ANAHEIM 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 2.

Batting stars:  Brian Buchanan was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out one.  Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two walks.

Opposition stars:  Garret Anderson was 3-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases, his fourth and fifth.  Orlando Palmeiro was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Jorge Fabregas was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  The Twins left the bases loaded in the first but got on the board in the second on Buchanan's leadoff homer.  The Angels loaded the bases in the fourth and took advantage of it, getting RBI singles from Fabregas and Benji Gil to take a 2-1 lead.  Scott Spiezio doubled home a run in the fifth and Palmeiro singled one home in the sixth to make the score 4-1.  The Twins got one in the seventh, but the Angels got the run right back in the eighth to make it 5-2.  Mientkiewicz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4.  Koskie followed with an infield single, but the last six Twins were retired to end the game.

WP:  Aaron Sele (5-3).  LP:  Matt Kinney (1-5).  S:  Troy Percival (9).

Notes:  Buchanan was the right fielder...Denny Hocking was at second base, going 0-for-3...Torii Hunter was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .308...A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .321...Starter Kinney pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four...Hawkins dropped his ERA to 1.56...J. C. Romero gave up one hit and no runs in two-thirds of an inning, making his ERA 0.55...Jackson's ERA fell to 1.16...Anaheim starter Sele pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks while striking out three...Orlando Palmeiro had a fairly long career as a platoon outfielder.  A left-handed batter, he had over two thousand at-bats against right-handed pitchers and less than three hundred against lefties.  Still, he was a big-leaguer for thirteen seasons, playing with the Angels from 1995-2002, with St. Louis in 2003, and with Houston from 2004-2007.  Only twice did he have as many as 300 at-bats, 317 in both 1999 and 2003.  He played some at every outfield position but was mostly at the corners.  He hit .300 or better four times, although two of those times were when he had fewer than two hundred at-bats.  He had very little power, hitting only twelve career homers and never more than three in a season.  For his career he batted .274/.351/.350 in 2,335 at-bats.  He was never a star or even a regular, but for thirteen seasons a major league team thought he was worth having around.

Record:  The Twins were 32-25, in first place, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago and Cleveland.

MINNESOTA 4, ANAHEIM 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 3-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk with no strikeouts.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tim Salmon was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and a double.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Scott Spiezio was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Back-to-back doubles by Anderson and Brad Fullmer led off the second inning and gave the Angels a 1-0 lead.  The Twins threatened in the third putting men on first and second with one out and loading the bases with two out, but Corey Koskie struck out to end the threat.  In the sixth, Hunter delivered a two-out RBI double to tie the score 1-1.  In the seventh, A. J. Pierzynski doubled with one out and scored on a two-out single by Jones to give the Twins their first lead.  Guzman followed with a two-run homer to give the Twins some insurance runs.  It was still 4-1 going to the ninth.  Eddie Guardado came in and immediately gave up a home run to Salmon, a double to Spiezio, and a single to Bengie Molina, making the score 4-2 with men on first and third and none out.  Benji Gil then struck out and Adam Kennedy hit into a double play to end the game.

WP:  Lohse (5-3).  LP:  Kevin Appier (5-3).  S:  Guardado (17).

