GAME THREAD: GAME THREAD: AL: MINNESOTA (77-81) at BOSTON (94-64)

AL: MINNESOTA at BOSTON

<div class="pre">AL FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 4 0
BOSTON 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 2 8 0 (FINAL)

BATTERIES: MIN - MATT GARZA, SCOTT BAKER (6TH), JOE NATHAN (9TH) AND MATT
LECROY

BOS - JULIAN TAVAREZ, JON LESTER (4TH), MIKE TIMLIN
(6TH), MANNY DELCARMEN (7TH), ERIC GAGNE (8TH), JONATHAN
PAPELBON (9TH) AND JASON VARITEK, KEVIN CASH (7TH)


WP - MATT GARZA (5-7)
LP - JULIAN TAVAREZ (7-11)
SAVE - JOE NATHAN (37)

HOME RUNS: MIN - NONE

BOS - JASON VARITEK (17) OFF SCOTT BAKER IN THE 6TH, 0 ON


TIME: 2:47 ATT: 36,364</div>

 

AL: MINNESOTA at BOSTON

<div class="pre">~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
MINNESOTA (3) AT BOSTON (2) - EVENT LOG
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Minnesota Starting Lineups -- N Punto SS, B Buscher 3B, T Hunter CF, J Morneau DH,
M Cuddyer RF, G Jones 1B, R White LF, M LeCroy C, A Casilla 2B, M Garza RHP.

Boston Starting Lineups -- D Pedroia 2B, M Ramirez LF, D Ortiz DH, M Lowell 3B,
K Youkilis 1B, J Varitek C, C Crisp CF, J Ellsbury RF, J Lugo SS, J Tavarez RHP.

Umpires -- Hunter Wendelstedt (HP), Sam Holbrook (1B), Randy Marsh (2B),
Bob Davidson (3B).

Gametime Weather: 61 degrees, Cloudy, wind in from right at 12 mph.


MINNESOTA 1ST: N Punto walked. B Buscher singled to right, N Punto to
second. T Hunter doubled to left center, N Punto scored, B Buscher to third.
J Morneau popped out to shortstop. M Cuddyer walked. G Jones hit sacrifice
fly to center, B Buscher scored. R White singled to center, T Hunter scored,
M Cuddyer to third. M LeCroy grounded out to third. (3 Runs, 3 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 1ST: D Pedroia popped out to first. M Ramirez walked. D Ortiz
struck out swinging. M Lowell grounded into fielder's choice to shortstop,
M Ramirez out at second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

MINNESOTA 2ND: A Casilla grounded out to second. N Punto grounded out to
first. B Buscher flied out to center. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3,
BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 2ND: K Youkilis grounded out to shortstop. J Varitek walked.
C Crisp flied out to center. J Ellsbury reached on infield single to third,
J Varitek to second. J Lugo struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

MINNESOTA 3RD: T Hunter grounded out to third. J Morneau grounded out to
second. M Cuddyer grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 3RD: D Pedroia doubled to deep left center. M Ramirez grounded out
to second, D Pedroia to third. D Ortiz walked. M Lowell struck out swinging.
K Youkilis struck out looking. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

MINNESOTA 4TH: J Lester relieved J Tavarez. G Jones flied out to center.
R White struck out swinging. M LeCroy grounded out to shortstop. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 4TH: J Varitek flied out to left. C Crisp grounded out to first.
J Ellsbury popped out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3,
BOSTON 0.

MINNESOTA 5TH: A Casilla grounded out to first. N Punto struck out
swinging. B Buscher grounded out to second. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 0.

BOSTON 5TH: J Lugo singled to center. J Lugo to second on passed ball by
M LeCroy. D Pedroia popped out to shortstop. J Lugo stole third. M Ramirez
singled to center, J Lugo scored. B Kielty ran for M Ramirez. D Ortiz struck
out swinging. M Lowell grounded out to first. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors)
MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 1.

