Tag Archives: winning streak

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fifty

3 Comments

MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 27.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 1-for-3 with a home run, his seventh.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-1 with a three-run homer, his eighth.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and no walks and striking out five.  Eddie Guardado struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Eric Byrnes was 2-for-4 with a double.  Scott Hatteberg was 2-for-4 with a double.  Barry Zito struck out ten in an eight inning complete game, giving up four runs on three hits and two walks.  Ramon Hernandez was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixth.

The game:  Neither team did much on offense until the fourth, when Koskie hit a two-out homer to put the Twins up 1-0.  The Athletics had a couple of two-out singles in the sixth, but did not get on the board until the seventh, when Miguel Tejada led off with a double and Hernandez hit a one-out two-run homer, giving Oakland a 2-1 lead.  It went to 3-1 in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Byrnes and Hatteberg.

The Koskie homer was the only hit the Twins had for seven innings.  In the eighth, however, Dustan Mohr hit a one-out double and Doug Mientkiewicz was hit by a pitch.  Kielty then pinch-hit for Luis Rivas and hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 4-3 advantage.  The Athletics went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  J. C. Romero (1-0).  LP:  Zito (6-4).  S:  Guardado (14).

Notes:  Mientkiewicz returned to the lineup at first base.  Denny Hocking went in to play second base after Kielty pinch-hit for Rivas.

Jacque Jones was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .335.  Mohr was 1-for-3 and was batting .318.  Matthew LeCroy was 0-for-3 and was batting .303.

This was Rogers' first game score over 50 in a month and his first over 60 since April 17.

Zito had four complete games in 2003.  Three of them were losses, two of them to the Twins.  He had only three more complete games after 2003.

The Twins had won three in a row, five of six, eight of ten, ten of thirteen, sixteen of twenty-one, and twenty of twenty-five.

Record:  The Twins were 30-20, in first place in the American League Central, 3.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

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 Forty-six

MINNESOTA 6, OAKLAND 5 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Thursday, May 22.

Batting stars:  A. J. Pierzynski was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-5 with a triple, a double, and two runs.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-5 with a double.  Bobby Kielty was 1-for-3 with a home run (his seventh), two walks, and three RBIs.

Pitching star:  Juan Rincon retired all five batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Eric Brynes was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and two RBIs.  Mark Ellis was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fourth), two walks, and two runs.

The game:  The Twins had two on with two out in the second but did not score.  In the third, however, Jones led off with a double and Kielty hit a one-out two-run homer to put the Twins up 2-0.

The lead lasted until the bottom of the third.  Ellis led off with a walk and Chris Singleton doubled, putting men on second and third.  A sacrifice fly scored a run, Scott Hatteberg singled, and Eric Chavez hit a two-run triple to put the Athletics up 3-2.  That lead lasted until the top of the fourth.  Gomez led off with a double and scored on Pierzynski's single to tie it.  Luis Rivas reached on a fielder's choice and with one out Cristian Guzman and Kielty walked, putting the Twins up 4-3.  Torii Hunter then singled to make it 5-3.

Brynes led off the fifth with a home run to cut the lead to 5-4.  The Twins loaded the bases in the seventh but did not score.  They had two on with two out in the eighth but did not score.  In the ninth, however, Gomez hit a one-out triple and scored on Rivas' two-out single to give the Twins an insurance run at 6-4.  They needed it, as Ellis hit a two-out home run to make the score 6-5.  Adam Piatt then grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Joe Mays (5-3).  LP:  John Halama (2-3).  S:  Guardado (12).

Notes:  Matthew LeCroy was again at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  He was replaced, however, in the second inning by Denny Hocking.  There's no obvious reason revealed by the play-by-play, so one assumes it was either injury or illness.

Gomez was at third in place of Corey Koskie.  Kielty was the DH.

Jones raised his average to .341.  LeCroy was 0-for-1 and was batting .319.  Dustan Mohr was 1-for-5 and was batting .305.

Hocking was 1-for-4 and was batting .175.

Mays pitched five innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  His ERA was 5.43.

Rincon lowered his ERA to 1.27.  J. C. Romero retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 3.00.  LaTroy Hawkins retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 1.25.  Guardado gave up a run in one inning and had an ERA of 1.83.