Notes:  Denny Hocking remained at second base, going 1-for-3.  Luis Rivas would return to the lineup in a few days...Lohse threw just 92 pitches in his seven innings...Appier pitched 6.2 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks while striking out four.  Jones got his average back over .300 at .301...Hunter raised his average to .313...Bobby Kielty was 0-for-3 to drop his average to .309...Pierzynski was 1-for-3 to make his average .322...Romero's ERA fell to 0.56...Kevin Appier was a fine pitcher for many years.  Never a superstar, but he pitched in sixteen seasons.  He had double-digit wins in ten of those seasons, posted an ERA under 4.00 in ten of them, and had an ERA under 3.00 three times, leading the league in ERA in 1993 at 2.56.  He pitched over 200 innings eight times and over 180 eleven times.  He made the all-star team in 1995 and was third in Cy Young voting in 1993.  It's arguable that he had a better year than the two pitchers who finished ahead of him, Jack McDowell and Randy Johnson, but McDowell won 22 games to Appier's 18 and Johnson struck out 308 batters to Appier's 186.  He was drafted by Kansas City in the first round in 1987, made his major league debut in 1989, finished third in Rookie of the Year voting in 1990 (behind Sandy Alomar and Kevin Maas.  Nobody paid attention to WAR back then, but b-r.com says Appier had 5.3, compared to 2.4 for Alomar and 1.2 for Maas), and was with the Royals until the end of July of 1999, when he was traded to the Mets.  2002 was his first year with the Angels and he was still an effective pitcher, going 14-12, 3.92, 1,35 WHIP, 4.28 FIP.  It would be his last good year, though.  He was released by the Angels at the end of July of 2003 and went back to Kansas City.  He was with them through 2004, missed 2005, tried to come back with Seattle in 2006, but then ended his playing career.  He ended 169-137, 3.74, 1.29 WHIP, 3.81 FIP.  Again, never a superstar, but for over a decade he was a pitcher you were quite happy to have on your team.  He had retired to Paola, Kansas, but moved to Michigan a year ago to be closer to his wife's family.

Record:  The Twins were 32-24, in first place by 3.5 games over Chicago.

ANAHEIM 11, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Bengie Molina was 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs.  Scott Spiezio was 3-for-5 with a double.  Jarrod Washburn struck out seven in six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and three walks.

The game:  Back-to-back doubles by Garret Anderson and Tim Salmon put the Angels ahead 1-0 in the top of the second.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the second when Mientkiewicz doubled, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an error.  Troy Glaus' RBI single in the third made it 2-1.  Anaheim put the the game out of reach with five in the fourth.  RBI singles by Spiezio, Benji Gil, David Eckstein, and Darin Erstad and a sacrifice fly by Glaus produced the runs.  The Twins were never in it after that.

WP:  Washburn (5-2).  LP:  Eric Milton (7-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Brian Buchanan was the DH, going 0-for-4...Jay Canizaro played third base and went 1-for-4.  It would be the last major league game of his career...Denny Hocking played second and had his seven-game hitting streak snapped, going 0-for-3 with a walk...Milton lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing seven runs on eight hits and a walk...After Brad Radke had pitched just a third of an inning the day before, the Twins desperately needed someone to give them some innings.  The honor went to Johan Santana, who was making his season debut with the Twins.  It was not all that promising.  He struck out six in 5.1 innings, but allowed four runs on six hits and two walks, giving him an ERA of 6.75.  A month later it would be below three...Ben Weber pitched two shutout innings for Anaheim.  He's pretty much forgotten now, but he was a really good setup reliever for a little over three seasons for the Angels.  They picked him up on waivers from San Francisco on August 30, 2000.  From then through the 2003 season, he was 19-5, 7 saves (all in 2002), 2.80, 1.28 WHIP in 241.1 innings (191 games).  Recurring back and neck injuries plague him after that and he was never effective again, although he continued to pitch through 2006.  Interestingly, he became a chiropractor when he was done with baseball.  He practices in Montgomery, Alabama. You can also look for how can chiropractic care help to sort out any kind of issues related to back pain.

Record:  The Twins were 31-24, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

MINNESOTA 7, ANAHEIM 6 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, May 30.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-2.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-2 with a double, two walks, and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  J. C. Romero struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Adam Kennedy was 4-for-5 with two doubles.  Darin Erstad was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks.  Garret Anderson was 2-for-4.

