Devil Rays raly late, take opener in 11th
Game 44:
Tampa Bay 7, Minnesota 4
Could Jeff Suppan have finally figured out what has been bothering him all season long?
Insiders claim that Suppan has been tinkering with his mechanics lately, and it appears it might have paid off as the right hander work into the eight inning for the second straight start, this time allowing four runs on eight hits. Despite a season high six strikeouts, Suppan didn't figure in the decision.
Minnesota jumped out to an early lead with runs in the 3rd with RBI-doubles from Luis Rivas and Cristian Guzman. After Jacque Jones hit a two-run homerun to make the lead 4 runs, Suppan settles down, allowing only 4 hits over the next five innings to keep the Rays in the game until the bats woke up.
Julio Lugo hit a two-run homerun off Kyle Lohse in the bottom of the 6th to cut the lead in half. Tampa Bay tied the game up in the 8th when Carl Crawford scored from third on a Lug ground out. Damian Rolls scored early in the inning on a Rocco Baldelli infield single.
With one out in the 11th, Jose Cruz doubled off Twins' closer Joe Nathan. Aubrey Huff was intentionally walked in order to create the chance for a double play when Geoff Blum stepped to the plate. Hitless up to that point, Blum was called back to the dugout momentarily before entering the batter's box and depositing the 1-0 fastball into the seats in right-center for the game-winning walk off home run.
Minnesota threatened in the top of the 11th against Chad Caudin, but Luis Rivas was stranded at third after a triple when Torii Hunter and Joe Mauer both struck out swinging.
W: Chad Gaudin (2-1, 2.70 ERA); L: Joe Nathan (3-4, 6.50 ERA)
Player of the Game: Geoff Blum. 1-5, GW-HR (4), 3 RBIs (20)
Twins beat up Hendrickson, take second game
Game 45: Tampa Bay 5,
Minnesota 7
It says something about your ballclub when only 7,420 fans show up at Tropicana Field to watch you battle a playoff contender. It says even more when you fight back to tie the game late only to watch the opponent score 4 runs the following half inning to pull away for the win. And, so goes the Devil Rays' season.
A disappointing crowd witnessed a disappointing start from Mark Hendrickson, who never looked comfortable on the mound, surrendering 9 hits in six and a third innings. He was charged with a 7 Twins' runs.
Matt LeCroy opened the scoring in the top of the 1st, putting a two-out offering over the outfield wall for an early one-run lead. A RBI-double the following inning by Michael Cuddyer doubled the lead.
Batting in the bottom of the 6th against Johan Santana, Tino Martinez hit a two-run homerun to deep left-center, opening the scoring for the Rays and breathing life into a ballgame that, up to that point, had seen Santana on cruise control. Three batters later, Carl Crawford lined a single past a diving Cristian Guzman into right field to score Aubrey Huff from third with the tying run.
In the top of the 7th, the Twins quickly took the lead back, scoring four runs against Hendrickson before Travis Harper entered to retire Doug Mientiewicz with a runner on third. With one out, Joe Mauer took a walk and then was followed by back-to-back doubles by Shannon Stewart and pinch hitter Lew Ford. Matt Lecroy, batting with a two run lead and a runner on second, hit a long single to the left-center gap, scoring Ford. Torri Hunter batted next, doubling to right to score LeCroy. Hunter was stranded 90 feet away from home after stealing third base.
The Devil Rays added runs in the 8th and 9th innings, but ended up falling short. Geoff Blum hit a bases loaded sac fly in the 8th, scoring Huff from third. Pinch hitter Fred McGriff struck out looking with the tying run on second to end the inning. Jose Cruz, batting as the tying run with one out in the 9th, hit a sacrifice fly to center that brought home Eduardo Perez. Aubrey Huff, like McGriff the inning previous, struck out looking to end the inning and the game.
W: Johan Santana (4-2, 4.22); L: Mark Hendrickson (3-2, 4.65); SV: Joe Nathan (7, 6.52)
Player of the Game: Matt LeCroy. 2-5, 2B (9), HR (10), 2 Runs, 3 RBIs (38)
Twins take rubber game on combined 3 hit shutout
Game 46: Tampa Bay 0,
Minnesota 4
Carlos Silva was cruising when Ron Gardenhire made an unlikely decision to remove his starter with one out in the 6th inning against the Devil Rays. The 25 year old, who had only given up two hits, was well within reach of his first career shutout when the twins manager pulled him in favor of Aaron Fultz.
"I was a bit surprised," Silva said to reporters. "I don't think I have a pitch count, and even so, we were cruising along and my arm was feeling good. I was placing my pitches and my defense was there for me. I don't know. We won, that's the most important thing i guess."
Gardenhire was unavaliable after the game to comment.
Minnesota Twins outfielders, shown here in batting practice, had little to worry about when they were in the field,
as the Devil Rays managed only three hits.
Michael Cuddyer hit a solo homerun in the 2nd to supply Silva with the only run support he would need. The homerun, which measured 421 feet, was the fifth of the month for the 25 year old, who appears to have taken over the Twins starting second base position from Luis Rivas. Jacques Jones and Shannon Stewart also added solo homeruns for Minnesota.
Victor Zambrano, who took the hill for Tampa Bay, pitched eight and a third innings, striking out 6 and walking two. The three homeruns he surrendered brought his season total to 10, most on the staff. Despite their struggles, Tampa Bay has allowed only 52 homeruns this season, which ranks 13th in baseball. Rookie Chad Gaudin, who is becoming more dependable by the day for Lou Pinella, worked the final two thirds of an inning, getting Joe Mauer and Shannon stewart to ground out with runners on second and third.
On a good note, Tampa Bay attendance climbed back over the eight thousand makr as 8,391 fans filled Topicana Field, which holds 43,772!
W: Carlos Silva (6-3, 3.08); L: Victor Zambrano (1-4, 5.93); SV: Juan Rincon (2, 5.68)
Player of the Game: Carlos Silva. 6.1 IP, 2 Hits, 2 BB's, 5 K's, 93 PI.
Game Notes: Jacque Jones hit the longest homer of his career, it went 414 feet. Shannon Stewart hit the longest homer of his career, it went 400 feet