Most of the talk surrounding the Twins over their recent hot stretch has focused on the accomplishments of some of the club's young stars -- Joe Mauer, Francisco Liriano and Justin Morneau.
So much attention has been given to those rising stars that a driving force behind the Twins' success, Johan Santana, has almost been forgotten.
But the Twins' ace allowed just two hits in seven scoreless innings in Minnesota's 6-3 victory over the Dodgers on Wednesday -- the Twins' seventh straight win -- at the Metrodome before a crowd of 34,157.
"We just forget about him because it's something new with Mauer and Liriano," Torii Hunter said. "These are new guys and you think these guys are special. But Johan, he's the best. He's been doing it for years, so it seems kind of like old news."
Santana improved his June record to 5-0 with a 1.05 ERA and 44 strikeouts in six starts, and has made a case for Pitcher of the Month honors, as well.
Santana looked to be on target right from the start, striking out nine and not facing more than five batters in an inning.
"Santana threw a lot of pitches, but he was very good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "He gave us a great chance again, as we have come to expect."
Santana's not the only player who has taken a backseat during the club's recent success, winning 15 of its last 16 games.
When it came time to deliver the big hit on Wednesday, Torii Hunter stepped up to the plate. With the bases loaded in the first inning, following three straight singles by Mauer, Michael Cuddyer and Morneau, Hunter blasted his second grand slam of the season off Dodgers starter Odalis Perez to put the Twins up, 4-0.
"I've done it so many times that it doesn't matter," Hunter said of getting the big hit. "As long as we win, it doesn't matter. My thing is to win the World Series. I've been to All-Star Games, I've done everything personally I've wanted to do. I just want to win."
The Twins added to their lead in the fifth inning, when Mauer helped start another run. Serving as the designated hitter on Wednesday, Mauer continued his hot stretch, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Over the entire series, Mauer went a combined 11-for-13 (.846) with a walk and six RBIs.
"He's unbelievable," Santana said of the 23-year-old. "It's good to have him on my side and not the other side."
The Twins suffered a bit of a hiccup following Santana's exit.
Complete coverage >Juan Rincon relieved Santana in the eighth and after recording one quick out, he loaded the bases with two singles and a walk. He struck out Jeff Kent for the second out in the inning, but then trouble struck.
A double by Olmedo Saenz scored three runs for the Dodgers, making it a 6-3 game. Rincon then got a little bit of help from left fielder Lew Ford on a sharp line drive by Dodgers catcher Sandy Alomar to end the inning.
Joe Nathan came in to pitch the ninth and struck out the side to record his 13th save of the season, his seventh this month.
"I'm hoping every time I'm out there, everyone can perform and we can win games," Santana said. "That's all I think about. I'm not trying to do anything special. I think we're playing pretty good as a team and that's why me or Liriano or Carlos [Silva] is having a lot of success, because we're playing pretty good as a team."
The Twins may all be clicking, but there is something a little extra-special about Santana that can't be forgotten.
"He's just gotten better and better," Gardenhire said of the ace. "He really wasn't bad earlier in the year, we just didn't do too much offensively and missed some balls. He wasn't perfect, but he's just a great pitcher. I don't know if we can talk about great streaks with Johan, he's just a great pitcher."
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Alex Rodriguez finally turned the Yankee Stadium boos into cheers. All it took was a walk-off home run.
A-Rod drilled a two-run walk-off shot against Jorge Sosa in the bottom of the 12th inning, erasing a one-run deficit to lift the Yankees to a 4-3 win over the Braves on Wednesday afternoon.
"I needed that and the team needed that," Rodriguez said. "We were slugging along for 12 innings; it felt real good."
"Every time he goes to the plate, I expect him to do something big -- and he did," said manager Joe Torre. "It's a feeling you have when you know what kind of ability he has. Eventually, something good is going to happen."
A-Rod's home run, his 16th, gave the Yankees their sixth win in the last eight games, lifting their record to 8-7 in Interleague Play. The Yankees host the Mets this weekend for three games to close out their Interleague schedule.
It was Rodriguez's fifth career walk-off homer and his 100th homer as a Yankee. A team official retrieved the ball and gave it to Rodriguez after the game.
As important as the home run was for the reigning American League MVP, it was equally as important for the Yankees. With the first-place Red Sox riding a 10-game winning streak after Tuesday's win over the Mets, the Yankees knew they had to keep pace or risk falling 4 1/2 games behind Boston.
"It felt good for everyone," Derek Jeter said of Rodriguez's game-winner. "We need to win, man. It was only a matter of time for him. It was a big win for us."
The Yankees were down to their final two outs after Marcus Giles had homered off Scott Proctor in the top of the 12th. Jason Giambi worked a walk with one out in the 12th, bringing A-Rod to the plate, representing the winning run.
Rodriguez worked the count to 3-1 before blasting his long ball to seal the win. As the ball sailed over the left-field fence, A-Rod flipped his bat and looked toward the Yankees' dugout with his hands in the air as if to say, "How about that?"
"I know the boys are waiting on me," Rodriguez said. "The boys know what I can do, and it was like, 'Finally, I picked the boys up.'"
