Tag Archives: 2003 rewind

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eleven

MINNESOTA 9, TORONTO 6 IN TORONTO

Date:  Saturday, April 12.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second), a double, and three RBIs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and five walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Pete Walker pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three.  Vernon Wells was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Eric Hinske was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Frank Catalanotto was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

The game:  Hinske hit a one-out home run in the second to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.  The Twins tied it in the third when Rivas hit a two-out single and scored from first on Jones' double.  Toronto put two on in the third, but the score remained 1-1 until the fifth, when Catalanotto homered to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 advantage.

The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but did not score.  Toronto put men on first and second with two out, also in the sixth, but did not score.  In the seventh, Mientkiewicz and Kielty led off with back-to-back home runs to give Minnesota  3-2 lead.  That lead lasted until the bottom of the seventh.  Wells walked, Carlos Delgado singled, and with two out Tom Wilson delivered a two-run double to make it 4-3 Blue Jays.

The Twins tied it back up in the eighth.  Corey Koskie led off with a double, but was still on second with two out.  But Kielty came through with an RBI single, and it was 4-4 going to the ninth.

In the ninth, Rivas and Jones led off with singles and Denny Hocking walked, loading the bases.  Koskie hit into a fielder's choice with no out recorded, giving the Twins a 5-4 lead.  Torii Hunter then hit a two-run single and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run double, putting the Twins up 9-4.

Toronto did not go away quietly.  Stewart led off with a double and scored on Wells' one-out single.  Walks to Delgado and Josh Phelps loaded the bases.  That brought Eddie Guardado into the game.  A force out brought home one run, but Dave Berg then struck out to end the game.

WP:  Hawkins (1-0).  LP:  Kelvim Escobar (0-1).  S:  Guardado (4).

Notes:  Hocking was at shortstop in place of Cristian Guzman.  Michael Cuddyer was again the right fielder.  Kielty was the DH.  There were no lineup substitutions during the game.

Kielty raised his average to .375.  Jones raised his average to .366.

Hocking was 0-for-3 and was batting .091.  Hunter was 1-for-4 to raise his average to .125.  Cuddyer was 1-for-4 to raise his average to .179.

This was the second consecutive game in which Rivas had three hits.  He had five three-hit games in 2003.  Two of the others would also come in succession, in late June.

The score was 2-1 after six and ended up 9-6.  That's baseball.

So far, each series the Twins had been involved in was a three-game sweep.  They swept Detroit, were swept by Toronto, and were swept by New York.  They now had a chance to sweep Toronto.  Would they be able to?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 5-6, in third place in the American League Central, six games behind Kansas City.  The Royals still had not lost a game and were 9-0.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Ten

MINNESOTA 6, TORONTO 4 IN TORONTO

Date:  Friday, April 11.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 3-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base, and two runs.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  J. C. Romero struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition star:  Shannon Stewart was 3-for-5 with a triple, two doubles, and two RBIs.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third.  Tom Wilson led off with a double and Mike Bordick drew a one-out walk.  Stewart then delivered an RBI double and Frank Catalanotto added a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0 Blue Jays.  The lead lasted just a half inning.  Jacque Jones and Guzman started the inning with singles.  Corey Koskie then hit a two-run double to tie it up.  The next two batters went out, but LeCroy hit a two-out run-scoring double to give the Twins a 3-2 lead.

Toronto came back in the fifth.  Bordick singled and Stewart hit an RBI triple to tie the score.  Catalanotto then singled to put the Blue Jays back in front at 4-3.

The Twins went into the lead to stay in the seventh.  Michael Cuddyer drew a one-out walk and scored on a Rivas triple to tie it 4-4.  Jones then hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4 Minnesota.  They added a run in the ninth.  Singles by Cuddyer and Rivas put men on the corners with none out, but Cuddyer was thrown out at the plate when Jones hit a grounder to second.  A Guzman infield single loaded the bases, and Koskie hit an RBI ground out.  Toronto got only one hit after the sixth, a one-out seventh inning double by Stewart.

WP:  Kenny Rogers (1-0).  LP:  Cory Lidle (1-2).  S:  Guardado (3).

