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Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-three

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CHICAGO 7, MINNESOTA 4 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Saturday, April 26.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-5.  Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his second.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Mike Fetters pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:   Carlos Lee was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), two doubles, and two runs. Jon Garland pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks and striking out five.  Tom Gordon struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Frank Thomas was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), two walks, and two runs.  Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth) and three RBIs.

The game:  There were no hits on either side until the second, when Lee hit a two-out two-run homer.  Pierzynski matched it with a leadoff home run in the third, so it was 1-1.  The Twins put two on with one out, but could do no more.

The White Sox took control in the fourth.  Thomas and Ordonez led off the inning with home runs.  Lee hit a one-out double and Joe Crede had a two-out RBI single to make it 4-1.  They added another run in the fifth.  Jose Valentin walked, Thomas singled, and Ordonez was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with one out.  Brian Daubach then singled home a run.  Fetters came in to retire the next two batters and hold the score at 5-1.

Koskie homered in the sixth to make it 5-2, but that was as close as the Twins would come.  Ordonez hit a two-run homer in the eighth to build the lead to 7-2.  Cuddyer hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to cut the margin back to three, but that was it.

WP:  Garland (1-2).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Bobby Kielty was in right field.

Cuddyer pinch-hit for Gomez in the ninth.

Gomez was 0-for-3 and was batting .346.  Kielty was 0-for-4 and fell to .345.  Jones raised his average to .305.

Lohse struck out eight but lasted just 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks.  This was the second poor game in a row for Lohse.  Over those two games, his ERA rose from 1.69 to 4.80.  It is, of course, still early in the season.

This was Garland's fifth start of the season, and only the second one that was any good.  His ERA at this point of the season was 6.49.  Garland made over 30 starts a year for nine consecutive seasons, and pitched over 190 innings in each of those seasons.  However, only twice in those nine seasons was his ERA below four and only two other times was it below 4.50.  What he did still has value, but of course he would have had more value if he'd actually been good in all those years.

I have no memory of Tom Gordon as a member of the White Sox.  This was his only year with them, but it was a darn good one:  7-6, 12 saves, 3.16, 1.19 WHIP.  He would go on to have two excellent years for the Yankees and one fine year for Philadelphia.  2006 was his last good season, but he would pitch for three more years before his career ended.  His earlier years, of course, were with Kansas City and Boston.  It was a pretty good career.  He led the league in saves i 1998 with 46.  He was second in Rookie of the Year voting in 1989 (behind Gregg Olson).  He made three all-star teams.  He also pitched in 21 seasons.  He won't make the Hall of Fame, but he had a career to be proud of.

With the loss, the Twins streak of series sweeps to start the season ended at seven.

Record:  The Twins were 10-13, in third place in the American League Central, eight games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-two

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MINNESOTA 6, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Friday, April 25.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourth), a walk, and two runs.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mark Buehrle pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Frank Thomas was 1-for-3 with a home run, his fourth.

The game:  The Twins jumped on Buehrle early, scoring three times in the first inning.  Dustan Mohr led off the game with a double and went to third on a ground out.  Kielty walked and Corey Koskie hit a sacrifice fly to get the Twins on the board.  Torii Hunter had an RBI triple to make it 2-0 and scored on LeCroy's single to make it 3-0.

That remained the score until the seventh, as neither team even threatened in innings two through six.  In fact, the White Sox did not get a baserunner until the fourth, when Thomas was hit by a pitch, and did not get a hit until the sixth, when Sandy Alomar singled.

In the seventh, however, Thomas homered to get Chicago on the board at 3-1.  Magglio Ordonez and Paul Konerko followed with singles, putting the tying run on base.  But Armando Rios hit into a double play and Joe Crede popped up to end the inning.

The Twins got the run back with interest in the eighth.  With one out, Cristian Guzman was hit by a pitch and Kielty followed with a two-run homer.  With two out Hunter reached on an error and Doug Mientkiewicz and LeCroy singled, bringing home another run to make the score 6-1.  The White Sox got only one baserunner after that.

WP:  Mays (3-2).  LP:  Buehrle (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mohr led off and was in left field in place of Jacque Jones.  Kielty was in right field in place of Michael Cuddyer, who had started most of the games in right field to this point.

Kielty raised his average to .370.  Mohr was 1-for-5 and raised his average to .135.

