MINNESOTA 6, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 20.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-3 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and a stolen base (his third).  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with a home run and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Matt Kinney pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  J. C. Romero and Eddie Guardado each pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Ricky Gutierrez was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Milton Bradley was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Ricardo Rincon pitched two perfect innings.

The game:  Jay Canizaro delivered an RBI double in the second and Jacque Jones followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Hunter led off the fourth with a home run and Dustan Mohr doubled and scored later in the inning to make it 4-0.  Mientkiewicz homered in the fifth to push the lead to 5-0.  Bradley got the Indians on the board in the seventh with a home run and they got another run in the eighth on Gutierrez' run-scoring single.  Cleveland had the tying run up to bat with none out at that point, but Romero got a strikeout and two ground outs to end the inning.  Pierzynski singled home a run in the eighth and Guardado closed it out with a perfect ninth.

WP:  Kinney (1-0).  LP:  Ryan Drese (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was again the DH in place of David Ortiz, who was apparently injured.  He would not play again until May 13...Canizaro was 1-for-3 to raise his average to .154...This was Kinney's first start of the season.  He would be in the rotation until the end of June, then miss the rest of the season due to injury.  Three of his first four starts were quite good, but he struggled after that, ending the year with an ERA of 4.64 and a WHIP of 1.68...Drese started for Cleveland and pitched 5.2 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  Drese had done well in nine appearances for the Indians in 2001, but he would have only one good season in the majors (with Texas in 2004) and even that one wasn't that great...Mark Wohlers finished the game for Cleveland, giving up a run in a third of an inning.  Wohlers had been a fine relief pitcher for Atlanta from 1995-97, but this was his last year in the majors.  His strikeouts per nine innings, which had been as high as 12.5 in his heyday, were down to 5.8.  He wasn't terrible in 2002, but he certainly wasn't anywhere close to what he had been...The Indians had some interesting names in their bullpen, but they could've used more good pitchers.  In addition to Nagy, who we talked about yesterday, and Wohlers, they also had Dave Burba and Bob Wickman.  They appear to have been really just trying to piece things together.

Record:  The Twins were 12-6, in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago and Cleveland.

MINNESOTA 12, CLEVELAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 19.

Batting stars:  Tom Prince was 2-for-3 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Brian Buchanan was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks with six strikeouts.  Bob Wells pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Ellis Burks was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Matt Lawton was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Milton Bradley was 2-for-4.

The game:  Jacque Jones led off the first with a triple and scored on a ground out to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the fourth, when Minnesota led off the inning with two singles and a walk, loading the bases.  Buchanan then delivered a three-run double and scored on Kielty's double to make it 5-0.  In the fifth the Twins really put it away, scoring six times.  Torii Hunter delivered an RBI double, Kielty had a two-run single-plus error, and Prince hit a three-run homer to make it 11-0.  The Indians got on the board in the seventh on Burks' two-run homer.  Prince homered again in the seventh to make it 12-2 and Wil Cordero had an RBI single in the ninth to round out the scoring.

WP:  Lohse (1-1).  LP:  C. C. Sabathia (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Buchanan was the DH in this game, with David Ortiz on the bench.  That decision worked out well...Tom Prince gave A. J. Pierzynski a day off behind the plate.  That worked out well, too...Jay Canizaro at second base did not work out so well.  He went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .130...Seven of the Twins' fourteen hits were for extra bases:  four doubles, a triple, and two home runs...It was the first good game for Lohse in three starts, dropping his ERA to 7.36...Charles Nagy pitched an inning of relief, giving up the second homer to Prince.  He was a pretty good pitcher at one time, making three all-star teams and twice finishing in the top six in Cy Young voting.  By this point, however, injuries had pretty much robbed him of his effectiveness.  This would be his last season with the Indians--he would make five appearances for San Diego in 2003 and then his career would be over...Sabathia lasted just 4.1 innings, giving up eight runs on eight hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  This was Sabathia's second year, and while he wasn't yet what he would become he was still a pretty good pitcher.  He had finished second in Rookie of the Year voting in 2001 and finished 13-11, 4.37 in 2002.

