Tag Archives: Rick Reed

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 16

Hick Carpenter (1855)
Baby Doll Jacobsen (1890)
Fats Fothergill (1897)
George Scales (1900)
Tiny Bonham (1913)
Gene Woodling (1922)
Puddin’ Head Jones (1925)
Buck Rodgers (1938)
Gene Brabender (1941)
Mike Jorgensen (1948)
Al Holland (1952)
Nick Leyva (1953)
Rick Reed (1964)
Xavier Hernandez (1965)
Terry Shumpert (1966)
Quinton McCracken (1970)
Damian Jackson (1973)
Roger Cedeno (1974)
Ryan Hanigan (1980)
Yu Darvish (1986)
Martin Maldonado (1986)
Akil Baddoo (1998)

Nick Leyva is a long-time minor league coach and manager and major league coach.  He managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-1991.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 16 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 16

Hick Carpenter (1855)
Baby Doll Jacobsen (1890)
Fats Fothergill (1897)
Tiny Bonham (1913)
Gene Woodling (1922)
Puddin’ Head Jones (1925)
Buck Rodgers (1938)
Gene Brabender (1941)
Mike Jorgensen (1948)
Al Holland (1952)
Nick Leyva (1953)
Rick Reed (1964)
Xavier Hernandez (1965)
Terry Shumpert (1966)
Quinton McCracken (1970)
Damian Jackson (1973)
Roger Cedeno (1974)
Ryan Hanigan (1980)
Yu Darvish (1986)
Martin Maldonado (1986)
Akil Baddoo (1998)

Nick Leyva is a long-time minor league coach and manager and major league coach.  He managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-1991.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 16 →

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–August 16

Hick Carpenter (1855)
Baby Doll Jacobsen (1890)
Fats Fothergill (1897)
Tiny Bonham (1913)
Gene Woodling (1922)
Puddin’ Head Jones (1925)
Buck Rodgers (1938)
Gene Brabender (1941)
Mike Jorgensen (1948)
Al Holland (1952)
Nick Leyva (1953)
Rick Reed (1964)
Xavier Hernandez (1965)
Terry Shumpert (1966)
Quinton McCracken (1970)
Damian Jackson (1973)
Roger Cedeno (1974)
Ryan Hanigan (1980)
Yu Darvish (1986)
Martin Maldonado (1986)
Akil Baddoo (1998)

Nick Leyva is a long-time minor league coach and manager and major league coach.  He managed the Philadelphia Phillies from 1989-1991.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–August 16 →

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-four

KANSAS CITY 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, August 17.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-2 with a home run, his thirteenth.  Shannon Stewart was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.  Luis Rivas was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up three hits.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Joe Randa was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.  Raul Ibanez was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixteenth.  Angel Berroa was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Mike Sweeney was 2-for-4.  Darrell May pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks and striking out three.

The game:  The Twins couldn't overcome one big inning.  Rivas started the scoring with a first-inning home run.  The Royals got the run back on consecutive singles by Berroa, Sweeney, and Carlos Beltran.  The Twins went back in front in the top of the third when Cristian Guzman singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Doug Mientkiewicz single.

But in the bottom of the third, Kansas City went into the lead to stay.  Singles by Berroa and Sweeney and a sacrifice fly by Beltran tied the score.  Then came back-to-back homers by Ibanez and Randa, giving the Royals a 5-2 lead.

The Twins got one back when Stewart homered in the fifth.  They had men on first and second with one out in the seventh but did not score.  LeCroy homered in the eighth to pull the Twins within one at 5-4.  Michael Ryan hit a two-out double in the ninth, but he could not get beyond second base.

WP:  May (6-6).  LP:  Reed (5-12).  S:  Curtis Leskanic (1).

Notes:  Stewart was again in left, Michael Restovich in right, and Jones at DH.

Mientkiewicz came out of the game in the third inning, presumably due to injury.  LeCroy replaced him at first base.  Mientkiewicz would miss the next few games and be back in the lineup August 22.

Ryan pinch-hit for Restovich in the seventh and stayed in the game in right field.

Ryan was 1-for-2 and was batting .600.  Stewart was 1-for-4 and was batting .310.  Restovich was 0-for-2 and was also batting .310.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .306.

Reed lasted just three innings, allowing five runs on nine hits.  He neither walked nor struck out anyone.  His ERA went to 5.10.  Mays lowered his ERA to 6.12.  Hawkins' ERA went down to 2.21.

