Tag Archives: winning streak

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-seven

MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Tuesday, July 7.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out six in four innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out six.  Stan Williams pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 3-for-3 with a walk.  Sal Bando was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his seventeenth) and two walks.  Mudcat Grant pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Neither team threatened until the fourth, when the Twins had two on with one out but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth Rudi walked and Bando hit a two-run homer to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.  Tommy Davis followed with a double and Don Mincher singled, putting men on first and third with one out, but they did not score.

The Twins came back in the fifth.  Leo Cardenas and Danny Thompson started the inning with singles.  Hall hit into a force out at third base.  Cesar Tovar was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and Jim Holt hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first Twins run.  Tony Oliva walked, loading the bases again, and Killebrew delivered a three-run double, putting the Twins up 4-2.

That was it for scoring.  Oakland loaded the bases with two out in the sixth but did not score.  They did not put a man past first after that.

WP:  Williams (6-0).

LP:  Chuck Dobson (7-10).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Alyea pinch-hit for Ratliff in the fifth, with Mitterwald going behind the plate in the next inning.

Oliva was 0-for-2 and was batting .322.  Killebrew was batting .317.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Hall had an ERA of 2.24.  Williams had an ERA of 1.53.

I suspect Hall must have had a slight injury or illness.  Not only was four innings a quick hook when he had given up just two runs, but Hall batted in the top of the fifth and then was replaced by Williams.  If he was injured or ill, it must have been minor, because he pitched in relief just two days later.

This was Rudi's first full season in the majors, and he took advantage of it, batting .309 with an OPS of .821.  He didn't really become a star until 1972, but he was already a good player.

In addition to Grant, another ex-Twin who played in this game was Jim Roland.  He faced one man in the fifth, Rich Reese, and walked him.  Roland was still a fine reliever in 1970, going 3-3, 2.70, 2 saves, 1.18 WHIP.  He continued to pitch well the following season, but had a poor 1972 and then was done at age twenty-nine.

The Twins had now won three in a row and eight out of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 51-26, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.  They still had the best record in the American League, but were well behind the Big Red Machine, which was 59-23 in the National League.

 

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-six

MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, July 6.

Batting star:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his nineteenth.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out one.  Ron Perranoski struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Diego Segui pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out three.  Bob Locker pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.   Mudcat Grant struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins got a man to third with one out in the first but did not score.  In the second, Sal Bando walked and Tommy Davis was hit by a pitch.  A double play moved Bando to third and Dave Duncan's RBI single put the Athletics ahead 1-0.

The Twins tied it in the third.  Tovar hit a one-out single, and two-out singles by Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew produced a run.  In the fourth Leo Cardenas walked and two-out singles by Zepp and Tovar produced a run, putting the Twins ahead 2-1.

And that was it for scoring.  Oakland had their chances.  They had men on first and third in the fifth.  They had a man on second with one out in the sixth.  They had men on first and second with two out in the seventh.  But none of them scored, and the Twins took a 2-1 victory.

WP:  Zepp (4-0).

LP:  Segui (3-5).

S:  Perranoski (19).

Notes:  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Oddly, in a one-run game, the Twins did not put in a defensive substitute for Killebrew.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .325.  Tovar was batting .316.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .313.  Zepp had an ERa of 2.53.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.67,

It was Zepp's first start since May 30.  He would stay in the rotation until almost the end of the season.  Bill Rigney was obviously not concerned about "stretching him out", as he pitched 6.1 innings.

John McNamara had a pretty quick hook on Segui, pulling him one batter into the fifth inning when he had given up just two runs.  He had allowed a lot of baserunners (nine), and maybe McNamara thought he'd pushed his luck as far as he could.  It was only Segui's fourth start of the season, as he'd been in the bullpen earlier.  He'd gone seven innings in each of his first two starts, so again, "stretching him out" doesn't seem to have been a concern.  He'd gone only 1.1 innings in his third start, and gave up four runs, so maybe the manager just didn't have much confidence in him.