Notes:  Cuddyer remained in right field.  He was replaced by Dustan Mohr in the ninth inning.  That was the only positional substitution the Twins made.

Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .333.  He was the only regular over .300.

On the negative side, the Twins still had four regulars below .200.  Torii Hunter went 0-for-5 and was batting .111.  Cuddyer was 1-for-3 to raise his average to .167.  LeCroy went up to .179.  Rivas was up to .192.

Rogers pitched six innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks while striking out five.  It was really a fairly typical performance for him in 2003.  He wasn't awful, but he wasn't really good, either.  He was generally good enough to keep the team in the game if they scored a decent number of runs.

Lidle pitched 6.1 innings for Toronto, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk.  He struck out nine.  2003 was the worst year of his career, as he finished 12-15, 5.75, 1.43 WHIP.  It was his only year as a Blue Jay.  He never really had a good year after leaving Oakland, although he had a couple of not-terrible ones and pitched well for Philadelphia down the stretch in 2004.

The victory snapped a six-game losing streak for the Twins.  Could they get a winning streak going?  We shall see.  They did, at least, move up one spot in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 4-6, in third place in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City, which had started the season 8-0.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Nine

NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Thursday, April 10.

Batting stars:  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4.  A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-1 with two hit-by-pitches.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out two.  Johan Santana struck out eight in four shutout innings of relief, giving up four hits.

Opposition stars:  David Wells pitched a complete game shutout, giving up three hits and striking out six.  Hideki Matsui was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Bernie Williams was 3-for-4.  John Flaherty was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Yankees had men on first and second with two out in the first and second and third with one out in the second, but did not score either time.  That changed in the third.  With one out, Jason Giambi walked and went to third on Williams' single-plus-error.  Matsui then delivered a two-run double to give New York a 2-0 lead.

And that was it for the scoring.  The Twins got a one-out double from Gomez in the fourth, but he was stranded on second.  They put two on with two out in the fifth and did nothing with them.  They did not get a man past first after that, managing only a pair of singles over the next four innings.

WP:  Wells (2-0).  LP:  Reed (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes;  Gomez was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Dustan Mohr was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Michael Cuddyer was in right.

Gomez was batting .364.

The Twins had five starters in this game with batting averages below .200.  At the bottom was Rivas at .091.  Matthew LeCroy was batting .125.  Torii Hunter was batting .129.  Cuddyer was batting .143.  Mohr was batting .158.

The Twins made no lineup substitutions.

I don't know why Reed came out after just four innings.  He had thrown seventy pitches, which is a lot for four innings but doesn't seem like a lot for a game.  He would not miss his next start.  Santana obviously did an excellent job, which didn't help in this game but did save the rest of the bullpen for the next one.

You probably remember that Wells threw a perfect game against the Twins.  For his career, he was actually better against them than Mussina was:  19-6, 2.34, 1.01 WHIP in 200.1 innings (38 games, 25 starts).

After sweeping Detroit to start the season, the Twins had now been swept by Toronto and New York.  In the Yankee series, they were outscored 11-4.  In the losing streak they were outscored 30-10.  They would next travel to Toronto to take another shot at the Blue Jays.

Record:  The Twins were 3-6, in fourth place in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eight

2 Comments

NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, April 9.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-3.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a walk.

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

Opposition stars:  Mike Mussina struck out eight in eight innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and two walks.  Jorge Posada was 1-for-2 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Raul Mondesi was 1-for-3 with a home run.

The game:  With one out in the second, Kielty got to second on a single-plus-error and scored on Pierzynski's two-out single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins missed a chance to add to their lead in the fifth.  Kielty led off with a walk.  Pierzynski hit a one-out single and Luis Rivas walked, loading the bases.  But Jacque Jones hit back to the pitcher for a force at home and Cristian Guzman grounded out, ending the inning.

It cost the Twins, as the Yankees took the lead in the bottom of the fifth.  Posada hit a one-out homer and Mondesi hit a two-out homer, putting New York ahead 2-1.