MINNESOTA 6TH: B Kielty in left field. M Timlin relieved J Lester. T Hunter
grounded out to shortstop. A Cora at second base. J Morneau struck out
swinging. R Clayton at third base. M Cuddyer grounded out to pitcher. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 1.

BOSTON 6TH: L Ford in center field. S Baker relieved M Garza. K Youkilis
grounded out to second. J Varitek homered to right. C Crisp flied out to
center. J Ellsbury hit a ground rule double to left. J Lugo grounded out to
shortstop. (1 Run, 2 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.

MINNESOTA 7TH: K Cash catching. E Hinske at first base. B Moss in right
field. J Ellsbury in center field. M Delcarmen relieved M Timlin. G Jones flied
out to center. R White grounded out to third. M LeCroy grounded out to
shortstop. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.

BOSTON 7TH: L Rodriguez at second base. J Tyner in left field. A Casilla at
shortstop. A Cora singled to center. B Kielty grounded into double play,
shortstop to second to first, A Cora out at second. D Mirabelli hit for
D Ortiz. D Mirabelli struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3,
BOSTON 2.

MINNESOTA 8TH: E Gagne relieved M Delcarmen. A Casilla struck out swinging.
L Rodriguez grounded out to first. B Buscher grounded out to second. (0 Runs,
0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.

BOSTON 8TH: R Clayton struck out looking. E Hinske flied out to center.
K Cash struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 0 Hits, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.

MINNESOTA 9TH: J Papelbon relieved E Gagne. L Ford grounded out to
shortstop. J Kubel hit for J Morneau. J Kubel hit a ground rule double to deep
right. M Cuddyer struck out swinging. G Jones flied out to right. (0 Runs,
1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.

BOSTON 9TH: J Nathan relieved S Baker. B Moss walked. J Ellsbury singled
to right, J Ellsbury out at second, B Moss to third. J Lugo walked. J Lugo
stole second. A Cora intentionally walked. B Kielty struck out swinging.
D Mirabelli struck out swinging. (0 Runs, 1 Hit, 0 Errors) MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2.</div>

 

Hunter, Garza lead Twins past Red Sox

<h3>MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Matt Garza pitched five solid innings andTorii Hunter drove in possibly his final run as a member of theMinnesota Twins en route to a 3-2 victory over the Boston RedSox on the final day of the regular season.


Garza allowed four hits and an unearned run, striking out fiveand issuing three walks. The 23-year-old righthander will roundout the season 2-2 in September, and should go into springtraining in 2008 as a member of the Twins' rotation.

Hunter drove in a run and scored a run for Minnesota, which willmiss the playoffs after winning the American League CentralDivision in 2006.


Hunter, who has been a franchise icon since being drafted by theTwins in the first round in 1993. The 32-year-old centerfielder is a free agent at the end of the season and has likelypriced himself out of small-market Minnesota by finishing thisseason with a .287 batting average, 28 homers and 107 RBI.

The Red Sox got all of their regulars three plate appearancesand then emptied the bench, allowing guys who are not likely tomake the postseason roster such as Kevin Cash, Royce Clayton andBrandon Moss, to get into one last game this season.

Julian Tavarez (7-11), whose status for the postseason is up inthe air due to Boston's abundance of bullpen arms, got a spotstart and allowed three runs in three innings. The veteransinkerballer yielded three hits and walked two batters withoutnotching a strikeout.


The Twins scored all of their runs in the first inning offTavarez.


Nick Punto walked to lead off the frame and Brian Buscherfollowed with a single before Torii Hunter drove in a run with adouble. After Justin Morneau popped out and Michael Cuddyerwalked, Garrett Jones made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Rondell White, likely playing in his last major league game,followed with an RBI single to give Minnesota a 3-0 advantage.

Jon Lester - also a postseason question mark - was the first manout of the bullpen for Boston and turned in a pair of perfectinnings, while striking out two.


Mike Timlin, Manny Delcarmen, Eric Gagne and Jonathan Papelboneach tuned up for the AL Division series, which starts onWednesday at Fenway Park, with scoreless innings of relief.

