Twins vs. Tigers
Published Sep 9, 2002 TPRE09
Rick Reed, tonight's Twins starter, has been the team's best starting pitcher for the last few weeks; Tigers slugger Dmitri Young is 5-for-8 against Reed.
The Tigers are 21-51 on the road. . . . The Tigers had lost five of six games by five runs or more before splitting close games against the Yankees on Saturday and Sunday. . . . The Tigers added nine players from Class AAA Toledo to their roster following Friday night's game. When that group reported to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Tigers manager Luis Pujols wasn't sure of all their names. "I almost said, 'Who are you?' " Pujols said, laughing. To make room on their 40-man roster, the Tigers released pitchers Jose Lima and Jose Paniagua on Saturday.. . . Callup Eric Munson, a first baseman, hit a home run off Mike Mussina on Saturday. . . . Lima's parting shot: "There was too much negative stuff here. It's always something here every day. You never saw anything positive. It's been bad this year. It's been bad for nine years." . . . Steve Sparks was pulled from the rotation. He's 8-15 and has given up 22 earned runs in his past 9 2/3 innings. In his place, Shane Loux will make his major league debut against the Twins on Tuesday.
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The Twins are destined to play the West winner in the first round of the playoffs. The West runner-up will get the wild card spot and face the New York Yankees.
If Oakland wins the West and has a chance to set its rotation, Mulder and Zito will pitch Games 1 and 2. That's why the Twins would prefer to see the Angels in October and wait until next May to get reacquainted with the A's.
Then again, why should Twins followers get depressed by the possibility of back-to-back no-hitters to open the playoffs?
Our heroes are about to become champions of the American League Central. For six years, that idea was as preposterous as . . . oh, maybe the idea that Pete Sampras would win another U.S. Open.
The Twins made their first-place status in the Central a certainty with an 18-4 run after the All-Star break, increasing the lead from 7 1/2 games to 17 on Aug. 4. The inevitability of a division title seems to have limited the number of times the local sporting public has paused to shout:
"Can you believe this!"
The AL Central did not come into existence until 1994. That season ended on Aug. 11 because of a players strike. When that brawl with the union finally ended in April 1995, the owners were battered and the big-revenue teams were ready to spend as never before.
This was the low-budget Twins' track record in the first six seasons that the AL Central was played to a conclusion:
? 1995 -- Officially eliminated on Aug. 26. Finished 44 games behind Cleveland (in 144-game schedule).
? 1996 -- Eliminated Sept. 15. Finished 21 1/2 games behind Cleveland.
? 1997 -- Eliminated Sept. 12. Finished 18 1/2 games behind Cleveland.
? 1998 -- Eliminated Sept. 13. Finished 19 games behind Cleveland.
? 1999 -- Eliminated Sept. 5. Finished 33 games behind Cleveland.
? 2000 -- Eliminated Sept. 8. Finished 26 games behind Chicago White Sox.
Add it up and the Twins spent six seasons with Sept. 8 as their average date of elimination and 27 as their average number of games behind in the AL Central.
The situation was so bleak that Chris Clouser, a short-term CEO, spent most of his energy during the summer of 2000 trying to get approval for the Twins to play a series in a temporary outdoor ballpark in the Mall of America parking lot.
The proposed dates were Sept. 18-20 vs. Texas. The idea finally died a month earlier.
All Minnesota sports fans should admit to being astonished by this: On Sept. 18, the two-year anniversary of what could have been the debut of Porta-Potty Park, the Twins will be champions of the AL Central.
There was finally a sign of life (57-33 in mid-July) in 2001, followed by a near-death experience (Bud Selig's contraction announcement on Nov. 6), and now here are the Twins, waiting to clinch.
So, on second thought, bring on Mulder and Zito next month. What do followers of the Twins care?
It's already too amazing to fathom -- a 13-game lead on the night of Sept. 8, not long ago the average date for the Twins to be eliminated in the Central.
=====
Series: Three games -- today and Tuesday at 8:05 p.m., Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.
TV: Today and Tuesday on Fox Sports Net, no TV on Wednesday.
Rotation: Today, Mike Maroth (5-7, 4.80) vs. Rick Reed (13-7, 3.83); Tuesday, Shane Loux (first start) vs. Kyle Lohse (11-8, 4.33); Wednesday, Mark Redman (8-14, 3.89) vs. Brad Radke (7-4, 4.67).