Hawkins maintained his ERA of zero.

By game scores, this was Mays' best game of the season, at 68.  He'd had a score of 63 on April 2.  He would have only three more starts about fifty and only one above sixty.

The White Sox used two players who would have connections to the Twins:  D'Angelo Jimenez and Crede.

The win snapped a six-game losing streak for the Twins.  So far this season the Twins have won three, lost six, won six, lost six, and now won one.  As we've pointed out, each of the seven series the Twins have played so far has been a sweep.  Having won the first game of this series, the were obviously hoping for another sweep.

Record:  The Twins were 10-12, in third place in the American League Central, seven games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-one

KANSAS CITY 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Thursday, April 24.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up two runs on four hits and one walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Chris George pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out three.  Jason Grimsley pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Carlos Febles was 2-for-3 with a stolen base.  Mike Sweeney was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fourth) and a stolen base.

The game:  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the first but did not score.  Neither team threatened after that until the fourth, when Sweeney hit a two-out home run to put the Royals up 1-0.  The Twins tied it in the sixth with a two-out rally:  Bobby Kielty walked and singles by Corey Koskie and Hunter plated the run.

Kansas City went back in front in the bottom of the sixth.  Febles led off with a single and scored from first on a one-out double by Joe Randa.

And that was it.  The Royals did not get a man on base after the sixth, but it didn't matter.  The Twins got a couple of singles, but never advanced a man past first base.

WP:  George (3-1).  LP:  Radke (1-3).  S:  Mike MacDougal (9).

Notes: Michael Cuddyer was again in right field.  Kielty was again the DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Kielty was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .340.  Cuddyer was 0-for-3 and was batting .193.

Radke lowered his ERA to 6.28.  This was the first of three complete games Radke had in 2003.  He had 37 for his career.  By game scores this was his second-best game of the season, topped only by a complete game shutout on August 26.

After a lowpoint of .111 on April 11, Hunter finally climbed above the Mendoza line to stay at .216.  It seems like he was pretty hot-and-cold in 2003, posting averages by month of :.217, .269, .273, .229, .233, and .284.  On thinking about it, though, I wonder just how unusual that really is.  Everyone bounces up and down over the course of a season--how much variance is "normal" and how much is "unusual"?  I don't really know.

I kind of remember Joe Randa as a Twins killer, but he really wasn't.  He batted .275/.315/.404 for his career against the Twins and .264/.293/.431 against them in 2003.  His overall career numbers are .284/.339/.426, so he actually was worse against the Twins than against the rest of MLB.  Maybe I just remember a few big hits he got or something.

I didn't actually go through his whole career to check, but this has to be one of the best games Chris George ever pitched.  By game scores it was the second-best of the season, topped only by his first game of the season, when he pitched 6.2 innings and also gave up one run on five hits.  He made eighteen starts in 2003 and had an ERA of 7.11 with a WHIP of 1.75.  Somehow he went 9-6, which is probably why he was allowed to make 18 starts.  It's not like this was just a bad year--for his career he was 14-20, 6.48, 1.66 WHIP in 237.1 innings (47 games, 44 starts).  His "best" season was his first one, 2001, when he went 4-8, 5.59, 1.37 WHIP in 13 starts.  In his defense, he was rushed to the majors at age 21 on the strength of 18 AA starts in which he went 8-5, 3.14, but with a WHIP of 1.47.  He was on the Omaha/Kansas City shuttle from 2001--2004, spent all of 2005 in Omaha, then became a free agent.  He was with several organizations after that, but never made it to the majors.  Would more time in the minors when he was younger have helped?  It's hard to say.  It wouldn't have hurt, but at the same time, his career AAA numbers are 66-73, 4.95, 1.52 WHIP in 1223 innings.  It seems more likely that he just was never that good in the first place.

This made six losses in a row for the Twins, and was the seventh series sweep they'd been involved in at the start of the season.

Record:  The Twins were 9-12, in third place in the American League Central, eight games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Nineteen

NEW YORK 15, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, April 21.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Tony Fiore struck out five in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  David Wells pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Erick Almonte was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Raul Mondesi was 3-for-4 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Nick Johnson was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third), a walk, three runs, and four RBIs.  John Flaherty was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Alfonso Soriano was 1-for-5 with a grand slam (his seventh homer) a walk, and two runs.  Bernie Williams was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.