Reed's game score was not his worst of the season.  It was not even his second worst.  In fact, it was only tied for third-worst.  After this game, Ron Gardenhire had finally seen enough.  It would be Reed's last start, not just for the season but for his career.  He would spend September in the bullpen, and it would be his last season.  Kind of a sad end to a pretty decent career, but on the other hand, it's hard to argue that he deserved better.

Ex-Twin Curtis Leskanic had 55 saves over his career.  He was never "the closer" for an extended period of time, but he always managed to pick up a few saves here and there.  His high was 17 with Milwaukee in 2001.  He had 12 with Milwaukee in 2000 and 10 with Colorado in 1995.  He had come to the Royals in July of this season.  This was the first of two saves he would have for them in 2003.

Despite the loss it was a good series for the Twins, taking two of three from the first place team in their ballpark.  They would go to Cleveland for two, then host the Royals for four games in the Metrodome.

Record:  The Twins were 63-61, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, three games behind Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-one

CLEVELAND 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, August 14.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Joe Mays pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Brian Anderson pitched 8.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks.  Travis Hafner was 4-for-5 and hit for the cyle, including his eighth home run.  He scored three times and drove in two.  Ben Broussard was 3-for-5 with a double.  Jhonny Peralta was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Angel Santos was 2-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.  Casey Blake was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourteenth), a double, and three RBIs.

The game:  Hafner homered in the second to put the Indians up 1-0.  In the second, Peralta and Blake doubled to make it 2-0.

It stayed 2-0 until the seventh, when Cleveland took control.  Hafner had an infield single-plus-error, was bunted to third, and scored on Peralta's double.  Santos then doubled to make it 4-0.  With two out, Blake hit a home run to make it 6-0.

The Indians added to their lead in the eighth.  Broussard singled, Hafner had an RBI triple, and Josh Bard had a run-scoring single to increase the lead to 8-0.

The Twins avoided the shutout in the ninth.  LeCroy hit a one-out home run.  Jacque Jones doubled, Michael Restovich had an infield single, and a sacrifice fly made it 8-2.  An error put men on second and third and Guzman singled home a run to conclude the scoring.

WP:  Anderson (9-9).  LP:  Brad Radke (8-10).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. PIerzynski.  Denny Hocking was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Chris Gomez was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Shannon Stewart was in left, Dustan Mohr in right, and Jones at DH.

Michael Ryan replaced Stewart in left in the ninth.  Michael Restovich went to right in the ninth, with Mohr moving to center and Torii Hunter coming out of the game.  Rivas pinch-ran for Jones in the ninth.

Ryan made an out for the first time all year and was batting .667.  Stewart was 0-for-4 and was batting .314.  Restovich was 1-for-1 and was batting .308.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .307.

Radke pitched pretty well for six innings, but his line was 6.1 innings, five runs, nine hits, no walks, and three strikeouts.  His ERA was 5.09.  James Baldwin allowed three runs in one inning and his ERA went to 5.40.  Mays lowered his ERA to 6.33.

Rick Reed made his first relief appearance of the season, pitching two-thirds of an inning and giving up no runs.

Santos' stolen base was the only one of his major league career.  An infielder, he appeared in 41 games and had 99 plate appearances.  He batted .207/.245/.370.

With a three-game losing streak, the Twins were in danger of dropping back to .500.

Record:  The Twins were 61-60, in third place in the American League Central, four games behind Kansas City.  They were two games behind second-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Four

CLEVELAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN CLEVELAND (14 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, July 27.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a walk.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-5 with a double.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-7.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks and striking out four.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Juan Rincon pitched four innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tim Laker was 3-for-5.  Coco Crisp was 3-for-7.  Casey Blake was 2-for-6 with two doubles.  Jhonny Peralta was 1-for-6 with a home run.  Jason Davis pitched nine innings, giving up two runs on ten hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ex-Twin Jack Cressend pitched two innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

The game:  Lots of missed opportunities early.  The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the first.  The Indians put a man on second with one out in the first and had men on second and third with one out in the second.  The Twins finally got on the board in the third, but missed a chance for more.  Stewart led off with a single and Luis Rivas followed with a double, putting men on second and third with none out.  They could only score once, however, and that was on a wild pitch which gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Cleveland promptly tied it in the bottom of the third when Peralta led off the inning with a home run.

