MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 6 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Thursday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a home run, his fourteenth.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a walk and a home run, his twenty-third.  David Ortiz was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Frederick pitched two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.  Tony Fiore pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Milton Bradley was 2-for-4 with a grand slam, his fifth homer.  Ricky Gutierrez was 2-for-4.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-5.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a home run.  Ellis Burks countered with a home run in the bottom of the first to make it 1-1.  The Indians loaded the bases with none out in the second, but could only score one on a double play.  The Twins tied it in the third on Ortiz' RBI single, but Cleveland went back in front in the bottom of the third on Bradley's grand slam, taking a 6-2 lead.  The Twins got back into it in the fifth.  Cristian Guzman tripled, Ortiz doubled, and Hunter hit a two-run homer to cut the margin to 6-5.  The Twins went into the lead to stay in the seventh.  Bobby Kielty had an RBI single and Luis Rivas delivered a two-out two-run single to put the Twins up 8-6.  The Indians threatened in the bottom of the ninth.  Their first two batters were retired, but Vizquel singled and Burks walked.  Lee Stevens came up representing the winning run, but he grounded out to second to end the game.

WP:  Tony Fiore (8-2).  LP:  Ricardo Rincon (1-4).  S:  Eddie Guardado (31).

Notes:  Hunter raised his average to .313.

Kielty was 1-for-4 with a walk and was batting .312.

A. J. Pierzynski went 1-for-5 to make his average .300.

Juan Rincon made his last major league start.  It did not go well, as he pitched just three innings and allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks with no strikeouts.  He would be sent back to Edmonton after this game, but would return in a month to pitch out of the bullpen.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.48.

Ryan Drese started for Cleveland.  He lasted five innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and no walks and striking out four.

Stevens entered the game in the seventh as a pinch-hitter for Jim Thome.  One assumes Thome was either ill or injured, as there is no other apparent reason one would make that change.  I would guess Twins fans were quite happy to see Stevens come up in the ninth as the winning run rather than Thome.

This was Stevens' last year.  He wasn't a bad batter, although he wasn't very good in 2002.  He came up with the California Angels in 1990 and had his first full season in the majors in 1992.  He'd had a big year in AAA Edmonton in 1991 and done well as a September call-up, so presumably the Angels thought they had their first baseman of the future.  It didn't work out that way.  He hit just .221/.288/.349 in 106 games, and presumably only stayed for a full season because the Angels didn't have other options at first base (their next best option was a fading Alvin Davis, in his last season).  Stevens would not get another chance in the majors until 1996, spending 1993 in AAA with Toronto and the next two season in Japan.  Texas signed him in 1996, and in 1997 he had his best year, batting .300 with 21 home runs.  It was the first of five consecutive seasons in which he was   He had two more solid seasons with the Rangers, then was traded to Montreal.  He was not quite as good with the Expos as he'd been with the Rangers, but he posted an OPS of around .800 both seasons.  The bottom fell out in 2002, however, as he was batting just .190 with ten homers when he was traded to Cleveland in late June in a trade that sent, among others, Cliff Lee to Cleveland and Bartolo Colon to Montreal.  The change of scenery didn't help him much, as he ended the season batting .204 with 15 home runs.  He signed with Tampa Bay for 2003, was released, and signed with Milwaukee, but played in just eighteen AAA games before his career ended.  For his career, he batted .254/.323/.448 in ten seasons, not great numbers but not terrible, either.  He has been a minor league coach, and was the batting coach for the Grand Junction Rockies in 2017.

Record:  The Twins were 56-41, in first place, leading Chicago by eleven games.

MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 5 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, July 17.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 3-for-4 with a walk and a home run, his eighth.  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a double.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-3 with a walk and a home run.

Pitching stars:  J. C. Romero retired all four men he faced, striking out two.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Omar Vizquel was 3-for-5.  Milton Bradley was 2-for-4.  Jim Thome was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-eighth.

