Are you kidding me?

[Baseball Guru]

What a FREAKING game tonight:eek:

4 TOTAL hits in the game and the only 1 given up by Garcia is a homerun in the 8th that losses the no-no and the game...

What a way to open up this series!!:thumbsup:

Thurday's game should be another great pitching match-up with Silva vs Garland..

[Baseball Guru]

By DAVE CAMPBELL, AP Sports Writer
August 23, 2005


MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- Jacque Jones ended Freddy Garcia's no-hit bid with a home run to lead off the eighth inning, and Johan Santana and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 1-0 on Tuesday night.

Santana (13-6) gave up three hits and walked one in eight innings, striking out seven to beat Garcia in a battle of perhaps Venezuela's two best pitchers. Santana, last year's AL Cy Young Award winner, improved to 6-1 after the All-Star break.

Garcia (11-6) walked two and struck out three in eight innings. Jones' homer to right-center was his 18th of the season and the only hit Minnesota managed.

The Twins moved within 9 1/2 games of first-place Chicago in the AL Central -- with Cleveland in second, seven games out. Minnesota and Chicago play nine more times this season.

Joe Nathan pitched the ninth for his 32nd save and extended his scoreless innings streak to 15.

Santana and Garcia made this look like a pennant race classic, matching each other inning for inning.


Pablo Ozuna stroked a single off Santana's first pitch and doubled down the left-field line in the third, but that was it until Geoff Blum singled with two outs in the seventh. Ozuna followed with a drive to deep center, but Lew Ford -- named the AL's Player of the Week the day before -- caught it on the run before he crashed into the wall.

Joe Mauer, who walked twice, was erased in the fourth when Justin Morneau hit a comebacker to the mound that Garcia quickly turned into a double play. To no avail, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire argued that shortstop Juan Uribe missed the base on the pivot.

Michael Cuddyer reached second to start the sixth when Ozuna tried to backhand a grounder to third and let it roll under his glove. He moved to third on a groundout, but Garcia stranded him there -- finishing the inning when Jermaine Dye jumped to catch Nick Punto's flyball and hit his left arm hard against the right-field wall.

Dye fell on the warning track, holding his glove up to prove he made the grab, and rolled around in pain for a bit before leaving the field.

Already missing center fielder Torii Hunter for probably the remainder of the regular season because of a broken left ankle, the Twins lost left fielder Shannon Stewart to a strained left shoulder in the fourth inning. He caught a line drive hit by Paul Konerko and ran into the wall.

Stewart, who was sent for X-rays, threw the ball back to the infield quickly before doubling over in pain and clutching his shoulder. He eventually walked slowly off the field with his head down. Jones, the regular right fielder, is expected to miss games Wednesday and Thursday to attend a family funeral.

Notes

Jones went 1-for-15 with eight strikeouts in a four-game series against Seattle over the weekend. ... Garcia lost a road start for the first time since May 9, against Tampa Bay. He is 16-3 in his last 22 starts away from home. ... Former Twins catcher A.J. Pierzynski, now with the White Sox after he was traded to San Francisco before the 2004 season, was booed mildly. Before his second at-bat, one fan along the first-base line yelled, ``You're a bum, A.J.!'' Then someone screamed, ``We miss you!'' seconds later.

[Durango53]

Yes James it was a great game!!!!

One hit was all that did it....

The Twins aint looking at the wild card yet they are still looking for a Div win!!!

And keep in mind that Silva was my pre season CY young winner and has been pitching like it..... ;)

But this should be a fun few games!!!

[Chisox73]

That was a fun game to watch tonight.Even though my Sox lost,it was one of the most well pitched games that I've seen in a very long time.

BTW,it was the 60th complete game 1-hitter in White Sox history,and thier 1st loss when thier pitcher throws a 1-hitter.

[Baseball Guru]

1-0 games are the BEST aren't they?

This should be a fun last month in the Central... Don't forget about the Tribe;)

Seriously though, I don't see the Sox blowing this lead in the division but the Wild Card is anyone's to be had.. 4 teams within 2.5 games and 2 of the are Central teams....

It is getting as exciting as the NL WC:thumbsup:

[Durango53]

The Twins and the Sox have a few games to go yet with eachother so anything can happen.....

If the Twins keep winning they could put some pressure on the White Sox...

But funny how the Tribe is getting ingored huh... :D

[Chisox73]

Seriously though, I don't see the Sox blowing this lead in the division but the Wild Card is anyone's to be had..
Don't tell that to the Chicago media.They're salivating over the prospect of a White Sox collapse :ugh:

[Durango53]

It will be tough for any team in the central to catch the Sox but hey this is the Twins forum we can dream!!!!!! ;)



:D

[Baseball Guru]

But funny how the Tribe is getting ingored huh... :D


By everyone except me;)

See my thread on the AL W.C. in the ATH forum:D
http://www.addictsports.com/baseball/showthread.php?t=53332
(yes i am spamming my own thread):laff:

[Timberwolf]

Thanks for the post-game thread, BG. If you had a chance to read the game thread that Shad and I posted, you would know how great that game was. You said it best about how 1-0 is best. I can live with watching a game like that.