Notable: The Tigers are 4-9 against the Twins this season, but 1-6 at the Metrodome. Brad Radke, the scheduled starter on Wednesday, got his 100th career victory last Friday, a 6-0 shutout against Oakland. It was the seventh shutout of Radke's career. The Twins have three players with more than 150 hits -- Jacque Jones (158 going into Sunday night's game), Torii Hunter (153) and Christian Guzman (152). By comparison, the Tigers have none. Hunter has 27 homers and 85 RBI, and Jones has 25 and 77.
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Report card
Tom Gage of The Detroit News grades the Tigers for their games last week against Cleveland and at New York: CLEVELAND NEW YORK
Mon.: L, 11-1 Thu.: L, 9-3
Tue.: W, 4-0 Fri.: L, 8-1
Wed.: L, 9-3 Sat.: W, 2-1
Sun.: L, 6-4
Hitting: D-
Close to failing because the Tigers didn't score more than four runs in a game all week. In seven games, they scored 18 runs. Not enough, not nearly enough.
Pitching: D+
The only reason the grade isn't lower is because rookie Andy Van Hekken had a couple of good starts and Brian Powell pitched well Saturday against the Yankees before being removed from the rotation.
Defense: D+
Too many outfield errors this week. Plus a mistake by rookie shortstop Omar Infante on Sunday led to a pair of unearned runs against Van Hekken when Jason Giambi hit a two-run home run with two outs.
Strategy: C-
Lots of moves, but they only paid off Saturday in a 2-1 victory against the Yankees.
Overall: D
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Cornejo, Beverlin, Loux in rotation
September 9, 2002
BY GENE GUIDI
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
NEW YORK -- Steve Sparks and Brian Powell are out. Taking their places in the Tigers' new-look rotation are Shane Loux and Nate Cornejo. Jason Beverlin will make his first major league start as the sixth starter Sunday against Kansas City at Comerica Park.
Manager Luis Pujols said he told Sparks and Powell they would spend the rest of the season in the bullpen. "This is a good chance for us to see some of the young pitchers the rest of the way," Pujols said. "It's not like Sparks and Powell won't pitch again. I told them with four young starters in our rotation, there's a good chance they'll get into games in long relief."
Loux (11-10, 4.72 ERA) and Cornejo (9-8, 4.42) have been part of the Triple-A Toledo rotation this season, and it was assumed they would get a couple of starts as the Tigers try to get an early line on next season's staff.
Beverlin, 28, grew up in Royal Oak. The right-hander was 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA with the Mud Hens after being claimed on waivers from Cleveland in August.
"I don't know a lot about him, but all the reports I got were good," Pujols said.
Beverlin graduated from Royal Oak Dondero in 1991 and has family in the area.
"I was really excited when the Tigers claimed me," Beverlin said. "I used to follow the team when I was growing up. I remember all those players from the 1984 team -- Trammell, Whitaker, Lance Parrish.
"I actually got a chance to play once in Tiger Stadium in a high school all-star game."
Beverlin attended Western Carolina for three years on a baseball scholarship and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics. He made it to the major leagues for the first time this summer with the Indians, pitching in four games and allowing seven runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Beverlin said he has only seen Comerica Park from the outside. He'll get a closer look when he faces the Royals.
"That's going to be awesome," he said.
NOTEBOOK: The Tigers didn't draw a walk in the four-game series against the Yankees. . . . Andy Van Hekken's rooting section Sunday was considerably smaller than the one that watched his debut at Comerica Park. "I think there were eight in all for today's game," Van Hekken said. . . . Matt Walbeck started at catcher Sunday because he did a good job handling Van Hekken in his debut. Brandon Inge and Michael Rivera likely will split most of the catching the rest of the way. "I'll look at matchups to decide when I use them, but they'll both play a lot," Pujols said. Rivera opened the season as the starting catcher before being sent back to Toledo in May. . . . The Tigers almost released pitchers Jose Lima and Jose Paniagua after a strike was averted but decided to keep them until they could call up pitchers from the Mud Hens. Both were released Saturday. Some Tigers were surprised Lima lasted as long as he did after saying last week that the organization "stinks from the top on down." . . . Pujols said he might use rookie reliever Franklyn German to finish a game if closer Juan Acevedo is unavailable. German got his first major league win in his first appearance with the Tigers on Saturday.