The game:  Thome hit a two-run homer in the first to give the Indians a 2-0 lead.  The Twins got the runs back in the second.  Their first two men were retired, but Mohr singled, A. J. Pierzynski was hit by a pitch, and Rivas and Jones delivered RBI singles to tie it 2-2.  David Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the third to give the Twins a 4-2 lead.  It stayed 4-2 until the sixth, when the Twins again put together a two-out rally.  Consecutive singles by Jones, Cristian Guzman, and Corey Koskie gave the Twins a 5-2 lead.  Bill Selby hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the margin to 5-4.  The Twins built the lead back up in the seventh, as Mohr hit a two-run homer and Rivas followed later in the inning with a solo shot to give them an 8-4 lead.  Ben Broussard led off the seventh with a home run, but that was as good as it got for Cleveland.  They threatened in the eighth, getting a pair of two-out singles, but their last four batters were retired.

WP:  Rick Reed (7-5).  LP:  Danys Baez (7-7).  S:  Guardado (30).

Notes:  Ortiz' home run was his seventh.

Torii Hunter was hit by a pitch in the fifth inning and was replaced by Bobby Kielty.  He would be back in the lineup the next day.  Hunter went 0-for-2, making his average .311.

Mohr raised his average to .303.

Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and his average fell to .302.

Denny Hocking was a defensive replacement for Mohr in the ninth inning.  I don't remember Hocking as being anything special in the outfield, although he had a good arm.  Was Mohr not a good defensive outfielder?  I don't remember.

Reed pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and no walks and striking out three.

Baez started for Cleveland and struck out six in 5.2 innings, but he allowed five runs on ten hits and two walks.  He also hit two batters.

I remember Bill Selby better than I should, given his career.  A utility player, he was with Boston for the first half of 1996, playing in 40 games but getting just 95 at-bats.  He took advantage of those at-bats, batting .274/.337/.411.  Despite that, he was sent back to AAA Pawtucket at mid-season and would not get back to the majors until 2000, when he was thirty.  He went to Japan in 1997, was in AAA for Cleveland in 1998 and 1999, and finally got back to the big leagues with the Indians in late July of 2000.  He again didn't get much of a chance, playing in 30 games but getting only 46 at-bats.  He never did get a full season in the majors, although he played until 2005.  He was with Cincinnati in 2001, and came back to Cleveland for 2002-2003.  2002 was the year he got the most playing time, and then it was just 159 at-bats.  He was in the St. Louis organization for part of 2003, in AAA with the Cubs in 2004, and played in Mexico in 2005 before hanging it up.  His debut year of 1996 was by far his best--his career numbers are .223/.279/.360 in 431 at-bats (198 games).  In his defense, he never got anything remotely resembling regular playing time.  On the other hand, his AAA numbers are .272/.337/.485 in 2625 at-bats.  That indicates to me that he could've done somewhat better if he'd been given regular playing time, but maybe not enough better to justify giving it to him.  Had he been a superior defender at a primary position he might have done more, but his primary position was third base and his second best position was second base.  He never played short and his limited outfield play was at corner positions.  Given what I see, I can't say baseball was unfair to him.  He has been an assistant coach at Northwest Mississippi Community College since his playing days ended.

Record:  The Twins were 55-41, in first place, leading Chicago by ten games.

ANAHEIM 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 16.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-5 with a double and a home run, his sixth.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Tom Prince was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and a walk and striking out three.  Michael Jackson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jarrod Washburn pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.  Troy Glaus was 2-for-4.  Garret Anderson was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventeenth.

The game:  The Twins got two singles and a walk in the first inning but did not score.  They got on the board in the third when Guzman hit a one-out homer to give them a 1-0 lead.  It didn't last long, as Anderson hit a two-run homer in the fourth to put the Angels up 2-1.  Guzman struck again in the fifth, tying the game with an RBI double.  Again, Anaheim struck right back in the sixth, as Glaus delivered an RBI single to give the Angels a 3-2 lead.  They got an insurance run in the ninth as Bengie Molina singled home a run.  The Twins got the tying run up to bat in the ninth, as Corey Koskie led off with a walk.  David Ortiz drew a two-out walk to put the tying run on base and bring Guzman up to bat.  Unfortunately, he could not come through again, as he grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Jarrod Washburn (11-2).  LP:  Eric Milton (11-7).  S:  Ben Weber (2).

Notes:  Jacque Jones was held out of the lineup, with Guzman in the leadoff spot.

Michael Cuddyer was at first base, with Doug Mientkiewicz out of the lineup.  Cuddyer was 0-for-3.

Prince got the start at catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski out of the lineup.

