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Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twelve

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MINNESOTA 9, TORONTO 3 IN TORONTO

Date:  Sunday, April 13.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs.  Tom Prince was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (!).  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Matthew LeCroy was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer.  Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Joe Mays pitched six innings, giving up three runs on three hits and four walks and striking out two.  Johan Santana struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Eric Hinske was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Josh Phelps was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Carlos Delgado led off the second with a walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on Hinske's one-out double.  Orlando Hudson hit a two-out RBI single to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.  The Twins came right back in the top of the third.  With one out, Prince got to second on a bunt single-plus-error.  He then stole third and scored on a ground out.  Jacque Jones singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Guzman's double.  Corey Koskie followed with an RBI single and the Twins had a 3-2 lead.

Toronto got a pair of one-out walks in the fourth, but a double play took them out of the inning.  In the fifth Guzman doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a sacrifice fly to increase the Twins' lead to 4-2.  Cuddyer homered in the fifth to make it 5-2.

The Blue Jays got a run back in the seventh.  Phelps doubled and Hinske walked, putting men on first and second with none out.  The next two batters were retired, but Chris Woodward singled to cut the Twins lead to 5-3.  But the Twins put the game away in the eighth.  Jones was hit by a pitch and Guzman singled.  The next two batters struck out, but Mientkiewicz hit an RBI single and LeCroy delivered a three-run homer, making the score 9-3.  The last seven Toronto batters went out to end the game.

WP:  Mays (2-1).  LP:  Mark Hendrickson (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Cuddyer remained in right field.

Dustan Mohr pinch-hit for Jones in the ninth.

Jones was 1-for-3 and was batting .364.  Prince raised his average to .333.

It's still very early in the season, of course, but the Twins started three players with averages below .200.  Torii Hunter was 0-for-3 and was batting .116,  Cuddyer and LeCroy each raised their averages to .188.

Prince created a run in the third in Rickey Henderson-like fashion.  A bunt single, moving to second on a wild throw, stealing third, scoring on a ground out.  This was the last of nine stolen bases Prince had in his career.  It was also the last stolen base attempt in his career.  He was 9-for-17 in stealing bases.  His season high was three, in 2001.

Hendrickson pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and no walks.  He struck out seven.  This was his first full season.  Hendrickson pitched a really long time for someone who wasn't very good.  If you throw out his rookie year, when he pitched just 36.2 innings, he had only two seasons in which his ERA was under 4.50 and six seasons in which it was over five.  He had only one season in which his WHIP was less than 1.40 (1.39) and four seasons in which it was over 1.50.  For his career he was 58-74, 5.03, 1.46 WHIP.  Yet, he was in the big leagues for ten years, appeared in 328 games (166 starts) and pitched 1169 innings.

This was quite a start to the season.  Four three-game series.  Swept Detroit.  Swept by Toronto.  Swept by New York.  Swept Toronto.  Now, they would go home to play Detroit.  Would there be another series sweep?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 6-6, in third place in the American League Central, four games behind Kansas City.  The Royals finally lost a game, making their record 9-1.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Eleven

MINNESOTA 9, TORONTO 6 IN TORONTO

Date:  Saturday, April 12.

Batting stars:  Luis Rivas was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Jacque Jones was 3-for-5 with a double.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second), a double, and three RBIs.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Brad Radke pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and five walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Pete Walker pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out three.  Vernon Wells was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Eric Hinske was 1-for-3 with a home run.  Frank Catalanotto was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

The game:  Hinske hit a one-out home run in the second to put the Blue Jays up 1-0.  The Twins tied it in the third when Rivas hit a two-out single and scored from first on Jones' double.  Toronto put two on in the third, but the score remained 1-1 until the fifth, when Catalanotto homered to give the Blue Jays a 2-1 advantage.

The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the sixth but did not score.  Toronto put men on first and second with two out, also in the sixth, but did not score.  In the seventh, Mientkiewicz and Kielty led off with back-to-back home runs to give Minnesota  3-2 lead.  That lead lasted until the bottom of the seventh.  Wells walked, Carlos Delgado singled, and with two out Tom Wilson delivered a two-run double to make it 4-3 Blue Jays.

