OAKLAND 9, MINNESOTA 1 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Wednesday, October 2.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-1 with a double.  Cristian Guzman was 1-for-3 with a home run.

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

Opposition stars:  Mark Mulder pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out three.  Mark Ellis was 3-for-4 with a double.  Eric Chavez was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and a walk.

The game:  In the bottom of the first, Ray Durham walked, Scott Hatteberg doubled, and Chavez hit a three-run homer to give the Athletics a 3-0 lead.  Oakland loaded the bases in the third but did not score.  The Twins were not so lucky in the fourth.  The Athletics had a man on first and two out when Miguel Tejada hit an RBI double to make it 4-0.  An intentional walk and an accidental walk loaded the bases.  David Justice unloaded them with a triple, making it 7-0.  An Ellis double increased the lead to 8-0.  Hatteberg's RBI single in the sixth boosted the lead to 9-0.  Guzman got the Twins on the board with a home run leading off the sixth, but that was as good as it got.  Oakland cruised to the victory and evened the series 1-1.

WP:  Mulder.  LP:  Joe Mays.  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was the DH rather than David Ortiz.

Cuddyer was again in right field, going 0-for-1 with a walk.  He was replaced by pinch-hitter Bobby Kielty in the seventh inning.

Mays lasted 3.2 innings, allowing six runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out one.

I don't remember what people thought at the time, but Mays seems like a really odd choice to start Game Two.  Of the seven pitchers to start more than three games for the Twins in 2002, he had the worst ERA and was only better than Matt Kinney in FIP and WHIP.  He had pitched better in September than he had the rest of the season, but it's not like he was on a roll.  It's obviously easy to criticize a choice after the fact, but still.  You had weeks to get your rotation set up, you have Rick Reed and Johan Santana available, and you go with Joe Mays?  It seems strange.

Record:  The best-of-five series was tied 1-1.

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 5 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Tuesday, October 1.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 4-for-4 with a triple.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ray Durham was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Eric Chavez was 2-for-5.  David Justice was 2-for-5.

The game:  A walk and an error put men on first and second with one out in the first for the Athletics.  Chavez then hit a single-plus-error that scored two runs, giving Oakland a 2-0 lead.  Justice delivered an RBI single that made it 3-0.  The Twins got on the board in the second on doubles by Torii Hunter and Cuddyer, but the Athletics scored two in the the bottom of the second to make it 5-1.  Their first two batters went out in that inning, but Durham doubled, Hatteberg singled him in, and error put men on first and third, and Chavez singled in a run.  So, through two innings, the Twins had made three errors and allowed four unearned runs.  Koskie hit a two-run homer in the third to make it 5-3.  The Twins opened the fourth with a walk and a single, but did not score.  Doug Mientkiewicz opened the sixth with a home run to cut the lead to 5-4.  With one out, Pierzynski and Luis Rivas singled and Jones doubled to tie it 5-5.  A walk loaded the bases and Koskie's grounder to first put the Twins ahead 6-5.  Oakland put men on first and second with one out in the sixth, but did not score.  With two out in the seventh, Cuddyer singled and scored on a Pierzynski triple to bring home an insurance run at 7-5.  With two out in the ninth, a single and a walk put two Athletics on with two out, but Guardado retired pinch-hitter Adam Piatt on a fly to left to end the game.

WP:  Brad Radke  LP:  Ted Lilly.  S:  Guardado.

Notes:  Ron Gardenhire made kind of a daring move by playing the rookie Cuddyer in right field, rather than Bobby Kielty or Dustan Mohr.  As you can see, it paid off.

It was also kind of a daring move to use Radke as the game one starter.  He'd had an injury plagued season and did not appear to be the best starter on the team that year.  He gave up five runs in five innings, but only one of the runs was earned.  He allowed eight hits and a walk and struck out three.  It's a matter of opinion whether it "paid off" or if they just got away with it, but either way, it worked out.

Oakland starter Tim Hudson did have a fine season, going 15-9, 2.98, 1.26 WHIP.  He was not really the best starter on his staff either, though--Barry Zito went 23-5, 2.75, 1.13.  Mark Mulder was just about as good, too.  The Athletics definitely appeared to have stronger starting pitchers than the Twins.  Still, in this game, Hudson pitched just 5.1 innings and gave up four runs on eight hits and two hits, striking out four.

Ted Lilly was primarily a starting pitcher throughout his career.  He did, however, make six relief appearances in 2002, including one for Oakland after his trade from the Yankees.  He pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk and struck out one.  Coincidentally, he was traded from Oakland to Toronto after the 2003 season for Bobby Kielty,

Record:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five series.

MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 29.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-3 with two doubles.  Todd Sears was 2-for-2 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton struck out six in five shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk.  Rick Reed struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jon Garland pitched seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Aaron Rowand was 2-for-4.  Willie Harris was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  There was no score until the third, when Luis Rivas hit a two-out single and scored from first on Jones' double.  The White Sox nearly tied it in the fifth, but were thwarted when Aaron Rowand was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on an infield single.  They did tie it in the seventh, when Rowand scored on a double by Miguel Olivo.  The Twins started the bottom of the seventh with two singles but did not get the runners past first and second.  The first two Twins in the eighth were retired, but Matthew LeCroy walked and Kielty delivered a two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-1.  Joe Crede opened the ninth with a double, bringing the tying run up to bat.  The next two batters were retired, but a wild pitch and a walk put men on first and third.  Harris then struck out to end the game.

WP:  Bob Wells (2-1).  LP:  Mike Porzio (2-2).  S:  J. C. Romero (1).

Notes:  The Twins again treated this like a spring training game.  The only player to play the entire game was Michael Cuddyer, and he shifted from right field to third base in the fifth inning.

Jones raised his average to .300.

Sears ended the season at .333 (4-for-12).

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-2 and closed out his season at .300.

Michael Restovich was 0-for-1 and ended the season at .308 (4-for-13).

Reed made his only relief appearance of the season and his first since 1997.  Presumably he just wanted an inning to help stay sharp for the playoffs.

Eddie Guardado was held out of the game.  As shown above, Romero got his lone save of the season.

Record:  The Twins closed out the season 94-67, in first place, leading Chicago by 13.5 games.  They would take on Oakland in the American League Division Series.

MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 28.

Batting stars:  Michael Cuddyer was 3-for-3 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his eleventh.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse struck out seven in five innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits and four walks.  Johan Santana struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Mark Buehrle pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out seven.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4.  D'Angelo Jimenez was 1-for-3 with two walks.

The game:  The White Sox put men on first and second with none out in the first and failed to score.  LeCroy singled home a run in the bottom of the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins missed a chance to increase the lead in the second, opening the inning with two singles but not bringing them home.  In the fifth, an error and two walks loaded the bases and Maggilo Ordonez delivered a two-out two-run single to give Chicago a 2-1 lead.  The White Sox had men on first and second with one out in the sixth and did not score.  They had men on second and third in the seventh but again did not score.  The Twins had a similar failure in the bottom of the seventh, putting men on first and third with none out and not scoring.  In the eighth, Kielty came through with a two-out two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-2.  Chicago got a walk leading off the ninth but did not advance the runner past first base.

WP:  LaTroy Hawkins (6-0).  LP:  Mark Buehrle (19-12).  S:  Eddie Guardado (45).

Notes:  LeCroy was the DH in place of David Ortiz.  Ortiz came in to play first base later in the game and went 1-for-2 with a double.

Cuddyer was the right fielder.

A. J. PIerzynski was 1-for-2 to make his average .301.

Denny Hocking was the second baseman in place of Luis Rivas.  He moved to short later in the game, with David Lamb taking over at second.  Hocking was 0-for-2.

The Twins basically treated this like a spring training game.  The only players to play the entire game were Cuddyer, Hocking, and Corey Koskie.  Lohse came out after five innings, throwing 81 pitches.

The Twins won a bunch of games late in 2002, and that's reflected in the won-lost records of some of their relievers.  Tony Fiore was 10-3.  J. C. Romero was 9-2.  As shown above, LaTroy Hawkins was 6-0.

Santana got his ERA below three at 2.99.

Hawkins' ERA was 2.13.

Guardado pitched a scoreless inning to drop his ERA to 2.93.

Chicago stranded eleven runners and went 1-for-10 with men in scoring position.

While it was basically a meaningless game, one suspects the Twins may have taken some pleasure in denying Buehrle his twentieth win.

Record:  The Twins were 93-67, in first place, leading Chicago by 12.5 games.

MINNESOTA 3, CHICAGO 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 27.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, his ninth.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifteenth.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk and striking out four.  Tony Fiore pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jon Rauch, who is tall, pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out four.  Jose Valentin was 2-for-4 with a double.  Aaron Rowand was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The White Sox took the lead in the first inning, as Valentin doubled and scored on a Magglio Ordonez single.  Chicago put men on first and third with none out in the second but failed to increase their lead.  The Twins tied it in the sixth on three consecutive singles, the last a bunt single by Cristian Guzman that tied the score 1-1.  In the eighth, Koskie hit a two-out two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-1.  The White Sox had men on first and second with one out in the ninth, but Willie Harris popped up and Miguel Oliva fanned to end the game.

WP:  Fiore (10-3).  LP:  Gary Glover (7-8).  S:  Guardado (44).

Notes:  Jacque Jones returned to the lineup and to the leadoff spot, going 1-for-3.