The Twins got the lead back in the sixth when A. J. Pierzynski led off with a double and scored on Stewart's single.  They held the lead until the ninth, when the Indians tied it without getting a hit.  Milton Bradley walked and Ben Broussard reached on an error on a bunt.  Laker sacrificed the men to second and third, Ryan Ludwick was intentionally walked to load the bases, and Victor Martinez hit a sacrifice fly, tying the score 2-2.

The Twins got a man to third with two out in the tenth but did not score.  The Indians loaded the bases with two out in the tenth but did not score.  The Twins had a man on second with two out in the twelfth and did not score.  Cleveland had men on first and second with one out in the twelfth and a man on second with one out in the thirteenth and did not score.

The game ended in the fourteenth.  Casey Blake hit a one-out double and went to third on a ground out.  Bradley was intentionally walked and took second on defensive indifference and Zach Sorensen walked.  Laker then singled to left to bring home the deciding run.

WP:  Rafael Betancourt (1-1).  LP:  Rincon (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Chris Gomez was again at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Stewart was in right.  Todd Sears was the DH.

Dustan Mohr replaced Jones in left in the eighth.  I don't know if Jones was hurting or if it was simply a defensive substitution, but Jones did not miss any games.  Justin Morneau pinch-hit for Mohr in the thirteenth, with Denny Hocking going to left.

Jones raised his average to .313.  Stewart was batting .309.

Reed's game score of 65 is one that he topped only once in 2003, when he pitched a three-hit shutout of Kansas City in May.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 2.50.

Cressend came up to the Indians on July 1 and had a tremendous half-season, going 2-1, 2.51, 1.14 WHIP in 33 games (43 innings).  It seemed as if, at age twenty-eight, he had finally found something.  If he did, though, he lost it again the next year.  He went 0-1, 6.32, 2.04 in eleven games (15.2 innings) in 2004 and never made it back to the majors after that.

The Twins had three players on their roster, Mientkiewicz, Morneau, and Sears, whose primary position was first base.  They also had Matthew LeCroy, who could play some first base.  That's really not the recommended way to construct a roster.

With the loss, the Twins feel deeper into third place.

Record:  The Twins were 51-53, in third place in the American League Central, 6.5 games behind Kansas City.  They were 2.5 games behind second-place Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Forty-nine

MINNESOTA 3, SEATTLE 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Sunday, May 25.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 2-for-2 with two walks.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out one.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Ryan Franklin pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out four.  Bret Boone was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and a double.

The game:  Jacque Jones led off the game with a walk.  Corey Koskie drew a one-out walk, and Bobby Kielty singled to put the Twins up 1-0.  Mohr homered leading off the second to make it 2-0.

The Mariners had only three hits, all singles, through the first six innings and never got a man past first.  That changed in the seventh, when Boone led off with a home run to cut the Twins lead to 2-1.  The Twins got the run back in the eighth when Kielty singled, went to third on a stolen base-plus-passed ball, and scored on Hunter's single.

Seattle got a one-out double by Boone in the ninth to bring the tying run to the plate.  A pair of fly outs ended the game.

WP:  Reed (3-5).  LP:  Ryan Franklin (3-3).  S:  Guardado (13).

Notes:  Todd Sears was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Mientkiewicz came in for defense in the eighth.  Gomez was at second in place of Luis Rivas.  Kielty was the DH.

Jones was 1-for-4 with a walk and was batting .343.  Mohr was batting .318.  Gomez raised his average to .313.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.19.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 1.74.

This was the first of three stolen bases for Pierzynski in 2003.  Three was his career high, equalled in 2010.  For his career he had 15 stolen bases and was caught stealing 23 times.  I'm no sabremetrician, but I don't think that's a very good percentage.

I know Chris Gomez was a member of the Twins, but I don't have any actual memory of his time with the team.  Does anyone remember, were we excited about him at this point, when he was batting over .300?  Were we thinking he should replace Rivas at second base?  Or did we think that it was just a small sample size fluke, which it turned out to be?  I have no idea.

In his last three starts, Reed had pitched 22 innings and given up 4 runs on 19 hits and 3 walks.  He had lowered his ERA from 5.87 to 4.10.

Sears was sent back to AAA after this game.  He was batting .278/.365/.426, so it wasn't terribly fair, but Mientkiewicz was ready to resume regular duties at first base and there simply wasn't a spot for him.  He would come back for a couple of weeks in late July/early August, but then would be traded to San Diego for Alex Garcia, a middle infielder who couldn't hit.  He spent one year in Class A Quad Cities, then played two years of independent ball.