The game:  It looked bad for the Twins in the first.  Erstad homered in the first to put the Angels up 1-0.  A double and two groundouts made it 2-0 in the second.  In the third, RBI singles by Tim Salmon and Kennedy and a run-scoring ground out put Anaheim up 5-0.  The Twins came back in the fifth.  Tom Prince walked and scored from first on a Jay Canizaro double.  A ground out and a hit batsman put men on first and third with one out.  Torii Hunter hit a run-scoring double and, with two out, Brian Buchanan tripled home two to cut the lead to 5-4.  In the eighth, the Angels loaded the bases with one out and Anderson hit a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 6-4.  In the bottom of the eighth, David Ortiz led off with a double and scored on a pair of fly outs.  Two singles and a walk then loaded the bases and Guzman singled to tie it up.  The Twins missed a chance to take the lead when Pierzynski was thrown out trying to score from second on the Guzman single.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the ninth, but could not score.  In the tenth, Dustan Mohr walked and went to third on a Pierzynski single.  A ground out put men on second and third, but Guzman hit a sacrifice fly to left to bring Mohr home with the winning run.

WP:  Eddie Guardado (1-1).   LP:  Lou Pote (0-1).   S:  None.

Notes:  Guzman led off, as Jacque Jones was not in the starting lineup.  Jones was used as a pinch-hitter in the eighth...Buchanan started in right field, going 1-for-3 with a triple.  It was his only triple of the season and the first of his career.  He would hit two more, both with San Diego in 2003...The teams combined to leave 22 men on base.  The Twins were 3-for-15 with men in scoring position and the Angels were 2-for-13...Brad Radke started the game, his first appearance since May 13, but faced only two batters.  One of them, Erstad, hit a home run, after which Radke left the game.  He would not appear for the Twins again until August 3...Jack Cressend came in to replace Radke and pitched 2.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out one...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.64...Romero dropped his ERA to 0.57...Scott Schoeneweis started for the Angels, striking out seven in 6.2 innings while giving up four runs, six hits, and two walks...Troy Percival got a blown save despite the fact that the Twins didn't score off him.  As I recall, the Twins had not scored an earned run off Percival at this point.  For his career, the Twins would score just two earned runs in 47.2 innings off Percival, for an ERA of 0.38...Schoeneweis had a long career for a guy who, to put it bluntly, wasn't very good.  He pitched in the majors for twelve seasons.  In seven of them, he had an ERA over five.  His best seasons were when he appears to have been used as a LOOGY, going 3-4, 3.32 in 57 innings (80 games) for Toronto in 2005 and 2-6, 3.34 in 56.2 innings (73 games) for the Mets in 2008.  For his career, he was 47-57, 5.01, 1.47 FIP in 972 innings (577 games, 93 starts).  One of the things that annoys me about baseball is how players like Scott Schoeneweis get chance after chance in the majors, long after they've established that they don't belong there, while other players can make AAA all-star teams for years and struggle to get a cup of coffee in the majors.  I guess no one ever promised life, or baseball, would be fair.

Record:  The Twins were 31-23, in first place by 2.5 games over Chicago.

TEXAS 9, MINNESOTA 8 IN TEXAS

Date:  Wednesday, May 29.

Batting stars:  Denny Hocking was 3-for-5.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with two walks.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins  retired all seven batters he faced, striking out one.  Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Mike Lamb was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third) and scored three runs.  Gabe Kapler was 3-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his fifth.  Todd Greene was 3-for-5.

The game:  With two out and none on in the second, Pierzynski doubled, Hocking singled, Jacque Jones walked, and Cristian Guzman and Mientkiewicz each singled, producing four runs and a 4-1 Twins lead.  The Rangers came back with three in the bottom of the second to tie it up, with two of them scoring on Lamb's two-run homer.  Juan Gonzalez led off the third with a home run and Kapler had an RBI single, putting Texas up 6-4 after three.  A sacrifice fly made it 6-5 after four.  In the fifth, a bases-loaded walk and a bases-loaded hit batsman, put the Twins up 7-6.  They lost a good chance to take control of the game, though, as they still had the bases loaded with none out.  Anthony Telford came in to strike out Hocking and Jones and retire Guzman on a ground out.  The missed opportunity would come back to haunt the Twins, as the Rangers scored two in the bottom of the fifth to re-take the lead at 8-7.  The Twins tied it in the eighth when Mientkiewicz scored from first on Hunter's double.  The Twins brought in J. C. Romero, who had been incredible so far in the season, to pitch the ninth.  He was not incredible in this game.  He failed to retire a batter, giving up singles to Rafael Palmeiro and Juan Gonzalez, giving an intentional walk to Carl Everett, and surrendering a single to Greene that ended the game.