Halama started for Oakland.  He went six innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out three.  I remember him as being a lot better than he actually was.  He had only one year with an ERA under four (3.56 in 2002) and four years with an ERA over five.  His best WHIP was 1.36 in 2004 and he only had one other season where it was under 1.40.  For his career, he was 56-48, 4.65, 1.45 WHIP in 911 innings.  He was in 262 games, 119 of them starts.

Chris Berman's nicknames eventually got old, but I did like John "Dalai" Halama.

The Twins had won five of six, seven of nine, thirteen of seventeen, and seventeen of twenty-two.

Record:  The Twins were 27-19, in first place in the American League Central, 1.5 games ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Forty-five

MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Wednesday, May 21.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 3-for-4.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Torii Hunter was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  Kenny Rogers pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Barry Zito pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out one.  Eric Brynes was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Miguel Tejada was 2-for-4.

The game:  Brynes led off the game with a walk, followed by singles by Scott Hatteberg and Tejada, loading the bases with one out.  Erubiel Durazo hit a two-out single to score a run and put the Athletics up 1-0.

The Twins put two on with two out in the second but did not score.  In the third, Byrnes led off with a single.  One-out singles by Tejada and Eric Chavez brought a run home to make it 2-0 Oakland.  The Twins tied it in the fourth when LeCroy hit a one-out single and Hunter followed with a two-run homer.  The tie lasted until the bottom of the fourth, when Mark Ellis led off with a single, went to second on a Terrence Long single, went to third on a double play, and scored on a wild pitch, making it 3-2 Athletics.

The Twins had men on first and third with one out in the sixth but did not score.  In the eighth Cristian Guzman singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a LeCroy single to tie it 3-3.  Luis Rivas pinch-ran for LeCroy, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Mohr's single to give the Twins their first lead at 4-3.

Oakland got a two-out single in the ninth, but did not more.  The Twins took the game 4-3.

WP:  Hawkins (4-0).  LP:  Chad Bradford (2-3).  S:  Guardado (11).

Notes:  Tom Prince was behind the plate in place of A. J. Pierzynski.  LeCroy was at first base in place of Doug Mientkiewicz.  Denny Hocking was at second base in place of Rivas.  Bobby Kielty was the DH.

Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting .340.  LeCroy raised his average to .322.  Mohr raised his average to .310.

Hocking was 0-for-4 and was batting .167.

Hawkins lowered his ERA to 1.29.  Romero was at 3.10.  Guardado was at 1.45.

Ron Gardenhire clearly went with the B lineup in this game, but it worked.

The Twins had won four of five, six of eight, and twelve of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 26-19, in first place in the American League Central, a half game ahead of Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Thirty-four

6 Comments

MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 9.

Batting stars:  Todd Sears was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched five shutout innings, giving up four hits and a walk and striking out three.  LaTroy Hawkins struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  J. C. Romero pitched a perfect inning.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jason Shiell struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.  Jason Varitek was 1-for-2 with a walk.

The game:  Jones and Guzman opened the game with singles.  With one out, Sears singled to put the Twins up 1-0 in the first.

In the second, A. J. Pierzynski led off with a double and scored on a one-out single by Jones.  Guzman followed with a single.  With two out, Sears delivered a three-run homer to make it 5-0 Twins.

And that was it.  The Red Sox had some threats.  Nomar Garciaparra hit a two-out triple in the first.  Bill Mueller had a two-out double in the second.  With two out in the fourth, Shea Hllenbrand singled and Miller reached on an error.  But none of them came to anything, and the last ten Boston batters were retired.

WP:  Santana (2-0).  LP:  Pedro Martinez (3-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Sears was the DH.  There were no in-game lineup substitutions.

Jones raised his average to .338.  Sears was batting .308.

Luis Rivas was 1-for-4 and was batting .191.

Santana's ERA was 1.13.  Hawkins' ERA was 1.38.  Guardado's ERa was 0.66.

I remember that Sears hit a mammoth home run in his short career.  I'm wondering if this might have been it.  He only hit one other homer, so there's a fifty percent chance.  Memory tells me that it took out some lights on the scoreboard or something.  It was a big home run in the game, whether it was a monster homer or not.

