HOCKING'S WALK-OFF HIT COMPLETES CYCLE
Twins Defeat Tigers in 12 Innings
MINNEAPOLIS, Aug. 2 (AP) - Denny Hocking became the seventh major leaguer to hit
for the cycle this season when his 12th inning single scored Chris Gomez, giving
the Minnesota Twins a 7-6 victory over the Detroit Tigers at the Metrodome.
Hocking went 4-for-6 with two runs scored and three driven in to lead a 17-hit
Twins attack. Joe Mays, the sixth Minnesota pitcher of the game, tossed a
scoreless inning and picked up the win as the Twins beat Detroit in walk-off
fashion for the second consecutive day.
The Twins broke on top with a pair of runs in the bottom of the first
inning. Shannon Stewart led off with a base hit against Tigers starter
Mike Maroth and, one out later, jogged home on Doug Mientkiewicz's seventh home
run of the year. Minnesota upped the advantage to 3-0 in the second when
Hocking belted his second home run of the season.
But the Tigers responded with two runs in the top of the fourth. Warren
Morris grounded a single to right and, after Bobby Higginson flied out, Kevin
Witt doubled past first baseman Mientkiewicz, chasing Morris to third.
Carlos Pena followed with a double off the base of the right field wall, scoring
both Morris and Witt and bringing Detroit to within a run of the lead.
Minnesota got both runs back in the bottom of the fourth. Dustan Mohr led
off with a single and stole second. Michael Restovich grounded out to
second, and Mohr advanced to third. Hocking then looped a ball to shallow
right-center field. Alex Sanchez made a diving attempt but missed, and the
ball rolled all the way to the warning track. Mohr scored easily and
Hocking ended up at third with a triple. Cristian Guzman followed with a
single to right, scoring Hocking and restoring the Twins' three-run lead.
The Tigers drew within 5-3 in the fifth when Ramon Santiago singled home Ben
Petrick who had doubled, and then Detroit took the lead in the seventh.
Facing reliever Juan Rincon, who had recorded the final out of the sixth inning,
Petrick led off with a single and advanced to second on Santiago's base
hit. Alex Sanchez struck out but Morris reached on Guzman's error, loading
the bases. Higginson then dropped a single into shallow right, scoring
Petrick. Santiago also tried to score and Restovich's throw to the plate
was wild and the error allowed Morris and Higginson to advance to third and
second respectively. Witt reached on an infield hit, allowing Morris to
score and sending Higginson to third, putting Detroit on top for the first time
in the game. Pena walked to load the bases, but Rincon struck out Pena
before being replaced on the mound by LaTroy Hawkins who fanned Eric Munson to
end the inning.
The Twins wasted no time tying the game up. Stewart grounded out but Luis
Rivas singled off Steve Sparks, who was replaced on the mound by lefty Eric
Eckenstahler. Rivas stole second and scored when Mientkiewicz singled to
right-center.
The game remained tied until the bottom of the 12th. Facing reliever Shane
Loux in his third inning of work, Mientkiewicz led off by spraying a double to
left. Gomez came on to hit for Matthew Lecroy, but his bunt attempt
resulted in Mientkiewicz being thrown out at third. Torii Hunter followed
with a single to center and Loux was replaced by Chris Spurling. He struck
out Mohr and then fell behind pinch hitter Jacque Jones before walking him
intentionally, filling the bases. That brought Hocking to the plate.
The Twins third baseman had doubled with two outs in the bottom of the eighth,
but was left stranded, leaving him just a single short of the cycle. On a
1-1 count he slashed a sharp grounder just out of the reach of second baseman
Morris, scoring Gomez with the winning run and completing the cycle.
The loss was the fourth in a row for Detroit and the team's 24th defeat in the
last 25 games.
8/2/2003, Det03-Min03, Metrodome 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 R H E LOB DP 2003 Tigers 0 0 0 2 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 0 6 12 1 7 0 2003 Twins 2 1 0 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 7 17 3 11 1 Tigers AB R H BI AVG Twins AB R H BI AVG Sanchez,A cf 6 0 1 0 .260 Stewart,Sh dh 6 1 3 0 .268 Morris,W 2b 6 2 2 0 .279 Rivas 2b 6 1 1 0 .221 Higginson rf 6 0 1 2 .248 Mientkiewicz 1b 6 1 3 3 .335 Witt dh 6 1 3 1 .325 LeCroy c 5 0 0 0 .287 Pena,C 1b 4 0 1 2 .192 Gomez ph 1 1 0 0 .230 Monroe lf 4 0 0 0 .268 Hunter,T cf 6 0 3 0 .223 Munson 3b 5 0 0 0 .224 Mohr lf 6 1 1 0 .270 Petrick c 5 2 2 0 .344 Restovich rf 4 0 0 0 .278 Santiago,R ss 5 1 2 1 .256 Jones,Jac ph 1 0 1 0 .355 47 6 12 6 Hocking 3b 6 2 4 3 .252 Guzman,C ss 5 0 1 1 .260 52 7 17 7 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Maroth 4.0 9 5 5 0 3 69 48 6.90 Sparks 2.1 1 1 1 0 2 36 24 6.56 Eckenstahler BS 1 1.1 2 0 0 0 2 20 13 6.00 Patterson,D 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 27 16 5.68 Loux L 0-1 2.1 4 1 1 0 2 45 29 3.68 Spurling 0.1 1 0 0 1 1 10 5 4.21 11.2 17 7 7 1 12 207 135 Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Reed,R 5.2 7 3 3 0 4 80 55 5.05 Rincon,J BS 5 1.0 4 3 2 1 3 39 24 3.60 Hawkins 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 13 9 1.85 Guardado 1.1 0 0 0 0 2 21 13 3.20 Baldwin 1.2 0 0 0 1 1 17 11 4.61 Mays W 8-6 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 8 7 3.80 12.0 12 6 5 2 11 178 119 Min: Jones,Jac batted for Restovich in the 10th Mohr moved to rf in the 11th Jones,Jac moved to lf in the 11th Gomez batted for LeCroy in the 12th E-Munson, Restovich, Guzman,C 2. 2B-Witt(5), Pena,C(12), Petrick(4), Mientkiewicz(29), Hocking(5). 3B-Hocking(1). HR-Mientkiewicz(6), Hocking(2). RBI-Higginson 2(29), Witt(34), Pena,C 2(38), Santiago,R(32), Mientkiewicz 3(47), Hocking 3(10), Guzman,C(38). SB-Rivas(11), Hunter,T(6), Mohr(5). CS-Sanchez,A, Monroe, Guzman,C. K-Sanchez,A 2, Higginson, Witt, Pena,C, Monroe, Munson 3, Petrick 2, Mientkiewicz 2, LeCroy 3, Hunter,T 2, Mohr 2, Restovich, Hocking, Guzman,C. BB-Pena,C, Monroe, Jones,Jac. WP-Reed,R. GWRBI: Hocking Temperature: 70, Wind: none. Attendance: 28,362 Game Time: 4:08