And that's where it stayed.  Mientkiewicz hit a two-out double in the sixth.  Pierzynski singled with one out in the seventh and was erased by a double play.  Mientkiewicz hit a one-out single in the ninth.  But the Twins could not tie it up, and it was another loss.

WP:  Mussina (2-0).  LP:  Lohse (1-1).  S:  Juan Acevedo (2).

Notes:  Kielty was the DH in place of Matthew LeCroy.

The Twins made no lineup substitutions.

Kielty was batting .368.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .344.  Corey Koskie was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.

Rivas was 0-for-2 and was batting .105.  Hunter was 0-for-4 and was batting .148.

By game scores this was Lohse's fourth-best game of the season, topped by his first game, a game in May, and one in September.

If you were around at that time, you remember how the Twins struggled against Mussina.  For his career, Mussia was 22-9 against the Twins with an ERA of 3.09 and a WHIP of 1.17.  He struck out 186 batters in 230.1 innings (33 starts) against the Twins.  But the Twins were not the only team that struggled against him, because Mussina was just a darn good pitcher.  He actually won more games against Toronto (23) and had a lower ERA against Detroit (2.91) and Kansas City (3.00).  He also had a lower ERA against several National League teams, although just in a few starts.  He had a lower WHIP against several teams, too.  He wasn't hard on the Twins because he had some sort of hex on them or something.  He was hard on the Twins because he was really good.

After winning their first three, the Twins had now lost their next five.  They would have one more chance to break their losing streak against the Yankees.

Record:  The Twins were 3-5, in fourth place in the American League Central, four games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Seven

NEW YORK 7, MINNESOTA 3 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Tuesday, April 8.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Cristian Guzman was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Tony Fiore pitched three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Nick Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base.  Robin Ventura was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Hideki Matsui was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, a walk, and two runs.  Antonio Osuna struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.

The game:  The Yankees opened the scoring in the second.  Jorge Posada hit a one-out double and Raul Mondesi delivered a two-out single, putting New York up 1-0.  The Twins tied it in the fourth.  Jones led off with a double, Corey Koskie drew a one-out walk, and Hunter hit a run-scoring double.  The Twins still had men on second and third with one out, but Matthew LeCroy hit a grounder to third and Koskie was thrown out at the plate on what we assume was the contact play.  Doug Mientkiewicz grounded out and the threat was over.

It cost them, because the Yankees went into the lead to stay in the bottom of the fourth.  Matsui led off the inning with a walk and Ventura hit a one-out two-run homer, making the score 3-1 New York.  With one out in the fifth Johnson singled and Jason Giambi singled Johnson to third, with Giambi moving to second on the throw.  Bernie Williams was intentionally walked and Matsiu followed with a grand slam, making it 7-1 Yankees.

The Twins tried to get back into it in the sixth.  Jones and Guzman led off the inning with walks.  A forceout put men on first and third and Hunter's sacrifice fly scored a run.  A passed ball moved Guzman to second and he scored on LeCroy's single.  Mientkiewicz singled and a wild pitch moved the runners to second and third.  A hit could've moved the Twins to within two, but Michael Cuddyer struck out to end the inning and leave the score 7-3.

That was pretty much it.  The Twins had only one baserunner the rest of the game, a two-out walk to Hunter in the eighth.

WP:  Andy Pettitte (2-0).  LP:  Joe Mays (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cuddyer was in right field, as he was for most of the month of March.  The Twins did not make any lineup substitutions.

Koskie was batting .375.  Jones was batting .357.

The Twins had five regulars batting below .200 in the young season.  Hunter was at .174.  A. J. Pierzynski was also at .174.  Cuddyer was batting .167.  LeCroy was batting .143.  Luis Rivas was at .118.  You don't win many games that way, and of course this was the Twins' fourth loss in a row.  But that's why you don't make judgments after seven games.

After a solid first outing, Mays again lasted five innings, but this time allowed seven runs on eight hits and two walks.  He struck out three.  He did fairly well except for the home runs, but that's a little like saying the Titanic did fairly well except for that big hole in the side.  Fiore did an excellent job of saving the bullpen, though, and that should not be overlooked.

Yankee starter Andy Pettitte pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and three walks and striking out two.

The Twins had started with three wins, but now had four losses.