Jason Varitek hit his 17th homer of the season off Twins'reliever Scott Baker in the sixth and Manny Ramirez drove in arun with a single in the fifth to account for Boston's runs.

 

Hunter, Garza lead Twins past Red Sox

<h3>MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2</h3>BOSTON (Ticker) -- Matt Garza pitched five solid innings andTorii Hunter drove in possibly his final run as a member of theMinnesota Twins en route to a 3-2 victory over the Boston RedSox on the final day of the regular season.


Garza allowed four hits and an unearned run, striking out fiveand issuing three walks. The 23-year-old righthander will roundout the season 2-2 in September, and should go into springtraining in 2008 as a member of the Twins' rotation.

Hunter drove in a run and scored a run for Minnesota, which willmiss the playoffs after winning the American League CentralDivision in 2006.


Hunter has been a franchise icon since being drafted by theTwins in the first round in 1993. The 32-year-old centerfielder is a free agent at the end of the season and has likelypriced himself out of small-market Minnesota by finishing thisseason with a .287 batting average, 28 homers and 107 RBI.

"With Torii, I hope it's not my last time I get a chance tomanage him," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "Hopefully,we'll get him signed."


The Red Sox got all of their regulars three plate appearancesand then emptied the bench, allowing guys who are not likely tomake the postseason roster such as Kevin Cash, Royce Clayton andBrandon Moss, to get into one last game this season.

"I just wish we had enough extra guys where you could kind ofdeal with everybody that's been out there all year," Red Soxmanager Terry Francona said. "I would just like to be able togive the players a chance to, or the fans a chance to show theplayers their appreciation. It's not the easiest thing in theworld because you're just trying to play a game and you don'twant to short anybody."


The biggest ovation was held for Mike Lowell, who ended theseason with 120 RBI, the most ever by a Red Sox third baseman.

"It was nice to see Mike Lowell (get a standing ovation), letthe fans show Mike Lowell what he meant to them," Francona said."Pedroia's rookie season, and we wanted to have Varitek hitone more time. We were going to pinch-run for him."

Julian Tavarez (7-11), whose status for the postseason is up inthe air due to Boston's abundance of bullpen arms, got a spotstart and allowed three runs in three innings. The veteransinkerballer yielded three hits and walked two batters withoutnotching a strikeout.


The Twins scored all of their runs in the first inning offTavarez.


"It was a good way for us to end the season, a win, it's alwaysexciting," Gardenhire said. "Garza had 100 pitches in fiveinnings, not exactly the way you draw it up, but he threw theball well. (He) just threw too many pitches and the game kindof was dragging along."


Nick Punto walked to lead off the frame and Brian Buscherfollowed with a single before Torii Hunter drove in a run with adouble. After Justin Morneau popped out and Michael Cuddyerwalked, Garrett Jones made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly.

Rondell White, likely playing in his last major league game,followed with an RBI single to give Minnesota a 3-0 advantage.

"It was tough with all of them," Gardenhire said. "Torii,Rondell (White), those guys coming out of the games for the lasttime this year, Rondell probably for the last time in hiscareer from what he's saying. I'm proud to say I've managed aguy like Rondell and had the opportunity to and the pleasureto."


Jon Lester - also a postseason question mark - was the first manout of the bullpen for Boston and turned in a pair of perfectinnings, while striking out two.


Mike Timlin, Manny Delcarmen, Eric Gagne and Jonathan Papelboneach tuned up for the AL Division series, which starts onWednesday at Fenway Park, with scoreless innings of relief.

"I think we're in good position," Francona said of his club'supcoming series against the Angels. "We're healthy and we seemto be where guys can be productive. Nothing's assured, but we'rein a good position where we should be able to play our bestbaseball."


Jason Varitek hit his 17th homer of the season off Twins'reliever Scott Baker in the sixth and Manny Ramirez drove in arun with a single in the fifth to account for Boston's runs.