Record:  The Twins were 11-6, in second place, a half game behind Cleveland.

MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 18.

Batting stars:  David Ortiz was 2-for-3.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-3 with a double.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Eddie Guardado struck out all three men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Brandon Berger was 2-for-3 with a double.  David McCarty was 1-for-3 with a home run.

The game:  There was no score until the fourth, when Koskie led off with a triple, scored on an Ortiz sacrifice fly, and Torii Hunter followed with a home run to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Milton held the Royals scoreless until the eighth, when McCarty hit a two-out solo homer to cut the Twins' lead to 2-1.  That drove Milton from the game at 109 pitches.  J. C. Romero got the last out of the eighth.  In the bottom of the eighth, Koskie had an RBI single, took second on the throw home, and scored on Ortiz' single to give Minnesota a 4-1 lead.  Guardado struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.

WP:  Milton (3-1).  LP:  Jeff Suppan (1-2).  S:  Guardado (7).

Notes:  Jay Canizaro was at second base and went 0-for-3.  His average fell to .158...Ortiz was at first base in this game, with Bobby Kielty at DH and Doug Mientkiewicz given the day off.  Mientkiewicz came in to play defense in the ninth...Suppan pitched 7.1 innings for Kansas City, giving up four runs on seven his and a walk with four strikeouts...Ex-Twin McCarty went 1-for-3...Hunter's home run was his fifth.

Record:  The Twins were 10-6, in third place, a game and a half behind Cleveland and a half game behind Chicago.

KANSAS CITY 16, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 17.

Batting stars:  David Ortiz was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Joe Randa was 2-for-3 with a double and three RBIs.  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Carlos Beltran was 1-for-3 with a home run, two walks, and four RBIs.

The game:  The Twins' winning streak came to a crashing halt.  It was a good game for six innings, though.  Brad Radke ran into first-inning trouble for the first time all season, as an RBI single by Mike Sweeney and a two-run double by Randa put the Royals up 3-0.  It stayed 3-0 until the bottom of the fifth, when Kielty hit a home run to make it 3-1.  Kansas City got the run back in the sixth on Randa's RBI single.  Ortiz hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 4-3.  In the seventh, however, a walk, an error, and Beltran's three-run homer put the Royals up 7-3.  Kansas City really put the game away in the eighth, scoring nine runs.  They had five consecutive one-out singles followed by a double.  A walk, a single, another walk, and another double made it 16-3 by the end of the inning.

WP:  Paul Byrd (3-0)  LP:  Brad Radke (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking again played second base.  He went 0-for-3 to drop his average to .115...Jacque Jones went 1-for-4 to drop his average to .361...Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 to make his average .300...Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 to drop his average to .373...Beltran's three-run homer came off LaTroy Hawkins.  An error made the runs unearned, however, so his ERA dropped to 0.73...The eighth-inning runs came off Bob Wells (five) and Jack Cressend (four)...Ex-Twin Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-4 to raise his average to .204...Ex-Twin David McCarty was 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .167...Royals starter Paul Byrd pitched six innings, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 9-6, in third place, 2.5 games behind Cleveland and a half game behind Chicago.

MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 16.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 and scored three times.  Corey Koskie, Dustan Mohr, and Jacque Jones were each 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Tony Fiore pitched 2.2 scoreless innings.  J. C. Romero struck out three in 1.1 scoreless innings.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect ninth.