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-2 to lower his average to .300.

The Twins used three different first basemen.  Doug Mientkiewicz started, Matthew LeCroy came in to start the sixth, and Todd Sears started the ninth.  There do not appear to be any injuries involved, and there were no pinch-hitters or pinch-runners.  One surmises that Mientkiewicz was simply being given half the game off, and that Sears was brought in for defense once the Twins got ahead.

Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.97.

This was Rauch's best game of the season, although it didn't have a lot of competition.  For 2002, his rookie year, he was 2-1, 6.59.  He was a starting pitcher until July of 2004, when the White Sox traded him to Montreal.  He made two starts for the Expos and one the next season for the Nationals, but was primarily a reliever after the trade.  For all of that time, however, he remained tall.

Record:  The Twins were 92-67, in first place, leading Chicago by 11.5 games.

CLEVELAND 8, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 26.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-2 with a home run (his twenty-ninth), a double, and a walk.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.  Tom Prince was 1-for-1 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke struck out six in six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks.  Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Brandon Phillips was 3-for-4 with a triple, two doubles, and a hit-by-pitch, driving in four.  Coco Crisp was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Greg LaRocca was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  There was no score until the fourth, when Brandon Phillips tripled and scored on a Lee Stevens single.  Hunter homered leading off the bottom of the fourth to tie it 1-1.  The Twins took a 3-1 lead in the fifth, scoring the lead run on a sacrifice fly and getting an insurance run on Hunter's double.  A sacrifice fly for the Indians in the sixth cut the lead to 3-2.  Cleveland went into the lead in the seventh, as a LaRocca single was followed by doubles by Chris Magruder, Crisp, and Phillips, putting the Indians up 5-3.  Prince hit an RBI double in the eighth to bring the Twins within one at 5-4.  In the ninth, however, Cleveland loaded the bases with one out and Phillips unloaded them with a three-run double, putting the game out of reach.

WP:  Ryan Drese (10-9).  LP:  Mike Jackson (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was again out of the lineup, although he was used as a pinch-hitter.  Michael Ryan was the leadoff batter and played left field, going 0-for-5.

Michael Cuddyer was in right, going 1-for-4.

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-3, making his average .302.

Kevin Frederick made his last appearance as a Twin in this game.  It did not go well.  He pitched the ninth, giving up three runs on three hits and a walk.  He did strike out two.

Mark Wohlers made his next-to-last major league appearance in this game, throwing a perfect inning.  He would pitch against Kansas City two days later, giving up one hit but going unscored upon.

Record:  The Twins were 91-67, in first place, leading Chicago by 10.5 games.

MINNESOTA 7, CLEVELAND 5 IN MINNESOTA (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, September 25.

Batting stars:  MIchael Cuddyer was 3-for-5 with a home run (His fourth), a double, and a stolen base, his second.  Torii Hunter was 3-for-5 with two doubles, a walk, and a stolen base, his twenty-third.  David Ortiz was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twentieth), a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Bob Wells pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit.  J. C. Romero retired all four batters he faced, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ellis Burks was 4-for-6 with a home run (his thirty-second) and three runs.  Jim Thome was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his forty-ninth and fiftieth), two walks, three RBIs, and a stolen base (his first).  Victor Martinez was 2-for-5.

The game:  Thome hit a two-out two-run homer in the first inning to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.  The Twins got a two-run single from A. J. Pierzynski in the second to tie it 2-2.  Cleveland loaded the bases with none out in the third but only scored once, on a Bill Selby sacrifice fly, to take a 3-2 advantage.  Cristian Guzman and Hunter had back-to-back doubles in the bottom of the third to tie it 3-3.  Thome hit his second homer of the game leading off the fifth to put the Indians back in front 4-3.  Cuddyer hit a leadoff home run of his own in the seventh to tie it 4-4.  Another home run in the ninth, this time by Burks, put the Clevelands back up 5-4.  Cuddyer delivered an RBI single in the ninth to tie it 5-5.  The Twins had the bases loaded with two out in the tenth but did not score.  Not to worry.  With one out in the twelfth, Ortiz launched a two-run homer to win the game.

WP:  Romero (9-2).  LP:  Dave Maurer (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Dustan Mohr was again in left field and leading off in place of Jacque Jones.  He went 0-for-6.

Cuddyer was at third base, replacing Corey Koskie.

Pierzynski went 1-for-4 and his average remained .304.

Twins starter Rick Reed pitched five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out three.

Romero's ERA fell to 1.91.

Thome's stolen base was his first since 2000.  He had nineteen stolen bases in his career.  His season high was four, in 1995.  His last stolen base, and in fact his last stolen base attempt, was in 2008.  In this game, his stolen base came in a key situation--he was on first with one out in the ninth with Cleveland leading 5-4.  The steal of second put him in position to score an important insurance run, but a pair of fly outs followed.

