Tag Archives: 2003 rewind

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 23.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Kenny Rogers pitched 8.2 innings, giving up one run on eight hits and no walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Alex Escobar was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Josh Bard was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Indians had men on first and third with one out in the second but did not score.  The Twins had men on first and second with two out in the second but did not score.  In the third, however, Guzman singled and Shannon Stewart and Luis Rivas had back-to-back doubles to get the Twins on the board with a 2-0 lead.

Cleveland got back-to-back hit-by-pitches to start the fourth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth the Twins added a run without a hit.  Koskie walked, A. J. Pierzynski reached on an error, Guzman walked, and Stewart hit a sacrifice fly.

The Indians had a man on second with one out in the fifth and men on first and second with none out in the seventh, but did not score.  Guzman homered leading off the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-0.  Cleveland rallied in the ninth, getting singles from Jody Gerut, Escobar, and Josh Bard to make it 4-1 and bring the tying run to the plate.  But Eddie Guardado came in to strike out Greg LaRocca to end the game.

WP:  Rogers (13-8).  LP:  Jake Westbrook (7-10).  S:  Guardado (40).

Notes:  Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was batting .309.  Stewart was 1-for-3 and was batting .308.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .303.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .300.

Rogers threw 102 pitches.

Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.84.

Westbrook pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out two.

The strikeout to end the game was Greg LaRocca's last major league at-bat.  He played in a handful of games in three separate seasons.  An infielder, he batted .261/.337/.352 in 100 plate appearances (39 games).  After this season he went to Japan, where he had several successful seasons.

It was the Twins' tenth consecutive win.  Chicago and Kansas City had both won yesterday, when the Twins were off, but they both lost today, so the Twins clinched the division.

Record:  The Twins were 88-69, in first place in the American League Central, six games ahead of Chicago and Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-five

MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-5 with a home run (his seventeenth), a double, and three RBIs.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with three walks and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Grant Balfour struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Craig Monroe was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twentieth), two doubles, and two RBIs.  Brandon Inge was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Dmitri Young was 2-for-4.  Alex Sanchez was 2-for-5.  No other Tiger had a hit.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  Shannon Stewart walked and Mientkiewicz doubled, putting men on second and third with one out.  A strikeout followed, but then Corey Koskie hit a two-run single, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Torii Hunter single to make it 3-0.  Mohr homered in the fourth to make it 4-0.

Detroit got on the board in the fifth when Monroe homered, but the Twins got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when LeCroy homered.  The Tigers got back into it in the sixth.  Sanchez led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch.  Young then delivered a two-out RBI single followed by Monroe's run-scoring double, cutting the margin to 6-3.

That was as good as it would get for Detroit.  The Twins scored one more, in the seventh, when Mientkiewicz walked, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on LeCroy's single.  The Tigers had men on second and third with two out in the eighth, but did not score again.

WP:  Johan Santana (12-3).  LP:  Nate Robertson (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Stewart was in left, Mohr in right, and Michael Cuddyer at DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Stewart was 0-for-3 and was batting .307.  Mientkiewicz was batting .303.

Santana didn't pitch badly, but he ran into trouble in the sixth.  His line was 5.2 innings, three runs, four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Robertson pitched five innings, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.

The relievers for Detroit were Chris Mears, Erik Eckenstahler, Matt Anderson, and Matt Roney.  That's the kind of bullpen that leads you to be 38-116, which was the Tigers' record after this game.

The Twins had now won eight straight.  The White Sox lost to the Royals, so the Twins edged closer to clinching the division.

Record:  The Twins were 86-69, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 5.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 19.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 4-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), two runs, and two RBIs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out four.  Grant Balfour struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition star:  Warren Morris was 2-for-3 with a double.

The game:  The Twins put men on first and third with two out in the first but did not score.  In the second, however, Hunter doubled and Pierzynski followed with a single to make it 1-0.  In the second, singles by Shannon Stewart and Doug Mientkiewicz were followed by a pair of productive ground outs to make it 2-0.