Ex-Twin Mudcat Grant was having an excellent year out of the Oakland bullpen.  After this game his ERA was 0.87.  To no one's surprise, he couldn't do that over the whole season, but he ended up 8-3, 24 saves, 1.86 ERA, 1.06 WHIP.  He also ended up in Pittsburgh, as he was traded in mid-September.

Also playing for Oakland was ex-Twin Don Mincher.  He went 0-for-4 and was batting just .228.  He would raise that to .248 by season's end, and would hit 27 home runs.

The next-to-last batter of the game was a pinch-hitter named Tony LaRussa.  I suppose I've heard that LaRussa played in the majors, but I didn't know anything about his career.  As it turns out, there's not much to know.  He first came up to the Kansas City Athletics as an eighteen-year-old and was used mostly as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement, going 11-for-44 in 34 games.  He did not make it back to the majors until 1968.  1970 is when he got most of his big league playing time, batting .198/.301/.255 in 52 games (106 at-bats).  For his career he batted .199/.292/.250 in 132 games (176 at-bats).

The Twins had won seven of eight games.  This was the first of a ten-game road trip that would take them to Oakland, California, and Baltimore.  The Baltimore leg of the trip would come after the all-star break.

Record:  The Twins were 50-26, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-four

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MINNESOTA 5, KANSAS CITY 4 IN KANSAS CITY (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, May 19.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jackie Hernandez was 2-for-3.  Joe Keough was 2-for-4.  Bob Oliver was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh) and four RBIs.  Dave Morehead pitched nine innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and five walks and striking out three.

The game:  With one out in the first, Mike Fiore and Amos Otis singled and Oliver followed with a three-run homer, putting the Royals up 3-0.  The Twins got on the board in the second when Harmon Killebrew walked, went to second on a Reese single, took third on a ground out, and scored on another ground out.  The Twins tied it in the third.  Tovar led off with a single and Rod Carew walked.  A double play followed, but Killebrew had an RBI double and scored on Reese's single to make it 3-3.

That's where it stayed until the eighth.  Fiore walked with one out, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Oliver's single to put Kansas City ahead 4-3.  The Twins tied it in the ninth when Leo Cardenas singled, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a ground out, and scored on Tovar's single.

The Royals had men on first and second with none out in the bottom of the ninth, but did not score.  In the tenth, Carew led off with a single and Tony Oliva followed with a bunt single.  Killebrew struck out, Reese flied out to center with Carew taking third, and a wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run.  The first two Kansas City batters in the bottom of the tenth went out.  Keough then singled to center, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.  The out went 8-5--my guess is that it was a bloop single to short center, that both Carew and Cardenas went out to try to catch it, and it was a heads-up play by third baseman Frank Quilici covering second that ended the game.

WP:  Perranoski (3-1).

LP:  Future Twin Tom Burgmeier (0-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.

Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Bill Zepp in the ninth.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the tenth.  Frank Quilici then entered the game at third base, with Bob Allison going to left and replacing Killebrew in the batting order.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .411.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and is batting .324.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .317.  Tovar was batting .301.  Zepp retired the only man he faced and had an ERA of 1.98.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.47.

Holt was 1-for-4 and was batting .158.

Luis Tiant started and pitched 7.2 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out three.

This was the best year of Bob Oliver's career.  He batted .260/.309/.451 with 27 home runs and got the lone MVP vote of his career.

The Twins had now won six in a row and nine of eleven.  The Angels were hot, too, so the Twins were not able to put any distance between them.

Record:  The Twins were 24-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-two

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MINNESOTA 6, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Sunday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Paul Ratliff was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Bobby Bolin struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  Steve Hovley led off the second with a single.  The next two batters went out, but Roof singled and pitcher Lew Krausse delivered an RBI single to put the Brewers up 1-0.

It looked like the 1-0 lead might hold up.  The Twins got a man to third in the third inning, but did not otherwise threaten through five.  In the sixth, however, Perry led off with a single.  Cesar Tovar hit into a force out, but Carew singled and Tony Oliva hit an RBI double to tie the score.  Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Rich Reese hit into a force out to give the Twins the lead, and error scored two runs, and Leo Cardenas singled home one more running, putting the Twins up 5-1.  In the seventh, Tovar reached on an error and scored on a Carew single to make it 6-1.

