Tag Archives: losing streak

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Ninety-two

ANAHEIM 6, MINNESOTA 1 IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Saturday, July 12.

Batting star:  Denny Hocking was 1-for-3 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:   Jerrod Washburn pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and one walk and striking out five.  Francisco Rodriguez struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.  Jeff DaVanon was 2-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base (his tenth) and two runs.

The game:  There was no score, and not much in the way of threats, until the fifth, when Hocking hit a one-out homer.  Radke had given up just three harmless singles through five innings, so it looked like the one run might hold up.  In the sixth, however, Spiezio reached third on a single-plus-error and scored on a Troy Glaus double, tying the score.

The Angels took control in the seventh.  DaVanon and Adam Kennedy opened the inning with singles.  With one out, Darin Erstad tripled them both home to make it 3-1.  Consecutive singles by Spiezio, Tim Salmon, and Garret Anderson increased the lead to 5-1, and there it stayed.  The Twins had only one hit after Hocking's home run, a one-out single by Doug Mientkiewicz in the sixth.

WP:  Washburn (8-9).  LP:  Radke (5-9).  S:  None.

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at short in place of Cristian Guzman, who may have been battling a minor injury.  Denny Hocking was at third in place of Corey Koskie, who was also injured.  Dustan Mohr remained in left in place of Jacque Jones, with Bobby Kielty in right.

Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 and was batting .301.

Radke's ERA came down to 5.49.  J. C. Romero gave up a run while retiring no one and had an ERA of 5.20.  James Baldwin retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 2.70.

This was Rodriguez' rookie season, although he'd appeared in five games in 2002.  The Angels had a tremendous bullpen:  closer Troy Percival had the highest ERA of the bunch.  It was Brendan Donnelly (1.58, 1.07 WHIP); Ben Weber (2.69, 1.32); Scot Shields (2.85, 1.19), Rodriguez (3.03, 0.99), and Percival (3.47, 1.14).  Plus, the had Scott Schoeneweis (3.96, 1.22) in long relief, and in September they called up Derrick Turnbow (0.59, 0.65).  On the other hand, Washburn had the best starters' ERA at 4.43.  If you were going to beat Anaheim, you'd better get them early.

The Twins had lost seven in a row and eleven of twelve.  The only good news was that Kansas City wasn't playing all that well, and third-place Chicago was playing just about as poorly as the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 44-48, in second place in the American League Central, 6.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were a half-game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Ninety-one

ANAHEIM 5, MINNESOTA IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Friday, July 11.

Batting star:  Luis Rivas was 1-for-2 and was hit by a pitch.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched six inning, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks and striking out four.  Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ramon Ortiz pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and four walks and striking out five.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4.  Tim Salmon was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourteenth.  Scott Spiezio was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.  Brendan Donnelly pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

The game:  The Twins got two on with one out in the third and loaded the bases with two out in the fourth, but could not get on the board.  They only had one hit in those innings, with the other baserunners coming from walks and a hit batsman.  The Angels got on the board in the fourth when Anderson singled, was balked to second, and scored on a Troy Glaus double.

The Twins had men on first and third with two out in the fifth, but again could not score.  In the sixth Darin Erstad doubled and Salmon hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  Anaheim got two more in the eighth when Erstad walked and Spiezio hit a two-run homer.  The Twins got only one hit in the last four innings, a one-out single by Rivas in the seventh.

WP:  Ortiz (11-6).  LP:  Santana (4-2).  S:  Donnelly (2).

Notes:  Chris Gomez was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Guzman entered the game in the fourth inning in the spot of Corey Koskie, due to injury.  Gomez moved to third base.  Koskie would not return to the lineup until August 4.  Dustan Mohr remained in left in place of Jacque Jones, with Bobby Kielty in right.  Denny Hocking was in center in place of Torii Hunter.

Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 and was batting .302.

Santana entered the rotation at this point, taking the spot of Joe Mays.  His ERA was an even 3.00.  Rincon's ERA went down to 3.33.

The Twins were again shut down by an average pitcher.  Yes, Ortiz was 11-6, but his ERA at this point was 4.41.  He'd had a fine year in 2002, going 15-9, 3.77, 1.18 WHIP, but in 2003 a shiny won-lost record hid the fact that he wasn't very good.  He wouldn't get better in the second half, either:  he ended the season 16-13, 5.20, 1.51 WHIP.  He would continue to pitch for another ten years, but he never had a good year in the majors again.