Record:  The Twins were 3-4, in third place in the American League Central, three games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Six

TORONTO 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, April 6.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a double.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Juan Rincon struck out six in five shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit.  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Cory Lidle struck out seven in seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk.  Frank Catalanotto was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Carlos Delgado was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second), two runs, and four RBIs.  Chris Woodward was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

The game:  In the first inning Catalanotto singled and Delgado hit a two-run homer, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.  Not to worry:  Brad Radke was pitching, and we expect him to give up a couple of runs in the first, then settle down.  Unfortunately, this day he did not settle down.

He got Toronto out in order in the second.  In the third, however, the Blue Jays started the inning with singles by Woodward, Stewart, and Catalanotto, loading the bases.  Vernon Wells walked to force in a run.  Delgado delivered a two-run single.  The next two batters went out, but Greg Myers singled home a run to make it 6-0.

The fourth was no better for Radke.  Woodward singled, Stewart doubled, and Catalanotto hit a two-run double to put Toronto up 8-0.  At that point, Ron Gardenhire pulled Radke and brought in Rincon, who brought some order to the game.  He actually pitched very well, but it was simply too late/

The Twins did little offensively.  Their lone run came in the sixth, when Jones doubled and Gomez singled him home.  The Twins had two on with none out in the seventh and loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but could not dent the plate either time.

WP:  Lidle (1-1).  LP:  Radke (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Gomez was at shortstop in place of Cristian Guzman.   Kielty was in left, with Jones at DH.  Dustan Mohr was in center in place of Torii Hunter.  Michael Cuddyer was in right.

Denny Hocking went to third base in the seventh inning in place of Corey Koskie.

Koskie was 1-for-3 and was batting .462.  Kielty was batting .375.  Jones was batting .360.

On the other end of the scale, Luis Rivas was batting .143.

Radke allowed eight runs on ten hits and a walk in just three innings.  He struck out two.  By game scores it was his worst game of the season.

On the other hand, Rincon pitched really well.  This was easily his longest outing of the season.  He had been a starter in the minors, though, and that's mostly where he had been prior to this season, so a five-inning appearance would not have been that strange to him at the time.

He didn't make a big deal out of it, but I think Herb Carneal really enjoyed saying the name "Frank Catalanotto".

After sweeping the Tigers on the road to start the season, the Twins were swept at home by Toronto.  Not to worry, though.  Their next series would be on the road against the Yankees.

Record:  The Twins were 3-3, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Five

TORONTO 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, April 5.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-6 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-5 with a double, a stolen base, and two RBIs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two walks and striking out one.  J. C. Romero pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Roy Halladay pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and one walk and striking out three.  Carlos Delgado was 3-for-5 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-3 with a double, three walks, and two runs.  Chris Woodward was 2-for-5 with a double.  Josh Phelps was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

The game:  Stewart led off the game with a double and Delgado hit a two-out RBI single to give the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.  They had the bases loaded in the second but could not score.  It looked like that would cost them, because the Twins scored two in the bottom of the second.  Koskie singled and scored from first on a Doug Mientkiewicz double.  Kielty followed with an RBI single and the Twins led 2-1.

Toronto again loaded the bases in the third and did not score.  In the fourth, however, Stewart hit a one-out single, was balked to second, and scored on Vernon Wells' ground-rule double.  Delgado followed with a run-scoring single and the Blue Jays led 3-2.

Then came a lot of missed opportunities.  The Twins had two on in the fifth and a leadoff double in the sixth.  The Blue Jays had two on in the seventh.  The Twins had a two-out triple in the seventh.  Still, the score remained 3-2 until the eighth, when Koskie walked and again scored from first on a double, this one by Kielty, tying the score 3-3.

The Twins could not cash in a leadoff double in the ninth.  Toronto loaded the bases in the tenth to no avail.  In the eleventh, however, Phelps hit a one-out home run to put the Blue Jays in the lead to stay.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the eleventh.

WP:  Pete Walker (1-0).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (0-1).  S:  Kelvim Escobar (1).

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Denny Hocking was on second in place of Luis Rivas.  Bobby Kielty was in right field in place of Dustan Mohr.