Martinez pitched five innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out five.  He only lost four games in 2003, so this was an unusual thing.  He went 14-4, 2.22, 1.04 WHIP.  He led the league in winning percentage, ERA, FIP, WHIP, hits per nine, homers per nine, and strikeouts per nine.  He finished third in Cy Young voting, behind Roy Halladay and Esteban Loaiza, and while both of them have fine seasons you can make an argument that Martinez should have won it.  The one thing that probably hurt him is that he only made 29 starts and pitched just 186.2 innings.  Nothing wrong with that, but Halladay made 36 starts and pitched 266 innings, and eighty more innings makes a difference.  On the other hand, Halladay's ERA was a full run higher and Martinez actually struck out two more batters even though he pitched eighty fewer innings.  At any rate, Martinez was an excellent pitcher, and it was quite a thing to beat him.

This was Santana's first start of the season.  He was taking the place of Rick Reed, who missed a start due to injury.  Despite his strong start, he would go back to the bullpen.  His next start came on June 7, and he would not join the rotation until July 11.

The Twins had won consecutive games by a 5-0 score.  They had won nine of out of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 19-15, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Thirty-three

MINNESOTA 5, TAMPA BAY 0 IN TAMPA BAY

Date:  Thursday, May 8.

Batting stars:  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching star:  Kyle Lohse pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition star:  Rocco Baldelli was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins opened the game with singles by Jacque Jones, Cristian Guzman, and Koskie, plating a run.  A double play took them out of the inning, but the Twins led 1-0.  Mohr led off the second with a double, Doug Mientkiewicz singled to put men on first and third, A. J. Pierzynski doubled home a run, and a ground out brought home another, making it 3-0 Twins.

It remained 3-0, with neither team building much of a threat, until the seventh.  Mohr singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on an error to make it 4-0.  They added one more in the eighth when Guzman reached on an error, went to second when Koskie walked, took third on a double play, and scored on a Torii Hunter double.

The Devil Rays only once got a man as far as second base.  Al Martin led off the second with a single and stole second with one out.  He was stranded there.

WP:  Lohse (3-3).  LP:  Dewon Brazelton (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Kielty was the DH.  The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Jones was 1-for-4 and was batting .333.  Kielty was 0-for-4 and was batting .304.

Luis Rivas was 0-for-4 and was batting .188.

By game scores, this was Lohse's second-best game of the season, second to his eight innings of shutout ball on April 3.  He threw 101 pitches.  He would pitch very well through the middle of June, then pitch quite poorly until mid-September, when he got it going again.  His ERA was 3.57 at this point.

Tampa Bay's starter, Brazelton, did not pitch badly.  He went seven innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks and struck out three.  This was only his second game of the season and just the fourth of his major league career.  I don't mean to be unkind to him, but he simply was not a good major league pitcher.  His best season was 2004, when he went 6-8, 4.77, 1.44 WHIP in 120.2 innings (22 games, 21 of them starts).  For his career he was 8-25, 6.38, 1.68 WHIP in 271 innings (63 games, 43 of them starts).  He wasn't very good in AAA, either--14-19, 4.55, 1.44 WHIP in 219.2 innings (42 games, 41 of them starts).  He was drafted third overall, behind Joe Mauer and Mark Prior, which is probably why he got as many chances as he did.  But he walked too many guys, didn't strike out very many, and really had no business having as long a career as he had.  He does have an interesting life story, though, and I encourage you to read the SABR biography of him.

It was yet another series sweep the Twins were involved in, their eighth in ten series.  The Twins had won four in a row and eight of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 18-15, in second place, three games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Twenty-eight

4 Comments

MINNESOTA 11, BOSTON 7 IN BOSTON

Date:  Friday, May 2.

Batting stars:  Torii Hunter was 3-for-5.  Dustan Mohr was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, two runs, and four RBIs.  Chris Gomez was 2-for-4 with a double.  Matthew LeCroy was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third) and three RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Kyle Lohse pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and five walks and striking out two.  Juan Rincon pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Manny Ramirez was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, and two runs.  Bill Mueller was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Trot Nixon was 2-for-5.  Nomar Garciaparra was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  It was a pitchers' duel early on, with neither team even getting a hit until the third inning.  The Red Sox got a pair of walks in the second, but nothing came of it.  They loaded the bases in the third, but again came up empty.  They loaded the bases again in the fourth, but again the game remained scoreless.