Matthew LeCroy was the DH, with Ortiz out of the lineup.  LeCroy went 0-for-3.

Denny Hocking started at third base, with Koskie out of the lineup.  Hocking went 1-for-4 with a double.

Jones, Mientkiewicz, Pierzynski, Ortiz, and Koskie all were used as pinch-hitters.  They were 0-for-3 with two walks.

2002 was the best year Jarrod Washburn had.  He came up to the majors in 1998, but each year between 1998 and 2000 was split between AAA and Anaheim.  He finally stayed in 2001 and did well, going 11-10, 3.77.  In 2002 he was one of the best pitchers in baseball, going 18-6, 3.15, 1.18 WHIP.  He finished fourth in Cy Young balloting.  He wasn't able to match that, but remained a solid rotation starter for the Angels through 2005.  A free agent after the season, he signed with Seattle.  He was adequate there for two years, but in 2008 he went 5-14, 4.69, 1.46 WHIP.  He bounced back in 2009, going 8-6, 2.64, 1.07 WHIP through the end of July, when he was traded to Detroit.  He then collapsed, posting a 7.33 ERA in eight starts for the Tigers.  Unfortunately, that was the end of his career.  He became a free agent, did not sign with anyone, and announced his retirement in May of 2010.  At last report, he was a high school baseball coach at his alma mater of Webster High School in Webster, Wisconsin.

Record:  The Twins were 54-41, in first place, leading Chicago by nine games.

MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 14.

Batting stars:  David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and a home run, his sixth.  Denny Hocking was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-2 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and a walk and striking out six.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Dave Burba pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out three.  Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his thirtieth and thirty-first) and a walk, driving in three.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the second but did not score.  In the fifth, Bill Haselman singled home a run to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.  Alex Rodriguez homered in the second to make it 2-0.  The Twins finally got on the board in the seventh.  Bobby Kielty led off with a home run, making it 2-1, and later in the inning Luis Rivas lined a two-run single to give the Twins the lead at 3-2.  It didn't last long, as Alex Rodriguez struck again in the eighth, hitting a two-run homer to give Texas a 4-3 advantage.  That didn't last long, either.  Torii Hunter led off the eighth with a home run to tie it and Ortiz made it back-to-back homers and put the Twins back in front 5-4.  Guardado retired the side in order in the ninth to secure the Twins win.

WP:  J. C. Romero (5-1).  LP:  Colby Lewis (1-2).  S:  Guardado (28).

Notes:  Cuddyer pinch-hit for Jacque Jones in the seventh...Rivas was not in the starting lineup.  He replaced Cristian Guzman at the start of the second inning.  He went to second base, with Hocking moving from second to short.  Guzman would be back in the lineup the next day...Romero faced only two batters to get the win.  He came in with two out and none on in the eighth and the Twins trailing 4-3.  He walked Rafael Palmeiro but retired Herbert Perry on a popup...Colby Lewis was in the first year of an interesting career.  He would appear in the next Rangers game, then go back to AAA, coming back as a September call-up.  He made 26 starts for Texas in 2003 and went 10-9, but with a 7.30 ERA and a 1.84 WHIP.  He made three starts for the Rangers in 2004, then was injured and did not come back until 2006.  By this time he was with Detroit, having been waived by Texas.  He was mostly in AAA for the Tigers that season, making two appearances in the majors.  He signed with Washington for 2007, was released in spring training, and signed with Oakland.  He split the season between AAA and the majors, doing very well in the former and not well at all in the latter.  He then went to Japan for two years, where he pitched extremely well.  He came back to the United States in 2010 at age thirty, signed with Texas again, and had three solid seasons for the Rangers.  He got hurt again, making just seven minor league starts in 2013.  He came back to be in the Rangers rotation for three more seasons, 2014-2016 and did fairly well.  He wanted to pitch in 2017, but the Rangers only offered him a minor league contract, and so he retired to become a special assistant to the Rangers' general manager.  His career numbers are nothing to shout about.  77-72, 4.70, 1.34 WHIP.  At his best, though, he was pretty good.  He was also pretty good in the post-season:  4-1, 3.11, 1.18 WHIP in 55 innings.

Record:  The Twins were 53-40, in first place, leading Chicago by nine games.

