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On May 21, 1999, the Twins traded closer Rick Aguilera to the Cubs for two minor
league pitchers, including Kyle Lohse. Cubs President Andy MacPhail praised
Lohse's ability to Twins officials. "I remember Andy saying to us, 'You are
going to like this Lohse kid. He's going to be a good one,' " said Twins manager
Ron Gardenhire. Lohse was 3-18 for Class AA New Britain the next season, making
MacPhail seem like a smooth-talking car salesman who had just sent the Twins a
lemon.
He didn't.

Lohse, 23, pitched his first major-league complete game and shutout, a
four-hitter, as the Twins beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 at Comiskey Park on
Tuesday night. Lohse struck out eight and walked two, improving to 11-7 this
season and 15-14 for his major-league career, which started in June, 2001. "It
feels good," Lohse said of his shutout. "If you put some runs up there, I'll do
my best to get the win."

Lohse needed a terrific leaping catch by Torii Hunter in the fifth to get out of
a jam. But Lohse threw plenty of strikes, his fastball stayed around 90 miles
per hour, and he used all his pitches effectively.

"I mixed in some good curveballs, but my really good pitch was my changeup,"
Lohse said. "I got a lot of ground balls and was able to throw it for strikes.
It's something I've been working on." Lohse leads the team in innings pitched
and is two victories behind Eric Milton for the team lead in that category.

Who thought at the start of the season that the No. 5 starter would lead the
team innings pitched and have a shot to lead the team in victories? And who
believed the Twins would be 16 1/2 games up in the American League Central in
that scenario?

"He's been very good all year," Gardenhire said. "He's been consistent. He's had
his moments when he's thrown the ball and not pitched. But he has taken the ball
every five days and has been the guy in the rotation who has been out there."

Lohse had an early 1-0 lead off Jim Parque thanks to Jacque Jones' second
leadoff homer in as many nights. Jones is one shy of the team record of 14
leadoff home runs, held by Chuck Knoblauch. The Twins added three runs in the
third to take a 4-0 lead. One came on a RBI single by Cristian Guzman and two
came on Hunter's opposite field single. Guzman's single gave him a career-high
18-game hitting streak. A two-out single by Dustan Mohr in the sixth drove in
Hunter to make it 5-0.

The fifth was Lohse's toughest inning. Mark Johnson bunted his way to first and
moved to second on a sacrifice. Jose Valentin reached on an error to put two on
with two out. Carlos Lee followed with a rocket toward the center field wall.
Hunter raced back and jumped up to grab the ball before tumbling on the warning
track. "He hit it over my head," Hunter said. "The only way to catch it was over
my head."

Lohse pitched no-hit ball the rest of the way. He entered the dugout after the
eighth inning and told Gardenhire, "I've got it," then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth. He
threw a season-high 124 pitches.

The Lohse deal has worked out for the Twins. Aguilera closed for the Cubs for 1
1/2 seasons before retiring. Jason Ryan, the other minor league pitcher the
Twins got, didn't pan out. MacPhail has been criticized for not building a
winner on the north side of Chicago, but it looks as if he didn't sell the Twins
short on Lohse.

"I know Andy," Gardenhire said. "He's not been wrong too many times. The kid is
going to get better and better."



Next Up
Twins v. White Sox -- Game Three of Three
Wednesday, August 21 @ 7:05pm CT
TV: FSN | Radio: WCCO


Starting Pitchers
J. Mays (2-4) 5.92 ERA || 51.2 IP || 7 HR, 2 HBP, 14 BB || 21 SO
Buehrle (15-9) 3.55 ERA || 180 IP || 18 HR, 3 HBP, 47 BB || 103 SO



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