It was the Twins who started the scoring, in the fifth.  A single and a forceout put Bobby Kielty on first with one out.  A wild pitch moved him to second, Todd Sears singled to put men on first and third, and a ground out gave the Twins a 1-0 lead.  With two out in the sixth Corey Koskie walked and LeCroy hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  In the seventh Kielty singled and Mohr hit a two-run homer to put the Twins up 5-0.

It was looking good, but Boston broke through in the seventh, and they did it in a big way.  Johnny Damon led off with a walk.  With one out Garciaparra singled, Ramirez hit an RBI double, consecutive run-scoring singles by Kevin Millar, Nixon, and Mueller made it 5-4, and Shea Hillenbrand had an RBI double to tie the score.  A walk loaded the bases and Damon hit a sacrifice fly (presumably tying a record for most plate appearances in an inning without an official at-bat) to put the Red Sox up 6-5.  Another walk loaded the bases again, but Boston did no more damage that inning.

The Twins were apparently not worried about their "loss of momentum", as they got all six runs back in the eighth.  LeCroy homered with one out to tie the score.  Hunter singled and Kielty walked.  Michael Cuddyer and Mohr followed with RBI singles, Chris Gomez had a run-scoring double, and Jones and Guzman had RBI singles.  It was 11-6 Twins.

The Red Sox got one more run in the eighth.  Ramirez led off with a single and scored on a two-out double by Mueller.  But that was the last hit Boston got, and the Twins had their fourth consecutive victory.

WP:  Johan Santana (1-0).  LP:  Ramiro Mendoza (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  LeCroy was behind the plate, one of twenty-two games he caught that season.  Sears was at first base, one of fourteen games he played at first that season.  Gomez was at second.  Kielty was the DH.

Cuddyer pinch-hit for Sears in the eighth.  Tom Prince replaced LeCroy behind the plate in the eighth.

Gomez raised his average to .333.  Jacque Jones was 1-for-5 and was batting  .318.  Kielty was 1-for-4 and was batting .316.

Mohr raised his average to .178.

Romero gave up two runs and retired no one, raising his ERA to 5.11.  LaTroy Hawkins gave up two runs and retired no one, raising his ERA to 1.80.  Santana gave up a run in 1.2 innings, making his ERA 1.30.  Juan Rincon lowered his ERA to 1.80.

The Twins used four pitchers in the seventh--Lohse started the inning, Hawkins faced two batters and gave up two hits, Romero faced four batters and gave up three hits and a walk, and Santana finally retired the side.  But the Red Sox also used four pitchers in the eighth.  Kevin Tolar retired the first batter, Mendoza faced three batters and gave up two hits and a walk, Alan Embree faced four batters and gave up four hits, and Jason Shiell finally came in to retire the side.

Boston was 6-for-19 with men in scoring position, which is a) a good batting average and b) a heck of a lot of at-bats with men in scoring position.  Still, they stranded thirteen, and it had to be frustrating for them to leave the bases loaded three times.  The Twins were an amazing 7-for-11 with men in scoring position, stranding just five.

Record:  The Twins were 14-14, third in the American League Central, five games behind Kansas City.  They were just a half game behind second place Chicago.

Keeping Track

Mazatlan Recap: Games Six and Seven

MAZATLAN 4, NAVOJOA 3 IN MAZATLAN (GAME 1)

Batting star:  Ricky Alvarez was 2-for-2 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Ryan Newell pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Jorge Flores was 3-for-4.  Oscar Felix pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Jose Isidro Marquez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.

The game:  With two out in the bottom of the first, Anthony Giansanti doubled, Carlos Munoz walked, and Alvarez tripled them both home to give Mazatlan a 2-0 lead.  Navojoa tied it in the third.  Flores singled with one out.  With two down, Paul Leon and Victor Mendoza walked, loading the bases.  David Vidal walked to bring one run in and Christian Zazueta singled to bring home another, making the score 2-2.

Navojoa took the lead in the fourth when Marco Guzman singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Flores' single.  The lead lasted until the bottom of the fourth.  Alvarez singled, Issmael Salas was hit by a pitch, and RBI singles by Ricardo Valenzuela and Diego Maduro made it 4-3 Mazatlan.