"I can certainly understand his emotions there," Torre said. "I think we all felt good for him first, then the game second. With the enormity of this home run, he did it in a huge situation for us, so that's a huge question that has been answered.
"You could see the players in the dugout, and when he hit the home run, it was like everyone was saying, 'There it is!'" added Torre. "It's like we all knew it was coming, except we've been feeling like this for a couple of weeks."
Complete coverage >The boos that had been showered upon him all day -- and all month, for that matter -- instantly turned to cheers. A-Rod hopes that the homer can help erase all of the baggage he has been carrying for the past few weeks.
"For me, it does," Rodriguez said. "Hopefully that's behind me."
"Fans love him to death right now," Torre said.
Chien-Ming Wang allowed two runs over eight innings, while John Smoltz held the Yankees to one run in seven frames, as the Braves took a 2-1 lead into the bottom of the eighth.
The Yankees had a prime opportunity to tie the game against Smoltz after Andy Phillips led off the seventh with his team-leading third triple of the season. After Miguel Cairo grounded out, pinch-hitter Jorge Posada scorched a liner up the middle, but Edgar Renteria made a great catch for the second out.
Johnny Damon walked, putting the go-ahead run on base, but Smoltz got Melky Cabrera to chase a ball out of the zone for strike three, stranding Phillips at third.
"We scuffled a little bit; we had our opportunities," Jeter said. "Smoltz knows what he's doing out there."
Smoltz left the game after a seven, turning the lead over to Kenny Ray. The lead lasted for only one more out, as Giambi lofted the first pitch he saw off the upper deck in right field, tying the game with his 23rd home run.
Ray walked A-Rod and Bernie Williams, putting the go-ahead run in scoring position, but Chad Paronto came in from the bullpen and struck out Phillips and Cairo, sending the tie game to the ninth. The Yankees had the winning run on second base with two outs in the ninth, but Giambi lined out to center, moving the game into extra innings.
Kyle Farnsworth and Mike Myers combined to load the bases in the 11th with two outs, but Proctor needed just one pitch to get Wilson Betemit to pop up to Jeter at shortstop, ending the threat.
One inning later, Proctor served up a one-out, 3-2 pitch that Giles drilled into the left-field seats, putting the Braves in the lead once again.
"Any time you can overcome a screwup like that, it's a good one," Proctor said of A-Rod's eventual game-winner. "We won the game; that's the main thing right now."
Rodriguez, who was riding a 2-for-18 slump before his final at-bat, had taken some good swings during his first five trips to the plate. So when he stepped to the plate in the 12th, he was confident that he could deliver a hit for his team, which he did in a big way.
"I thought all of my swings were good today; that one obviously had the best result," Rodriguez said. "Hopefully it will get me and the team on a roll."
"That was something he needed," Torre said. "Hopefully after enjoying the off-day, we can turn it into something. We certainly need his bat in the lineup."
When you are as hot as the Red Sox are right now, reunions are a nice thing, but nothing to be consumed by. And as much as all of Pedro Martinez's former teammates respect him and enjoyed playing with him, this was no time to ease the foot off the accelerator, which has been pressed to the floor of late.
So the Sox, once Wednesday's game began and the pitches came flying in from 60 feet, six inches away, treated the future Hall of Famer with the same cold-heartedness they've had on display against most other opposing starters during their hottest stretch of baseball in nearly 11 years.
By pounding Martinez and the Mets to the tune of 10-2, the Red Sox extended their winning streak to 11 games, marking the first time they've won more than 10 in a row since Aug. 3-14, 1995.
All the wins during this streak have come against National League East foes, so the Red Sox surely won't complain that they have one more game against the Mets, and then three in Miami against the Marlins this weekend before returning to American League competition.
As much as all the buzz was about Martinez during the pregame hours, Red Sox right-hander Josh Beckett (7 2/3 innings, five hits, two runs, seven Ks) took over the stage once the game began.
While the Red Sox pinned Martinez to an 8-0 deficit through three innings -- sending him to the shower at that point -- Beckett put up a steady succession of zeroes and awkward swings, tying Kenny Rogers for the American League lead in wins with 10. After a late May and early June slump, Beckett has won his last three starts.
The Sox got to Martinez right out of the gate, as Kevin Youkilis lined the second pitch of the bottom of the first up the middle for a single. Mark Loretta followed with a single to right and Manny Ramirez worked a one-out walk to load the bases. That set Trot Nixon up for a sac fly to center and Jason Varitek added an RBI single up the middle. Martinez came narrowly close to getting out of the inning without further damage, but left fielder Lastings Milledge, pressed against the Green Monster, dropped a flyball by Mike Lowell. It wound up as a two-run error, pushing the lead to 4-0.
Martinez (117-37 in a Boston uniform) settled down -- albeit briefly -- with a scoreless second. But back came the Red Sox in the third. Ramirez led off with a double to left and Nixon followed with an RBI single up the middle. Another run scored on a double play ball off the bat of Lowell. Coco Crisp resumed the rally with a walk and No. 9 hitter Alex Gonzalez raked a two
