MINNESOTA 3, SEATTLE 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Wednesday, September 4.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5.  David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a double.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a walk.  Desi Relaford was 2-for-4.  Jamie Moyer pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  Corey Koskie's RBI single put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning.  The Twins had men on first and third with none out in the fifth, but a double play by Cristian Guzman meant the Twins only scored once to make it 2-0.  An Ortiz homer in the eighth made it 3-0.  Meanwhile, the Mariners did not get a man past first base until the seventh.  They got on the board in the eighth, as Jose Offerman led off the inning with a home run.  Martinez led off the ninth with another home run, making the score 3-2, but Seattle did not get the tying run on base.

WP:  Reed (13-7).  LP:  Jamie Moyer (13-7).  S:  Eddie Guardado (39).

Notes:  Presumably, the Tuesday night game was rained out.

Michael Cuddyer played right field, as both Bobby Kielty and Dustan Mohr were on the bench.  Cuddyer went 1-for-4.

In his last five starts, Reed had pitched 38 innings with an ERA of 1.18.  He was 4-1 in those starts.  He would have three more strong starts before struggling in his next-to-last start of the season.

Offerman's home run was his fifth of the season.

Ichiro Suzuki was 1-for-4 in this game.  For the season he batted .321/.388/.425.  Against the Twins in 2002, however, he was 5-for-28 with two walks for a line of .179/.233/.179.  For his career, however, he has batted .331/.362/.415 against Minnesota.

Record:  The Twins were 81-59, in first place, leading Chicago by 12.5 games.

SEATTLE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Monday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out nine in 4.1 innings of relief, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joel Pineiro pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out six.  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a double and scored on a couple of productive outs to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the third, but could only get a David Ortiz sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.  Eric Milton had only given up a pair of harmless singles over the first three innings, but Seattle started the fourth with a single, a double, and two singles to tie the score.  Johan Santana came in to strike out the side and keep the score tied.  There was no more scoring until the eighth.  Santana was still in the game and gave up a single and a walk to open the inning.  A ground out put men on second and third with one out.  LaTroy Hawkins came in and struck out Mike Cameron, but then gave up a two-run single to Ruben Sierra and an RBI double to Desi Reliford to give the Mariners their first lead of the game at 5-2.  The Twins got a leadoff walk in the ninth, but a double play wiped out the runner and a strikeout ended the game.

WP:  Arthur Rhodes (8-3).  LP:  Santana (8-6).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (34).

Notes:  Milton pitched three innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out two.

It was Santana's first relief appearance since August 3.  He would stay in the bullpen the rest of the season.

It was Pineiro's second consecutive start against the Twins.  He pitched well in both, giving up a total of four runs on fifteen hits and two walks and striking out nine in thirteen innings.  He won one and lost one.

Arthur Rhodes had a very long career, starting at age 21 in 1991 and ending at age 41 in 2011.  He was a starter early in his career, moving to the bullpen in 1995 and making his last major league start in 1996.  He was twentieth in MVP balloting in 1997, when he went 10-3, 3.02 with one save.  From 2001-2002, he went 18-4, 2.03 with a WHIP of 0.84 in 137.2 innings.  He made his only all-star team in 2010 at age forty, when he went 4-4, 2.29, 1.02 WHIP in 55 innings (69 games).  He had 33 saves, with a high of 9 in 2004.  He had some bad years, too:  his career stats are 87-70, 4.08, 1.30 WHIP.  But when he was good, he was really good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-59, in first place, leading Chicago by twelve games.  This was the Twins' fifth consecutive loss.

OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Sunday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-seventh.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Mike Jackson pitched a perfect inning.  Tony Fiore pitched a scoreless inning, walking one.

Opposition stars:  Miguel Tejada was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his twenty-ninth and thirtieth) and five RBIs.  Ray Durham was 3-for-5.  Scott Hatteberg was 2-for-3 with two doubles and a walk.

The game:  Oakland loaded the bases with none out in the first but did not score, as their next three batters fanned.  They broke through in the third, however, as Tejada hit a two-run homer.  The Twins tied it in the sixth when Hunter hit a two-run homer.  The tie didn't last long, though, because John Mabry homered leading off the bottom of the sixth and Durham had an RBI single later in the inning to give the Athletics a 4-2 lead.  The Twins took the lead in the top of the ninth.  LeCroy and Koskie led off the ninth with back-to-back homers to tie it and Michael Cuddyer hit a two-out homer to put the Twins up 5-4.  Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the ninth.  He walked Ramon Hernandez and gave up a single to Durham, putting men on first and second.  Olmedo Saenz was called out on strikes, but Tejada hit a three-run homer to end the game.