Anaheim's closer, of course, was Troy Percival, but Donnelly was really good, too.  He didn't give up an earned run until May 22, his twenty-first game.  This was the thirty-ninth game he'd appeared in, and he'd still given up a grand total of one earned run, giving him an ERA of 0.38.  He didn't keep that up, of course, but he ended the season with an ERA of 1.58 and a WHIP of 1.07.  This was the second of three saves he had for the season.  He made his only all-star team this season.  He was a fine reliever until 2007, when he blew out his elbow.  He tried to come back in 2008 and was terrible, but he bounced back to have a strong season in 2009.  That was his last good season, though, and after 2010 he was done.

The Twins had lost six games in a row and ten of eleven.

Record:  The Twins were 44-47, second in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were one game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Ninety

TEXAS 9, MINNESOTA 4 AT TEXAS

Date:  Thursday, July 10.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-5.  Denny Hocking was 2-for-2.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Joe Mays pitched a scoreless inning of relief, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  John Thomson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks and striking out four.  Michael Young was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his ninth), a double, and two runs.  Juan Gonzalez was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his twenty-second and twenty-third) and four RBIs.  Mark Teixiera was 2-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.

The game:  Young and Hank Blalock opened the game with singles, and later in the first Gonzalez hit a three-run homer to give the Rangers a 3-0 lead.  The Twins got on the board in the third when Cristian Guzman reached on an error and scored on a Doug Mientkiewicz single.  Gonzalez homered in the fourth to make it 4-1, but the Twins got the run back in the fifth when Mientkiewicz walked, went to third on a Koskie single, and scored on a ground out, cutting the margin to 4-2.

But it was downhill from there.  In the bottom of the fifth, Laynce Nix and Einar Diaz singled and Young hit a three-run homer.  In the sixth Teixeira homered and another run scored on a sacrifice fly.  It was 9-2 and the game was pretty much gone.

The Twins put two on in the seventh, but nothing came of it.  They did add two in the eighth.  LeCroy singled, Bobby Kielty walked, and an error loaded the bases.  A double play scored a run and Hocking singled home another, but that was all the Twins could do.  They got a two-out double in the ninth, but no more, and it ended 9-4.

WP:  Thomson (6-9).  LP:  Rick Reed (4-9).  S:  None.

Notes:  Dustan Mohr remained in left and Kielty in right in the absence of Jacque Jones.  Hocking pinch-hit for Cristian Guzman in the seventh and remained in the game at shortstop.

LeCroy raised his average to .303.  Koskie raised his average to .300.

Reed lasted 4.1 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out three.  His ERA went to 5.03.

James Baldwin made his Minnesota Twins debut in this game.  He had signed with the Twins on June 10.  He would stay for a little over a month, then be released.  In this game he pitched 2.1 innings and gave up two runs (one earned) on two hits.

The Twins offense was again shut down by a mediocre pitcher.  Thomson would go 13-14, 4.85 in 35 starts for Texas in 2003.  He had been mediocre for Colorado in 1997 and 1998, but people made allowances for his youth and the thin air of Denver.  He was horrible in 1999, then was injured (or maybe he was injured and then was horrible), missed all of 2000, and came back to be fairly good in 2001.  He only had one good year after that, though:  with Atlanta in 2004.  Not that he was terrible; he just was, as we said mediocre.  For his career he was 63-85, 4.68.

The Twins had lost five in a row and nine of ten.  They're only consolation was that Kansas City and Chicago weren't doing much, either.  They had to feel like the all-star break couldn't come fast enough, but there were three games to play in Anaheim first.

Record:  The Twins were 44-46, in second place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were one game ahead of third place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-nine

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TEXAS 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN TEXAS

Date:  Wednesday, July 9.

Batting star:  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.

Pitching star:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Joaquin Benoit pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out five.  Ryan Ludwick was 2-for-3 with a double.  Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his twenty-second) and a walk.  Mark Teixiera was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth).

The game:  Teixiera homered in the second inning to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.  The Twins did not mount a threat until the fifth, when Dustan Mohr hit a one-out double.  He got to third with two down, but was stranded there.  In the sixth, however, Hunter hit a two-out homer to tie it 1-1.

That was as good as it got for the Twins.  In the bottom of the sixth, Donnie Sadler walked and Rodriguez followed with a two-run homer.  In the seventh, Ludwick doubled and scored on a Michael Young single.  The Twins got a man to second in the seventh and eighth, but did not bring the tying run up to bat.