The Twins took control in the fourth.  Hunter and Pierzynski opened the inning with singles.  With one out, Cristian Guzman and Stewart delivered RBI singles.  Rivas walked to load the bases and Mientkiewicz walked to force in a run.  It was 5-0 Twins.

Milton cruised through his seven innings, throwing just 77 pitches.  In the eighth, the bullpen allowed the only two Tiger runs.  Carlos Pena walked, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Morris single.  With two out, singles by Alex Sanchez and Shane Halter produced another run.  A walk to Bobby Higginson loaded the bases, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.  But Dmitri Young flied to center to end the inning.  Pierzynski homered leading off the ninth to make it 6-2, Detroit went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Milton (1-0).  LP:  Jeremy Bonderman (6-19).  S:  None.

Notes:  Stewart was in left, Michael Ryan in right, and Jacque Jones was the DH.  Dustan Mohr replaced Ryan in right in the ninth.

Ryan was 0-for-3 and was batting .356.  Pierzynski raised his average to .311.  Stewart went up to .308.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .306.  Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .302.

Milton lowered his ERA to 1.50.

Bonderman pitched 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out two.

Tiger players with Twins connections included Morris, Fernando Rodney, and Craig Monroe.

The Twins did not have a letdown after sweeping the White Sox.  The win was their seventh in a row.  The White Sox were playing the Royals, so one of them had to lose.  It was the Royals, as the White Sox tried to stay in the race.

Record:  The Twins were 85-69, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 5.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-three

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his fourteenth and fifteenth), a walk, and four RBIs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out six.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition star:  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-4.

The game:  Alomar and Carlos Lee opened the game with singles.  They were on second and third with two out.  Carl Everett then singled them both home, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.  The Twins bounced right back in the bottom of the first.  Shannon Stewart walked and Jones hit a two-out two-run homer to tie it 2-2 after one.

The Twins struck again in the third, again with two out.  Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and Jones followed with his second two-run homer to make it 4-2 Minnesota.  It went to 5-2 in the fourth when Michael Ryan singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a ground out.

Chicago had men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but Lee grounded into a double play.  They cut the lead to 5-3 in the seventh on doubles by Jose Valentin and Aaron Miles.  With two out in the ninth Aaron Rowand singled and Joe Crede walked, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.  But Sandy Alomar fouled out and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Lohse (14-11).  LP:  Bartolo Colon (14-13).  S:  Guardado (38).

Notes:  Stewart was in left, Ryan was in right, and Jones was the DH.  Lew Ford pinch-hit for Ryan in the eighth, with Dustan Mohr going to right field in the ninth.

Ryan was 1-for-3 and was batting .381.  Ford was 0-for-1 and was batting .321.  Jones raised his average to .307.  Stewart was 1-for-4 and was also batting .307.  A. J. PIerzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .305.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.89.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.76.

Colon pitched six innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks and striking out one.  He pitched well if you take away the Jones home runs, but as we always say, you can't do that.

The foul popup that ended the game was caught by pitcher Eddie Guardado.  It's unusual for a pitcher to catch any popup, much less a foul popup.  I don't know what happened, but good play, Eddie.

His RBI double was the first hit of Aaron Miles' career.  I don't really remember him, but he played for nine years and played in over 130 games in five of those years.  This was his only season with the White Sox--they traded him to Colorado after the season for Juan Uribe.  He was with the Rockies for two years, then was traded to St. Louis.  He played there for three years, became a free agent, and signed with the Cubs.  He was there for one year, then they traded him to Oakland, but before he could play a game for the Athletics he was traded to Cincinnati.  They released him before he could play a game for them, but he signed back with St. Louis for another year.  He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent and spent one year there.  He was mostly a second baseman.  With the exception of his one year with the Cubs he would usually post a decent batting average and OBP, although with no power.  For his career he batted .281/.320/.352 in 932 games and 3064 plate appearances.

It was the Twins' sixth consecutive win.  While the White Sox were obviously not going to give up, it felt like the series sweep pretty much decided the pennant race.