What a Happy 90th Birthday for Mr. Pohlad. He received a great birthday present as he saw his team put on a great show.

What a ballgame tonight, folks. I hope everyone watched it. If not, he or she missed a very good ballgame. Best ballgame I watched all year. Even better than that 16 inning affair in Chicago last Tuesday. There was everything that you can talk about in this game. This game was so good that ESPN actually had the decency to showcase this game as the centerpiece on SportsCenter and Baseball Tonight. Great job by the network. I thought they would focus on peeing on the Red Sox beating the hapless Royals or the Yankees showing their heroicism against the Blue Jays tonight after Rivera blew a save. I was shocked that ESPN started the telecasts with this game.

The story of this game were pitching and great defense. Johan and Garcia were simply fantastic for their teams. Johan had to be Johan tonight because Garcia was dealing out there. Johan was up to the task and he did a darn good job. Got lot of Ks and he was so fast in finishing up Chicago. It was awesome seeing several White Sox hitters muttering profanities when they went to the dugout. Freddy did great too.

Garcia actually had a no-hitter, but then Jacque took care of it with that homerun. That HR was the difference. You had a feeling this game could go extra innings with the way the defense and the pitchers were performing. You also knew a HR would make a difference in this game and fortunately, the good guys prevailed. That HR by Jacque was dramatic not only because it gave the good guys the win, but because that HR was for his uncle, who passed away prior to the game. Jacque played with a heavy heart tonight. That HR was reminiscient to Jacque's HR in Game 1 of the ALDS in which he homered the night after his dad died. I was so happy for Jacque when he hit it. I was really fired up when he got that HR.

I don't know what was amazing. The pitching or the defense. Both teams were great defensively especially the Twins. How about that catch by Shannon? That catch was the reason why it was scoreless. That was almost a HR right there. With the way Garcia was pitching, a 2-0 may have meant Game Over. Shannon saved the day right there. That was a lifesaver. Unfortunately for Shannon and the team, he paid the price by getting hurt. Twins took him out as a precaution and rightfully so. He will get his X-Rays. Sometimes you gotta pay the price to make a great catch, but I wouldn't want it the other way. How about Jermaine Dye robbing Nick Punto of a HR with that great catch? How about Lew making a great catch in CF to get the last out. Had he not made it, White Sox would have gotten the lead here.

Joe Nathan did the rest. I had no problem with what Gardy did in having Joe pitched the ninth. The ninth is Joe's time. This is when he makes his name and earns his money. Joe got the job done. This was a game he could not blow after the masterpiece that Johan threw.

The crowd was fantastic tonight. It had a postseason buzz at the Dome. They were into every pitch. They were appreciative of Shannon's catch, Lew's catch, Jacque's HR, and Johan's performance. They got their money's worth.

I thought Dick and Bert called a very good game out there tonight. Bert always loves to talk, but tonight he let the game do the talking. He was in awe of watching those two pitchers pitch out there and that's the way it should be. Most times, announcers tend to act like they are bigger than the game. Dick and Bert did a great job not talking at times and letting the viewers hear the fans scream after a strikeout or a great catch. Dick's emotional call for Jacque's HR was awesome.

Just a great win. A statement game indeed. Twins are going to have to win games like that. I compare this team to the this past year's Minnesota Timberwolves several weeks ago. I will say this about the Twins. This team at least has heart unlike this year's Wolves. It has showed in the Chicago series last week and now tonight. I felt a loss tonight could have seriously deflated them for good. Good to see the good guys prevail.

This game was so good that I spent most of the overnight reminiscing about this game instead of hanging out with my younger cousins, who were at my house to spend the night. I just couldn't stop thinking about this game. I might just watch it again after Wednesday night's game.

Twins are 2.5 games out in the Wild-Card Race and 9.5 games out in the AL Central Race. . If the Twins can sweep the White Sox, I think you can say the Twins are in the AL Central Race. Right now, the Indians are on the race. If the Twins can be 5 games out by the end of the month, you sign up for that. To be in this position is remarkable after what the team has gone through all season.

The stat that sticks out to me is that the Twins are 5-4 against the White Sox


What a night with yagsy making an appearance at Addicts, yagsy's Mets and Padres winning, yagsy's nemesis Roger Clemens losing, Twins winning, and all. Life couldn't be grand in my world. I also want to thank Shad for helping me out on the game thread. He was fun to talk to. He has done such a great job at this board this year.