I don't remember Bret Boone as a slugger, but already hit his twelfth  home run of the season in this game.  He would hit 35 on the season.  He went through 2000, his age thirty-one season, only having hit 20 homers twice (24 in 1998, 20 in 1999).  Then, in his early-to-mid thirties, he hit 37, 24, 35, and 24 home runs.  A suspicious person might wonder if he had some help, although it should be pointed out that I'm aware of no evidence to support that suspicion.

The Twins had won four of five, seven of nine, nine of twelve, and fifteen of twenty, and nineteen of twenty-five.

Record:  The Twins were 29-20, in first place in the American League Central, 2.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Thirty-nine

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 7, KANSAS CITY 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, May 14.

Batting stars:  Doug Mienkiewicz was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3 with a double, a stolen base, and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5 with a triple.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.

Pitching star:  Rick Reed pitched a complete game shutout, giving up three hits  and one walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  None.

The game:  Guzman led off the first with a triple and scored on a Mientkiewicz single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the fourth.  Matthew LeCroy was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and Torii Hunter and Todd Sears walked, loading the bases.  A ground out scored one, a sacrifice fly scored another, and Rivas had an RBI single to make it 4-0 Twins.

The Twins continued to add on.  In the fifth Mientkiewicz led off with a double and Koskie followed with a two-run homer to make it 6-0.  Mohr led off the sixth with a double, went to third on Rivas' single, and scored on a ground out to bring the score to 7-0.

Reed was in complete control.  The only threat the Royals had came in the fourth, and it was a mild one.  Carlos Beltran drew a two-out walk and Mike Sweeney singled, putting men on first and second.  Raul Ibanez flied to left to end the inning.  They had only three hits and had none after the fifth inning.

WP:  Reed (2-4).  LP:  Runelvys Hernandez (4-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Sears was at first base, with Mientkiewicz in right field.  Mohr was in left in place of Jacque Jones.

Bobby Kielty pinch-ran for LeCroy in the fourth, after LeCroy was hit by a pitch, and stayed in the game at DH.

Mohr was batting .315.  LeCroy was 0-for-1 and was batting .314.  Kielty was 1-for-3 and was batting .307.

By game scores this was easily Reed's best game of the season.  His game score was 82; his next best was 65, which he did twice.

Hernandez pitched five innings, allowing six runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Runelvys apparently left the building and went on the disabled list after this game, as he did not pitch again until July 11.

Jones was out of the lineup for the second consecutive game.  He would not start again until May 17.

Record:  The Twins were 22-17, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Nineteen

NEW YORK 15, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, April 21.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-4.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Tony Fiore struck out five in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  David Wells pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.  Erick Almonte was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Raul Mondesi was 3-for-4 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Nick Johnson was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third), a walk, three runs, and four RBIs.  John Flaherty was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Alfonso Soriano was 1-for-5 with a grand slam (his seventh homer) a walk, and two runs.  Bernie Williams was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.

The game:  I see no need to give play-by-play of all fifteen of the Yankees' runs.  Johnson hit a two-run homer in a three-run third.  Soriano hit a grand slam in the fourth to make it 7-0.  A walk and five singles in the fifth made it 11-0.  Johnson homered again in the seventh to make it 12-0.

The Twins avoided the shutout when Mohr homered leading off the eighth.  Williams hit a two-run homer in a three-run ninth.

WP:  Wells (3-0).  LP:  Rick Reed (1-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Chris Gomez was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Mohr was in left field in place of Jacque Jones.  Bobby Kielty was in center in place of Torii Hunter, who was the DH.  Michael Cuddyer was again in right field.

Denny Hocking came in to play third base in the seventh inning.  Gomez moved to second and Luis Rivas came out of the game.

Gomez was 0-for-4 and was batting .391.  Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .356.  Prince was 1-for-3 and was batting .333.

Mohr raised his average to .125.  Hocking was 0-for-1 and was batting .133.  Hunter was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .179.

By game scores, this was Reed's worst game of the season.  He lasted 4.1 innings and surrendered 11 runs (10 earned) on 10 hits and 3 walks.  He struck out four and had a game score of 2.  His ERA went up to 7.52.  The good news, if you want to call it that, is that this is as high as his ERA would ever go this season.

Fiore got his ERA down to 6.39.