Pierzynski pinch-hit for Prince in the eighth and remained in the game at catcher.  Michael Cuddyer pinch-hit for Hocking in the eleventh.

Kenny Rogers started for the Twins and pitched just four innings, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out two.  The Twins bullpen really came through, throwing six shutout innings before the Phelps home run in the eleventh.

The real story of the game, as you may have gathered, was missed opportunities.  The Twins stranded eleven and went 2-for-14 with men in scoring position.  The Blue Jays stranded fifteen and went 3-for-13 with men in scoring position.  The deciding run, of course, was not on a hit with men in scoring position.

There were three Blue Jays who either had or would play for the Twins:  Orlando Hudson, Greg Myers, and Shannon Stewart.

Record:  The Twins were 3-2, in second place in the American League Central, two games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Four

TORONTO 7, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 4.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, a walk, and two runs.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Mike Fetters pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Tanyon Sturtze pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks and struck out one.  Josh Phelps was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Vernon Wells was 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Frank Catalanotto was 2-for-5 with a home run.  Jeff Tam pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit.

The game:  The Twins missed a chance in the first.  Jacque Jones led off with a single, was bunted to second, and stole third with one out.  Torii Hunter then hit back to the pitcher and Jones was thrown out at the plate, presumably on a contact play.  It cost them, because Phelps led off the second with a home run, putting the Blue Jays up 1-0.  It went to 2-0 in the second, as Toronto scored on singles by Carlos Delgado and Phelps and an error.

The Twins got on the board in the fifth.  Mientkiewicz walked and went to second on a ground out.  Luis Rivas then reached on an error and Mientkiewicz scored, cutting the lead to 2-1.  The Blue Jays responded immediately, with Catalanotto and Wells leading off the sixth with back-to-back homers to give Toronto a 4-1 lead.

The Blue Jays put it out of reach in the seventh.  Mike Bordick and Shannon Stewart walked and Wells hit a two-out three-run homer, putting Toronto up 7-1.  Mientkiewicz homered leading off the eighth, but the Twins never threatened to get back into the game.

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

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at third base in place of Corey Koskie.  Bobby Kielty was in right field.

The Twins did not make any lineup substitutions.

Reed pitched pretty well for five innings, but the back-to-back homers gave him a line of six innings, four runs, six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.   The big seventh came off Tony Fiore.  Fiore had pitched well for the Twins in 2002, but would not repeat that in 2003.

I remembered Vernon Wells as a Twins killer.  He wasn't, really.  He did fine against them, but not that much differently from the way he hit against everyone.  Against the Twins he batted .290/.321/.446, for an OPS of .767.  For his career, he batted .270/.319/.459, for an OPS of .778.

Tanyon Sturtze pitched a long time for someone who wasn't very good.  He had a good game here, obviously.  Maybe he was one of those guys who, in Bill James' phrase, pitched well just often enough to fool people into pitching him some more.  He was in the majors for parts of twelve seasons and went 40-44, 5.19, 1.53 WHIP in 797 innings.  He appeared in 272 games, starting 84 of them.  Excluding "seasons" in which he pitched fewer than ten innings, his lowest season ERA was 4.42.  He had only three seasons in which he had an ERA under five.  His numbers in AAA were 38-30, 4.71, 1.49 WHIP, so it's not like he just couldn't make the jump to the bigs.  In fact, his numbers in AA are 13-18, 4.33, 1.49 WHIP.  Even in high-A, he had an ERA of 3.84, but a WHIP of 1.45.  I've written this so many times you're probably tired of reading it, but it just frustrates me that guys like this get chance after chance after chance, long after they've proven they're never going to be good enough, while other guys put up great numbers in the high minors and get a cursory look or none at all.  I guess nobody said baseball, or life itself, was going to be fair.

Despite my hopes, the Twins would not go 162-0 in 2003.

Record:  The Twins were 3-1, in second place in the American League Central, one game behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Three

MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 0 IN DETROIT

Date:  Thursday, April 3.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched eight shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out five.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Adam Bernero pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk and striking out one.  Omar Infante was 1-for-3 with a double.