TEXAS 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 13.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4.  Tom Prince was 1-for-2 with a double, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Tony Fiore pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and one walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks and striking out four.  Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-ninth), a double, and a walk, driving in three.  Rafael Palmeiro was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and four RBIs.

The game:  The Twins got on the board first, as Cristian Guzman scored from first on a Hunter double.  Alex Rodriguez homered in the third to tie it 1-1.  in the fifth, Rafael Palmeiro hit a  two-run double and Carl Everett had an RBI single later in the inning to  give the Rangers a 4-1 lead.  Texas scored three more in the sixth, getting a two-run double from Alex Rodriguez and another two-run double from Palmeiro.  The Twins did not get a man past second after the fifth inning.

WP:  Rogers (10-5).  LP:  Juan Rincon (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Jacque Jones was again out of the lineup, with Guzman moving up to the leadoff spot.  He was 1-for-5...Matthew LeCroy was the DH, going 0-for-4...Doug Mientkiewicz was also out of the lineup, with Michael Cuddyer playing first base.  Interestingly, when Denny Hocking was inserted into the lineup in the eighth inning he went to first base, with Cuddyer going to third.  Cuddyer went 1-for-4...Prince was the catcher, with A. J. Pierzynski out of the lineup...Dustan Mohr went 0-for-4 and was batting .300...Hunter raised his average to .305...Kielty raised his average to .317...Rincon pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on eight hits and two walks and striking out five.  He would make one more start, then move to the bullpen permanently...Jose Rodriguez relieved Rincon and pitched just two-thirds of an inning, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk.  It would be the last major league appearance of his career...Carl Everett is probably more remembered for his opinions about dinosaurs than for his playing career.  That's too bad, because he was a pretty good player.  He got a few weeks with the Florida Marlins in 1993 and 1994, then got to the majors permanently when he was traded to the Mets that off-season.  He was with the Mets for three seasons, 1995-1997, and got more playing time each season despite the fact that he was pretty average for them.  He was traded to Houston after the 1997 season, and that was when he really got things going.  He hit .310/.378/.526 in two years with the Astros, getting minor MVP consideration in 1999.  He then was traded to Boston and had a very good 2000 season, making his first all-star team.  He declined after that, although he was still a good enough player for the next two seasons.  He bounced back in 2003, batting .287 with 28 home runs and making his second all-star team.  He was traded to the White Sox at mid-season.  That was his last really good season, although again, he was still a decent player through 2005.  He signed as a free agent with Montreal for 2004 but was traded back to the White Sox at mid-season.  He stayed there through 2005, had a poor year with Seattle in 2006, played well in the Atlantic League from 2007-2010, and then was done.  His major league numbers are .271/.341/.462 with 202 home runs. Those are obviously not Hall of Fame numbers, but they're still quite respectable.

Record:  The Twins were 52-40, in first place, leading Chicago by nine games.

MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 3 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, July 12.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out four.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Ivan Rodriguez was 2-for-3 with a triple.  Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-eighth.  Michael Young was 2-for-5 with a triple.

The game:  In the second, Hunter led off with a single and David Ortiz walked.  Mohr followed with an RBI double, then there were two run-scoring ground outs to put the Twins ahead 3-0.  The Twins stayed stuck at three, however, and the Rangers got back into the game.  Michael Young tripled home Frank Catalanotto in the third to cut the lead to 3-1.  Alex Rodriguez homered in the sixth to make it 3-2.  The Twins missed chances to get insurance runs.  Ortiz led off the seventh with a double but his pinch-runner, Michael Cuddyer, was stranded at third.  In the eighth, Guzman hit a one-out triple and was also stranded.  Still, the Twins were up 3-2 with Eddie Guardado ready to pitch the ninth.  Guardado started by giving up singles to Juan Gonzalez and Rafael Palmeiro (two pretty good batters), and Ivan Rodriguez hit a sacrifice fly to tie the score.  The Twins got Hunter to third with two out in the ninth but could not score.  They had the bases loaded in the tenth and were turned aside.  Mohr led off the eleventh with a single and was bunted to second.  Luis Rivas grounded out, but Jacque Jones delivered a line drive single to left to bring home the winning run.

