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Friday, Aug. 18 7:05pm ET
Loaiza strikes out six as Blue Jays hang on | |||||
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GAME LOG
TORONTO (AP) -- Matt Kinney won't forget his major league debut. Neither will his sister. Kinney allowed just two runs in 6 1/3 innings, but the Minnesota Twins lost to the Toronto Blue Jays 3-2 Friday night. Kinney (0-1) received a scare in the fourth inning, when his 22-year-old sister Rebecca, sitting above the Twins' dugout, was hit by a piece of Corey Koskie's shattered bat. She was taken away by medical staff and treated for a bruise on the left side of her abdomen and returned to her seat an inning later, where she waved to the crowd on SkyDome's Jumbotron. "When the bat went up there, I was in the dugout and I said, 'Did that kill my family?' " Kinney recalled. "Once I found out she was all right, I was OK. I guess she won't want to sit in the front row anymore." Kinney allowed five hits, walked four and struck out two. "It's kind of bittersweet," the 23-year-old right-hander said. "I did all right, but it would have been a lot better if we got the win." Esteban Loaiza pitched 7 2/3 shutout innings and Carlos Delgado hit his 36th home run as the Blue Jays moved to 3½ games of Oakland in the American League wild-card race. Loaiza (7-9) allowed just four hits, struck out six and walked three. Billy Koch struggled, but got four outs for his 28th save in 32 opportunities. Midre Cummings hit his fourth homer with two outs in the ninth off Koch. Jay Canizaro then singled and went to second on defensive indifference. On Ron Coomer's infield single, Alex Gonzalez threw wildly to first, allowing Canizaro to score. Denny Hocking followed with another single before Cristian Guzman grounded out, ending the game. "When Koch hears the fans standing and cheering, he gets more excited than them, and he wants to throw 105 miles per hour instead of a 100," Toronto manager Jim Fregosi said. Loaiza is 2-3 with a 3.92 ERA in six starts since being acquired from the Texas Rangers on July 19. "The Twins were expecting a lot of fastballs, so I changed speeds," said Loaiza, who lost to Minnesota last week. "My changeup was working." Delgado hit a two-run homer off Kinney in the first inning. "I made a bad pitch and he hit it a mile," Kinney said. Toronto's Brad Fullmer hit a sacrifice fly in the eighth off Eddie Guardado. Game notesKinney's family made the trip from Bangor, Maine. ... Kinney sported horn-rimmed glasses. ... Minnesota catcher A.J. Pierzynski tried to swat and kill a moth during the third inning. Dave Martinez, who was hitting at the time, saved the moth by picking it up and handing it over to Delgado, who let it fly into the stands. ... Gonzalez robbed Torii Hunter of a hit with a diving catch at shortstop in the second inning. ... Kinney, one of the Twins' top prospects, went 5-2 with a 4.25 ERA at Triple-A Salt Lake. He was acquired from Boston along with outfielder John Barnes and right-handed pitcher Joe Thomas for left-hander Greg Swindell in 1998. | ALSO SEE Baseball Scoreboard Minnesota Clubhouse Toronto Clubhouse RECAPS Boston 6 Texas 4
Toronto 3
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