WP:  Hidecki Irabu (2-3).  LP:  Romero (3-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Hocking was again at second base.  This game gave him a seven-game hitting streak in which he went 12-for-27 and raised his average from .210 to .260...Neither starting pitcher got much accomplished.  Rick Reed lasted just 1.1 innings, giving up two runs on three hits.  It seems like an awfully quick hook--one wonders if he wasn't feeling well.  Texas starter Rob Bell pitched four innings, surrendering seven runs on eight hits and three walks while striking out two...Jackson lowered his ERA to 0.84...Romero's ERA nearly doubled, going from 0.31 to 0.61...I don't know if Gardy was criticized for leaving his closer in the bullpen, but as well as Romero had pitched up to this point it's hard to argue that he made a mistake by going to him...This was the second appearance of the season for Anthony Telford, who was in his last year in the majors.  He was drafted by Baltimore in the third round in 1987 but made just twenty appearances for them spread out over three seasons.  He didn't get to the majors to stay until he was thirty-one, with Montreal in 1997.  He had four solid seasons for them out of the bullpen, pitching 78-96 innings and posting ERAs in the threes.  He struggled in early 2001, however, was sent to the minors, and went to Texas for 2002.  He got off to a good start for them, going unscored upon in his first three appearances, but by mid-June his ERA was over four and by mid-July he was in AAA, never to return to the majors.  He pitched one more season, in 2007 in the independent South Coast League, and then was done.  At last report, he was living in Odessa, Florida.

Record:  The Twins were 30-23, in first place by two games over Chicago.

MINNESOTA 11, TEXAS 4 IN TEXAS

Date:  Tuesday, May 28.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-5 with a grand slam (his tenth homer), a double, and a walk.  He had five RBIs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-5 with a triple and a double.  David Ortiz was 1-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jack Cressend struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Rusty Greer was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Alex Rodriguez was 1-for-1 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.  Juan Gonzalez was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  In the second, the Twins loaded the bases on a hit batsman, a double and a walk.  Jones then hit a two-out grand slam to give them a 4-0 lead.  In the fourth, Pierzynski hit an RBI triple and scored on a Jones double to make it 6-0.  Tony Fiore, making a rare start for the Twins, did not give up a hit through three innings, but gave up a home run to Rodriguez leading off the fourth.  He gave up three more hits and two more runs in the inning as the Rangers cut the lead to 6-3.  Bobby Kielty had an RBI single in the fifth to make it 7-3.  It stayed there until the eighth, when the Twins put together a two- out rally.  A pair of walks started it, Cristian Guzman singled home a run, another walk loaded the bases, and Ortiz lined a three-run double to put the game out of reach.

WP:  Fiore (3-1).  SP:  Chan Ho Park (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking played second base, going 1-for-2 with two walks...Pierzynski's triple was one of six he had in 2002, his career high.  He had 24 for his career...Chan Ho Park had been a fine pitcher for the Dodgers from 1996-2001, making the all-star team in his last year there.  He became a free agent, signed with Texas, and was awful for them.  With the Dodgers he had an ERA of 3.77 and a WHIP of 1.32.  With the Rangers it was 5.79 and 1.60.  He was with Texas through July of 2005, then went to San Diego and the Mets before coming back to the Dodgers in 2008.  He again had a good year, the last one of his career, going 4-4, 3.40 mostly out of the bullpen.  He was a free agent again after that season and finished up his career with Philadelphia, the Yankees, and Pittsburgh.  He played in Japan in 2011 and Korea in 2012 before retiring.  It's odd that he could pitch well for the Dodgers and no one else, but that's how it looks...This was Fiore's second start of the season, as he also started May 18 in New York.  He had thrown 98 pitches in the earlier start and threw 88 in this one.  The most pitches he had thrown in a game prior to these two was 49.  It seems very unlikely that, in 2017, a team would allow a pitcher coming out of the bullpen to throw that many pitches.  It also seems unlikely that, after he had given up three runs in the fourth, a team would allow him to not only pitch the fifth but to start the sixth.  I'm not making a judgment on which way is correct, merely observing that the game has changed.