WP:  Billy Koch (7-2).  LP:  Eddie Guardado (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Luis Rivas was the leadoff batter, with Jacque Jones on the bench.  Rivas was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter and grounded out.

Dustan Mohr played left field, with Michael Cuddyer in right.  Cuddyer was 1-for-4.  The go-ahead home run was his third of the season.

Tom Prince was the catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski on the bench.  Prince was 0-for-2 with two walks.

Joe Mays started and the pitched six innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks and striking out three.

It was Guardado's and last sixth blown save of the season.

The first two Twins home runs in the ninth inning came off Oakland starter Mark Mulder, who was going for a complete game.  He pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on five hits and four walks and striking out seven.

The Cuddyer home run came off Oakland closer Billy Koch.

I'd forgotten what a good batter Miguel Tejada was.  Seven consecutive seasons with an OPS over .800, and the string was broken in 2007 when his OPS was .799.  He hit over 30 homers four times and had 100 or more RBIs six times.  He made the all-star team six times and got some sort of MVP consideration seven times, winning the award in 2002 (although it really should have gone to Alex Rodriguez) and finishing fifth in 2004.  His career numbers are .285/.336/.456 with 307 home runs and 468 doubles (he led the league in doubles twice).  Plus, he played 162 games for six consecutive seasons.  I'm not saying he belongs in the Hall of Fame, but he's certainly in the Hall of Very Good.

Record:  The Twins were 80-58, in first place, leading Chicago by thirteen games.

OAKLAND 6,  MINNESOTA 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Saturday, August 31.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-2 with a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Cory Lidle pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out six.  Eric Chavez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-first) and a double, driving in four.  Ray Durham was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Oakland took the lead in the first inning, getting an RBI double from Chavez and scoring another run on a ground out to go up 2-0.  It stayed 2-0, with neither team even mounting much of a threat, until the sixth, when back-to-back two-out doubles by Koskie and David Ortiz cut the lead to 2-1.  Chavez got the run back for the Athletics when he led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to make it 3-1.  The Twins tied it in the eighth.  Mohr hit a one-out pinch-hit homer to make it 3-2 and Torii Hunter delivered a two-out RBI single later in the inning to tie it 3-3.  The normally reliable J. C. Romero came in to pitch the eighth, but he did not have it this day.  With one out, Ramon Hernandez doubled and Durham walked.  A ground out put men on second and third with two down.  Miguel Tejada was intentionally walked, but Chavez and Jermaine Dye delivered back-to-back singles, with Chavez driving home two and Dye one, to give the Oaklands a 6-3 lead.  The Twins got a two-out walk in the ninth but no more.

WP:  Jim Mecir (5-3).  LP:  Romero (8-2).  S:  Billy Koch (37).

Notes:  A. J. Pierzynski dropped back below .300 with an 0-for-4.  He was batting .298.

Bobby Kielty also dropped below .300 with an 0-for-4.  He was batting .295.

I know we don't put a lot of stock in won-lost records, but those of some of the Twins relievers in 2002 were rather remarkable.  Tony Fiore ended up 10-3.  Romero was 9-2.  LaTroy Hawkins was 6-0.  That's 25-5 from the primary set-up men.  It seems like that shows:  a) that those three pitched very well, and b) the Twins got a lot of late wins that season.

Record:  The Twins were 80-57, in first place, leading Chicago by fourteen games.

OAKLAND 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Friday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a home run, his twenty-fifth.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-2 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Ray Durham was 4-for-5 with a home run (his twelfth) and two doubles.  Tim Hudson struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks.  Mark Ellis was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jones led off the top of the first with a home run, but Durham led off the bottom of the first with a home run, leaving the score tied 1-1.  Pierzynski doubled home a run in the top of the second, but David Justice tripled and scored on an Ellis single in the bottom of the second to tie it 2-2.  The Twins started the third with a double, a single, and a walk but did not score.  In the fifth, Eric Chavez delivered a two-out RBI single to give the Athletics their first lead a 3-2.  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but a double play ended the inning.  Durham and Scott Hatteberg opened the bottom of the seventh with doubles that made the score 4-2.  The Twins went down in order in the eighth and ninth.