Perry remained in control, allowing no hits in innings three through eight.  He allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, but Ted Savage flied out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (6-2).

LP:  Krausse (3-7).

S:  None.

Notes:  Paul Ratliff remained at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the sixth and remained in the game in left field.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Carew's 2-for-5 lowered his average to .407.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .321.  Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .303.  Perry had an ERA of 2.54.

Holt was 0-for-1 and was batting .147.

Carew was 14-for-23 over his last five games and 18-for-38 over his last nine games.  He had two or more hits in five games in a row and seven of the nine.  In one of the games in which he did not get two hits, he was a pinch-hitter and only batted once.

Bobby Bolin had been a fine pitcher for the Giants throughout the '60s.  He struggled in 1970 and 1971, but had a couple of fine seasons working out of the Boston bullpen before retiring after the 1963 campaign.  He both started and relieved throughout his career, which kept his counting numbers down.  In thirteen seasons he was 88-75, 3.40, 1.24 WHIP in 1576 innings (495 games, 164 starts).  He never led the league in anything and he never got any Cy Young support, but he was someone you'd be very happy to have on your pitching staff for several years.

The Twins had won their fourth consecutive game and twelve out of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 22-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-eight

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MINNESOTA 3, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 24.

Batting stars:  Lew Ford was 2-for-4 with a home run (his third), a triple, and two RBIs.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-4 with a home run, his third.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Victor Martinez was 2-for-4.  Ben Broussard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.  C. C. Sabathia pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  The Indians got a man to second base with two out in the first and third, but did not score either time.  They got on the board in the fourth, however, as Broussard hit a one-out home run.  The Twins did not get a man to second base until the fifth and did not score until the sixth, when Ford homered with one out to tie it 1-1.  The Twins then loaded the bases, still with one out, but a popup and a ground out ended the inning.

The Twins took a 2-1 lead in the seventh when Denny Hocking hit a two-out single and scored on a Ford triple.  Cleveland tied it in the eighth.  Jhonny Peralta led off with a walk, went to second on a passed ball, took third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch.

Cuddyer led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to put the Twins back in front.  Martinez hit a one-out single in the ninth for the Indians, but he did not get past first base.

WP:  Jesse Orosco (2-1).  LP:  Rafael Betancourt (2-2).  S:  Guardado (41).

Notes:  It was the day after the Twins clinched so it was even lower down the alphabet than a B lineup.  Matthew LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Justin Morneau was at first in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Alex Prieto was at second in place of Luis Rivas.  Hocking was at short in place of Cristian Guzman.  Cuddyer was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Ford was in center in place of Torii Hunter.  Michael Restovich was in left, Dustan Mohr in right, and Michael Ryan at DH.  Rob Bowen replaced LeCroy at catcher in the seventh.

Ryan was 1-for-4 and was batting .347.  Ford was batting .333.  Restovich was 0-for-3 and was batting .304.

Prieto was 1-for-3 and was batting .167.  Bowen made his first appearance since September 2 and was batting .000 (0-for-3).

Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.80.

Rick Reed gave up a run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 5.14.  Orosco retired the only man he faced and lowered his ERA to 7.64.  This would be his only win as a Twin.

Granted that Cleveland wasn't very good and was just playing out the season, it's still kind of impressive that the Twins were able to win playing a bunch of reserves and AAA players.

The Twins had won eleven in a row.

Record:  The Twins were 89-69, in first place in the American League Central, six games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-seven

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 23.

Batting stars:  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Kenny Rogers pitched 8.2 innings, giving up one run on eight hits and no walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Alex Escobar was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch.  Josh Bard was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Indians had men on first and third with one out in the second but did not score.  The Twins had men on first and second with two out in the second but did not score.  In the third, however, Guzman singled and Shannon Stewart and Luis Rivas had back-to-back doubles to get the Twins on the board with a 2-0 lead.

Cleveland got back-to-back hit-by-pitches to start the fourth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth the Twins added a run without a hit.  Koskie walked, A. J. Pierzynski reached on an error, Guzman walked, and Stewart hit a sacrifice fly.