And that was it.  Navojoa got a man on base in each of the last three innings, but did not advance him past first base.

WP:  Francisco Rios (2-0).  LP:  Raul Carrillo (0-1).  S:  Newell (2).

Notes:  Valenzuela was 1-for-3 and is batting .400.  Salas is 0-for-1 and is batting .400.  Alvarez raised his average to .364.

Rios has an ERA of 2.70.  Newell has an ERA of zero.  Marco Antonio Rivas pitched two-thirds of an inning and also has an ERA of zero.

Rios started for Mazatlan.  He pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out two.  Carrillo started for Navojoa.  He pitched 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on five hits and one walk and striking out four.

Record:  Mazatlan was 3-3.

MAZATLAN 4, NAVOJOA 3 IN MAZATLAN (GAME 2)

Batting stars:  Ramon Rios was 2-for-3 with a triple.

Pitching stars:  Adolfo Ramirez pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Roberto Espinosa retired all four batters he faced.  Alejandro Soto pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Christian Zazueta was 2-for-4.

The game:  Navojoa got on the board in the first inning when Jorge Flores singled, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a Juan Perez single.  In the third Jorge Sesma singled, Flores walked, a double steal put them on second and third, a sacrifice fly scored one, and an error brought home another, making the score 3-0.

Mazatlan got back into it in the fourth.  Rios and Anthony Giansanti singled.  Carlos Munoz had an RBI double, Ricky Alvarez hit a run-scoring single, and an infield out tied the score at 3-3.  Mazatlan took the lead in the fifth.  Itali Mota singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Rios' triple, going ahead 4-3.

Navojoa got the tying run to third with two out in the seventh, but a ground out ended the inning and the game.

WP:  Espinosa (1-0).  LP:  Esteban Haro (0-1).  S:  Soto (1).

Notes:  Alvarez was 1-for-2 and is batting .375.

Gabino Alvarez pitched two-thirds of an inning and has an ERA of zero.  Ferrol Heredia walked the only man he faced, but the man didn't score, so his ERA remains zero.

Mario Garcia started for Mazatlan.  He pitched 2.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits and three walks and striking out two.  Ruddy Acosta started for Navojoa.  He pitched 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks and striking out three.

Both games were seven innings.

Mazatlan has now won three in a row.

Record:  Mazatlan is 4-3, tied for fourth place with Los Mochis, three games behind Obregon.

Next game:  Mazatlan once again hosts Navojoa tonight.

 

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game Fourteen

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 16.

Batting stars:  Corey Koskie was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  A. J. Pierzynski was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jacque Jones was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.

Pitching stars:  Rick Reed pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out five.  Johan Santana retired all four batters he faced, striking out one.  Eddie Guardado pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Wil Ledezma retired all seven batters he faced, striking out three.  Bobby Higginson was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

The game:  The Tigers put a man on second with two out in the first and did not score.  The Twins put men on second and third with one out in the first and did not score.  The Twins got on the board in the second when Bobby Kielty and Pierzynski started the inning with back-to-back doubles, putting Minnesota up 1-0.  They got one more in the third.  Guzman was hit by a pitch and Koskie singled, putting men on first and third with none out.  Torii Hunter then hit into a double play which scored a run and made it 2-0.

The Twins put together a two-out rally in the fourth.  Jones and Guzman singled with two down and Koskie hit a two-run double to increase the lead to 4-0.  The Tigers cut the lead in half in the fifth.  Eric Munson singled and scored on a one-out double by Matt Walbeck.  With two out, Bobby Higginson hit an RBI single and it was 4-2.

And there it stayed.  Detroit did not get a hit after the fifth inning.  They did get a pair of two-out walks in the seventh, but Santana came in to retire Carlos Pena on a fly ball.  Detroit did not get a baserunner after that.

WP:  Reed (1-2).  LP:  Adam Bernero (0-3).  S:  Guardado (6).

Notes:  Kielty was at DH in this game.

The Twins made no in-game lineup substitutions.

Kielty was 1-for-3 and was batting .370.  Jones raised his average to .358.  Guzman raised his average to .341.  Koskie raised his average to .311.

