NewsSlowey, Mauer power Twins past Cubs
Duo combines to lead team at Minnesota-friendly Wrigley
By Jesse Temple / MLB.com
06/12/09 7:42 PM ET
CHICAGO -- Joe Mauer should be used to this by now. He hears the zealous cheers and chants from adoring fans at every ballpark in which he sets foot."He's a rock star, a teen idol, the whole package," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "We hear chicks yelling for him all the time."
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But there was something unique about the road-game roars directed Mauer's way during the Twins' 7-4 victory over the Cubs on Friday afternoon at Wrigley Field that even he had to admire. They were louder than ever.
"Wrigley is a special place," Mauer said. "Minnesotans love outdoor baseball, so what better place than here? It was pretty neat."
Mauer didn't disappoint, smacking a two-run home run to left field in the third inning and giving the thousands of Twins fans in attendance plenty to whoop and holler about. The home run was Mauer's 13th of the season, already matching the most he has hit in any of his six Major League seasons. It also provided a boost for starting pitcher Kevin Slowey, who kept the Cubs in check long enough to pick up the victory.
The Twins hadn't played an Interleague game at Wrigley in eight years, and Twins fans showed up in droves to celebrate the festive occasion.
Of the 41,509 fans in attendance, Twins shortstop Brendan Harris estimated more than 10,000 were rooting for Minnesota.
Gardenhire sure appreciated the support, too.
"If they can get there by automobile, they sure show up," Gardenhire said. "It's fun. It's fun to see it in the city, walking around. That makes everybody feel good. We know the support. We know the following that we have. For them to come here, that's really exciting for us."
Mauer continued his season-long torrid hitting pace, finishing 2-for-4 to boost his average to .413. The 6-foot-5, 225-pound catcher entered Friday's game 5-for-8 (.625) with two home runs and five RBIs in three Interleague Play this season.
"I was looking at Mauer," Cubs manager Lou Piniella said. "He's hitting .476 against right-handed pitching. Those are numbers you see at Williamsport in the Little League. Then, you say you're going to bring a left-hander in against him, and he's hitting .404 off lefties. They swung the bats today."
The Twins finished with 14 hits, and those hot bats surely contributed to Slowey's stellar outing. Slowey handled the Cubs for six innings, setting a season high in strikeouts with 10.
Slowey (9-2) surpassed his previous season high of eight strikeouts in the fifth inning when he struck out Ryan Theriot looking for the final out of the frame. Ten of Slowey's first 16 outs came via the strikeout, and he struck out the side in both the second and fifth innings.
"Joe and I kind of had a gameplan going in on how we wanted to attack guys," Slowey said. "They've shown themselves to be pretty aggressive so far this year and are really up there swinging, not taking a lot of walks and getting deep into counts. Really, I don't think I shook off Joe but maybe two times."
The Twins slapped Cubs starter Randy Wells for seven hits and four runs in just 3 2/3 innings. Wells struck out one and walked two, exiting after 78 pitches.
He ran into trouble in the fourth against the Twins, surrendering a walk to Michael Cuddyer, a bloop single to Delmon Young and another single to Nick Punto to load the bases. Slowey then helped extend the lead, grounding into a run-scoring double play for a 3-0 edge. One batter later, Brendan Harris singled to left, scoring Young and knocking Wells from the contest.
Slowey, meanwhile, cruised through 5 1/3 innings before stumbling a bit. With the bases loaded, he yielded a two-run double by Milton Bradley to right field. Derrek Lee followed with an RBI groundout to third base to trim the lead to 4-3, but Slowey induced a popout of Geovany Soto to end the inning.
"Slowey was running along pretty good there," Gardenhire said. "I don't know if he ran out of gas or what, but they started whacking him pretty good. But our bullpen did a super job of limiting the damage and keeping it where it was."
In three innings, five Twins relief pitchers combined to allow just one run, and closer Joe Nathan picked up his 14th save with an easy ninth inning.
Mauer completed his day offensively by tallying a third RBI on a particularly curious play in the top of the eighth when he lofted a fly ball to right field that Cubs right fielder Milton Bradley gloved easily. Unaware that the out marked only the second of the inning, Bradley posed and then flipped the ball into the stands. Nick Punto scored easily from third on the tag up, and Harris, who was on first base, went to third on the play.
The play was so odd that it made Harris wonder just how many outs there were in the inning.
"I knew, but the way he caught it, deep down, I was like 'Wait a minute, that's only two,'" Harris said. "So you start kind of questioning yourself. I'm running, and then I heard the crowd getting on him, and I almost kind of laughed."
Surely, it would have been a festive laugh. It was that kind of day for the Twins.
Jesse Temple is an associate reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
