Twins: All pitching, then bam!

Johan Santana and Curt Schilling were masterful on the mound, as were the relievers until Jason Kubel won it for the Twins with a grand slam in the 12th.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: June 14, 2006 - 12:07 PM

Johan Santana and Curt Schilling staged the best pitching duel the Twins have seen all season Tuesday night.

Eight innings of sheer mastery, with Santana notching 13 strikeouts and Schilling showing all the reasons he's won 201 games.

But for those who remained in the Metrodome for all 12 innings of this instant classic, the ending wasn't bad either.

After falling behind in the top of the 12th, when they just missed turning a spectacular double play, the Twins had another walkoff triumph, as Jason Kubel's grand slam gave them a 5-2 victory over the Boston Red Sox.

Most of the announced crowd of 23,531 stayed until the end, since the on-field events were too stirring to leave.

Start with Santana: He needed eight strikeouts to reach 1,000 for his career and did that by fourth inning. He proceeded to match Schilling, Boston's veteran star righthander, zero-for-zero until the seventh.

"Santana -- that might be as good as I've ever seen him throw the baseball," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "And Schilling was unbelievable throwing the ball, moving it in and out."

In the seventh inning, the Twins' hopes were dashed and quickly restored -- a prelude to the 12th, as each team came up with a two-out home run.

Jason Varitek connected off Santana, and Michael Cuddyer connected off Schilling.

When Cuddyer reached the dugout, after his 10th homer of the season, he accepted high-fives from his teammates and winked at Santana.

The Twins owed him that much, at least.

"Tonight was special," Santana said after celebrating the team's seventh victory in their final at-bat.

Jesse Crain almost took another extra-inning loss, as Boston loaded the bases with one out in the 12th.

Alex Gonzalez hit a ground ball up the middle that looked like a sure hit.

But shortstop Nick Punto made a diving stop and flipped to second baseman Luis Castillo, whose throw to first missed Gonzalez by a step.

"Punto makes as good of a play as you can make," Gardenhire said, still raving.

After all that, not just any ending would do.

The Twins had been shut down for eight innings by Schilling, two innings by closer Jonathan Papelbon, and one inning by Mike Timlin.

Enter Red Sox reliever Julian Tavarez.

With one out, he hit Cuddyer with a pitch. Justin Morneau followed with a ground-rule double that would have scored Cuddyer had it not bounced over the wall.

Tavarez walked Torii Hunter intentionally, and then, at the end of a seven-pitch at-bat, Kubel lofted a ball that just seemed to float in the air until it landed just beyond the baggie in right field.

"My first walk-off homer, my first grand slam, my first home run in this park," Kubel said, rattling off his big league firsts. "I'm just glad it kept going."

JOHAN SANTANA'S NUMBERS

IP H R ER SO NP

8 5 1 1 13 102

CURT SCHILLING'S NUMBERS

IP H R ER SO NP

8 6 1 1 5 91

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