WP:  Benoit (4-4).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (7-5).  S:  Ugueth Urbina (26).

Notes:  Mohr remained in left and Bobby Kielty in right in the continued absence of Jacque Jones.  Justin Morneau was the DH.

The Twins had no one batting over .300 in their lineup.  The highest average was Doug Mientkiewicz at .296.

Rogers didn't pitch badly other than the home runs.  His line was seven innings, four runs, seven hits, three walks, and one strikeout.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.79.

By stifling the Twins offense, Benoit lowered his ERA to 5.27.  A month later he would be out of the rotation.  By 2005 he became a full-time reliever, and he had some very good years out of the bullpen.  For his career, he was 14-19, 6.06, 1.58 WHIP as a starter.  As a reliever, he was 44-30, 53 saves, 2.06, 1.12 WHIP.  He only had one season when he was the closer, 2013 for Detroit, but was a valuable member of major league bullpens for several years.  I think we can say he found his niche.

The Twins had lost four in a row and eight of nine.  They fell below .500 for the first time since April.

Record:  The Twins were 44-45, in second place in the American League Central, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.  They remained one game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-eight

TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 6 IN TEXAS

Date:  Tuesday, July 8.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, his eighth.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Grant Balfour pitched three shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Michael Young was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Kevin Mench was 2-for-2 with two doubles and a hit-by-pitch.  Todd Greene was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Hank Blalock was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Rafael Palmeiro was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and a walk.  Juan Gonzalez was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and two RBIs.  Jay Powell pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

The game:  After a scoreless first, the Twins scored five runs in the second inning.  Bobby Kielty and Justin Morneau walked, Chris Gomez had an RBI single, and A. J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  A sacrifice fly scored a run, Lew Ford's double scored two more, and Mientkiewicz singled home another to give the Twins a 5-0 lead.

The lead lasted until the Rangers batted in the bottom of the second.  Palmeiro led off the inning with a home run.  The next two batters went out, but Mench and Mark Teixiera hit back-to-back doubles, Greene had an RBI single, Young singled and Blalock walked to load the bases, and Alex Rodriguez hit a two-run double to tie it 5-5.  Gonzalez homered leading off the third, and that quickly it was 6-5 Texas.

The Twins opened the fourth with singles, but nothing came of it.  The Rangers scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 7-5.  In the fifth, Greene doubled and scored on a Young single to increase the lead to 8-5.

The Twins did not threaten until the ninth.  Rivas led off with a single and stole second.  Mientkiewicz singled with one out to bring the tying run to the plate.  A sacrifice fly brought home a run, but it was the second out.  Torii Hunter walked to bring the winning run to the plate and a wild pitch moved the tying run into scoring position.  But Bobby Kielty lined to center to end the game.

WP:  Powell (2-0).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (6-7).  S:  Ugueth Urbina (25).

Notes:  Gomez was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Ford was in left in the continuing absence of Jacque Jones, with Kielty in right.  Morneau was the DH.

Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Morneau in the eighth.

Ford was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .301.  LeCroy was 1-for-1 and was batting .300.

Lohse lasted just three innings and allowed seven runs on ten hits and a walk.  He struck out three.  Whatever magic he'd had early in the season was clearly gone:  in his last five starts, he had pitched 23 innings and allowed 29 earned runs.  His ERA went from 2.91 to 4.63.

The Texas starter was Tony Mounce.  He also pitched just three innings, allowing five runs on five hits and three walks and striking out none.  This was the only major league season of his career.  He made 11 starts and went 1-5, 7.11, 1.78 WHIP.  He was 3-10, 4.41, 1.56 WHIP in 149 AAA innings and 31-21, 4.26, 1.46 WHIP in 431 AA innings.  There was obviously something about him that the Rangers liked, but it's also obvious that he was just not good enough to be a major league pitcher.

The Twins had now lost three in a row and seven of eight.  Another loss would drop them below .500.

Record:  The Twins were 44-44, in second place in the American League Central, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were one game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-seven

CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, July 6.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5 with two doubles.

Pitching star:  Brad Radke pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Matt Lawton was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth) and three runs.  Shane Spencer was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and three RBIs.  Milton Bradley was 2-for-5 with a triple.  Jason Stanford pitched five innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks and striking out one.

The game:  Bradley hit a two-out triple in the first but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a home run.  That enabled the Twins to take the early lead in the second on a walk to Torii Hunter and a single-plus-error by Dustan Mohr.  It went to 2-0 in the third on back-to-back two-out doubles by Bobby Kielty and Mientkiewicz.

