MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, September 9.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out five.  J. C. Romero struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Eric Munson was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Omar Infante was 2-for-3.  Eric Eckenstahler struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  There were no baserunners on either side for the first two innings.  In the third, however, the first three Twins reached base, with Luis Rivas driving in a run with a bloop single and another run scoring on a ground out.  The Tigers got a sacrifice fly in the fifth to cut the lead to 2-1.  Cristian Guzman led off the sixth by circling the bases on a triple-plus-error to make it 3-1.  Munson homered in the top of the seventh to again make it a one-run game at 3-2, but the Twins scored two in the bottom of the seventh.  Mientkiewicz and Mohr led off the inning with back-to-back doubles and Jacque Jones later delivered an RBI single to increase the lead to 5-2.  Detroit did not threaten again.

WP:  Reed (14-7).  LP:  Mike Maroth (5-8).  S:  Guardado (40).

Notes:  Pierzynski raised his average to .303.

Reed made his sixth consecutive strong start.  Over that span he was 5-1, 1.41, giving up 37 hits and 3 walks while striking out 34 in 44.2 innings.  He lowered his ERA from 4.63 to 3.79.

This was the major league debut of Eric Eckenstahler.  As you can see above, it was a good one.  He made seven appearances in 2002 and was unscored upon in five of them.  Unfortunately, he gave up five runs in the other two, giving him an ERA of 5.63 for the season.  He was a reliever his entire career.  He started 2003 in AAA but came back to the majors in late July and did okay in twenty appearances, going 0-0, 2.87, although with a WHIP of 1.53.  A left-hander, he appears to have been used as a LOOGY that season, pitching only 15.2 innings in his twenty games.  This was as good as it would get for him.  He had a poor year in AAA in 2004 and was traded to the Cubs in mid-August..  They released him after the season, he signed with Cincinnati for 2005, pitched poorly in AA, and then was done.  At last report, Eric Eckenstahler was an insurance agent in Lake Forest, Illinois.

Record:  The Twins were 83-61, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.

OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 8.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4.  David Ortiz was 1-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Barry Zito struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks.  Miguel Tejada was 2-for-3 with a home run (his thirty-first) and two walks.  Eric Chavez was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  Oakland loaded the bases with one out in the first, but could only score one on a fielder's choice.  Tejada homered in the third to make it 2-0.  Adam Piatt hit a home run in the fourth to make it 3-0.  The Twins had men on first and third with one out in the bottom of the fourth, but Torii Hunter and Bobby Kielty each struck out to end the inning.  Chavez' RBI single in the fifth made it 4-0 and Mark Ellis had a two-run double in the seventh to increase the lead to 6-0.  The fourth inning was the only real threat the Twins had, as they got only three hits.

WP:  Zito (20-5).  LP:  Eric Milton (13-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was the second consecutive game in which the Twins were shut out.

David Ortiz was at first base, replacing Doug Mientkiewicz.  It was the second consecutive game Mientkiewicz missed.  He would be back in the lineup the next day.  Ortiz was 1-for-3.

Kielty was the DH.  He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts.

Denny Hocking was at shortstop, replacing Cristian Guzman.  He was 0-for-3.

Tom Prince was the catcher, replacing A. J. PIerzynski.  He was 0-for-3.

Milton pitched just four innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks and striking out two.  He threw 84 pitches.

Jones was 11-for-21 in his last five games.  He raised his average from .290 to .300.

Jackson dropped his ERA to 2.94.

This was Barry Zito's Cy Young year.  He went 23-5, 2.75.  He had an excellent season, but the award really should've gone to Pedro Martinez.  Martinez had a better ERA by almost half a run (2.26 to 2.75), a much better WHIP (0.92 to 1.13), and many more strikeouts (239 to 182).  The only categories Zito was better in were innings (229.1 to 199.1) and wins (23 to 20).  Zito had a tremendous year, but Martinez was better.

Record:  The Twins were 82-61, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.

OAKLAND 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 7.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a double.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out one.  Bob Wells pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Mark Mulder struck out ten in eight shutout innings, giving up seven hits and no walks.  Miguel Tejada was 2-for-4.  Scott Hatteberg was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Oakland got on the board in the second, when Jermaine Dye reached second on an error and scored on a David Justice single.  Meanwhile, five of the first six Twins struck out, with only Torii Hunter making contact on a ground out to third.  Three of the strikeouts were called.  The Twins threatened in the third, putting men on second and third with two out, but Cristian Guzman struck out to end the inning.  In the fifth, the Twins loaded the bases with two out, but Guzman grounded out to short to end the inning.  The Athletics added a run in the eighth when Ramon Hernandez singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Hatteberg single to make the score 2-0.  The Twins' last eight batters went out.