The game:  I see no need to give play-by-play of all fifteen of the Yankees' runs.  Johnson hit a two-run homer in a three-run third.  Soriano hit a grand slam in the fourth to make it 7-0.  A walk and five singles in the fifth made it 11-0.  Johnson homered again in the seventh to make it 12-0.

The Twins avoided the shutout when Mohr homered leading off the eighth.  Williams hit a two-run homer in a three-run ninth.

WP:  Wells (3-0).  LP:  Rick Reed (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Chris Gomez was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Mohr was in left field in place of Jacque Jones.  Bobby Kielty was in center in place of Torii Hunter, who was the DH.  Michael Cuddyer was again in right field.

Denny Hocking came in to play third base in the seventh inning.  Gomez moved to second and Luis Rivas came out of the game.

Gomez was 0-for-4 and was batting .391.  Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .356.  Prince was 1-for-3 and was batting .333.

Mohr raised his average to .125.  Hocking was 0-for-1 and was batting .133.  Hunter was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .179.

By game scores, this was Reed's worst game of the season.  He lasted 4.1 innings and surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) on 10 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out four and had a game score of 2.  His ERA went up to 7.52.  The good news, if you want to call it that, is that this is as high as his ERA would ever go this season.

Fiore got his ERA down to 6.39.

This was the only three-hit game of Erick Almonte's career.  He was the Yankees' starting shortstop from the start of the season until early May, due to an injury to Derek Jeter.  It was the only time he was a starter in his career.  Of his 133 career at-bats, 100 of them came in 2003--he had 4 in 2001 and 29 in 2011, when he was with Milwaukee.  He was in the Yankee organization through 2003, was in the Rockies' chain in 2004, was in Japan in 2005, played independent ball in 2006, was in the Detroit organization from 2007-2008, was with the Brewers from 2009-2012, and played in Mexico in 2013.  His AAA numbers are .283/.361/.424, not bad numbers at all.  In the majors, however, he batted .233/.282/.331.  I don't know about his fielding, but he batted well enough in the minors to think he could've helped someone in the big leagues.  This was his only chance to do it, though, and while he batted .260/.321/.350 he wasn't going to beat out Derek Jeter no matter what he did.

So the Twins have now begun their season with six series sweeps.  They won three, lost six, won six, and now have lost seven.  We'll see if another series sweep awaits when they head to Kansas City.

Record:  The Twins were 9-10, in third place in the American League Central, six games behind Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Seventeen

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NEW YORK 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 19.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero struck out two in 1.1 innings, giving up two walks.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Andy Pettitte pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks and striking out seven.  Alfonso Soriano was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his fourth.  Bernie Williams was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Raul Mondesi was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.

The game:  Soriano led off the game with a single and Nick Johnson followed with a walk.  The next two batters went out, but Hideki Matsui had an RBI single to put the Yankees up 1-0.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the first.  Jones singled and stole second, and with two out Hunter delivered an RBI single to tie it 1-1.

The Twins took the lead in the fourth.  With two out Bobby Kielty doubled and scored on an A. J. Pierzynski single to put the Twins up 2-1.  In the sixth, however, Jason Giambi walked and Williams followed with a two-run homer to put New York in front 3-2.  Mondesi homered in the seventh to make it 4-2.

The Twins threatened in the late innings, but to no avail.  They put two on with one out in the eighth, but a pair of strikeouts ended that inning.  They put two on with two out in the ninth, but again, a strikeout ended the inning and this time the game.

WP:  Pettitte (3-0).  LP:  Joe Mays (2-2).  S:  Juan Acevedo (3).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was again in right field.  Kielty was the DH.

Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Luis Rivas in the ninth.  Denny Hocking then pinch-ran for LeCroy.  Dustan Mohr pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the ninth.

Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .368.  Jones was batting .354.  Guzman was 0-for-4 and was batting .304.

Mohr was 0-for-4 and was batting .111.  Hunter raised his average to .180.

Mays wasn't terrible, but he wasn't particularly good, either.  6.2 innings, four runs, six hits, two walks, and four strikeouts.  His ERA was 5.96.

Romero lowered his ERA to 2.16.  Hawkins continued to have an ERA of zero through seven innings.