WP:  Hudson (12-9)  LP:  Radke (6-4).  S:  Billy Koch (36).

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.  It would be the last day of the season in which he would be at .300 or above.  He would end the season at .291.

Pierzynski was batting .302.

In Wells' last twenty-six appearances of the season, he gave up zero runs in twenty-one of them.  In the other five, he gave up three twice, four twice, and five once.  So, for all his good appearances, his ERA only went from 6.26 to 5.90.

Billy Koch had been the closer for Toronto for three seasons before being traded to Oakland before the 2002 season.  He had a fine season for them, going 11-4, 3.27 with 44 saves.  He led the league in appearances with 84 and in games finished with 79.  He finished eighteenth in MVP voting.  It was the last good year he would have.  He was traded to the White Sox before the 2003 season, pitched poorly, lost the closer job to Tom Gordon, and was never a closer again.  He would pitch only one more season and then was out of baseball at age twenty-nine.  According to b-r.com, "Koch, his wife and their children have been suffering from a condition, called Morgellons disease by those who believe it to be a true condition but generally thought among the medical community to be a type of delusional parasitosis, which can cause sufferers to experience what they perceive as a crawling feeling and an expulsion of filaments from under the skin. This condition is what many people feel led to his demise in the major leagues."  Some very brief googling makes me doubt the "generally thought" part of that--I'm not sure there is a general consensus--but it does appear to be a matter of controversy.

Record:  The Twins were 80-56, in first place, leading Chicago by fifteen games.

SEATTLE 2, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, August 29.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Tom Prince was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed struck out eight in 7.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jamie Moyer struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk.  Desi Relaford was 3-for-4 with a home run, his fifth.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Each team got a one-out double in the second but did not advance the runner.  The Twins had a man on second with two out in the third.  They got another one-out double in the fifth and did not advance the runner.  The Mariners left the bases loaded in the sixth.  Relaford led off the eighth with a home run to put Seattle in front 1-0.  The Twins again got a man to second with one out in the bottom of the eighth.  He went to third on a ground out but was stranded.  In the ninth, two singles, a bunt, and a sacrifice fly made it 2-0 Mariners.  The Twins went 0-for-7 with men in scoring position.

WP:  Moyer (13-6).  LP:  Reed (12-7).  S:  Kazuhiro Sasaki (33).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was the DH in this game, going 0-for-3.

Prince was the catcher in place of A. J. Pierzynski.

Denny Hocking was the shortstop, with Cristian Guzman out of the lineup.  He went 1-for-3.

Torii Hunter was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .299.  He would not get above .300 the rest of the season and would end the year at .289.

This was the fourth of eight consecutive starts in which Reed would give up two runs or fewer.  He would go 6-1, 1.62 in those eight starts, lowering his ERA from 4.63 to 3.71.

Relaford hit forty career home runs.  His season high was eight, in 2001 and 2003.

Moyer was thirty-nine in 2002.  He would pitch in nine more major league seasons.

Record:  The Twins were 80-55, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.

MINNESOTA 2, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 28.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-3.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-sixth.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joel Pineiro pitched six innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bret Boone was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-first) and a walk.  Mike Cameron was 3-for-4.

The game:  Boone homered in the first inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  Each team put two men on in the second but did not score.  Each team put two men on in the fourth and did not score.  Seattle put two men on in the sixth and did not score.  In the bottom of the sixth, however, Corey Koskie led off with a single and Hunter hit a one-out two-run homer to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.  In the eighth the Mariners had two singles and a walk, loading the bases with one out, but John Olerud hit into a double play to end the threat.  Cameron hit a leadoff single in the ninth but did not move from first base.

WP:  Santana (8-5).  LP:  Pineiro (13-5).  S:  Guardado (38).

Notes:  Hunter's average was .301.

A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was also batting .301.

It was Santana's best start in a month.  For his reward, he was sent to the bullpen.  Eric Milton was back from the disabled list, someone had to go to the bullpen, and it was the kid.  I understand that you weren't going to send Brad Radke or Rick Reed to the pen, but Joe Mays certainly wasn't getting much accomplished.  To his credit, while Santana wasn't happy about the situation, he pitched very well in relief in September, posting a 1.50 ERA in 18 innings.