WP:  Mulder (17-7).  LP:  Mays (3-6).  S:  Billy Koch (38).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was the DH rather than David Ortiz.  He was 0-for-4.

Michael Cuddyer was at first base, replacing Doug Mientkiewicz.  He was 1-for-4, raising his average to .194.

Pierzynski raised his average back to .300.

J. C. Romero pitched two-thirds of an inning, giving up only a walk.  His ERA was now 1.84.

This was the second-best outing of the year for Mays, topped only by a two-hit shutout he threw on August 16.  He got his ERA below six at 5.67.

This was the best outing of the year to day for Mulder (he would have a better one a couple of weeks later).  He was in the middle of a three-year stretch in which he would go 55-24, 3.36 with seven shutouts and seventeen complete games.  He finished second to Roger Clemens in Cy Young balloting in 2001, and there was no compelling reason to favor Clemens over him that year.  Oddly, he only made the all-star team once in that stretch, in 2003, although he made it again in 2004.  Shoulder injuries cut his career short (only nine seasons, and in two of them he made only three appearances each), but from 2001-2005 he was among the top pitchers in the game.

Record:  The Twins were 82-60, in first place, leading Chicago by fourteen games.

MINNESOTA 6, OAKLAND 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 6.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh), a double, and a hit-by-pitch.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a double.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched a complete game shutout, giving up six hits and one walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Scott Hatteberg was 2-for-4 with a double.  Eric Chavez was 2-for-4 with a double.  Miguel Tejada was 2-for-4.

The game:  Oakland loaded the bases in the first inning but did not score.  In the bottom of the first, doubles by Jones and Koskie put the Twins ahead 1-0.  The Athletics had men on second and third with one out in the third but did not score.  The Twins went up 2-0 in the bottom of the third, as Luis Rivas tripled and scored on a ground out.  Koskie led off the sixth with a home run to make it 3-0.  The Twins got a couple of clutch hits in the seventh.  With Pierzynski on second and two out, Jones had an RBI single and scored from first on a Cristian Guzman double to make it 5-0.  The Twins' final run came in the eighth, when Torii Hunter doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch.  Radke really settled down after the third inning, giving up just two more hits.

WP:  Radke (7-4).  LP:  Cory Lidle (8-10).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jones had gone 7-for-13 with three doubles over his last three games.

Michael Cuddyer played right field and went 0-for-4, dropping his average to .191.

It was Radke's best game of the season, both by game scores and by the eye test.  It was one of two complete games he had in 2002 and his only shutout.  His ERA went below five for the first time all season and was 4.67.

Record:  The Twins were 82-59, in first place, leading Chicago by fourteen games.

MINNESOTA 3, SEATTLE 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Wednesday, September 4.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5.  David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a double.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a walk.  Desi Relaford was 2-for-4.  Jamie Moyer pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  Corey Koskie's RBI single put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning.  The Twins had men on first and third with none out in the fifth, but a double play by Cristian Guzman meant the Twins only scored once to make it 2-0.  An Ortiz homer in the eighth made it 3-0.  Meanwhile, the Mariners did not get a man past first base until the seventh.  They got on the board in the eighth, as Jose Offerman led off the inning with a home run.  Martinez led off the ninth with another home run, making the score 3-2, but Seattle did not get the tying run on base.

WP:  Reed (13-7).  LP:  Jamie Moyer (13-7).  S:  Eddie Guardado (39).

Notes:  Presumably, the Tuesday night game was rained out.

Michael Cuddyer played right field, as both Bobby Kielty and Dustan Mohr were on the bench.  Cuddyer went 1-for-4.

In his last five starts, Reed had pitched 38 innings with an ERA of 1.18.  He was 4-1 in those starts.  He would have three more strong starts before struggling in his next-to-last start of the season.

Offerman's home run was his fifth of the season.

Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 in this game.  For the season he batted .321/.388/.425.  Against the Twins in 2002, however, he was 5-for-28 with two walks for a line of .179/.233/.179.  For his career, however, he has batted .331/.362/.415 against Minnesota.

Record:  The Twins were 81-59, in first place, leading Chicago by 12.5 games.

SEATTLE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Monday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out nine in 4.1 innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joel Pineiro pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out six.  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a double and scored on a couple of productive outs to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the third, but could only get a David Ortiz sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.  Eric Milton had only given up a pair of harmless singles over the first three innings, but Seattle started the fourth with a single, a double, and two singles to tie the score.  Johan Santana came in to strike out the side and keep the score tied.  There was no more scoring until the eighth.  Santana was still in the game and gave up a single and a walk to open the inning.  A ground out put men on second and third with one out.  LaTroy Hawkins came in and struck out Mike Cameron, but then gave up a two-run single to Ruben Sierra and an RBI double to Desi Reliford to give the Mariners their first lead of the game at 5-2.  The Twins got a leadoff walk in the ninth, but a double play wiped out the runner and a strikeout ended the game.

