I started writing this entry at about quarter to midnight Wednesday night. It was the top of the 8th and the Twins were down 9-4. I assumed the game was lost (I know—bad Twins fan) and I was going to start writing about everything that went wrong in the game.

I was going to mention how Juan Castro missed a throw to 2nd base on a steal attempt in the 1st. Castro didn’t get charged with an error, but it cost 2 runs after Richie Sexson followed up with a 2-out, 2-run homer. Michael Cuddyer also should’ve been charged with an error when he couldn’t handle a high throw by Castro on the next batter.

I was also going to mention all the lost run-scoring opportunities. Lew Ford got picked off trying to steal 3rd in the 1st inning. The Twins scored 2 runs that inning, but it could’ve been more. In the second inning the Twins led off with 2 hits, but didn’t score. In the 3rd inning Torii Hunter ignored the stop sign at third and got thrown out easily at home. Not that it would’ve likely mattered, but Hunter didn’t even care enough to slide. He just jogged across the plate with the understanding that he was out.

I was also going to mention that Boof Bonser again struggled with the longball. He gave up 3 homers in the game which accounted for 5 of Seattle’s runs. He did settle down to pitch 3 scoreless innings, but his night ended after 5 innings with a 102 pitch count.

In the eighth inning things started to happen. Juan Castro doubled. Luis Castillo walked. Lew Ford singled to load the bases. Joe Mauer was walked to bring in one run and make the score 9-5, with bases still loaded. Torii Hunter hit an infield fly ball for the second out of the inning. Then came Michael Cuddyer to the plate. He worked a long count before belting a grand-slam to left to tie the game. At that point I highlighted all the text I had typed. I then hit the delete key. It was a new game, which called for a new entry.

The Twins couldn’t score any more runs and the game went to the bottom of the eleventh before Jesse Crain, in his second inning of work, gave up a walk-off homer to Carl Everett. The game never should’ve gone into extra innings. Two of Seattles runs shouldn’t have scored in the first inning and the Twins should’ve scored a few more runs in the first 7 innings. The Twins are throwing away a lot of games, even against a Seattle team that isn’t that good.

Game Notes

• Lew Ford was 4-6 in the game as he batted in the #2 spot.
• Joe Mauer was 2-4 with 2 walks. His average now sits at .371. He also scored 3 times and drove in 2 runs.
• Mike Redmond caught in the game and picked up 3 hits.
• Willie Eyre gave up 3 runs in less than an inning of work. He’s walking on thin ice right now.
• Juan Rincon pitched 2 perfect innings.

Looking Ahead

Johan Santana pitches on Thursday for the Twins (3:35 start time), so the Twins stand a good chance of avoiding the sweep. The Twins will be happy to have this miserable road trip come to an end, and I’ll be happy to see an end to the late games. The Orioles will be at the dome this weekend.