Published Sep 9, 2002 TPRE09
Rick Reed, tonight's Twins starter, has been the team's best starting pitcher for the last few weeks; Tigers slugger Dmitri Young is 5-for-8 against Reed.
The Tigers are 21-51 on the road. . . . The Tigers had lost five of six games by five runs or more before splitting close games against the Yankees on Saturday and Sunday. . . . The Tigers added nine players from Class AAA Toledo to their roster following Friday night's game. When that group reported to Yankee Stadium on Saturday, Tigers manager Luis Pujols wasn't sure of all their names. "I almost said, 'Who are you?' " Pujols said, laughing. To make room on their 40-man roster, the Tigers released pitchers Jose Lima and Jose Paniagua on Saturday.. . . Callup Eric Munson, a first baseman, hit a home run off Mike Mussina on Saturday. . . . Lima's parting shot: "There was too much negative stuff here. It's always something here every day. You never saw anything positive. It's been bad this year. It's been bad for nine years." . . . Steve Sparks was pulled from the rotation. He's 8-15 and has given up 22 earned runs in his past 9 2/3 innings. In his place, Shane Loux will make his major league debut against the Twins on Tuesday.
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The Twins are destined to play the West winner in the first round of the playoffs. The West runner-up will get the wild card spot and face the New York Yankees.
If Oakland wins the West and has a chance to set its rotation, Mulder and Zito will pitch Games 1 and 2. That's why the Twins would prefer to see the Angels in October and wait until next May to get reacquainted with the A's.
Then again, why should Twins followers get depressed by the possibility of back-to-back no-hitters to open the playoffs?
Our heroes are about to become champions of the American League Central. For six years, that idea was as preposterous as . . . oh, maybe the idea that Pete Sampras would win another U.S. Open.
The Twins made their first-place status in the Central a certainty with an 18-4 run after the All-Star break, increasing the lead from 7 1/2 games to 17 on Aug. 4. The inevitability of a division title seems to have limited the number of times the local sporting public has paused to shout:
"Can you believe this!"
The AL Central did not come into existence until 1994. That season ended on Aug. 11 because of a players strike. When that brawl with the union finally ended in April 1995, the owners were battered and the big-revenue teams were ready to spend as never before.
This was the low-budget Twins' track record in the first six seasons that the AL Central was played to a conclusion:
? 1995 -- Officially eliminated on Aug. 26. Finished 44 games behind Cleveland (in 144-game schedule).
? 1996 -- Eliminated Sept. 15. Finished 21 1/2 games behind Cleveland.
? 1997 -- Eliminated Sept. 12. Finished 18 1/2 games behind Cleveland.
? 1998 -- Eliminated Sept. 13. Finished 19 games behind Cleveland.
? 1999 -- Eliminated Sept. 5. Finished 33 games behind Cleveland.
? 2000 -- Eliminated Sept. 8. Finished 26 games behind Chicago White Sox.
Add it up and the Twins spent six seasons with Sept. 8 as their average date of elimination and 27 as their average number of games behind in the AL Central.
The situation was so bleak that Chris Clouser, a short-term CEO, spent most of his energy during the summer of 2000 trying to get approval for the Twins to play a series in a temporary outdoor ballpark in the Mall of America parking lot.
The proposed dates were Sept. 18-20 vs. Texas. The idea finally died a month earlier.
All Minnesota sports fans should admit to being astonished by this: On Sept. 18, the two-year anniversary of what could have been the debut of Porta-Potty Park, the Twins will be champions of the AL Central.
There was finally a sign of life (57-33 in mid-July) in 2001, followed by a near-death experience (Bud Selig's contraction announcement on Nov. 6), and now here are the Twins, waiting to clinch.
So, on second thought, bring on Mulder and Zito next month. What do followers of the Twins care?
It's already too amazing to fathom -- a 13-game lead on the night of Sept. 8, not long ago the average date for the Twins to be eliminated in the Central.
=====
Series: Three games -- today and Tuesday at 8:05 p.m., Wednesday at 1:05 p.m.
TV: Today and Tuesday on Fox Sports Net, no TV on Wednesday.
Rotation: Today, Mike Maroth (5-7, 4.80) vs. Rick Reed (13-7, 3.83); Tuesday, Shane Loux (first start) vs. Kyle Lohse (11-8, 4.33); Wednesday, Mark Redman (8-14, 3.89) vs. Brad Radke (7-4, 4.67).