Record:  The Twins were 30-22, in first place by two games over Chicago.

MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 2 IN TEXAS

Date:  Monday, May 27.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), a triple, and three RBIs.  Tom Prince was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse struck out six in 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks.  Bob Wells pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk while striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Carl Everett was 3-for-4 with a double.  Rafael Palmeiro was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.  Alex Rodriguez was 2-for-5.

The game:  The Twins scored two in the second, as Guzman had an RBI single and another run scored on a ground out, to take a 2-0 lead.  It went to 4-0 in the fifth on Hunter's two-run homer.  Lohse was unscored on through five innings, although he got into trouble in both the fourth and fifth.  In the fourth, the Rangers loaded the bases on three consecutive one-out singles, but Herbert Perry hit into a double play to end the inning.  In the fifth men were on first and second with one out by Michael Young was caught looking and Rodriguez fouled out to end that threat.  Texas finally broke through in the sixth as Palmeiro led off the inning with a home run.  The Twins got the run back in the seventh as Hunter again came through, this time with an RBI triple.  The Rangers got one run in the eighth but never really threatened to get back into the game.

WP:  Lohse (4-3).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (5-3).  S:  Guardado (16).

Notes:  Jacque Jones got the day off, with Dustan Mohr leading off and playing left field.  He went 1-for-4 with a walk to make his average .307...Brian Buchanan was the DH, going 1-for-3 with a walk...Prince was once again the catcher in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  He raised his average to .321..Jay Canizaro played second base, going 0-for-3 with a walk...Hunter raised his average to .323...Bobby Kielty was 0-for-4 but was still batting .337...Mike Trombley pitched an inning and a third, giving up one run on two hits while striking out one.  This would be the last appearance of his career.  For the season he was 0-1 with an ERA of 15.75, a sad ending to what was really a fairly decent career... Kenny Rogers was the starter for Texas.  He pitched seven innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on seven hits and four walks while striking out one... Corner infielder Herbert Perry played in nine major league seasons.  2002 was the year he got the most playing time, reaching 450 at-bats.  A native of Florida, he was drafted in the second round by Cleveland in 1991 and reached the majors in 1994. spending about three weeks in May with the Indians.  He was with the big club for most of 1995 but only started 47 games and got just 162 at-bats, despite the fact that he batted .315 with an OPS of .839.  He wasn't going to replace Jim Thome, of course, and Paul Sorrento hit 25 homers at first, so he was stuck.  He the had serious knee problems, missing most of 1996, all of 1997, and most of 1998.  He made it back to the majors with Tampa Bay in 1999 but again didn't get much of a chance, starting just 57 games and getting 209 at-bats.  He was again stuck, this time behind Fred McGriff and Wade Boggs.  He was waived early in 2000 and chosen by the White Sox, who finally gave him a chance to play.  He made the most of it, batting .302 with an OPS of .818.  He could not repeat those numbers in 2001, however, and he was traded to Texas after the season.  He had a solid year in 2002, batting .276 with an OPS of .813.  By this time, however, he was thirty-two years old.  He went through injury problems again in 2003, struggled through a poor 2004, and then his career was over.  For his career, he batted .272/.335/.436 in 1696 at-bats.  He had some bad luck, both with injuries and with timing.  He had a decent enough career, but one has to think it would've been better if he'd stayed healthy and had come up with a team that could give him a chance to play.  Wikipedia says that he went back to his home town of Mayo, Florida and manages a pre-cast septic tank business.