This was the only three-hit game of Erick Almonte's career.  He was the Yankees' starting shortstop from the start of the season until early May, due to an injury to Derek Jeter.  It was the only time he was a starter in his career.  Of his 133 career at-bats, 100 of them came in 2003--he had 4 in 2001 and 29 in 2011, when he was with Milwaukee.  He was in the Yankee organization through 2003, was in the Rockies' chain in 2004, was in Japan in 2005, played independent ball in 2006, was in the Detroit organization from 2007-2008, was with the Brewers from 2009-2012, and played in Mexico in 2013.  His AAA numbers are .283/.361/.424, not bad numbers at all.  In the majors, however, he batted .233/.282/.331.  I don't know about his fielding, but he batted well enough in the minors to think he could've helped someone in the big leagues.  This was his only chance to do it, though, and while he batted .260/.321/.350 he wasn't going to beat out Derek Jeter no matter what he did.

So the Twins have now begun their season with six series sweeps.  They won three, lost six, won six, and now have lost seven.  We'll see if another series sweep awaits when they head to Kansas City.

Record:  The Twins were 9-10, in third place in the American League Central, six games behind Kansas City.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Four

TORONTO 7, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 4.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-3 with a home run, a double, a walk, and two runs.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Mike Fetters pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Tanyon Sturtze pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on four hits and two walks and struck out one.  Josh Phelps was 2-for-3 with a home run and a walk.  Vernon Wells was 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Frank Catalanotto was 2-for-5 with a home run.  Jeff Tam pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit.

The game:  The Twins missed a chance in the first.  Jacque Jones led off with a single, was bunted to second, and stole third with one out.  Torii Hunter then hit back to the pitcher and Jones was thrown out at the plate, presumably on a contact play.  It cost them, because Phelps led off the second with a home run, putting the Blue Jays up 1-0.  It went to 2-0 in the second, as Toronto scored on singles by Carlos Delgado and Phelps and an error.

The Twins got on the board in the fifth.  Mientkiewicz walked and went to second on a ground out.  Luis Rivas then reached on an error and Mientkiewicz scored, cutting the lead to 2-1.  The Blue Jays responded immediately, with Catalanotto and Wells leading off the sixth with back-to-back homers to give Toronto a 4-1 lead.

The Blue Jays put it out of reach in the seventh.  Mike Bordick and Shannon Stewart walked and Wells hit a two-out three-run homer, putting Toronto up 7-1.  Mientkiewicz homered leading off the eighth, but the Twins never threatened to get back into the game.

WP:  Sturtze (1-0).  LP:  Rick Reed (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer was at third base in place of Corey Koskie.  Bobby Kielty was in right field.

The Twins did not make any lineup substitutions.

Reed pitched pretty well for five innings, but the back-to-back homers gave him a line of six innings, four runs, six hits, one walk, and two strikeouts.   The big seventh came off Tony Fiore.  Fiore had pitched well for the Twins in 2002, but would not repeat that in 2003.

I remembered Vernon Wells as a Twins killer.  He wasn't, really.  He did fine against them, but not that much differently from the way he hit against everyone.  Against the Twins he batted .290/.321/.446, for an OPS of .767.  For his career, he batted .270/.319/.459, for an OPS of .778.

Tanyon Sturtze pitched a long time for someone who wasn't very good.  He had a good game here, obviously.  Maybe he was one of those guys who, in Bill James' phrase, pitched well just often enough to fool people into pitching him some more.  He was in the majors for parts of twelve seasons and went 40-44, 5.19, 1.53 WHIP in 797 innings.  He appeared in 272 games, starting 84 of them.  Excluding "seasons" in which he pitched fewer than ten innings, his lowest season ERA was 4.42.  He had only three seasons in which he had an ERA under five.  His numbers in AAA were 38-30, 4.71, 1.49 WHIP, so it's not like he just couldn't make the jump to the bigs.  In fact, his numbers in AA are 13-18, 4.33, 1.49 WHIP.  Even in high-A, he had an ERA of 3.84, but a WHIP of 1.45.  I've written this so many times you're probably tired of reading it, but it just frustrates me that guys like this get chance after chance after chance, long after they've proven they're never going to be good enough, while other guys put up great numbers in the high minors and get a cursory look or none at all.  I guess nobody said baseball, or life itself, was going to be fair.

Despite my hopes, the Twins would not go 162-0 in 2003.

Record:  The Twins were 3-1, in second place in the American League Central, one game behind Kansas City.