Notable: The Tigers are 4-9 against the Twins this season, but 1-6 at the Metrodome. Brad Radke, the scheduled starter on Wednesday, got his 100th career victory last Friday, a 6-0 shutout against Oakland. It was the seventh shutout of Radke's career. The Twins have three players with more than 150 hits -- Jacque Jones (158 going into Sunday night's game), Torii Hunter (153) and Christian Guzman (152). By comparison, the Tigers have none. Hunter has 27 homers and 85 RBI, and Jones has 25 and 77.
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Report card
Tom Gage of The Detroit News grades the Tigers for their games last week against Cleveland and at New York: CLEVELAND NEW YORK
Mon.: L, 11-1 Thu.: L, 9-3
Tue.: W, 4-0 Fri.: L, 8-1
Wed.: L, 9-3 Sat.: W, 2-1
Sun.: L, 6-4
Hitting: D-
Close to failing because the Tigers didn't score more than four runs in a game all week. In seven games, they scored 18 runs. Not enough, not nearly enough.
Pitching: D+
The only reason the grade isn't lower is because rookie Andy Van Hekken had a couple of good starts and Brian Powell pitched well Saturday against the Yankees before being removed from the rotation.
Defense: D+
Too many outfield errors this week. Plus a mistake by rookie shortstop Omar Infante on Sunday led to a pair of unearned runs against Van Hekken when Jason Giambi hit a two-run home run with two outs.
Strategy: C-
Lots of moves, but they only paid off Saturday in a 2-1 victory against the Yankees.
Overall: D
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Cornejo, Beverlin, Loux in rotation
September 9, 2002
BY GENE GUIDI
FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER
NEW YORK -- Steve Sparks and Brian Powell are out. Taking their places in the Tigers' new-look rotation are Shane Loux and Nate Cornejo. Jason Beverlin will make his first major league start as the sixth starter Sunday against Kansas City at Comerica Park.
Manager Luis Pujols said he told Sparks and Powell they would spend the rest of the season in the bullpen. "This is a good chance for us to see some of the young pitchers the rest of the way," Pujols said. "It's not like Sparks and Powell won't pitch again. I told them with four young starters in our rotation, there's a good chance they'll get into games in long relief."
Loux (11-10, 4.72 ERA) and Cornejo (9-8, 4.42) have been part of the Triple-A Toledo rotation this season, and it was assumed they would get a couple of starts as the Tigers try to get an early line on next season's staff.
Beverlin, 28, grew up in Royal Oak. The right-hander was 3-0 with a 1.93 ERA with the Mud Hens after being claimed on waivers from Cleveland in August.
"I don't know a lot about him, but all the reports I got were good," Pujols said.
Beverlin graduated from Royal Oak Dondero in 1991 and has family in the area.
"I was really excited when the Tigers claimed me," Beverlin said. "I used to follow the team when I was growing up. I remember all those players from the 1984 team -- Trammell, Whitaker, Lance Parrish.
"I actually got a chance to play once in Tiger Stadium in a high school all-star game."
Beverlin attended Western Carolina for three years on a baseball scholarship and was drafted by the Oakland Athletics. He made it to the major leagues for the first time this summer with the Indians, pitching in four games and allowing seven runs in 7 1/3 innings.
Beverlin said he has only seen Comerica Park from the outside. He'll get a closer look when he faces the Royals.
"That's going to be awesome," he said.
NOTEBOOK: The Tigers didn't draw a walk in the four-game series against the Yankees. . . . Andy Van Hekken's rooting section Sunday was considerably smaller than the one that watched his debut at Comerica Park. "I think there were eight in all for today's game," Van Hekken said. . . . Matt Walbeck started at catcher Sunday because he did a good job handling Van Hekken in his debut. Brandon Inge and Michael Rivera likely will split most of the catching the rest of the way. "I'll look at matchups to decide when I use them, but they'll both play a lot," Pujols said. Rivera opened the season as the starting catcher before being sent back to Toledo in May. . . . The Tigers almost released pitchers Jose Lima and Jose Paniagua after a strike was averted but decided to keep them until they could call up pitchers from the Mud Hens. Both were released Saturday. Some Tigers were surprised Lima lasted as long as he did after saying last week that the organization "stinks from the top on down." . . . Pujols said he might use rookie reliever Franklyn German to finish a game if closer Juan Acevedo is unavailable. German got his first major league win in his first appearance with the Tigers on Saturday.
