TWINS CRUSHED BY TIGERS, ELIMINATED FROM PLAYOFF RACE
ChiSox Win at K.C. Clinches AL Central
DETROIT, Sept. 27 (AP) - Everything seemed to be going Minnesota's way.
The Twins exploded for four runs in the top of the first inning in a contest
critical to the team's postseason chances. Detroit's starter, Gary Knotts,
entered the contest with a 1-13 record and an ERA of nearly seven. Twins
starter Brad Radke cruised through the first two innings, retiring all six
batters he faced. And then the bottom of the third inning arrived.
Tigers third baseman Shane Halter entered the game with a batting average below
.180, but belted two home runs in the same inning and Detroit went on to
obliterate Minnesota, 20-7. The Tigers, the lowest scoring team in the
American League, set a new major league season high with their 20-run
outburst. The previous major league high for the year was 19, set by the
Anaheim Angels on April 16 in a victory over the Texas Rangers.
Detroit’s previous high for the season was 14, on June 14 in a win over the
Colorado Rockies.
The Twins took their 4-0 lead in the first, sending 10 men to the plate, with
Jacque Jones’ three-run home run the big blow.
But in the bottom of the third, everything fell part. It started with
Halter’s fifth home run of the season, leading off the inning. Radke
then hit Brandon Inge with a pitch and yielded a single to Ramon Santiago,
leaving runners at first and second. Alex Sanchez sacrificed the runners
to second and third and Warren Morris drove home both runners with a single to
center, cutting the deficit to 4-3. Bobby Higginson advanced Morris to
second with a base hit to left and Dmitri Young drilled a triple to the wall in
right-center, giving the Tigers a 5-4 lead. That ended Radke’s
day. He was replaced on the mound by Brad Thomas who walked Craig Monroe
and gave up a single to Carlos Pena, filling the bases. That brought
Halter to the plate for the second time in the inning and he crushed a 1-1 pitch
over the left field fence for a grand slam and a commanding 9-4 lead. It
was the first time in the entire major league season that a player had homered
twice in the same inning.
It only got worse for the Twins from there. The Tigers sent eight more
batters to the plate in the fourth, scoring four more times on a run-scoring
double by Morris, RBI singles from Higginson and Monroe and a wild pitch.
Then, three more Tigers crossed the plate in the fifth, and two more in both the
sixth and seventh. Halter finished the game with four hits, including the
two home runs, three runs scored and five runs batted in.
The Twins scored three runs over the sixth and seventh innings, but it wasn’t
nearly enough.
The White Sox finished things off that evening in Kansas City, with a 6-2 win
that clinched the AL Central title. Bartolo Colon struck out 11 in seven
innings to earn his 19th win and Jose Valentin and Carlos Lee both homered for
Chicago.
9/27/2003, Min03-Det03, Comerica Park 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 2003 Twins 4 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 7 11 1 8 0 2003 Tigers 0 0 9 4 3 2 2 0 x 20 21 1 8 4 Twins AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG Stewart,Sh lf 4 0 1 0 .283 Sanchez,A cf 4 2 2 1 .250 Rivas 2b 5 1 1 0 .224 Morris,W 2b 5 2 2 4 .251 Mientkiewicz 1b 4 2 0 0 .333 Higginson rf 6 3 4 3 .253 Jones,Jac dh 3 1 2 3 .354 Young,D dh 6 2 2 3 .295 Morneau ph 1 0 1 0 .179 Monroe lf 4 1 2 2 .276 Koskie 3b 3 1 2 0 .305 Petrick pr 0 0 0 0 .238 Restovich ph 0 0 0 0 .296 Pena,C 1b 5 2 2 1 .236 Hunter,T cf 5 0 0 0 .217 Halter 3b 6 3 4 5 .182 Pierzynski c 3 1 2 0 .322 Klassen 3b 0 0 0 0 .205 Bowen c 1 0 0 0 .200 Inge c 2 1 0 0 .201 Ryan,M rf 3 1 2 2 .328 Hinch ph 1 1 0 0 .160 Guzman,C ss 2 0 0 1 .272 Santiago,R ss 5 3 3 0 .247 Gomez ss 1 0 0 0 .244 44 20 21 19 35 7 11 6 Twins INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Radke L 16-11 2.1 5 6 6 0 2 41 30 4.35 Thomas,B 0.2 5 6 6 1 1 29 16 33.75 Reed,R 2.0 8 6 6 2 0 48 30 5.60 Balfour 3.0 3 2 0 3 3 73 40 5.25 8.0 21 20 18 6 6 191 116 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Knotts W 2-13 5.0 6 4 4 3 2 100 58 6.82 Rodney H 2 2.0 2 3 2 2 2 39 25 7.58 Patterson,D 2.0 3 0 0 1 0 28 17 2.25 9.0 11 7 6 6 4 167 100 Min: Bowen inserted at c in the 6th Gomez inserted at ss in the 6th Morneau batted for Jones,Jac in the 7th Restovich batted for Koskie in the 9th Det: Hinch batted for Inge in the 6th Hinch moved to c in the 7th Petrick ran for Monroe in the 8th Petrick moved to lf in the 9th Klassen inserted at 3b in the 9th E-Koskie, Pena,C. 2B-Pierzynski(37), Morris,W(13), Santiago,R(16). 3B-Young,D(5). HR-Jones,Jac(22), Ryan,M(6), Halter 2(6). RBI-Jones,Jac 3(80), Ryan,M 2(18), Guzman,C(51), Sanchez,A(32), Morris,W 4(42), Higginson 3(41), Young,D 3(85), Monroe 2(60), Pena,C(62), Halter 5(28). SB-Rivas(19), Sanchez,A 2(41). K-Rivas, Hunter,T 2, Bowen, Young,D 2, Monroe 2, Pena,C, Inge. BB-Stewart,Sh, Koskie, Ryan,M, Guzman,C, Morneau, Restovich, Sanchez,A, Morris,W, Monroe 2, Pena,C, Hinch. SH-Sanchez,A. HBP-Mientkiewicz, Inge. HB-Radke, Knotts. WP-Reed,R. GWRBI: Young,D Temperature: 61, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: left to right at 12 MPH. Attendance: 15,021 Game Time: 3:30