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.