The Indians had a man on second with one out in the fifth and men on first and second with none out in the seventh, but did not score.  Guzman homered leading off the bottom of the seventh to make it 4-0.  Cleveland rallied in the ninth, getting singles from Jody Gerut, Escobar, and Josh Bard to make it 4-1 and bring the tying run to the plate.  But Eddie Guardado came in to strike out Greg LaRocca to end the game.

WP:  Rogers (13-8).  LP:  Jake Westbrook (7-10).  S:  Guardado (40).

Notes:  Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Pierzynski was 0-for-3 and was batting .309.  Stewart was 1-for-3 and was batting .308.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .303.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .300.

Rogers threw 102 pitches.

Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.84.

Westbrook pitched seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out two.

The strikeout to end the game was Greg LaRocca's last major league at-bat.  He played in a handful of games in three separate seasons.  An infielder, he batted .261/.337/.352 in 100 plate appearances (39 games).  After this season he went to Japan, where he had several successful seasons.

It was the Twins' tenth consecutive win.  Chicago and Kansas City had both won yesterday, when the Twins were off, but they both lost today, so the Twins clinched the division.

Record:  The Twins were 88-69, in first place in the American League Central, six games ahead of Chicago and Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-five

MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Matthew LeCroy was 3-for-5 with a home run (his seventeenth), a double, and three RBIs.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 1-for-3 with three walks and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Grant Balfour struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.  J. C. Romero pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Juan Rincon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Craig Monroe was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twentieth), two doubles, and two RBIs.  Brandon Inge was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Dmitri Young was 2-for-4.  Alex Sanchez was 2-for-5.  No other Tiger had a hit.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  Shannon Stewart walked and Mientkiewicz doubled, putting men on second and third with one out.  A strikeout followed, but then Corey Koskie hit a two-run single, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Torii Hunter single to make it 3-0.  Mohr homered in the fourth to make it 4-0.

Detroit got on the board in the fifth when Monroe homered, but the Twins got the run back in the bottom of the fifth when LeCroy homered.  The Tigers got back into it in the sixth.  Sanchez led off with a single and went to second on a wild pitch.  Young then delivered a two-out RBI single followed by Monroe's run-scoring double, cutting the margin to 6-3.

That was as good as it would get for Detroit.  The Twins scored one more, in the seventh, when Mientkiewicz walked, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on LeCroy's single.  The Tigers had men on second and third with two out in the eighth, but did not score again.

WP:  Johan Santana (12-3).  LP:  Nate Robertson (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  Stewart was in left, Mohr in right, and Michael Cuddyer at DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Stewart was 0-for-3 and was batting .307.  Mientkiewicz was batting .303.

Santana didn't pitch badly, but he ran into trouble in the sixth.  His line was 5.2 innings, three runs, four hits, two walks, and five strikeouts.

Robertson pitched five innings, allowing six runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.

The relievers for Detroit were Chris Mears, Erik Eckenstahler, Matt Anderson, and Matt Roney.  That's the kind of bullpen that leads you to be 38-116, which was the Tigers' record after this game.

The Twins had now won eight straight.  The White Sox lost to the Royals, so the Twins edged closer to clinching the division.

Record:  The Twins were 86-69, in first place in the American League Central, 4.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 5.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 6, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 19.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 4-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh), two runs, and two RBIs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Luis Rivas was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Shannon Stewart was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Eric Milton pitched seven shutout innings, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out four.  Grant Balfour struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition star:  Warren Morris was 2-for-3 with a double.

The game:  The Twins put men on first and third with two out in the first but did not score.  In the second, however, Hunter doubled and Pierzynski followed with a single to make it 1-0.  In the second, singles by Shannon Stewart and Doug Mientkiewicz were followed by a pair of productive ground outs to make it 2-0.

The Twins took control in the fourth.  Hunter and Pierzynski opened the inning with singles.  With one out, Cristian Guzman and Stewart delivered RBI singles.  Rivas walked to load the bases and Mientkiewicz walked to force in a run.  It was 5-0 Twins.