WP:  Arthur Rhodes (8-3).  LP:  Santana (8-6).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (34).

Notes:  Milton pitched three innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out two.

It was Santana's first relief appearance since August 3.  He would stay in the bullpen the rest of the season.

It was Pineiro's second consecutive start against the Twins.  He pitched well in both, giving up a total of four runs on fifteen hits and two walks and striking out nine in thirteen innings.  He won one and lost one.

Arthur Rhodes had a very long career, starting at age 21 in 1991 and ending at age 41 in 2011.  He was a starter early in his career, moving to the bullpen in 1995 and making his last major league start in 1996.  He was twentieth in MVP balloting in 1997, when he went 10-3, 3.02 with one save.  From 2001-2002, he went 18-4, 2.03 with a WHIP of 0.84 in 137.2 innings.  He made his only all-star team in 2010 at age forty, when he went 4-4, 2.29, 1.02 WHIP in 55 innings (69 games).  He had 33 saves, with a high of 9 in 2004.  He had some bad years, too:  his career stats are 87-70, 4.08, 1.30 WHIP.  But when he was good, he was really good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-59, in first place, leading Chicago by twelve games.  This was the Twins' fifth consecutive loss.

OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Sunday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mike Jackson pitched a perfect inning.  Tony Fiore pitched a scoreless inning, walking one.

Opposition stars:  Miguel Tejada was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twenty-ninth and thirtieth) and five RBIs.  Ray Durham was 3-for-5.  Scott Hatteberg was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

The game:  Oakland loaded the bases with none out in the first but did not score, as their next three batters fanned.  They broke through in the third, however, as Tejada hit a two-run homer.  The Twins tied it in the sixth when Hunter hit a two-run homer.  The tie didn't last long, though, because John Mabry homered leading off the bottom of the sixth and Durham had an RBI single later in the inning to give the Athletics a 4-2 lead.  The Twins took the lead in the top of the ninth.  LeCroy and Koskie led off the ninth with back-to-back homers to tie it and Michael Cuddyer hit a two-out homer to put the Twins up 5-4.  Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the ninth.  He walked Ramon Hernandez and gave up a single to Durham, putting men on first and second.  Olmedo Saenz was called out on strikes, but Tejada hit a three-run homer to end the game.

WP:  Billy Koch (7-2).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Luis Rivas was the leadoff batter, with Jacque Jones on the bench.  Rivas was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter and grounded out.

Dustan Mohr played left field, with Michael Cuddyer in right.  Cuddyer was 1-for-4.  The go-ahead home run was his third of the season.

Tom Prince was the catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski on the bench.  Prince was 0-for-2 with two walks.

Joe Mays started and the pitched six innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks and striking out three.

It was Guardado's and last sixth blown save of the season.

The first two Twins home runs in the ninth inning came off Oakland starter Mark Mulder, who was going for a complete game.  He pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on five hits and four walks and striking out seven.

The Cuddyer home run came off Oakland closer Billy Koch.

I'd forgotten what a good batter Miguel Tejada was.  Seven consecutive seasons with an OPS over .800, and the string was broken in 2007 when his OPS was .799.  He hit over 30 homers four times and had 100 or more RBIs six times.  He made the all-star team six times and got some sort of MVP consideration seven times, winning the award in 2002 (although it really should have gone to Alex Rodriguez) and finishing fifth in 2004.  His career numbers are .285/.336/.456 with 307 home runs and 468 doubles (he led the league in doubles twice).  Plus, he played 162 games for six consecutive seasons.  I'm not saying he belongs in the Hall of Fame, but he's certainly in the Hall of Very Good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-58, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.

OAKLAND 6,  MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Saturday, August 31.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-2 with a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Cory Lidle pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out six.  Eric Chavez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-first) and a double, driving in four.  Ray Durham was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Oakland took the lead in the first inning, getting an RBI double from Chavez and scoring another run on a ground out to go up 2-0.  It stayed 2-0, with neither team even mounting much of a threat, until the sixth, when back-to-back two-out doubles by Koskie and David Ortiz cut the lead to 2-1.  Chavez got the run back for the Athletics when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to make it 3-1.  The Twins tied it in the eighth.  Mohr hit a one-out pinch-hit homer to make it 3-2 and Torii Hunter delivered a two-out RBI single later in the inning to tie it 3-3.  The normally reliable J. C. Romero came in to pitch the eighth, but he did not have it this day.  With one out, Ramon Hernandez doubled and Durham walked.  A ground out put men on second and third with two down.  Miguel Tejada was intentionally walked, but Chavez and Jermaine Dye delivered back-to-back singles, with Chavez driving home two and Dye one, to give the Oaklands a 6-3 lead.  The Twins got a two-out walk in the ninth but no more.

