Twins: A spiking, then a spanking

A.J. Pierzynski (intentionally?) stepped on Justin Morneau's foot at first base, infuriating the Twins, who responded with a five-run rally in a wild finish.

By Joe Christensen, Star Tribune

Last update: June 2, 2007 - 12:15 PM

They're all characters, really. Not just A.J. Pierzynski, all of them. Put the Twins and White Sox together, and it's often a colorful scene.

By the sixth inning Monday, the Metrodome was a rather hum-drum place to spend a holiday afternoon. Down three runs, Chicago had just come back to take a one-run lead against Johan Santana.

Then the characters took their places.

Soon, Pierzynski was antagonizing. Ron Gardenhire was hyperventilating. Mike Redmond was delivering. And Torii Hunter was soaring high enough to pull a ball from behind the outfield fence.

By the end, the Twins had a 10-4 victory that was especially satisfying.

Pierzynski's antics cost his team. Gardenhire's antics sparked his team to victory.

"A.J.'s a nice guy off the field," Hunter said. "But on the field, I just think he tries to get in your head a little bit. He did that, but I guess he woke up a sleeping dog."

Pierzynski infuriated the Twins with a breach of baseball etiquette. Not once, but twice. In the second inning, and again in the sixth, he hustled down the line and planted his foot on the fair side of first base.

He was out both times. But the second time, Justin Morneau said, Pierzynski actually "clipped" the first baseman's foot with no apology.

When Pierzynski went back to his catching position, the Twins doused their former teammate with insults. That's when first base umpire Greg Gibson motioned across his neck with the universal sign for "cut it out!"

Suddenly, Gardenhire came storming from the dugout. The hat was off. The arms were flapping. He was so livid at Gibson, he had to be restrained by the other umpires.

"Greg's a great guy over there," Gardenhire said. "He was just trying to calm our dugout down, and I just didn't like that [signal] that goes across the neck. That really irritated me. If you couldn't tell."

An announced crowd of 27,090 could tell, even if they didn't know what had provoked the anger. Soon, the Dome was rocking.

Down 4-3, the Twins batted around in their half of the sixth, getting five runs on five hits. It was a vintage Twins rally, with some of the biggest moments coming on balls that didn't leave the infield.

Nick Punto tied it with a bouncer to first base. Hunter put the Twins back in front with a chopper to shortstop. Then Redmond cleared the bases with a three-run double into the left-center field gap.

Two innings later, Hunter reached over the center field wall to rob a home run from Jim Thome. That saved a run for Santana (6-4), who finished the eighth with 106 pitches.

Afterward, Pierzynski met Gardenhire, who accepted his former catcher's apology.

Pierzynski knew full well his old manager had turned the tables, using something rather minor to stir up his team.

"Gardy comes out and does what Gardy does; that's why he's a good manager," Pierzynski said. "They tend to feed off that. That's why they're a good team, and they've been so good in this building for so long.

Joe Christensen • jchristensen@startribune.com

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