Romero's ERA was 1.51.

Guardado's ERA was 2.62.

Joel Pineiro was in the middle of a three-year run in which he went 36-20, 3.10.  He struggled from 2004-2008, but he hung in there, and teams kept giving him chances.  In 2009-2010 he put together another good run, going 25-19, 3.64.  He pitched in twelve seasons, and in about half of them he was a pretty good pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 80-54, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen and a half games.

MINNESOTA 5, SEATTLE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 27.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-fifth.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-fourth.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and three walks with one strikeout.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Desi Relaford was 2-for-3 with a double.  Carlos Guillen was 2-for-4.  Dan Wilson was 2-for-4.

The game:  Wilson singled home a run in the first inning to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  The Twins started the third with a single, a double, and a single, but only scored once, as Pierzynski singled home a run to tie it 1-1.  Seattle went ahead 2-1 in the top of the fourth, as Desi Relaford doubled home a run.  The Twins took the lead for good in the bottom of the fourth.  Hunter tied it with a home run, Doug Mientkiwicz singled, and Pierzynski delivered a two-out run-scoring triple to give the Twins a 3-2 advantage.  Jones led off the fifth with a homer to make it 4-2.  Hunter drove in the game's final run with an infield single in the seventh.  The Mariners missed on a lot of promising starts to innings.  They had men on first and second with one out in the second, started the third with two singles, left a man on second in the fourth, had men on first and second starting off the fifth, and got a pair of one-out singles in the sixth.  They hit into three double plays and were 2-for-11 with men in scoring position.

WP:  Mays (3-5).  LP:  Ismael Valdez (7-10).  S:  Guardado (37).

Notes:  Hunter got his average back over .300 at .301.

Pierzynski was batting .303.  The triple was his fifth of the season.  He would hit six in 2002, a quarter of his career total.

Hawkins' ERA went to 2.22.

J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.  His ERA fell to 1.53.

Guardado's ERA dropped to 2.67.

We will not have a player profile today, and may not have one for the remainder of this series.  I enjoy doing them, but they take a lot of time.  It's Ash Wednesday, which means the start of Lent coming on, which means mid-week worship services to prepare.  Unfortunately, I only get the same number of hours in the day that everyone else does.  Such is life.

Record:  The Twins were 79-54, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen and a half games.

KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.

Pitching star:  Tony Fiore pitched two shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Miguel Ascencio pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Neifi Perez was 3-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, his eighth.  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-2 with two walks and a home run, his twenty-second.

The game:  Chuck Knoblauch homered leading off the bottom of the first to give the Royals a 1-0 lead.  Michael Tucker homered leading off the bottom of the second to make it 2-0.  Ibanez homered in the bottom of the third to make it 3-0.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the fourth, but a double play took them out of the inning.  In the sixth, doubles by Tucker and Perez made it 4-0 Kansas City.  The Twins cut the lead in half in the seventh, as Mohr hit a two-run homer to make it 4-2.  The Twins did not get a man past first base after that.

WP:  Ascencio (3-4).  LP:  Kyle Lohse (11-8).  S:  Roberto Hernandez (24).

Notes:  Torii Hunter was given the day off, with Kielty playing center field.

A. J. Pierzynski was also given the day off, with Tom Prince catching.  He was 0-for-2 with a walk.

This was the last of Cristian Guzman's twenty-three game hitting streak.  He was 35-for-97, for an average of .361.  His season average went up from .259 to .278 during the streak.

Lohse pitched five innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.

Fiore lowered his ERA to 2.85.

Knoblauch's home run was his fourth of the season.  He was 1-for-5 in the game and was batting .215.

Tucker's home run was his twelfth.

This was Miguel Ascencio's rookie season, and his only full season in the major leagues.  He was signed as a free agent by Philadelphia in 1998.  He had a strong year in high A in 2001 and was taken by Kansas City in the Rule 5 draft.  The Royals kept him in the majors all season, giving him 21 starts and using him in relief 10 times.  He did about as well as you could expect from a twenty-one-year-old who'd never pitched above Class A, going 4-7, 5.11, 1.62 WHIP.  He started 2003 in the Royals' rotation and did a little better in eight starts, going 2-1, 5.21, 1.55 WHIP.  Then, however, he hurt his elbow and needed Tommy John surgery.  He not only missed the rest of the season but also missed all of 2004 and does not look as if he ever truly came back from it.  He signed with San Diego for 2005 but clearly still wasn't healthy, making just three poor starts in AAA before being released.  The Rockies signed him for 2006 and he made three major league appearances in April, but that was the end of his major league career.  He was in AAA the rest of 2006, in AA and AAA with Houston in 2007, and was mostly in AA with Boston in 2008.  His major league record was 7-8, 5.12, 1.61 WHIP.  We'll never know if he'd have developed into a good pitcher had he stayed healthy.  No information about what Miguel Ascencio is doing now was readily available.