Record:  The Twins were 29-22, in first place by a game over Chicago.

MINNESOTA 5, ANAHEIM 2 AT ANAHEIM

Date:  Sunday, May 26.

Batting stars:  Bobby Kielty was 3-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out four.  J. C. Romero struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two walks.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Scott Spiezio was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jose Nieves was 2-for-3.  Kevin Appier pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and one walk while striking out three.

The game:  With one out in the second, the Twins put together three consecutive singles, with Pierzynski getting the third and driving in a run to put the Twins up 1-0.  The Angels got the run back in the second, as Alfredo Amezaga's two-out RBI double tied it 1-1.  Each team missed a chance in the fourth, as David Ortiz hit a leadoff double but was stranded at third and the Angels got men to first and second with two out.  Doug Mientkiewicz delivered a sacrifice fly in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-1 advantage.  In the sixth the Twins once again put together three consecutive singles, this time with two out, as Denny Hocking got the RBI to make it 3-1.  Garret Anderson hit a solo homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the margin to 3-2.  The Angels got a leadoff double from Spiezio in the seventh, but could not bring him around to tie the score.  Corey Koskie had an RBI single in the eighth and Ortiz added a sacrifice fly in the ninth.

WP:  Mllton (7-3).  LP:  Appier (5-2).  S:  Guardado (15).

Notes:  Hocking was again at second base, going 1-for-4...Milton got his ERA under five in this game.  It would go back above five in his next start and would not get below it again for almost two months...Mike Jackson pitched a third of an inning and did not give up a run, dropping his ERA to 0.89...Romero's ERA went to 0.31.  That was as low as it would go, but it would not be above 1.00 for another month and would end up below 2.00...Alfredo Amezaga was a rookie 2002.  He appeared in five games in May and then seven more as a September call-up.  He was with the Angels through 2004, was with Colorado and Pittsburgh in 2005, but did not get any substantial playing time until he went to the Marlins from 2006-2009.  He had been an infielder before going to Florida, but there he was used mostly as a reserve outfielder.  He did fairly well in that role for his first three years with the Marlins, batting in the .260s with an OPS in the upper .600s.  He fell off in 2009, however, and was on the move again.  He was in the minors for the Dodgers in 2010 and was with Colorado and the Marlins again in 2011.  That ended his major league career, but he continued to play, appearing in the Cubs organization in 2012 and the Dodgers again 2013.  He didn't stop then, either, going to the Mexican League, where he continues to play both summer and winter.  He'll turn forty in January, but it looks like he's going to keep playing baseball somewhere as long as there's somebody who'll let him play.

Record:  The Twins were 28-22, tied for first place with Chicago.

ANAHEIM 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN ANAHEIM (13 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, May 25.

Batting stars:  Denny Hocking was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-6.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Matt Kinney pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and one walk while striking out five.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out four in two shutout innings.  J. C. Romero retired all four batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Adam Kennedy was 2-for-5 with a double.  Darin Erstad was 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, his sixth.  Jarrod Washburn pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks while striking out seven.

The game:  The Angels took the lead with two in the second on a run-scoring double by Kennedy and an RBI bunt single by Jose Nieves.  Hocking's two-run double tied it in the fifth.  The Twins took the lead 3-2 in the top of the eighth when Hocking again doubled and scored on a Cristian Guzman single.  Eddie Guardado came in to pitch the ninth and Twins fans were confident, but Scott Spiezio drew a one-out walk and pinch-runner Julio Ramirez scored from first on a double by Bengie Molina.  The Twins put two on with two out in the top of the thirteenth, but David Ortiz flied out to end the threat.  In the bottom of the thirteenth, Tim Salmon made the first pitch Jack Cressend threw the last pitch he would throw, sending it over the fence for a walkoff home run.

