Hunter helping late playoff push Twins 8 at Orioles 5 September 23rd, 2006 at 11:30 pm
Scott Baker was coming off a pretty good start at Cleveland, but didn’t fair so well on Saturday in Baltimore. Baker didn’t walk anyone, but allowed 7 hits in 3 2/3 innings. He didn’t get much help from his defense either as Phil Nevin, who was playing first, was unable to handle Jason Bartlett’s low throw in the second inning.
Torii Hunter hit his 29th homer in the fifth inning to break the 4-4 tie and put the Twins in the lead for good. The Twins would add a couple insurance runs in the final two innings to win the game 8-5. The Twins put up 19 hits but wasted many of them by hitting into four double plays.
Double plays have been the achilles heel of the Twins all year long, and one idea is to avoid them is to run the bases a bit more aggresively. That didn’t work for the Twins on Saturday either. Hunter and Castillo were each caught stealing and Hunter added an out while trying to stretch a single into a double in the second (he was safe, but the umpire missed the call).
Game Notes
- Rondell White was 4-4 and worked his batting average to a season-high .244. Both he and Torii Hunter are making late cases for the Twins to bring them back in 2002.
- Hunter was 3-5 with his 29th homer and 91st and 92nd RBI. 100 RBI are a long shot with only 8 games remaining, but 30 homers is a real possibility. Hunter has tied his previous career high in homers.
- Nick Punto had 3 singles.
- Phil Nevin left the game early after hurting his wrist in a collision with Corey Patterson at first. It’s reported to be just a bruise and Nevin expects to be available on Sunday. Nevertheless, a bad wrist is a bad deal for a hitter.
Still Chasing Tigers
The Tigers beat up the Royals with 10 runs in the top of the first inning. So, the Twins remain 1 1/2 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. The White Sox had a late comeback against the Mariners and trail the Twins by 5.5 games.
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2 Comments
Kris wrote: September 25th, 2006 at 12:04 pm
The formula for the magic number is a simple calculation:
Determine the number of games yet to be played, add one, then subtract the number of games ahead in the loss column of the standings from the closest opponent.
Detroit has 6 games to play (6 + 1 = 7). They are 1 game ahead of the Twins in the loss column. Detroit's magic number is 6.
FYI the Twins magic number to clinch the wild card over the White Sox is 2.
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Erin wrote: September 25th, 2006 at 9:36 am
I need help figuring out the MAGIC NUMBER for the division race. Any insight would be appreciated?