Record:  The Twins were 84-69, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 4.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-two

MINNESOTA 4, CHICAGO 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 17.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3 with a stolen base (his seventeenth), a walk, and two runs.  Michael Ryan was 1-for-3 with a home run, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Carl Everett was 2-for-4.  Joe Crede was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his seventeenth.  Scott Sullivan struck out two in two shutout innings of relief.

The game:  The White Sox got a pair of one-out singles in the second, but there was no score until the third.  With one out, Ryan homered to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Cristian Guzman then walked and went to second on a wild pitch.  With two out, Rivas hit an RBI single and Doug Mientkiewicz followed with a run-scoring double to make it 3-0 Minnesota.

The Twins had men on first and third with one out in the fourth, but a line drive double-play took them out of the inning.  With two out in the fifth, however, Rivas singled, stole second, and scored on a Jacque Jones single to make it 4-0 Twins.

Chicago got on the board in the seventh when Everett singled and Crede hit a two-run homer.  Magglio Ordonez opened the ninth with a walk, bringing the tying run up to bat, but Everett hit into a double play and Paul Konerko flied out to end the game.

WP:  Rogers (12-8).  LP:  Jon Garland (11-12).  S:  Guardado (37).

Notes:  Shannon Stewart was in left, with Ryan in right and Jones at DH.  Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Jones in the eighth.  Dustan Mohr replaced Ryan in right in the ninth.

Ryan was batting .385.  Stewart was 0-for-4 and was batting .308.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .305.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 and was batting .304.  Jones was 1-for-3 and was also batting .304.

This was Rogers' best game in a month, and it obviously came at a very good time for the Twins.  Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.92.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.80.

The Twins had won the first two of the three-game series, and had won five in a row.  They would be in first place at the end of the series, regardless of how the last game came out.  But if they could get a sweep, they would have a big advantage going into the last week and a half of the season.  The Royals lost, and were nearly out of the race.

Record:  The Twins were 83-69, in first place, 2.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 4.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-one

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 16.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his sixth.  Michael Ryan was 2-for-4.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Carl Everett was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-eighth) and two RBIs.  Carlos Lee was 2-for-4.  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-4.  Scott Schoeneweis struck out five in 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the first inning on three walks and a Corey Koskie sacrifice fly.  In the second, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out.  An RBI ground out and a wild pitch followed.  The Twins had not scored a run on a hit, but still led 3-0 through two.  They made it 4-0 in the third on consecutive singles by Hunter, A. J. Pierzynski, and Ryan.

The White Sox had gotten a pair of singles in the first and again in the third, but did not score either time.  They broke through in the sixth, however, on singles by Lee, Frank Thomas, and Everett, cutting the lead to 4-1.  The Twins got the run back in the seventh.  Jones singled, pinch-runner Lew Ford stole second, and Hunter delivered an RBI single.

Chicago got only one hit after the sixth.  It was a home run by Everett with one out in the ninth, but the White Sox did not bring the tying run even to the on-deck circle.

WP:  Radke (13-10).  LP:  Esteban Loaiza (19-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Stewart was in left, Ryan in right, and Jones at DH.  The only lineup substitution was Ford for Jones as mentioned above.

Ryan raised his average to .389.  Stewart was 0-for-3 and was batting .310.  Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Jones raised his average to .304.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-2 and was batting .304.

Radke again came up big for the Twins.  He had struggled most of the season, but turned it around when he got to September.  In his last three starts he had given up just five earned runs in 23 innings, giving up 22 hits and zero walks.

LaTroy Hawkins gave up one run in two innings, raising his ERA to 1.95.

Loaiza had an excellent year in 2003, but he didn't get it done in this game.  Wildness did him in--he walked five in 2.1 innings, giving up four runs on four hits and striking out one.  He had made the all-star team in 2003 and finished second in Cy Young voting behind Roy Halladay, but the Twins beat him (or he beat himself) in a very important game.