Milton cruised through his seven innings, throwing just 77 pitches.  In the eighth, the bullpen allowed the only two Tiger runs.  Carlos Pena walked, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Morris single.  With two out, singles by Alex Sanchez and Shane Halter produced another run.  A walk to Bobby Higginson loaded the bases, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.  But Dmitri Young flied to center to end the inning.  Pierzynski homered leading off the ninth to make it 6-2, Detroit went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Milton (1-0).  LP:  Jeremy Bonderman (6-19).  S:  None.

Notes:  Stewart was in left, Michael Ryan in right, and Jacque Jones was the DH.  Dustan Mohr replaced Ryan in right in the ninth.

Ryan was 0-for-3 and was batting .356.  Pierzynski raised his average to .311.  Stewart went up to .308.  Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .306.  Mientkiewicz was 0-for-3 and was batting .302.

Milton lowered his ERA to 1.50.

Bonderman pitched 3.1 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out two.

Tiger players with Twins connections included Morris, Fernando Rodney, and Craig Monroe.

The Twins did not have a letdown after sweeping the White Sox.  The win was their seventh in a row.  The White Sox were playing the Royals, so one of them had to lose.  It was the Royals, as the White Sox tried to stay in the race.

Record:  The Twins were 85-69, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 5.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Fifty-three

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Jacque Jones was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his fourteenth and fifteenth), a walk, and four RBIs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out six.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition star:  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-4.

The game:  Alomar and Carlos Lee opened the game with singles.  They were on second and third with two out.  Carl Everett then singled them both home, giving the White Sox a 2-0 lead in the top of the first.  The Twins bounced right back in the bottom of the first.  Shannon Stewart walked and Jones hit a two-out two-run homer to tie it 2-2 after one.

The Twins struck again in the third, again with two out.  Doug Mientkiewicz doubled and Jones followed with his second two-run homer to make it 4-2 Minnesota.  It went to 5-2 in the fourth when Michael Ryan singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a ground out.

Chicago had men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but Lee grounded into a double play.  They cut the lead to 5-3 in the seventh on doubles by Jose Valentin and Aaron Miles.  With two out in the ninth Aaron Rowand singled and Joe Crede walked, bringing the go-ahead run to the plate.  But Sandy Alomar fouled out and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Lohse (14-11).  LP:  Bartolo Colon (14-13).  S:  Guardado (38).

Notes:  Stewart was in left, Ryan was in right, and Jones was the DH.  Lew Ford pinch-hit for Ryan in the eighth, with Dustan Mohr going to right field in the ninth.

Ryan was 1-for-3 and was batting .381.  Ford was 0-for-1 and was batting .321.  Jones raised his average to .307.  Stewart was 1-for-4 and was also batting .307.  A. J. PIerzynski was 1-for-3 and was batting .305.  Mientkiewicz was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.89.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 2.76.

Colon pitched six innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks and striking out one.  He pitched well if you take away the Jones home runs, but as we always say, you can't do that.

The foul popup that ended the game was caught by pitcher Eddie Guardado.  It's unusual for a pitcher to catch any popup, much less a foul popup.  I don't know what happened, but good play, Eddie.

His RBI double was the first hit of Aaron Miles' career.  I don't really remember him, but he played for nine years and played in over 130 games in five of those years.  This was his only season with the White Sox--they traded him to Colorado after the season for Juan Uribe.  He was with the Rockies for two years, then was traded to St. Louis.  He played there for three years, became a free agent, and signed with the Cubs.  He was there for one year, then they traded him to Oakland, but before he could play a game for the Athletics he was traded to Cincinnati.  They released him before he could play a game for them, but he signed back with St. Louis for another year.  He signed with the Dodgers as a free agent and spent one year there.  He was mostly a second baseman.  With the exception of his one year with the Cubs he would usually post a decent batting average and OBP, although with no power.  For his career he batted .281/.320/.352 in 932 games and 3064 plate appearances.

It was the Twins' sixth consecutive win.  While the White Sox were obviously not going to give up, it felt like the series sweep pretty much decided the pennant race.

Record:  The Twins were 84-69, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Chicago.  They were 4.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.