WP:  Fiore (7-2).  LP:  Hideki Irabu (3-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  Hunter raised his average to .304...Mohr went up to .306...A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-2 (pinch-hit for in the seventh) and was batting .312...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.47...It was Guardado's fourth blown save.  He had given up runs in four of his last seven appearances, but would not give up another for a month...Fiore was trying to recover from a rough stretch.  He had given up ten runs in his last five appearances (six innings), raising his ERA from 2.12 to 3.59...I don't normally associate Ivan Rodriguez with triples, but he had 51 of them for his career.  Partly that's just because he played so long, but in every year from 1992 through 2010 he had at least one triple.  His high was five in 2005...My memory was that Alex Rodriguez, while still good, hadn't been that great for Texas.  My memory was completely wrong.  In three seasons there, he batted .305/.395/.615 and hit 156 home runs.  He finished sixth in MVP voting in 2001, second in 2002 (to Miguel Tejada--there really is no way Tejada should've won the award over Rodriguez.  Tejada had a fine year, but his OPS was 150 points less than Rodriguez', they played the same position, and Rodriguez won the Gold Glove), and won the award in 2003.  He also won the Gold Glove in 2003, won the Silver Slugger in all three seasons, and made the all-star team in all three seasons.  People held the huge contract against him, and he was never really The People's Choice even when he was in Seattle, but there's no question that he was a great, great player for three years for the Texas Rangers.

Record:  The Twins were 52-39, in first place, leading Chicago by 8.5 games.

MINNESOTA 4, TEXAS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 11.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 2-for-2 with two doubles, two walks, and a stolen base, his eighth.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton struck out ten in seven innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Kevin Mench was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer, his tenth.  Herbert Perry was 2-for-4 with a double.  Juan Gonzalez was 2-for-4.

The game:  Michael Young led off the game with a triple and scored on a ground out to give the Rangers a 1-0 lead.  Mench hit a two-run homer in the second to make it 3-0.  Koskie got the Twins on the board in the bottom of the second, as he led off the inning with a walk, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a failed pickoff throw by the catcher.  The Twins tied it in the third on consecutive RBI doubles by Mientkiewicz and Koskie.  The Twins loaded the bases in the sixth on a walk and two hit batsmen, but did not score.  In the seventh, the Twins got walks to Jacque Jones and Cristian Guzman and a double by Koskie to take a 4-3 lead.  The Rangers put men on second and third in the eighth and first and second in the ninth, but did not score.

WP:  Milton (11-6).  LP:  Chan Ho Park (3-5).  S:  Guardado (27).

Notes:  Texas out-hit the Twins 9-4...The Twins had only four hits, but drew five walks and had two hit batsmen...Jones was restored to the leadoff spot and went 0-for-3 with a walk...Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch, dropping his average to .303...Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch to make his average .312...A. J. Pierzynski was 0-for-4 and was batting .315...Park pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on three hits and five walks and striking out five...Kevin Mench was a solid outfielder for the Rangers for about five years.  He came up at the start of the 2002 season and was a mostly regular outfielder, seeing about equal time in left and right.  He hit .260 with fifteen homers and finished seventh in rookie of the year voting.  He got off to a poor start in 2003, went back to AAA for a month, and went on a tear when he got back, batting .354 from June 1 through July 8.  Unfortunately, he then got hurt and missed the rest of the season.  2004 was his best year, as he batted .279 with 26 home runs and an OPS of .874.  He again saw about equal time in left and right fields.  In 2005 he was the regular left fielder and had another fine season, batting .264 with 25 homers.  He was having another solid year for the Rangers in 2006 when he was traded to Milwaukee at the July deadline.  That was the beginning of the end for him.  He was terrible for the last two months of 2006 and decent, but no more, as a part-time player for the Brewers in 2007.  He signed back with Texas for 2008, but after a month in AAA was sold to Toronto.  He saw some part-time action with the Blue Jays that year, played in Japan in 2009, came back to play (poorly) for Washington in 2010, and then his career was over.  For Texas, he batted .274/.335/.480.  The rest of his career he batted .246/.288/.379.  He does seem to have been helped by playing in Arlington, but I don't know if that's the entire explanation.  At any rate, he at least was a pretty good player from 2002 through July of 2006.  At last report, Kevin Mench was working in the medical technologies industry.

Record:  The Twins were 51-39, in first place, leading Chicago by 7.5 games.