The Twins had one the first of the three-game series, and assured that they could be no worse than a half-game out of first at the end of it.  The Royals won, trying to stay in the race.

Record:  The Twins were 82-69, in first place in the American League Central, 1.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 3.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty

MINNESOTA 13, CLEVELAND 6 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Monday, September 15.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3 with a double, a stolen base (his third), a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-sixth), a double, two runs, and five RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.

Pitching stars:  Jesse Orosco pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Juan Rincon struck out two in a perfect inning.  Carlos Pulido pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Casey Blake was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Chris Magruder was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Coco Crisp was 2-for-4.

The game:  It was close for five innings.  Neither team scored in the first two, but each team scored once in the third.  The Twins got doubles from Pierzynski and Shannon Stewart to get on the board, but the Indians tied it with Magruder's home run.  Cleveland took the lead in the fourth.  Blake walked and was picked off first, but an error on Johan Santana moved him to second.  With one out Santana picked Blake off second but again made an error, sending Blake to third.  Victor Martinez then doubled to make it 2-1 Indians.

But the Twins took control of the game in the sixth.  With one out Stewart walked, Luis Rivas singled, and Doug Mientkiewicz walked, loading the bases.  Jones tied the score with an RBI single, but Rivas was thrown out at the plate for the second out.  An intentional walk to Corey Koskie loaded the bases.  Then Hunter hit a two-run double, Pierzynski had an RBI single and stole second, Michael Ryan had a two-run single, and Guzman killed the rally with a two-run homer.  The Twins scored eight in the inning to take a 9-2 lead.

Cleveland didn't quit, though.  Two walks, an error, and a sacrifice fly brought home two runs in the bottom of the sixth.  The Twins got one in the seventh when Rivas was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on Koskie's single.  The Indians came back with two in the bottom of the seventh when Crisp singled, Casey doubled, and a pair of productive outs made the score 10-6.

Cleveland did not get a hit after that, however.  The Twins put it away in the ninth when Michael Restovich singled, Koskie walked, and Hunter hit a three-run homer.

WP:  Santana (11-3).  LP:  Jason Davis (8-11).  S:  None.

Notes:  Stewart was in left with Ryan in right.  Jones was the DH.

Restovich pinch-ran for Jones in the seventh.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Rivas in the eighth, when Denny Hocking coming in to play second.  Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Pierzynski in the ninth and stayed in the game at catcher.  Lew Ford replaced Stewart in left field in the ninth.

Ryan was 1-for-5 and was batting .375.  Restovich was 1-for-1 and was batting .326.  Stewart was 1-for-3 and was batting .312.  Pierzynski was up to .305.  Mientkiewicz was 0-for-4 and was also batting .305.  Jones raised his average to .302.

Santana pitched well for four innings, but his line was five innings, four runs (three earned), four hits, four walks, and six strikeouts.

Pulido lowered his ERA to 2.19.  He still had not given up a run when used in relief.

Davis started for the Indians.  He pitched 5.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and three walks and striking out two.

Guzman had not hit a home run all year, then hit two in three games.  That's baseball.

This was the only major league home run Chris Magruder would hit in 2003.  He would hit eleven in his career.  He had batted .328/.391/.474 in 41 games in AAA in 2003, then batted .346/.433/.61 in nine games for Cleveland.  The Indians were so impressed that they allowed him to become a free agent.  They were apparently right, as he spent a couple of mediocre-to-poor seasons with Milwaukee and then was done.

The Royals won, but the White Sox were idle, so the Twins moved into first place going into a big three-game series with the White Sox in Minnesota.

Record:  The Twins were 81-69, in first place in the American League Central, a half game ahead of Chicago.  They were 3.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-nine

MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Sunday, September 14.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), a stolen base (his fourth), and three RBIs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with two doubles.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out two.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Travis Hafner was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twelfth) and a double.  Jody Gerut was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-second.  Victor Martinez was 2-for-4.  Cliff Lee struck out seven in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk.