The Indians got on the board in the fourth when singles by Lawton and Bradley were followed by a sacrifice fly.  The Twins loaded the bases in the fourth and put men on first and second in the fifth but did not score.  They did get one more in the sixth when Pierzynski doubled and scored on a Luis Rivas single.

Cleveland got that run back in the seventh when Casey Blake doubled and scored on a Victor Martinez single.  Lawton homered in the eighth to tie it 3-3.  It stayed tied until the tenth, when Lawton singled and Spencer hit a two-run homer.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the tenth, and did not get a hit after the seventh.

WP:  David Riske (2-1).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (1-4).  S:  Danys Baez (20).

Notes:  Mohr remained in left in the absence of Jacque Jones, with Kielty in right.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Matthew LeCroy in the seventh and remained in the game at DH.

Corey Koskie was 0-for-5 and dropped to an even .300.

By game scores, this was Radke's best game since April 24.

LaTroy Hawkins gave up a run in two innings to raise his ERA to 1.84.

Cleveland used three players with Twins connections:  Lawton, Casey Blake, and Jack Cressend.

The Twins had lost two in a row and six of seven.

Record:  The Twins were 44-43, in second place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were one game ahead of third-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eighty-four

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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.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Seventy-three

MILWAUKEE 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Saturday, June 21.

Batting star:  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.

Pitching star:  Micheal Nakamura pitched two perfect innings and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Wayne Franklin pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  Wes Helms was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twelfth and thirteenth), three runs, and five RBIs.  John Vander Wal was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh), a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.

The game:  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with none out in the first inning for the Brewers.  John Vander Wal drove in one with a single and a sacrifice fly brought home another to put Milwaukee up 2-0 in the first.

The Twins put runners on second and third with one out in the third but did not score.  In the fourth, however, Koskie led off with a home run to get the Twins on the board and cut the lead to 2-1.  But in the bottom of the fourth Vander Wal and Helms led off with back-to-back homers to make it 4-1.  In the sixth Helms hit a three-run homer to increase the lead to 7-1.

The Twins put a couple of guys on with walks in the seventh but nothing came of it.  Milwaukee loaded the bases with one out in the eighth and got a sacrifice fly to conclude the scoring.

WP:  Franklin (4-5).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (6-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Lew Ford was in left in place of Jacque Jones.  Bobby Kielty was in right.  There was no DH.

Ford was 0-for-4 and was batting .375.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit and was 0-for-1, falling to .333.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .302.  Matthew LeCroy was 0-for-1 and was batting .301.  Koskie was batting .300.

Lohse had his second consecutive poor game.  He pitched five innings and allowed seven runs on seven hits and two walks.  He struck out four.

I have no memory that there was ever a pitcher named "Wayne Franklin".  This was his only year as a starter, and he wasn't particularly good:  10-13, 5.50, 1.52 WHIP.  He'd made four really good starts as a September call-up in 2002:  2-1, 2.63, 17 strikeouts in 24 innings.  I imagine Brewers fans really thought they had something, but it didn't work out that way.  He'd been a reliever every year before 2002, and returned to the bullpen after 2003.  2003 was his only full season in the majors, but he pitched in part of every season from 2000-2006.  His record was 14-16, 5.54, 1.55 WHIP.  He was in 143 games, 40 of them starts, and pitched 323 innings.  He pitched in Taiwan and in independent ball in 2007, in Mexico and independent ball in 2008, and then exclusively in independent ball in 2009, 2010, and 2014, when he apparently made a comeback.  He has stayed in baseball through coaching, and is a coach in the San Diego League, a collegiate wood bat league.

Since their hot streak ended, the Twins had now gone 8-14.

Record:  The Twins were 39-34, in first place in the American League Central, one game ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

SEATTLE 9, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-3 with a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a double.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.  Lew Ford was 1-for-1 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched five innings of relief, giving up two runs on three hits and no walks and striking out three.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Edgar Martinez was 4-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, three runs, and two RBIs.  Greg Colbrunn was 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs.  Bret Boone was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Mike Cameron was 2-for-5.

The game:  The Mariners scored six runs in the first inning before anyone was out.  Oddly enough, Brad Radke was not the Twins' starting pitcher.  They started the game with five singles:  Randy Winn, Carlos Guillen, Boone, Martinez, and Cameron all singled.  Colbrunn then hit a two-run triple and Jeff Cirillo singled, bringing the score to 6-0.  Jones led off the bottom of the first with a home run, but Boone led off the second with a home run, making the score 7-1.

