto and then his career was over.

Record:  The Twins were 15-11, in second place, a half game behind Chicago.

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN DETROIT

Date:  Sunday, April 28.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Ex-Twin Mark Redman struck out eight in seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.  Bobby Higginson was 3-for-5.  Randall Simon was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.

The game:  Simon's RBI single put the Tigers up 1-0 in the first inning.  The Twins tied it in the second on Koskie's run-scoring single.  It stayed 1-1 until the fourth, when Brandon Inge hit a home run to give Detroit a 2-1 advantage.  The Tigers took it to 4-1 in the fifth on Simon's two-run homer.  Minnesota got back into it in the eighth when Koskie hit a two-out two-run homer to cut the margin to 4-3.  In the ninth, Bobby Kielty delivered a pinch-hit leadoff triple and scored on a ground out to tie it up 4-4.  Mike Jackson came on to pitch the ninth.  He retired the first two batters but then gave up a single to Wendell McGee, bringing in J. C. Romero.  Romero walked Robert Fick and then gave up a run-scoring single to Higginson to end the game.

WP:  Julio Santana (1-0).  LP:  Jackson (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was again the DH with David Ortiz out.  He raised his average to .357...Brian Buchanan was again in right field rather than Dustan Mohr or Kielty.  He went 0-for-3 with a walk...Tom Prince gave A. J. Pierzynski a day off behind the plate.  He was 1-for-3 to make his average .368...Denny Hocking got the call at second base this time and went 0-for-3.  Gardy appears to have been hoping either Hocking or Canizaro would lay claim to the second base job in the absence of Luis Rivas, but so far neither of them had...Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and a walk with one strikeout.  His ERA on the season was now 6.48...Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .317...Hunter's average went to .361...Redman had a decent season in 2002.  His record was just 8-15, but it was with an ERA of 4.21 and a WHIP of 1.29.  His best year would be 2003, when he went 14-9, 3.59 in helping the Florida Marlins win the World Series...In my memory, Bobby Higginson always killed the Twins.  He did well against them this year, batting .324/.329/.479.  For his career, though, he batted .259/.329/.456, not bad but nothing that exciting.  He did hit twenty home runs against them--maybe I just happened to see the games when he hit one or something.

Record:  The Twins were 14-11, in second place, a game behind Chicago.

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN DETROIT

Date:  Saturday, April 27.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCory was 2-for-4 with a double.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-4.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eighth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched four innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits and no walks with one strikeout.  Jack Cressend pitched a perfect inning of relief.

Opposition stars:  Nate Cornejo pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and a walk with eight strikeouts.  Bobby Higginson was 3-for-4 with a triple.  Randall Simon was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

The game:  In the first inning, Higginson had an RBI triple and scored on Simon's single to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.  Hunter hit a one-out homer in the second to cut the lead to 2-1, but Detroit scored two more in the third on Simon's two-run homer to make it 4-1.  The Twins left the bases loaded in the second and left two on in the third and fourth.  They stranded ten for the game and went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position.

WP:  Cornejo (1-2).  LP:  Matt Kinney (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was again at DH...Buchanan was in right field, replacing Dustan Mohr...Jay Canizaro got the start at second base and was 1-for-1 with a hit-by-pitch...Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting .330...Hunter dropped his average to .366...LeCroy raised his average to .348...Buchanan raised his average to .333...A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 to make his average .319...Matt Kinney started and pitched just three innings, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk with three strikeouts...Fiore gave up his first run of the season in ten innings...This was the only complete game and the only win of the season for Cornejo.  He did pitch two complete games the next season, 2003.  In 2002 he would stay in the Tigers rotation through May 20, then was sent to AAA, coming back as a September call-up.  He would be in the rotation for all of 2003, but went 6-17, 4.67.  For his career, he was 12-29, 5.41 in 56 starts.  He wasn't all that good at AAA, either, going 13-8 but with a 4.24 ERA and a WHIP of 1.44.  But the Tigers had terrible teams then, and he'd been a first-round draft choice, so he got his shot.  He stayed in the Tigers organization through 2005, was in AAA with the White Sox in 2006, and then was done.