WP:  Al Levine (2-1). LP:  Cressend (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tom Prince caught in place o A. J. Pierzynski.  He was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .306...Hocking was once again at second.  This game gave him a four-game hitting streak in which he was 7-for-15...Romero's ERA fell to 0.33...Mike Jackson pitched a scoreless inning to make his ERA 0.90...Hawkins' ERA dropped to 1.95...Cressend had four consecutive scoreless appearances, covering 7.2 innings, before this game.  His ERA had dropped from 8.82 to 6.00...Julio Ramirez, who scored the tying run, had a brief career, but it spanned five seasons.  A native of the Dominican Republic, he signed with the Marlins when he was sixteen in 1993.  An outfielder, he made his major league debut with Florida in 1999 as a September call-up, appearing in fifteen games but starting just four of them and getting only twenty-one at-bats.  He was primarily used as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner.  He was traded to the White Sox for 2001 and played in twenty-two games for them, starting twelve and getting thirty-seven at-bats.  He moved on to the Angels for 2002.  The game we're dealing with here came in the middle of a six-week stretch he spent in the majors, going down in mid-June and coming back in September.  He again didn't play much, appearing in 29 games but making just seven starts and getting just thirty-two at-bats.  He was with the Angels for six games in 2003 and with San Francisco for twelve games in 2005.  His career line is .167/.216/.229 in 96 at-bats.  Given that he was so often used as a defensive replacement or a pinch-runner, one assumes he was fast, but he attempted only five stolen bases and was successful only twice.  He stole much more often in the minors, getting 327 stolen bases (in 442 attempts).  He stole 135 stolen bases over two minor league seasons, getting 71 in the Florida State League in 1998 and 64 in the Eastern League in 1999.  He wasn't just a slap singles hitter, though, as he hit 101 minor league home runs, with a high of 23 for AAA Fresno in 2005.  On the one hand, it seems kind of unfair that teams kept calling him up and then not giving him a chance to play.  On the other hand, his AAA line is .253/.292/.399, which is not all that impressive, so maybe he should feel fortunate that he spent as much time in the majors as he did.

Record:  The Twins were 27-22, in second place, a game behind Chicago.

MINNESOTA 5, ANAHEIM 1 IN ANAHEIM

Date:  Friday, May 24.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth) and two hit-by-pitches.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a home run.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and no walks while striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Brad Fullmer hit a home run, his fourth.  Donne Wall retired all five batters he faced.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a home run and the Twins led all the way.  Jones and Cristian Guzman led off the third with singles.  The next two batters flied out, but Hunter's fly ball went over the fence to make the score 4-0.  Pierzynski hit a home run with one out in the fourth to put the Twins up 5-0.  Reed took it from there.  He gave up a one-out single to Darin Erstad in the first and did not give up another hit until Fullmer's home run leading off the fifth.  The only other Angels hit was a Bengie Molina single with two out in the eighth.

WP:  Reed (5-2).  LP:  Ramon Ortiz (4-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Corey Koskie returned to the lineup, going 0-for-3.  Casey Blake, who had played some third in his absence, went back to the minors.  Jay Canizaro, who had also been playing some third in Koskie's absence, would stay until the end of May, then go back to the minors as well...Denny Hocking remained at second in place of Luis Rivas, going 1-for-4...This was one of two complete games for Reed in 2002 and was the batter of the two, at least by game scores...This was the best year, and really the only good year, that Ramon Ortiz would have.  He went 15-11, 3.77, 1.18 WHIP.  It was the only year he had an ERA under four and one of just four seasons (out of twelve) in which he had an ERA under five.  It was one of only two times in his career that he led the league in anything.  Unfortunately for him, it was home runs allowed, with forty.  He had a FIP of 4.87 as a result.  The other time he led the league in something was 2006, when he led the league in losses with 16.  He was, of course, a Twin for part of 2007.  He got off to a good start, but by the end of May he was pitching the way he had always pitched.  He ended his career 87-86, 4.95, 1.43 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 27-21, tied for first place with Chicago.