Opposition stars:  Mike Sweeney was 3-for-5.  Joe Randa was 2-for-3 with a triple.  Ex-Twin Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  The Royals jumped on Twins' starter Rick Reed early.  Michael Tucker hit a two-run double, followed by a sacrifice fly, to give Kansas City a 3-0 lead.  Minnesota got two back in the second, scoring one on a wild pitch and one on a Mohr double.  The Royals took the lead back to three by scoring two in the third, getting an RBI single by Sweeney and a run-scoring triple by Randa.  The Twins again cut the lead to one at 5-4 in the fourth, getting four consecutive singles and an RBI ground out.  Minnesota finally took the lead in the sixth, scoring four times.  Koskie had an RBI double to tie it, A. J. Pierzynski gave the Twins the lead with a run-scoring single, Jones hit a sacrifice fly, and Cristian Guzman knocked in a run with a single to put the Twins ahead 8-5.  Kansas City got the tying run up to bat in the seventh, putting men on first and second with one out, but a ground out and a strikeout ended the inning.

WP:  Fiore (1-0).  LP:  Blake Stein (0-1).  S:  Guardado (6).

Notes:  Tom Prince started the game, but was removed in the third inning after Randa's RBI triple.  One assumes there must have been a play at the plate that caused him to come out.  Pierzynski replaced him...Denny Hocking was again at second base.  He went 1-for-4 to raise his average to .130...Reed lasted just 3.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and three walks with one strikeout.  It's remarkable that the Twins won as many games as they did early in the year given how bad their starting pitching was...Jones raised his average to .368...Hunter raised his average to .382...Mohr raised his average to .375...Pierzynski went 1-for-3 and was batting .302...Fiore, Romero, and Mike Jackson all kept their ERAs at zero.  Fiore had pitched 3.2 innings, Romero ten, and Jackson six...The Royals used two ex-Twins, Knoblauch and David McCarty.  Knoblauch started in left field and raised his average to .200.  McCarty was used as a pinch-hitter and went 0-for-1, making his average .182.

Record:  The Twins were 9-5, in second place, 2.5 games behind Cleveland.

MINNESOTA 13, DETROIT 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, April 14.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-4 with a triple and two doubles.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a walk and three RBIs.  Bobby Kielty had a pinch-hit home run.

Pitching stars:  Jack Cressend, LaTroy Hawkins, and Tony Fiore each pitched a scoreless inning, with Hawkins striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Craig Paquette was 4-for-4 with two home runs and two doubles.  Robert Fick was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Dmitri Young was 2-for-4.

The game:  Young had an RBI single in the first and Paquette hit a solo homer in the second to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.  LeCroy tripled and scored in the bottom of the second to cut the lead to 2-1.  In the fourth, RBI singles by Denny Hocking, Mientkiewicz, Hunter, and Corey Koskie put the Twins ahead 5-2.  Things were looking good, but the Tigers came roaring back in the sixth.  They led off the inning with two walks and Randall Simon followed with a three-run homer to tie the score.  Paquette then doubled, chasing starter Joe Mays, and Fick singled later in the inning to put Detroit up 6-5.  Paquette struck again in the eighth, leading off with a home run to give Detroit some insurance.  It wasn't enough, as it was the Twins turn to come back, this time with an eight-run inning.  Kielty hit a pinch-hit two run homer to tie it 7-7.  Two singles and a walk loaded the bases and David Ortiz had a pinch-hit  three-run triple to give Minnesota a 10-7 lead.  Hunter had a run-scoring single to make it 11-7, a bases-loaded walk to Kielty made it 12-7, and Jacque Jones hit a sacrifice fly to close out the scoring.  The Tigers went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  J. C. Romero (2-0).  LP:  Matt Anderson (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was used as the DH...LeCroy and Ortiz each had one triple on the season, and they both came in this game.  It was the only triple of LeCroy's career.  Ortiz went hit nineteen triples in his career, with a high of three in 2004...Pinch-hitters really came through for the Twins, with Kielty hitting a two-run homer and Ortiz a three-run triple...Hocking was used at second base...Mays pitched well for five innings, but fell apart in the sixth.  His line was five innings, six runs, eight hits, two walks, and no strikeouts...Hawkins lowered his ERA to 0.82...Romero and Fiore kept their ERAs at zero, with Romero having pitched 8.2 innings and Fiore making his season debut in this game...Steve Sparks was the starter for Detroit.  He pitched six innings, giving up five runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk with two strikeouts...Anderson had been unscored upon in three appearances before this game.  Here he faced five batters and did not retire any, giving up four hits and a walk...The Tigers fell to 0-11 on the season...Jones was 1-for-5 to make his average .358...Mientkiewicz raised his average to .321...LeCroy was batting .375...Hunter raised his average to .353...Dustan Mohr was 0-for-5 but was still batting .361...In three starts, Mays now had an ERA of 11.57.  He missed the next three months due to injury, not pitching again for the Twins until July 20.

