The Twins and Yankees squared off on a warm humid Tuesday Night at Central Parks B-Diamond Dust Bowl (worst field in the Tri-City area, pitchers mound was a mess, and the field was hard and dry).

On the hill for the home team Yankees was Darrell Duncan, and for the Twins, Steve Rychick. In the top of the 1st, after striking out the leadoff hitter (the first of seven by DD), Jeff Whitehead singled. Duncan then retired the next two batters. In the bottom of the 1st the Yankees were retired 1-2-3.
Top of the 2nd, the Twins were retired 1-2-3 with Duncan picking up 2 more strikeouts. In the bottom of the inning the Yankees struck first. Following a leadoff walk to Joe Careccia, a strikeout, a 4-3 ground out, a single by Doug Edik advancing Careccia to 3B, Carlos Llera delivered an RBI single to plate the first run. Rychik then got the next batter to ground out to end the inning.

Top of the 3rd, the Twins got their offense going. Stefan Koutsakis led off with a hard-hit grounder on a hard surface that went under the Shortstops glove and rolled to deep LCF allowing Koutsakis to reach 2B. Rodney Smith followed with a single to LF, who committed a fielding error allowing Koutsakis to score and Smith to advance to 2B. EJ Seney the reached base on an E6 (did I say the infield was dreadful) allowing Smith to reach 3B. Seney then stole 2B. Lee Madsen then delivered a line drive single to center, scoring both Smith and Seney. Jeff Whitehead then followed with another single, putting runners on 1st and 2nd. Duncan then retired the next two batters on an F8 and F6, respectfully. Twins were up 3-1. The Twins lead did not last long. In the bottom of the 3rd, following an F7, and singles by Lex Herrlett and Darrell Duncan, a BB to Jack Griffen and an RBI single by Joe Careccia the Yankees retook the lead, 4-3.

Top of the 4th, Duncan settled back into a grove, giving up 1 hit and recording another strikeout to retire the side. In the bottom of the inning, the Yankees added another run. After a lead-off walk and stolen base, with 2 outs, Herrlett hit a slow grounder to Shortstop; the throw was wide getting past the first baseman allowing Llera to score. Next batter grounded out 4-3 to end the inning. Yankees up 5-3.

Top of the 5th, the Twins went quietly, picking up a single by John Reel, and Duncan recording his 7th strikeout. In the bottom half of the inning, the Yankees plate 4 more runs. After 2 walks to start the inning and a couple of stolen bases, Doug Duell hit a soft line drive to CF driving in 1 run. After an F9, a walk, a RBI single by Dave Smitherman, a single by Herrlett and a RBI single by Duncan, the Yankees had what looked an insurmountable 9-3 lead. But waitthe Twins werent packing their bags yet.

Top of the 6th, Herrlett relieved a sore-armed Duncan. First batter up, Jeff Whitehead, ripped a double down the RF line. Rychick then reached 1B on an E5, moving Whitehead to 3B. Herrlett then got the Twins cleanup batter to hit a Sac-fly to CF scoring Whitehead. The next 5 hitters (Joe Parker (double), Greg Briscoe (single), Terry McCarthy (walk), Stefan Koutsakis (single), Rodney Smith (single)) tied the game at 9-9. John Reel followed with his second hit of the night advancing Smith to 2B. With 2-out the Twins leadoff hitter Lee Madsen hit a bullet line drive up the middle to the right of second base where the second basement happened to be standing holding Smith close to the bag for out #3. In the bottom of the 6th, Jeff Whitehead, in relief of Rodney Smith, retired the Yankees 1-2-3. On to the wild 7th inning.

Top of the 7th. Smitherman, in relief of Herrlett, walked the Twins first two batters (Whitehead and Rychick). Carlos Llera relieved Smitherman. On a 1-1 pitch, Rick Saidenberg attempted an unsuccessful surprise bunt. Whitehead on second jumped off to far and slipped on the extremely dry surface trying to get back. The Catcher threw down to 2B, who then threw to 3B to tagged Whitehead trying to steal 3B. Saidenberg then walked. With Madsen (running for Rychick) on second and Saidenberg on first, Joe Parker hit an infield-fly-rule-out 30 feet from home plate up the third base line. Llera let the ball drop, and then it rolled out of bounds. Madsen tried to advance but was thrown out at 3B. The rule states this would be a foul ball, with no out awarded, however, the home plate ump claimed the ball grazed the pitcher's jersey (no one else saw that), and the plays stand. Twins miss out on a great opportunity.

In the bottom of the 7th, and most likely the last inning due to darkness, craziness continued. After a 6-3 ground out, Llera doubled down the 3B line. The next batter Dave Leonard flied out to CF. Left-hand hitter Rich Royka then walked on a 3-2 pitch, escaping what looked like a perfectly placed 2-2 strike three on the outside corner. With runners on 1B and 2B, Herrlett hit a grounder between SS and 3B, just eluding a diving Koutsakis. Rychick got the ball in quickly keeping Llera at 3B. With bases loaded and a 1-1 count, Whiteheads pitch on the outside corner deflected off the catchers glove and rolled off to the home side of home plate. The Twins catcher quickly hustled to the ball but could not make a timely toss to Whitehead who was covering home to get Llera as he scored the winning run.

Team R H E
Twins 9 11 1
Twins 10 12 3

Hit Leaders
Twins: Jeff Whitehead 3 hits, Greg Briscoe and John Reel 2 hits each
Yankees: Lex Herrlett 3 hits, Darrell Duncan and Carlos Llera 2 hits each


-- Edited by spakids03 on Wednesday 31st of July 2024 10:33:58 PM