The game:  Each team got a two-out double in the second, but neither team scored until the fourth, when each team did.  In the top of the fifth Pierzynski doubled and scored on a two-out single by Michael Ryan.  The Indians came back with two in the bottom of the inning, as Martinez singled and Hafner followed with a two-run homer.  The Twins went up 3-2 in the sixth when Shannon Stewart singled and Mientkiewicz hit a two-run homer.  Cleveland again came back in the bottom of the inning, with Gerut hitting a home run to tie it 3-3.

Back-to-back hit-by-pitches gave the Twins two on with none out in the eighth.  A bunt moved the runners to second and third.  A fielder's choice resulted in a man thrown out at the plate and men at first and third with two out, but Mientkiewicz came through with a single to put the Twins up 4-3.  The Twins got an insurance run in the ninth when Corey Koskie singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Dustan Mohr's single.  The Indians got only one hit in the last three innings and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Rincon (5-6).  LP:  Danys Baez (2-9).  S:  Guardado (36).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at third base in place of Koskie.  Koskie came in for defense in the eighth.  Stewart was in left with Ryan in right.  Mohr was in center in place of Torii Hunter.  Hunter came in to play center in the seventh, with Mohr moving to right and Ryan coming out of the game.

The Tampa lawyers for car accidents wonders that if Ryan was injured, possibly in a collision with Mohr as he was removed after the first out of the seventh inning, which is an odd time to make a defensive substitution.  That first out is recorded, at b-r.com's play-by-play, as "Flyball: RF-CF (CF-RF)".  I don't know what that means, exactly, but it certainly sounds odd.  Ryan played the next day, so if he was injured it wasn't serious.

There was one other substitution.  Jacque Jones pinch-hit for Luis Rivas in the eighth.  Denny Hocking then pinch-ran for Jones and remained in the game at second base.  I wouldn't have thought of Hocking being faster than Jones, although I wouldn't have thought of him as being much slower, either.  Perhaps Jones was still dealing with a minor injury, after being injured in a traffic accident.

Ryan was 1-for-2 and was batting .407.  Stewart was 1-for-4 and was batting .312.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .308.  Pierzynski went up to .303.  Jones was 0-for-1 and was batting .302.

This was Milton's first start of the season.  He had missed the entire year up to this point with a knee injury  that he got treated by the doctors at Pain Management Clinic Raleigh. The injury was so serious that it had the possibility of an infection while in a hospital, making just one start in Fort Myers prior to this game.  Given that, he did very well in this game.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.88.  Guardado's ERA went down to 2.85.

It's interesting that, with only fourteen games remaining in a pennant race, Ron Gardenhire held out two of his starters and used a starting pitcher who had not pitched all season.  But it worked.

The White Sox and Royals again both won, so the standings remained unchanged.

Record:  The Twins were 80-69, tied for first in the American League Central with Chicago, 3.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-eight

MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 0 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, September 13.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-fifth.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse struck out nine in 7.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and a walk.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Jason Stanford pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.  Rafael Betancourt struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Jody Gerut was 2-for-4.

The game:  Neither team even got a man to third base for five innings.  Doug Mientkiewicz hit a two-out double in the first.  Travis Hafner hit a two-out single in the second and went to second on a wild pitch.  Those were the only players to even reach second base in the first five innings.

Guzman put that all to rest by leading off the sixth with a home run, the first home run he had hit all season.  In the seventh, Hunter homered with one out to make it 2-0 Twins.

That was all the Twins would need.  The Indians put men on first and second with two out in the seventh and with one out in the eighth, but did not score either inning.

WP:  Lohse (13-11).  LP:  Stanford (0-2).  S:  Guardado (35).

Notes:  Shannon Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  Lew Ford replaced Jones in right in the fifth inning--presumably Jones injured himself in the prior half-inning trying to break up a double play.  He would pinch-hit in the next game and be back in the lineup after that, although he was often removed late in the game.  Dustan Mohr then replaced Ford in the ninth.  Michael Restovich pinch-ran for Matthew LeCroy in the eighth.