Dustan Mohr was 0-for-4 and was batting .125.  Hunter was 0-for-4 and was batting .137.

Juan Rincon pitched two-thirds of an inning without giving up a run.  He and Santana each had an ERA of zero.  Guardado lowered his ERA to 1.35.

Tiger players with a Twins connection are Walbeck and Munson.  Craig Paquette was drafted by them but did not sign.

Bernero pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks.  He struck out none.  Detroit had a 1-12 record at this point in the season.

The Twins had won three, lost six, and now had won five.  They would go for the series sweep the next day.  If they got it, it would be the fifth consecutive series sweep they had been involved in to start the season.

Record:  The Twins were 8-6, tied for second with Chicago in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1987, Game Fifty-seven

MINNESOTA 5, KANSAS CITY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 9.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, his tenth and eleventh.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.  Mark Davidson was 1-for-2 with a triple, two walks, and a stolen base (his sixth), scoring once.

Pitching stars:  Joe Niekro struck out six in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on nine hits and three walks.  Keith Atherton struck out four in 2.2 perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Willie Wilson was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base (his fifteenth), driving in one.  Jaime Quirk was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Kevin Seitzer was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his third), scoring once.

The game:  With one out in the first Seitzer walked and Danny Tartabull singled.  A passed ball moved the runners up and a ground out put the Royals up 1-0.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the first and had two on with two out in the second, but the score did not change.

It changed in the third.  Puckett led off with a double.  Gaetti singled to put men on first and third, Gene Larkin singled home the tying run, and a sacrifice fly made it 2-1 Twins.  The Twins had two on in the fourth and Kansas City had two on in the fifth, but it stayed 2-1.

Until the bottom of the fourth.  Tom Brunansky hit a one-out double and Laudner hit a two-out two-run homer to make it 4-1 Twins.  The Royals again put two on in the sixth, but did not score again until the seventh, when Quirk and Wilson hit back-to-back doubles to cut the margin to 4-2.  They had men on first and third with one out, but could do no more damage.

The Twins added a run in the eighth.  Davidson led off with a walk and Randy Bush and Gladden singled, loading the bases with none out.  A sacrifice fly was all they could get out of it, but it was enough.  Atherton retired the last eight Kansas City batters to preserve the victory.

WP:  Niekro (4-4).  LP:  Danny Jackson (2-8).  S:  Atherton (1).

Notes:  Al Newman started at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne and led off, with Gladden batting second.  Gene Larkin played first base in place of Kent Hrbek,  Davidson was in right field, with Tom Brunansky at DH and Roy Smalley out of the lineup.

This was Niekro's first start as a Twin.

Puckett raised his average to .319.  He would finish at .332    Larkin was batting .362.  He would finish at .266.

On the other end of the scale, Laudner was batting .163.  He would finish at .191.  Newman was batting .193.  He would finish at .221.  The Twins batted .261, tenth in the league.  Boston led at .278.

Kent Hrbek led in home runs with 34.  Brunansky was second at 32 and Gaetti was right behind at 31.  Puckett hit 28, Laudner 16, Bush 11, and Gagne 10.  The Twins hit 196 home runs, fifth in the league.  Detroit led with 225.

As you recall, the Twins rotation was Frank Viola (17-10, 2.90) and Bert Blyleven (15-12, 4.01) and not much else.  The rest of it was Les Straker (8-10, 4.37), Mike Smithson (4-7, 5.94), and Niekro (4-9, 6.26).  The bullpen wasn't much better.  The closer, Jeff Reardon, was 8-8, 4.48, although he had 31 saves.  The only reliever with a sub-four ERA was Juan Berenguer at 3.94.  The Twins were eleventh in ERA at 4.63, with Toronto leading at 3.74.  The Twins were tenth in WHIP at 1.42.  Toronto led there, too, at 1.30.

This was the fourth game of a seven-game winning streak for the Twins.  They would win ten of eleven.

Record:  The Twins were 31-26, in second place in the American League West, one percentage point behind Kansas City.  They would finish 85-77, in first place, two games ahead of Kansas City.

The Royals were 30-25, in first place in the American League West, one percentage point ahead of Minnesota.  They would finish 83-79, in second place, two games behind Minnesota.

Rewind record:  The Twins are 57-52 in Random Rewind games.