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.