October 4, 2002
Oh well
Don't you hate it when you are all pumped up for a big ballgame and, almost before you can sit down to start watching it, the other team has two homers and a 2-0 lead?
Well, I do.
You just can't give up back-to-back home runs to start the ballgame and give up two more before the 7th inning and expect to beat a good team in a playoff game.
The Twins fought hard though.
They just couldn't get the big hit with men on base that they needed, although they had plenty of opportunties.
Luis Rivas struck out with the bases loaded and two outs in the 2nd inning.
David Ortiz grounded out with Cristian Guzman on 2nd base and 2 outs in the 3rd inning.
Rivas hit into a double play with 2 men on and 1 out in the 4th inning.
They had Barry Zito on the ropes early and often, but they just couldn't get the knockout (or at least knock down) punch that they desperately needed.
We'll see if they can do well tomorrow against Tim Hudson, for the 2nd straight time.
The Twins will have Eric Milton on the mound and because of his injury and his subsequent struggles since coming back, you never know what he'll be able to give you.
Definitely a tough loss.
I really thought they had it, right around the time Corey Koskie tripled to deep left center and Torii Hunter drove him in with a single up the middle.
It was 3-3 at that point.
Zito had already thrown about 100 pitches and it looked like it would be a brand new ballgame, a battle of the bullpens.
Of course, Rick Reed started the 6th inning by giving up his fourth homer of the day, a Jermaine Dye bullet into the right field corner.
Reed was yanked and Johan Santana was brought in, but he didn't have his best stuff and ended up giving up an additional 2 runs.
That was it, one minute it was tied up and it seemed like the momentum had completely shifted.
The next minute, it was 6-3 Oakland and the Twins were getting shut down by Ricky Rincon.
The Dome was a rockin though, that was the good news.
The announced attendance was just slightly under 56,000.
And boy were they loud.
Their loudness was in spite of the fact that they were probably a little shellshocked (as I was) when Oakland was up 2-0 after two batters.
But, like I said, we'll see what happens tomorrow.
The Twins showed that they could hit Hudson and, when healthy, Eric Milton is their best starting pitcher, especially against a team that struggles against lefties.
Youneverknow.