WP:  Jim Mecir (5-3).  LP:  Romero (8-2).  S:  Billy Koch (37).

Notes:  A. J. Pierzynski dropped back below .300 with an 0-for-4.  He was batting .298.

Bobby Kielty also dropped below .300 with an 0-for-4.  He was batting .295.

I know we don't put a lot of stock in won-lost records, but those of some of the Twins relievers in 2002 were rather remarkable.  Tony Fiore ended up 10-3.  Romero was 9-2.  LaTroy Hawkins was 6-0.  That's 25-5 from the primary set-up men.  It seems like that shows:  a) that those three pitched very well, and b) the Twins got a lot of late wins that season.

Record:  The Twins were 80-57, in first place, leading Chicago by fourteen games.

OAKLAND 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Friday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a home run, his twenty-fifth.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-2 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ray Durham was 4-for-5 with a home run (his twelfth) and two doubles.  Tim Hudson struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks.  Mark Ellis was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jones led off the top of the first with a home run, but Durham led off the bottom of the first with a home run, leaving the score tied 1-1.  Pierzynski doubled home a run in the top of the second, but David Justice tripled and scored on an Ellis single in the bottom of the second to tie it 2-2.  The Twins started the third with a double, a single, and a walk but did not score.  In the fifth, Eric Chavez delivered a two-out RBI single to give the Athletics their first lead a 3-2.  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but a double play ended the inning.  Durham and Scott Hatteberg opened the bottom of the seventh with doubles that made the score 4-2.  The Twins went down in order in the eighth and ninth.

WP:  Hudson (12-9)  LP:  Radke (6-4).  S:  Billy Koch (36).

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.  It would be the last day of the season in which he would be at .300 or above.  He would end the season at .291.

Pierzynski was batting .302.

In Wells' last twenty-six appearances of the season, he gave up zero runs in twenty-one of them.  In the other five, he gave up three twice, four twice, and five once.  So, for all his good appearances, his ERA only went from 6.26 to 5.90.

Billy Koch had been the closer for Toronto for three seasons before being traded to Oakland before the 2002 season.  He had a fine season for them, going 11-4, 3.27 with 44 saves.  He led the league in appearances with 84 and in games finished with 79.  He finished eighteenth in MVP voting.  It was the last good year he would have.  He was traded to the White Sox before the 2003 season, pitched poorly, lost the closer job to Tom Gordon, and was never a closer again.  He would pitch only one more season and then was out of baseball at age twenty-nine.  According to b-r.com, "Koch, his wife and their children have been suffering from a condition, called Morgellons disease by those who believe it to be a true condition but generally thought among the medical community to be a type of delusional parasitosis, which can cause sufferers to experience what they perceive as a crawling feeling and an expulsion of filaments from under the skin. This condition is what many people feel led to his demise in the major leagues."  Some very brief googling makes me doubt the "generally thought" part of that--I'm not sure there is a general consensus--but it does appear to be a matter of controversy.

Record:  The Twins were 80-56, in first place, leading Chicago by fifteen games.

SEATTLE 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, August 29.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Tom Prince was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed struck out eight in 7.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jamie Moyer struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk.  Desi Relaford was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Each team got a one-out double in the second but did not advance the runner.  The Twins had a man on second with two out in the third.  They got another one-out double in the fifth and did not advance the runner.  The Mariners left the bases loaded in the sixth.  Relaford led off the eighth with a home run to put Seattle in front 1-0.  The Twins again got a man to second with one out in the bottom of the eighth.  He went to third on a ground out but was stranded.  In the ninth, two singles, a bunt, and a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Mariners.  The Twins went 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.

WP:  Moyer (13-6).  LP:  Reed (12-7).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (33).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was the DH in this game, going 0-for-3.

Prince was the catcher in place of A. J. Pierzynski.

Denny Hocking was the shortstop, with Cristian Guzman out of the lineup.  He went 1-for-3.

Torii Hunter was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .299.  He would not get above .300 the rest of the season and would end the year at .289.

This was the fourth of eight consecutive starts in which Reed would give up two runs or fewer.  He would go 6-1, 1.62 in those eight starts, lowering his ERA from 4.63 to 3.71.

Relaford hit forty career home runs.  His season high was eight, in 2001 and 2003.

Moyer was thirty-nine in 2002.  He would pitch in nine more major league seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 80-55, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.