Record:  The Twins were 8-5, in second place, 3.5 games behind Cleveland.

MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 13.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-3 with a double and a stolen base, his second.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bob Wells, Mike Jackson, and LaTroy Hawkins each pitched a scoreless inning, with Hawkins getting two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Wendell Magee was 3-for-4 with a double.  Dmitri Young was 3-for-4.  Bobby Higginson was 2-for-3 with a double.

The game:  Young had an RBI single in the top of the first, but the Twins came back on Hunter's two-run double in the bottom of the first to take a 2-1 lead.  It stayed 2-1 until the fifth, when three Tigers singles loaded the bases with one out.  Higginson's sacrifice fly tied the scored and Young followed with another RBI single to give Detroit a 3-2 advantage.  In the sixth, Mientkiewicz delivered a run-scoring double to tie it 3-3, took third on a ground out and scored on Hunter's sacrifice fly to put Minnesota back up 4-3.  The Twins put the game away in the eighth.  Their first two batters went out, but a single and two walks loaded the bases, A. J. Pierzynski singled in two, and a passed ball allowed the final run to score.  The Tigers opened the bottom of the ninth with two singles, but their next three batters were retired to end the game.

WP:  Eric Milton (2-1).  LP:  Jeff Weaver (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  The loss dropped Detroit to 0-10 to start the season...The Tigers' first four batters combined to go 9-for-17...Bobby Kielty was in right field, with Denny Hocking getting the start at second base...Milton pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and no walks with four strikeouts...Weaver pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on seven hits and no walks with two strikeouts...Jones went 0-for-4 to drop his average to .375...Hunter raised his average to .340...Hocking was 0-for-4 and was batting .063...Pierzynski stole a base in the eighth inning, his first of the season.  It would be his only stolen base of the season.  for his career he stole 15 bases in 37 attempts.  His season high was three, which he did in 2003 and 2010.  There were a total of nine seasons in which he had exactly one stolen base...Jackson's scoreless inning kept his ERA at zero through 5.1 innings (five appearances)...Hawkins had an ERA of 0.90 in ten innings (six appearances).

MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 12.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  J. C. Romero retired all four batters he faced, striking out two.  Eddie Guardado struck out all three men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Shane Halter was 2-for-4.  Mitch Melusky was 1-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  A week and a half into the season, the Twins finally got to play their home opener.  They scored all of their runs in the second inning, but that was all they needed.  With one out, Corey Koskie was hit by a pitch.  Mohr, A. J. Pierzynski, and Jay Canizaro followed with singles, the latter two driving in runs to make it 2-0.  Jones walked to load the bases.  RBI singles by Cristian Guzman and Doug Mientkiewicz made it 4-0.  The play-by-play makes it sound like only one of the singles was hit hard:  three of them were listed as ground ball through short left field or short center field, and another was a blooper.  Tigers starter Mark Redman (an ex-Twin, of course), must have been very frustrated.  Bobby Higginson led off the fourth with a triple and scored on a ground out for the first Detroit run and Andres Torres hit a sacrifice fly in the seventh to make it 4-2.  The last eight Tigers were retired, however, five of them by strikeout.

WP:  Radke (2-0).  LP:  Redman (0-2).  S:  Guardado (5).