To the Twins' credit, they battled to try to make a game of it.  In the second Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and Pierzynski hit a two-run homer, making it 7-3.  In the third, singles by Cristian Guzman and Koskie and a walk to Torii Hunter brought the tying run to the plate with one out.  All the Twins could manage was a sacrifice fly, though, and it was 7-4.

That was as good as it got for the Twins.  Martinez homered it the fourth to make it 8-4.  In the eighth Martinez doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 9-4.

The Twins got one more in the ninth.  With two out Ford pinch-hit for Luis Rivas and hit a home run, his first major league homer.  That brought the score to 9-5, and that's where it stayed.

WP:  Freddy Garcia (5-6).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (4-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  With the home run, Ford was batting .500.  Jones dropped his average to .327.  Dustan Mohr was 0-for-3 and was batting .315.

Ford was the only lineup substitute.

Rogers lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing seven runs on ten hits and no walks.  He struck out one.  He had a game score of seven, which was by far his worst game of the season.

Garcia pitched seven innings for the Mariners, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out seven.  I remember him as being better than he was.  Not that he was bad or anything, but he was average to slightly above average for most of his career.  He started out really well, though, which may have skewed my memory.  He finished second to Carlos Beltran in Rookie of the Year voting in 1999, going 17-8, 4.07, although with a 1.47 WHIP.  He made the all-star team in 2001 and again in 2002.  2001 was his best year:  he was 18-6, 3.05, 1.12 WHIP.  He led the league in ERA, innings, and home runs per nine innings, the only times he ever led the league in anything except for 2005, when he led the league in wild pitches.  He finished third in Cy Young voting that year to Roger Clemens and Mark Mulder, and while I can't say that the voters were wrong it looks like his season was every bit as good as theirs.  For his career he was 156-108, 4.15, 1.30 WHIP and had a lifetime ERA+ of 107.  He appeared in 376 games, 357 of them starts, and pitched 2264 innings.  He was durable, pitching over 200 innings seven times.  Not a Hall of Famer or anything, but certainly a respectable career.

As mentioned above this was Lewwwwww's first home run.  He would hit 35 in his career, with a career high of 15 in 2004.

Ex-Twin Greg Colbrunn's triple was the last of his major league career.  He hit 12 of them, with a career high of three in 1999.

After playing so well for almost the entire month of May, the Twins had now lost four in a row.  They were swept at home, the first time that had happened since the Yankees series in April.  Luckily, second-place Kansas City was struggling, too, and had slipped to an even .500.

Record:  The Twins were 31-24, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifty-four

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SEATTLE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh) and two RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.  Johan Santana pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ichiro Suzuki was 3-for-5 with a home run (his fifth), a triple, and two runs.  John Olerud was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Bret Boone was 2-for-5.  Edgar Martinez was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.  Ryan Franklin pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  There was no score, or even a threat, until the fourth.  Boone led off with a single and Olerud hit a one-out single.  With two down, Randy Winn and Jeff Cirillo each hit an RBI single to make it 2-0 Mariners.  It went to 4-0 in the fifth.  Suzuki led off with a triple and scored on a ground out.  Edgar Martinez followed with a home run.

The Twins got on the board in the fifth.  Torii Hunter, Doug Mientkiewicz, and Mohr all singled to lead off the inning, bringing in a run and putting men on first and second.  A bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out, but the Twins could not get either run across, leaving the score 4-1.

Suzuki homered in the top of the seventh to make it 5-1.  Mohr homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it 5-2.  And that was it.  The Twins did not get a hit after Mohr's homer.

WP:  Franklin (4-3).  LP:  Rick Reed (3-6).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (9).

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Chris Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Bobby Kielty was the DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Jacque Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .330.  Mohr was batting .322.

Reed started and pitched seven innings, but allowed five runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out four.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.46.  Santana lowered his ERA to 2.68.

The first five Seattle batters were batting over .500.  Suzuki was at .317, Carlos Guillen was at .321, Boone was at .308, Martinez was at .314, and Olerud was at .302.

Suzuki would set a career high, up to that point, in home runs in 2003 at 13.  He would top that in 2005 with 15.  For his career, he hit 117 home runs, which is more than I would have thought.  He hit 118 in nine seasons in Japan, with a high of 25 in 1995.

This was the first time the Twins had lost three in a row since a six-game losing streak from April 18-24.

Record:  The Twins were 31-23, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.