Record:  The Twins were 78-54, in first place, leading Chicago by sixteen games.

MINNESOTA 6, KANSAS CITY 5 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Denny Hocking was 3-for-3 with three doubles and a walk.  David Ortiz was 3-for-5.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Randa was 3-for-5 with a double.  Mike Sweeney was 3-for-5.  Carlos Beltran was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Ortiz singled home a run in the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Luis Alicea had a two-run single and another run scored on a ground out to put the Royals up 3-1.  Bobby Kielty hit a two-run homer in the third to tie it 3-3.  The Twins went into the lead in the fourth.  Hocking led off with a double and scored on a Guzman double.  Ortiz then singled home a run to make it 5-3 Twins.  Beltran doubled home a run in the bottom of the fourth to cut the lead to 5-4.  Guzman's sacrifice fly in the sixth to give the Twins 6-4.  The Royals put together a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, getting a double from Aaron Guiel and singled from Beltran and Sweeney to cut the margin to 6-5, but left the tying run on third.  The Royals again got the tying run to third in the eighth, getting a walk from Luis Ordaz and a single from Sweeney, but Raul Ibanez grounded out to end the threat.  With two out in the ninth, Chuck Knoblauch and Kit Pellow singled and Ordaz walked to load the bases, but Guardado struck out Guiel to end the game.

WP:  Brad Radke (6-3).  LP:  Paul Byrd (14-10).  S:  Guardado (36).

Notes:  Ortiz was at first base, with Doug Mientkiewicz out of the lineup.  Matthew LeCroy was the DH, going 0-for-3 with a walk.

Hocking was at second base, with Luis Rivas out of the lineup.

Torii Hunter was 0-for-5, dropping his average to .298.  It was the first time he had been below .300 since June 27.  He would briefly get back above .300, but would fall under that mark for good by the end of August.

A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .302.

Radke struggled through 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on eleven hits and a walk and striking out two.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.25.

Romero's ERA fell to 1.55.

Guardado's ERA was 2.72.

Byrd was the starter for Kansas City.  He struck out six in six innings, but gave up six runs on nine hits and three walks.

This was the last year of infielder Luis Alicea's career.  It was a better one than you might remember, covering thirteen seasons.  He was drafted by St. Louis in the first round in 1986.  He made his major league debut in late April of 1988, taking over the second base job after Tom Herr was traded.  He fielded the position well, but did not hit and went back to AAA in late July, coming back as a September call-up.  He would not get back to the majors until 1991.  He struggled through a mediocre year in AAA in 1989 and had an injury-plagued 1990.  He was batting .393 in 121 at-bats in Louisville when he was called up in 1991.  He was with the Cardinals the rest of the season but was used almost exclusively as a pinch-hitter, getting just eleven games at second base as Joe Torre played Jose Oquendo and Geronimo Pena at second.  He was a semi-regular second baseman for the Cardinals from 1992-1994, sharing time with Pena, and did fairly well.  His best year there was the last one, when he batted .278/.373/.459.  He was traded to Boston for the 1995 season and had a solid year for them, but was put on waivers at the end of 1996 spring training as the Red Sox preferred to go with Jeff Frye.  St. Louis claimed him and put him back at second, where he again did a solid job.  He went to Anaheim for 1997, was with Texas from 1998-2000, and was with the Royals from 2001-2002.  His first couple of years and his last one drive his career averages down, but for most of his career he would generally bat about .270, have an OBP in the .360s, and hit 15-20 doubles.  That's not going to get you on the all-star team, but it's a solid contribution.  He was a major and minor league coach for a while, and at last report operated the Crush It Baseball Academy in West Palm Beach.

Record:  The Twins were 78-53, in first place, leading Chicago by seventeen games.