The Twins tied it back up in the eighth.  Corey Koskie led off with a double, but was still on second with two out.  But Kielty came through with an RBI single, and it was 4-4 going to the ninth.

In the ninth, Rivas and Jones led off with singles and Denny Hocking walked, loading the bases.  Koskie hit into a fielder's choice with no out recorded, giving the Twins a 5-4 lead.  Torii Hunter then hit a two-run single and Mientkiewicz followed with a two-run double, putting the Twins up 9-4.

Toronto did not go away quietly.  Stewart led off with a double and scored on Wells' one-out single.  Walks to Delgado and Josh Phelps loaded the bases.  That brought Eddie Guardado into the game.  A force out brought home one run, but Dave Berg then struck out to end the game.

WP:  Hawkins (1-0).  LP:  Kelvim Escobar (0-1).  S:  Guardado (4).

Notes:  Hocking was at shortstop in place of Cristian Guzman.  Michael Cuddyer was again the right fielder.  Kielty was the DH.  There were no lineup substitutions during the game.

Kielty raised his average to .375.  Jones raised his average to .366.

Hocking was 0-for-3 and was batting .091.  Hunter was 1-for-4 to raise his average to .125.  Cuddyer was 1-for-4 to raise his average to .179.

This was the second consecutive game in which Rivas had three hits.  He had five three-hit games in 2003.  Two of the others would also come in succession, in late June.

The score was 2-1 after six and ended up 9-6.  That's baseball.

So far, each series the Twins had been involved in was a three-game sweep.  They swept Detroit, were swept by Toronto, and were swept by New York.  They now had a chance to sweep Toronto.  Would they be able to?  We shall see.

Record:  The Twins were 5-6, in third place in the American League Central, six games behind Kansas City.  The Royals still had not lost a game and were 9-0.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Six

TORONTO 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, April 6.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a double.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4.  Bobby Kielty was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Juan Rincon struck out six in five shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit.  Tony Fiore pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Cory Lidle struck out seven in seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk.  Frank Catalanotto was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Carlos Delgado was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second), two runs, and four RBIs.  Chris Woodward was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

The game:  In the first inning Catalanotto singled and Delgado hit a two-run homer, giving the Blue Jays a 2-0 lead.  Not to worry:  Brad Radke was pitching, and we expect him to give up a couple of runs in the first, then settle down.  Unfortunately, this day he did not settle down.

He got Toronto out in order in the second.  In the third, however, the Blue Jays started the inning with singles by Woodward, Stewart, and Catalanotto, loading the bases.  Vernon Wells walked to force in a run.  Delgado delivered a two-run single.  The next two batters went out, but Greg Myers singled home a run to make it 6-0.

The fourth was no better for Radke.  Woodward singled, Stewart doubled, and Catalanotto hit a two-run double to put Toronto up 8-0.  At that point, Ron Gardenhire pulled Radke and brought in Rincon, who brought some order to the game.  He actually pitched very well, but it was simply too late/

The Twins did little offensively.  Their lone run came in the sixth, when Jones doubled and Gomez singled him home.  The Twins had two on with none out in the seventh and loaded the bases with one out in the eighth, but could not dent the plate either time.

WP:  Lidle (1-1).  LP:  Radke (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Gomez was at shortstop in place of Cristian Guzman.   Kielty was in left, with Jones at DH.  Dustan Mohr was in center in place of Torii Hunter.  Michael Cuddyer was in right.

Denny Hocking went to third base in the seventh inning in place of Corey Koskie.

Koskie was 1-for-3 and was batting .462.  Kielty was batting .375.  Jones was batting .360.

On the other end of the scale, Luis Rivas was batting .143.

Radke allowed eight runs on ten hits and a walk in just three innings.  He struck out two.  By game scores it was his worst game of the season.

On the other hand, Rincon pitched really well.  This was easily his longest outing of the season.  He had been a starter in the minors, though, and that's mostly where he had been prior to this season, so a five-inning appearance would not have been that strange to him at the time.

He didn't make a big deal out of it, but I think Herb Carneal really enjoyed saying the name "Frank Catalanotto".

After sweeping the Tigers on the road to start the season, the Twins were swept at home by Toronto.  Not to worry, though.  Their next series would be on the road against the Yankees.

Record:  The Twins were 3-3, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.