Tag Archives: C.C. Sabathia

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.

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-four

CLEVELAND 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 3.

Batting star:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

Pitching star:  Kenny Rogers pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  C. C. Sabathia pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and one walk and striking out five.  Shane Spencer was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Coco Crisp was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his fifth) and two runs.  Jody Gerut was 1-for-4 with a home run, his ninth.

The game:  Crisp led off the game with a bunt single and scored from first on Milton Bradley's double to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.  The Twins put men on second and third with one out in the second, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.  In the third, ex-Twin Matt Lawton and Bradley drew two-out walks and Spencer singled home a run to make it 2-0.

Crisp scored again in the fifth.  He had a one-out single, stole second, and scored on Spencer's single to make it 3-0.  The Twins put two on with two out in the fifth, but again could do nothing with it.  In the eighth, Gerut hit a leadoff home run to increase the lead to 4-0.

The Twins did not threaten to get back into the game.  Their lone run came on LeCroy's home run with one out in the ninth, but all that did was spoil Sabathia's shutout.

WP:  Sabathia (8-3).  LP:  Rogers (7-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  The Twins used their B lineup against Sabathia, if that's any consolation.  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Dustan Mohr was again in left and Bobby Kielty in right, with Jacque Jones still out.  Lew Ford was in center field, with Torii Hunter as DH.

Ford was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .333.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 and was batting .305.

Grant Balfour made his season debut with the Twins in this game, striking out five in 2.1 innings.  He gave up one run on two hits and a walk.  It was not his major league debut--he had appeared in two games in 2001.  He was not a good pitcher for the Twins, but he would become one in 2008 with Tampa Bay and would make the all-star team with Oakland in 2013.  He didn't have his first good season until he was thirty--I guess he's an example of "sometimes it takes guys a while to figure it out."

Sabathia had 38 complete games in his career.  Ten of them came in 2008, and seven of them came in the half-season he pitched for Milwaukee.

The Twins had now lost four in a row and six of eight.  They were starting to be in danger of dropping below .500.  They were also in danger of dropping to third place.

Record:  The Twins were 43-31, in second place in the American League Central, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were just one game ahead of third-place Chicago.

2019 Game 89: New York Yankees vs. Minnesota Twins

After a hot start, things have decidedly cooled down a bit in downtown Minneapolis. Though the A's are no slouches, the true test comes to Target Field tonight in this clash between division leaders. I don't think I'm the first to say that this three game series could tell us a lot about what kind of team we have here. Just for fun, let's see how hopeless everyone is:

How Many Games Will the Twins Win This Series?

  • Two (53%, 8 Votes)
  • One (40%, 6 Votes)
  • Three (7%, 1 Votes)
  • Zero (0%, 0 Votes)

Total Voters: 15

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Anyway, for tonight's game, Cap'n Cheeseburger faces off against Martín Pérez as the Twins hang on to first place in the Central for dear life. In other roster news Thorpe and Stashak are called up, Littel is DFAed, Cron to the IL, and as of press time it doesn't sound Bux is coming back today.

All right, everyone, buckle in tight, cause here come the Yankees. Drink up, Twins fans!

Game 92: Twins 10, Yankees 4

Well, I said I wouldn't post another Sunday recap if the game had been a losing effort. I'm glad that didn't even last 1 time through the order! The Twins had 14 hits on the day and cashed in on 2 Yankees errors to score 10 runs. Aaron Hicks hit his 8th Home Run of the year, a 2-out, 3-run shot in the 3rd inning off of C.C. Sabathia who, by the way, took his first loss against the Twins....since nearly ever. He had been 11-0 in his last 12 starts against the Twins.

There's more, if you care to read on...

Continue reading Game 92: Twins 10, Yankees 4