The Twins still had a chance to be involved in their sixth series sweep to open the season.

Record:  The Twins were 9-8, in third place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Sixteen

NEW YORK 11, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 18.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a double.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-1 with a double and two RBIs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with two walks.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Roger Clemens struck out eight in six innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks.  Robin Ventura was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth), three runs, and four RBIs.  Alfonso Soriano was 3-for-5 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs.  Hideki Matsui was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Jorge Posada was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Raul Mondesi was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fourth), two walks, and two RBIs.

The game:  Soriano led off the game with a home run, putting the Yankees up 1-0 (of course).  The Twins put two on with one out in the bottom of the first, but nothing came of it.  Ventura homered with one out in the second to make it 2-0.

The Twins had a chance for a big inning in the second, but could only score one.  Bobby Kielty walked and A. J. Pierzynski singled, putting men on first and third with none out.  But Michael Cuddyer hit into a double play, scoring Kielty but otherwise taking the Twins out of the inning.  Mondesi homered with two out in the fourth to get the run back and make the score 3-1.

The Twins got a man to second in the fourth and again in the fifth but could do nothing after that.  New York put the game away in the sixth.  Bernie Williams and Matsui opened the inning with singles.  Jorge Posada drove in one with a ground rule double and Ventura singled home another.  That chased Brad Radke from the game.  Tony Fiore came in, threw a wild pitch, then gave up a sacrifice fly.  Soriano had a run-scoring single to make the score 7-1 Yankees.

New York piled on in the seventh.  With two out Posada singled and Ventura hit a two-run homer, his second of the game, increasing the lead to 9-1.  The Twins scored a few in the eighth to make things sound a little better.  Denny Hocking and Koskie singled to start the inning.  With one out, LeCroy hit a two-run double and Kielty followed with a run-scoring double, cutting the margin to 9-4.  But in the ninth, Chris Latham singled, Matsui had an RBI double, and two wild pitches made the final tally 11-4.

WP:  Clemens (3-0).  LP:  Radke (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cuddyer was in right field.  Kielty was the DH.

Dustan Mohr pinch-hit for Jones in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field.  Tom Prince came in to replace A. J. Pierzynski behind the plate in the eighth.  LeCroy replaced Doug Mientkiewicz at first base in the eighth.  Hocking replaced Cristian Guzman at shortstop in the eighth.

Kielty was 1-for-3 and was batting .382.  Jones raised his average to .350.  Prince walked in his only plate appearance and remained at .333.  Guzman was 0-for-3 and was batting .327.  Koskie raised his average to .308.

Mohr was 0-for-2 and was batting .115.  Hocking was 1-for-2 to raise his average to .154.  Torii Hunter was 0-for-4 and was batting .155.

Juan Rincon allowed two runs in 2.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.00.

Radke allowed seven runs on on nine hits and a walk in five innings.  His ERA was 7.84.  Tony Fiore allowed two runs in 1.2 innings.  His ERA was 7.88.

Three of Radke's four starts have had game scores under 50.  Two of them have had game scores under 25.

Ex-Twin Chris Latham came in to play center field for the Yankees in the seventh.

Clemens was forty in 2003, but was still one of the best pitchers in baseball.  He went 17-9, 3.91, 1.21 WHIP in 33 starts (211.2 innings).  He made the all-star team for the ninth time.

Ventura, on the other hand, was on the decline, although you couldn't prove it by this game.  The Yankees would trade him to the Dodgers at the July deadline for Bubba Crosby and Scott Proctor.  These were two of just 14 home runs he would hit on the season, his lowest total since 1997, when he was injured much of the year.  His OPS of .741 was the lowest since his first full season in 1990.  He thirty-five, which is old in baseball but not that old.  But he was just about done.  He would play only one more season.

Having lost the first game of a four-game series, the Twins were hoping the string of sweeps would not continue.

Record:  The Twins were 9-7, third in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifteen

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 17.

Batting stars:  Chris Gomez was 3-for-4.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two runs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his second and third.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a home run and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers struck out nine in eight shutout innings, giving up seven hits and no walks.  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Eugene Kingsale was 2-for-3.  Omar Infante was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins did not have a big inning, but just eased out to a comfortable lead.  In the first, a single by Cristian Guzman and a double by Hunter led to a run.  Kielty homered leading off the second to make it 2-0.  Koskie homered with one out in the third to make it 3-0.  In the fourth, Cuddyer led off with a triple and scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-0.