Notes:  This was not the year Detroit threatened the all-time loss record, but they sure weren't very good.  This was their ninth game, and they fell to 0-9.  Something about that sounds familiar...Canizaro was again at second base, going 1-for-3...Mohr raised his average to .419.  He would hit .366 in April, .247 the rest of the way...Jones' average fell to .409...Redman pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Redman would go on to have a decent season, but his best season was the next year, 2003, when he got a World Series ring with the Marlins.  He would not have a good year after that, but still pitched for five more seasons...Up to this point, Romero had made seven appearances, covering 8.1 innings, and given up no runs on two hits and two walks with twelve strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 6-5, tied for second with Chicago, four games behind Cleveland.

CLEVELAND 8, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Thursday, April 11.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a double.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  LaTroy Hawkins pitched two shutout innings.  J. C. Romero and Bob Wells each pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-4 with a home run and a walk, scoring three times and driving in three.  Ellis Burks was 2-for-5 with a double.  Jim Thome was 1-for-2 with a home run (his second) and a walk.

The game:  Jones led off the game with a home run, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Starter Kyle Lohse walked the first two batters (not the recommended way to start a game) and then gave up a two-run double to Burks, giving the Indians a 2-1 advantage.  Hunter led off the second inning with a home run to tie it 2-2.  Solo home runs don't hurt you, though, at least not when you have Thome to hit a two-run shot in the third to put you ahead 4-2.  In the fourth, an error by Guzman (his third in two games) brought home one run and Vizquel followed with a three-run homer to give Cleveland an 8-2 lead.  Doug Mientkiewicz singled home a run in the fifth and Bobby Kielty had an RBI double in the sixth, but that was as close as the Twins would come.

WP:  Bartolo Colon (3-0).  LP:  Lohse (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Kielty made his first start of the season, playing right field and going 1-for-4.  His average was .167...Denny Hocking started at second base and was 0-for-3, dropping his average to .083...Jones average dropped to .415...Hunter raised his average to .325...Lohse pitched 3.1 innings, allowing eight runs (seven earned) on five hits and four walks with two strikeouts.  His ERA was 11.74...Colon didn't have a great game, either, pitching 5.1 innings and allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts...Lawton was 1-for-3 with two walks to raise his average to .308...Thome's average went up to .200.

Record:  The Twins were 5-5, tied for second with Chicago and Kansas City, four games behind Cleveland.

CLEVELAND 9, MINNESOTA 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, April 10.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-4 with a stolen base.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jack Cressend struck out two in a scoreless inning.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Jim Thome was 2-for-5 with a grand slam and a double, driving in five.  Ellis Burks was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  Matt Lawton was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Thome doubled in a run in the first inning to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.  In the second, the Twins loaded the bases with none out.  Mohr singled home the tying run and Pierzynski hit a sacrifice fly to give Minnesota a 2-1 lead, but a double play ended the inning.  In the bottom of the inning, Cleveland scored six runs to put the game away early.  Cristian Guzman made two errors in the inning, making all six runs unearned.  An error brought home the first run, Lawton singled in the second, and Thome hit a two-out grand slam.  It killed the rally, but it also killed the Twins' hopes of winning the game.  Burks singled home a run in the fourth to make it 8-2.  Mohr homered leading off the fifth to make it 8-3, but that was as close as Minnesota would come.  Omar Vizquel hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth to round out the scoring.

WP:  Danys Baez (2-0)  LP:  Rick Reed (1-1)  S:  None.

Notes:  Jay Canizaro got another chance at second, going 0-for-2 with a walk.  His average was .167...Jacque Jones was 1-for-4 to make his average .432...Mohr raised his average to .393...Reed pitched five innings, allowing eight runs (only two earned) on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts...Baez pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks with no strikeouts...Lawton was batting .306.

Record:  The Twins were 5-4, in second place, three games behind Cleveland.