Ford was 0-for-1 and was batting .327.  Stewart was 1-for-4 and was batting .312.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 and was batting .306.  Jones was 1-for-2 and was batting .302.  A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.

Lohse had been mediocre-to-poor since mid-June, but he came up big in this game.  His game score of 74 was his highest since May 8 and his first over 60 since June 11.  In a pennant race where every game counts, he chose the right time to have an excellent game.

LaTroy Hawkins retired both men he faced to drop his ERA to 1.90.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.90.

This was the fifth start of Jason Stanford's career.  He did pretty well in a small sample size in 2003:  1-3, 3.60, 1.28 WHIP in 50 innings (13 games, 8 starts).  He started 2004 with Cleveland and In two starts was excellent:  0-1, 0.82 in 11 innings, although with a 1.55 WHIP.  He then was injured and was never the same pitcher.  He had a couple of mediocre years in AAA with the Indians and got 26.1 more major league innings with the in 2007.  He played for a few minor league teams in 2008, then his playing career came to an end.  He came to the majors late and was 27 when he got hurt, so he probably wouldn't have been a superstar or anything.  But he might well have been a useful pitcher if not for the injury.

The White Sox and Royals both won, so the Twins did not gain any ground on their closest rivals.  On the other hand, they didn't lose any ground, either.

Record:  The Twins were 79-69, tied for first with Chicago in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-seven

CLEVELAND 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Friday, September 12.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a double.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his twenty-fourth) and two walks.

Pitching stars:  Juan Rincon pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  C. C. Sabathia pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks and striking out six.  Travis Hafner was 2-for-3.  Alex Escobar was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.  Coco Crisp was 2-for-4.  Jhonny Peralta was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer (his fourth) and a hit-by-pitch.

The game:  Stewart led off the game with a double, but never moved off second base.  Well, he went to the outfield when the half-inning was over, but you know what I mean.  The Indians put men on second and third with one out in the third, but did not score, so it remained scoreless through three.

The Twins started the scoring in the fourth when Matthew LeCroy walked and Hunter hit a two-run homer.  It stayed 2-0 until the fifth, when Victor Martinez walked, Halfner singled, and Peralta hit a three-run homer to make it 3-2 Cleveland.  It went to 4-2 in the sixth when Escobar singled, stole second, and scored on a Martinez single.

The Twins put two on with two out in the seventh but stranded them.  In the ninth Michael Ryan led off with a pinch-hit single, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Stewart's single.  They tying run was on base with none out, but a double play and a fly out ended the game.

WP:  Sabathia (13-8).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (11-8).  S:  David Riske (7).

Notes:  Stewart was in left with Dustan Mohr in right and Jacque Jones on the bench.  Lew Ford pinch-hit for Luis Rivas in the seventh, with Denny Hocking going to second base.  Jones pinch-hit for Mohr in the eighth and stayed in the game in right field.  Ryan pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the ninth.

Ryan was 1-for-1 and was batting .400.  Ford walked in his plate appearance and was batting .333.  Stewart was batting .313.  Mientkiewicz was batting .306.  A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and was batting .303.  Jones was 0-for-1 and was batting .302.

Rogers pitched well other than the three-run homer, but his line was 5.2 innings, four runs, six hits, one walk, three strikeouts.

Jesse Orosco relieved Rogers in the sixth and threw one pitch.  He hit Hafner with it and came out of the game.  His ERA remained 7.47.

Danys Baez was the Cleveland closer most of the season, but he lost the job to Riske in mid-August.

This was Sabathia's third season.  He made his first all-star team and had his first ERA under four.  He would have better seasons, but he was a good pitcher at this point, and it's certainly no disgrace to lose to him.  The trouble, of course, is that there were only about two weeks left in the season, and every game was important in the pennant race.

The White Sox and Royals both lost, so while the Twins missed a chance to gain ground they didn't lose any, either.  And as important as the games are this late in the season, you still can't win them all.

Record:  The Twins were 78-69, tied for first with Chicago in the American League Central.  They were 3.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.