Game 2 of 2: Royals 9 vs. Twins 10 FINAL (10 innings)
Game Time: 3:32 Attendance: 15,914
WP: Nathan (1-0); LP: Camp (0-1)
PROPS TO:
* Twins offense - Overcame a rough outing from the pitching staff, with the exception of Nathan and Crain. They pounded out 16 hits, and plated 10. Now thats more like it! The top 5 in the batting order (Stewart, Bartlett, Hunter, LeCroy & Ford) had 13 of the Twins 16 hits, with none of them having less than 2 apiece. The top of the order had the bats going today. Nice to see the offense go right to work after the Royals got 2 off Gassner in the top of the 1st.
* Shannon Stewart - Went 2-6, raising his season average to .282.
* Jason Bartlett - 2-6, with a double in the 10th to start the rally, and he scored the game-winning run on Lew Fords base hit.
* Torii Hunter - What a game for Torii! 2-4, with two walks, two stolen bases, and a 1st inning 2-run homer. What a season hes having, 4 homers, 9 RBIs, and 9 stolen bases. He also got his average up to .274 - good sign there!
* Matt LeCroy - His homer came right after Hunters, and it gave the Twins a 3-2 lead at the time. His bat was bizz-y today, getting 3 hits in 5 ABs, and his average after the game is .333.
* Lew Ford - The player of the game (at least he gets my vote), goes 4-6, and getting the game-winning hit in the bottom of the 10th. His 4 hits on the day raises his average to .296, after a slow start. Nice game by Lewwwww!
* Mike Sweeney - Had 3 hits in 5 trips, with an RBI.
* John Buck - The offensive star of the game for the Royals, going 4-5, despite his 4th hit was clearly a gift hit by Tom Mee. It should have been an error on LeCroy.
* Emil Brown - Went 2-4 with a home run, 2 RBIs, and scored twice.
* Royals offense - Took advantage of poor Twins pitching today, collecting 13 hits and keeping pace in the early frames of the ball game.
* Joe Nathan - Pitched a scoreless top of the 10th inning, getting his first victory of the season, and he struck out all 3 Royals hitters he faced. Doesnt get any better than that!
* Jesse Crain - Had a great relief appearance today, pitching 1.2 innings, only giving up a hit.
* Mike Wood & Andy Sisco - Pitched great in relief of Brian Anderson, going a combined 5 innings, giving up only 1 hit, and no runs.
FLOPS TO:
* Dave Gassner - Had a shaky home debut, heading for the showers in the 2nd inning. He goes 1.2 innings, giving up 6 hits, 5 runs (4 earned), and was also charged with an error on his throw.
* Brian Anderson - He was shaky in his start also, only lasting 3 innings, giving up 10 hits, 8 runs (7 earned). Not a good outing for either starter.
* Mike MacDougal - Blew a save, trying to protect a 9-8 lead. Twins got one off him in the bottom of the 9th to tie it, 9-9. Twins would later win the game in the 10th.
* Shawn Camp - Couldnt get through the 10th, as he is hung with the loss as he gave up the winning run.
* J.C. Romero - Looking shaky out there again, getting charged with an error, as well as a balk. His line didnt look too bad though, going an inning with zeroes all the way across. His season ERA is 1.29.
* Juan Rincon - Had a semi-poor outing, also balking and giving up the go-ahead run in the top of the 9th, for a 9-8 Royals lead. It was the first run Juan has given up all season.
* Matt Guerrier - I could have just as easily given him a prop, as his outing went well until the 6th. He came on in relief of starter Dave Gassner. He shut down the Royals for 3.1 innings, until the 6th, when he didnt get anybody out after facing 3 batters. Royals tied it up, 8-8, in that inning.
* Twins & Royals defense - For the Twins, both errors were charged to pitchers, so outside of that, the fielders played well. But a shaky defensive effort from both teams today. There should have been a third error charged to the Twins on John Bucks ground ball, that Bartlett made a great play on, but LeCroy dropped the ball. Fortunately that run didnt score, but it would have hurt the pitchers ERA because it was scored incorrectly.