The game:  With one out in the first inning Cristian Guzman tripled and scored on a ground out to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  With two out in the fourth, Koskie tripled and scored on a Bobby Kielty single.

Meanwhile, the Tigers did not have a baserunner for the first five innings.  The streak ended with one out in the sixth when Infante doubled, but he did not advance past second.  They got another hit in the seventh when Dmitri Young got a one-out single.

The Twins added a run in the eighth when Jacque Jones and Torii Hunter walked, Jones stole third, and Koskie hit into a force out to bring home a run.  Shane Halter hit a two-out single in the ninth and stole second (one suspects hometown scoring in giving him a stolen base rather than defensive indifference), but Bobby Higginson flied out to end the game.

WP:  Lohse (1-0).  LP:  Bernero (0-1).  S:  Guardado (1).

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Kielty was the DH.  He had the second-most games at DH on the team, behind Matthew LeCroy.

Denny Hocking pinch-ran for Koskie in the eighth and remained in the game at third base.

Small sample size stats are fun.  Koskie was batting .571 with an OPS of 1.143.  Pierzynski was batting .400 with an OPS of 1.335.  Hocking was batting .333 with an OPS of 1.000.

As with Joe Mays, Kyle Lohse could not sustain the success he had in this first game.  By game scores, this would be the best game he would pitch all season, narrowly beating out a complete game shutout against Tampa Bay in May.

This was also one of the best games Adam Bernero would pitch all season, even if he didn't get rewarded for it.  For the season he would go 1-14 with a 5.87 ERA.  He would also be traded to Colorado for Ben Petrick.  Overall, he pitched in parts of seven major league seasons and never had a good one.  His career record was 11-27, 5.91, 1.50 WHIP in 376 innings.  He appeared in 150 games, starting 37 of them.  He was pretty good in AAA--25-25, 3.39, 1.27--which is probably why he kept getting chances.  But for whatever reason, he simply could not make the jump to the majors.

We probably got excited about the Twins sweeping this opening series, especially with the Twins pitchers giving Detroit just two runs.  We could not have realized just how awful the Tigers would turn out to be.  On the other hand, Detroit fans probably realized very quickly that getting swept at home, and being outscored 14-2, was a sign that this was going to be a long season.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0, tied for first place in the American League Central with Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Two

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 1 IN DETROIT

Date:  Wednesday, April 2.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a double.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs, and four RBIs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched five innings, giving up a run on two hits and no walks and striking out four.  Johan Santana struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Mike Fetters pitched a perfect inning.  Latroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Eric Munson was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Wil Ledezma pitched two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

The game:  The Twins took control early.  In the first inning Guzman singled, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Koskie's single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Michael Cuddyer led off with a single and Jones hit a two-out two-run homer to put Minnesota up 3-0.

The Tigers got their lone run in the third when Munson led off with a home run.  The Twins responded with three in the fourth.  Pierzynski hit a ground-rule double with one out in the fourth and a balk moved him to third.  With two out, Jones laid down an RBI bunt single.  Guzman then singled and Hunter delivered a two-run triple, making the score 6-1 Twins.

Detroit never threatened after that.  They had only two singles and a walk the rest of the game and never advanced anyone past first base.  The Twins scored in the eighth when Cuddyer walked, went to third on Pierzynski's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  They got their final run in the ninth when Denny Hocking scored from first on a Doug Mientkiewicz double.

WP: Mays (1-0).  LP:  Jeremy Bonderman (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cuddyer was in right field.  Dustan Mohr played the most games in right field, but Cuddyer was the regular for most of April.

Hocking replaced Koskie in the fourth inning.  That's really early for a defensive replacement.  On the other hand, Koskie played the next day, so if it was due to injury or illness it was minor.

Mays pitched really well in this game, but sadly he did not sustain it.  This was his second-best game of the season by game scores.  After this game, there would only be one time when his ERA was below five this season.

Bonderman lasted just four innings for the Tigers, giving up six runs on nine hits and a walk.  He did strike out five.

This was one of five games Fetters would pitch as a Twin.

Record:  The Twins were 2-0, tied for first in the American League Central with Kansas City.