This was Victor Martinez' rookie year, as he got a September call-up.  He would come to the big leagues to stay in late June of 2003.

This was the only career loss for Dave Maurer.  For his career, he was 1-1, 8.87 in 22.1 innings (22 games).

This was the second big league start for Cleveland's Brian Tallet.  He pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out four.  Tallet struggled for a while, but became a valuable relief pitcher for Toronto from 2006-2008.  For some reason, the Blue Jays moved him into the starting rotation in 2009.  Not only was he bad as a starting pitcher, he was never a useful pitcher again.

Record:  The Twins were 91-66, in first place, leading Chicago by 11.5 games.

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 24.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-2 with a triple.  David Ortiz was 1-for-2 with a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jim Thome was 2-for-3 with a home run (his forty-eighth) and a walk.  Chris Magruder was 2-for-4.  Ellis Burks was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer, his thirty-first.

The game:  It was scoreless until the bottom of the third.  The Twins scored one on a ground out and Ortiz had an RBI single to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Thome homered leading off the fourth to cut the lead to 2-1.  In the fifth, Kielty tripled and scored on an error to make it 3-1.  Burks hit a two-run homer in the eighth to tie it 3-3.  In the ninth, PIerzynski led off with a double and was pinch-run for by Michael Ryan.  A bunt moved Ryan to third and two intentional walks loaded the bases.  Bobby Kielty then hit a fly ball to short left field.  Ryan showed why using a pinch-runner was a good idea by tagging up and scoring the winning run.

WP:  Hawkins (5-0).  LP:  Dave Elder (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was again out of the lineup, with Dustan Mohr in left field and leading off.  He was 0-for-3 with a sacrifice fly and two walks.

Torii Hunter was back in the lineup in center field.  He went 0-for-4.

Michael Cuddyer was the right fielder.  He went 1-for-3.

Pierzynski held his average at .304.

Milton got his ERA back under five at 4.99.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.16.

Kyle Lohse made his only relief appearance of the season.  He pitched a third of an inning, allowing two runs on a hit and a walk.

Cleveland starter Ricardo Rodriguez made his seventh career start and his last of the season.  He pitched six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks and striking out four.  He started the 2003 season with the Indians and pitched well in his first four starts, but not well after that.  He made fifteen starts before missing the rest of the season due to injury, so we'll never know if he'd have had a full season in the majors otherwise.  If he had, it would've been his only one.  He moved on to Texas for 2004 and got about a month in the majors.  He actually did pretty well, throwing a complete game shutout against his former team.  He got about two months with the Rangers in 2005 and pitched well at times, but not often enough.  That ended his major league career.  His numbers are 10-15, 5.18 in 206.2 innings (39 games).  He kept pitching for quite a while after that, playing winter ball in the Dominican Republic through 2011.

Record:  The Twins were 90-66, in first place, 11.5 games ahead of Chicago.

CHICAGO 8, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, September 22.

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

Pitching stars:  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.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-seventh) and three RBIs.  Mark Buehrle pitched six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out three.

The game:  The White Sox again took control early.  Thomas hit a two-run homer in the first to give Chicago a 2-0 lead.  A. J. PIerzynski singled in a run in the second to make it 2-1, but Jeff Liefer doubled and scored in the bottom of the inning to build the lead back to 3-1.  Thomas singled home a run in the third, and in the fourth Jimenez hit a three-run homer to make the score 7-1.  The Twins opened the fifth with a pair of singles, but could only score once on a double play.  The only other score came in the eighth, when Magglio Ordonez led off the inning with a home run.

WP:  Buehrle (19-11).  LP:  Joe Mays (4-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was again out of the lineup.  Luis Rivas was in the leadoff spot and went 2-for-5.  Michael Restovich played left field.

Torii Hunter was the DH, with David Ortiz out of the lineup.  He went 0-for-4.  Mohr was in center field, his only appearance in center all season.

LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.

Michael Cuddyer was in right field.  He went 1-for-3 with a stolen base.  I didn't realize this, but Cuddyer had seventy-five stolen bases in his career.  His high was eleven in 2011.

Denny Hocking was at shortstop, replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 0-for-4.

Restovich raised his average to .300.

Pierzynski was 1-for-3, raising his average to .304.

Javier Valentin got a pinch-hit single, raising his average to .667 (2-for-3).

Joe Mays lasted only four innings, allowing seven runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out none.  He had a game score of eighteen.  It was not his lowest of the season--that had come on August 5, when he gave up eight runs on twelve hits in 5.2 innings.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.18.

Record:  The Twins were 89-66, in first place, leading Chicago by 10.5 games.  They were outscored in the Chicago series 32-8.