I don't know if there's ever been a game in which a team scored exactly one run in each inning, and sadly this would not be one.  The score remained 4-0 until the eighth.  The Tigers had a threat in the fifth when Infante led off with a double and Kingsale had an infield single with one out.  A strikeout and a ground out ended the threat, and Detroit would not threaten again.

The Twins got their final two runs in the eighth.  Kielty again lead off the inning with a home run.  With one out Cuddyer walked, went to third on a Gomez single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

WP:  Rogers (2-0).  LP:  Jeremy Bonderman (0-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Kielty was in center field, with Hunter at DH.  Cuddyer was in right field.  The Twins made no position player substitutions.

Gomez was batting .467.  Kielty was batting .387.  Guzman was batting .347.  Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .333.  Koskie was batting .306.

Rogers lowered his ERA to 3.50.  That was as low as it would get all season.  By game scores this was his second-best game of the season, topped only by a game in Kansas City in mid-August.

Six of the Tigers' starters had batting averages below .200:  Eric Munson (.175), Infante (.167), Carlos Pena (.167), Dean Palmer (.118), Brandon Inge (.091), and Hiram Bocachica (.045).

Jeremy Bonderman started for Detroit.  He pitched six innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on ten hits and a walk and striking out four.

This was the fifth consecutive series sweep the Twins were involved in at the start of the season.  They had been on the winning end of three and the losing end of two.  I don't know what the record is.  Of course, the year the Orioles started 0-21, they must have been on the losing end of several sweeps.

Record:  The Twins were 9-6, tied for second in the American League Central with Chicago, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fourteen

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MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 16.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out five.  Johan Santana retired all four batters he faced, striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Wil Ledezma retired all seven batters he faced, striking out three.  Bobby Higginson was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Tigers put a man on second with two out in the first and did not score.  The Twins put men on second and third with one out in the first and did not score.  The Twins got on the board in the second when Bobby Kielty and Pierzynski started the inning with back-to-back doubles, putting Minnesota up 1-0.  They got one more in the third.  Guzman was hit by a pitch and Koskie singled, putting men on first and third with none out.  Torii Hunter then hit into a double play which scored a run and made it 2-0.

The Twins put together a two-out rally in the fourth.  Jones and Guzman singled with two down and Koskie hit a two-run double to increase the lead to 4-0.  The Tigers cut the lead in half in the fifth.  Eric Munson singled and scored on a one-out double by Matt Walbeck.  With two out, Bobby Higginson hit an RBI single and it was 4-2.

And there it stayed.  Detroit did not get a hit after the fifth inning.  They did get a pair of two-out walks in the seventh, but Santana came in to retire Carlos Pena on a fly ball.  Detroit did not get a baserunner after that.

WP:  Reed (1-2).  LP:  Adam Bernero (0-3).  S:  Guardado (6).

Notes:  Kielty was at DH in this game.

The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Kielty was 1-for-3 and was batting .370.  Jones raised his average to .358.  Guzman raised his average to .341.  Koskie raised his average to .311.

Dustan Mohr was 0-for-4 and was batting .125.  Hunter was 0-for-4 and was batting .137.

Juan Rincon pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run.  He and Santana each had an ERA of zero.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 1.35.

Tiger players with a Twins connection are Walbeck and Munson.  Craig Paquette was drafted by them but did not sign.

Bernero pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks.  He struck out none.  Detroit had a 1-12 record at this point in the season.

The Twins had won three, lost six, and now had won five.  They would go for the series sweep the next day.  If they got it, it would be the fifth consecutive series sweep they had been involved in to start the season.

Record:  The Twins were 8-6, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Thirteen

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 15.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a home run and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse struck out eight in 6.1 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on three hits and two walks.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Carlos Pena was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, a walk, and two runs.  Dmitri Young was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Hunter homered leading off the second to put the Twins up 1-0.  They put two on with two out in the third but did not score.  It cost them, as the Tigers took the lead in the fourth.  With one out, Ramon Santiago doubled and Pena hit a two-run homer, giving Detroit a 2-1 lead.

