--C Joe Mauer ran 40 feet and dove onto home plate in the ninth inning, making a spectacular play to prevent the game-winning run from scoring. Mauer retrieved a ball in front of the mound and, noticing Brett Gardner rounding third and heading for the plate, barely beat Gardner to the plate and tagged him out.
--CF Carlos Gomez singled twice on Sunday, just his second multi-hit game of the season and first since April 19. But he also popped up a 2-0 pitch in the 10th inning, earning criticism from his manager. "If I have to start giving the take sign, so be it," Ron Gardenhire said. --RHP Kevin Slowey pitched six shutout innings, but after being handed a 2-0 lead in the seventh, he gave it right back. Alex Rodriguez homered, and Hideki Matsui doubled then scored on a sacrifice fly. Still, Slowey's 7 2/3 inning outing -- seven hits, no walks, eight strikeouts -- may have been his best of the season.
BY THE NUMBERS: 53 -- Runs scored by the Twins in their first 15 road games, fewest in the A.L. But the Twins also own the most total runs scored at home, 130, through May 16.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "It would have been the perfect ending to a perfect day." -- 1B Justin Morneau, on a diving defensive play in the ninth inning on his 28th birthday, May 15. Morneau also hit two home runs in the game, but the Twins lost to New York moments after his gem.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