The Twins tied it in the fifth.  Rivas singled with one out in the first and Guzman hit a two-out triple.  The Twins went into the lead to stay in the sixth.  They opened the inning with singles by Hunter, Mientkiewicz, and LeCroy to take a 3-2 advantage.  With two out, Rivas hit an RBI double and Jacque Jones delivered a two-run single, making the score 6-2.

The Tigers did not go away quietly.  Pena walked and Young reached on an error to start the seventh.  With one out, Eric Munson hit a two-run double to cut the lead to 6-4 and bring the tying run to the plate.  LaTroy Hawkins came in to retire the next two batters and end the inning.  Detroit still wasn't done.  Young led off the ninth with a double and Shane Halter hit a two-out single, bringing the go-ahead run to bat.  But Craig Paquette flied out and the Twins won.

WP:  Lohse (2-1).  LP:  Mike Maroth (0-4).  S:  Guardado (5).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer remained in right field.  Dustan Mohr replaced him for defense in the ninth.

Jones was 1-for-5 to drop his average to .347.  Guzman raised his average to .317.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .314.

Hunter raised his average to .149.  Cuddyer went 0-for-4 and was batting .167.  A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and was batting .179.

Lohse had an ERA of 1.69.  Hawkins retired both men he faced and had an ERA of zero.  Romero's ERA was 2.57.  Guardado was at 1.59.

Rivas was 8-for-16 with a triple and a double in the last four games.

The Twins had stretched their winning streak to four games.  Would this be their fifth consecutive series sweep?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 7-6, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twelve

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 9, TORONTO 3 IN TORONTO

Date:  Sunday, April 13.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs.  Tom Prince was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (!).  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks and striking out two.  Johan Santana struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Eric Hinske was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Josh Phelps was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Carlos Delgado led off the second with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Hinske's one-out double.  Orlando Hudson hit a two-out RBI single to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.  The Twins came right back in the top of the third.  With one out, Prince got to second on a bunt single-plus-error.  He then stole third and scored on a ground out.  Jacque Jones singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Guzman's double.  Corey Koskie followed with an RBI single and the Twins had a 3-2 lead.

Toronto got a pair of one-out walks in the fourth, but a double play took them out of the inning.  In the fifth Guzman doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly to increase the Twins' lead to 4-2.  Cuddyer homered in the fifth to make it 5-2.

The Blue Jays got a run back in the seventh.  Phelps doubled and Hinske walked, putting men on first and second with none out.  The next two batters were retired, but Chris Woodward singled to cut the Twins lead to 5-3.  But the Twins put the game away in the eighth.  Jones was hit by a pitch and Guzman singled.  The next two batters struck out, but Mientkiewicz hit an RBI single and LeCroy delivered a three-run homer, making the score 9-3.  The last seven Toronto batters went out to end the game.

WP:  Mays (2-1).  LP:  Mark Hendrickson (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Cuddyer remained in right field.

Dustan Mohr pinch-hit for Jones in the ninth.

Jones was 1-for-3 and was batting .364.  Prince raised his average to .333.

It's still very early in the season, of course, but the Twins started three players with averages below .200.  Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 and was batting .116,  Cuddyer and LeCroy each raised their averages to .188.

Prince created a run in the third in Rickey Henderson-like fashion.  A bunt single, moving to second on a wild throw, stealing third, scoring on a ground out.  This was the last of nine stolen bases Prince had in his career.  It was also the last stolen base attempt in his career.  He was 9-for-17 in stealing bases.  His season high was three, in 2001.

Hendrickson pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and no walks.  He struck out seven.  This was his first full season.  Hendrickson pitched a really long time for someone who wasn't very good.  If you throw out his rookie year, when he pitched just 36.2 innings, he had only two seasons in which his ERA was under 4.50 and six seasons in which it was over five.  He had only one season in which his WHIP was less than 1.40 (1.39) and four seasons in which it was over 1.50.  For his career he was 58-74, 5.03, 1.46 WHIP.  Yet, he was in the big leagues for ten years, appeared in 328 games (166 starts) and pitched 1169 innings.

This was quite a start to the season.  Four three-game series.  Swept Detroit.  Swept by Toronto.  Swept by New York.  Swept Toronto.  Now, they would go home to play Detroit.  Would there be another series sweep?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 6-6, in third place in the American League Central, four games behind Kansas City.  The Royals finally lost a game, making their record 9-1.