June 11, 2004: Phillies defeat Twins in their first regular-season game at the Metrodome

The Hubert H. Humphrey Metrodome in downtown Minneapolis became the home for the Minnesota Twins in 1982. The multipurpose stadium, whose main professional tenants were the Twins and the National Football League’s Minnesota Vikings, replaced Metropolitan Stadium in suburban Bloomington, where both teams had played since 1961.

The first Metrodome event was an exhibition game between the Twins and Philadelphia Phillies on April 3, 1982. Pete Rose, the second batter for the Phillies, recorded the (unofficial) first hit at the ballpark and Twins first baseman Kent Hrbek slugged the first two home runs. Interleague play in the regular season did not begin until 1997, and it was 22 years before the Phillies returned to Minneapolis to play their first regular-season game in the Metrodome, on June 11, 2004.1

The Twins had won the American League Central Division championship in each of the two previous seasons and entered with a half-game lead over the second-place Chicago White Sox after sweeping the New York Mets in an interleague series. Before coming to Minnesota, the Phillies had split a pair of high-scoring games with the White Sox; Philadelphia was second in the NL East, 2½ games behind the Florida Marlins.

Seth Greisinger was on the mound for the Twins for the Friday opener of the three-game weekend series. Signed as a minor-league free agent in November 2003, Greisinger was in his first season with Minnesota after seven injury-plagued seasons in the Detroit Tigers organization. The 28-year-old righty had struggled in his last few starts and came into the game with a 2-5 record and a 5.76 ERA.

Greisinger held the Phillies scoreless through the first three innings, surrendering two hits while striking out three batters. In the first, after a one-out single by Plácido Polanco, Greisinger struck out left-handers Bobby Abreu and Jim Thome on nine pitches. In the second he retired the Phillies in order, and in the third he surrendered a leadoff single to Mike Lieberthal before retiring the next three batters.

Phillies starter Brett Myers, a 23-year-old right-hander, pitched a clean first inning before surrendering a run in the second. Torii Hunter stroked a one-out single to right and advanced to third when Jacque Jones hit a double to deep right field. Matt LeCroy walked to load the bases and 21-year-old Joe Mauer, playing in his 10th major-league game, plated Hunter with a sacrifice fly to left.

Mauer was a highly touted catcher, selected first overall in the June 2001 amateur draft from Cretin-Derham High School in neighboring St. Paul. He debuted with the Twins for two games in April 2004 before undergoing surgery on his left knee that kept him out of the lineup for two months. (Mauer returned on June 2 and batted .308 with 6 home runs, but was shut down on July 15 for the rest of the season with lingering pain and swelling in his knee.)

With the Twins up by a run, the Phillies came to bat in the fourth. With one out, Thome walked, and after Pat Burrell popped up, Ricky Ledée blasted a two-run homer to right field. The seldom- used outfielder had excelled in limited opportunities, hitting .327 with 3 home runs and 16 RBIs in 55 plate appearances. “I just have to take care of the opportunities they give me,” said the 30-year-old Ledée.2

The Twins went quietly in the bottom of the fourth, and in the fifth the Phillies tacked on three more runs. Lieberthal stroked a leadoff single to right and Jimmy Rollins hit a one-out groundball single. Polanco took a strike, then powered a home run over the left-field wall. The three-run shot was his second of the year and extended the Phillies’ lead to 5-1.

Greisinger returned for the sixth and the Phillies continued the onslaught. Ledée grounded a single to center and Lieberthal punched a two-out single to right. Ninth-place hitter Marlon Byrd followed with a double down the left-field line, scoring Ledée and advancing Lieberthal to third. Twins manager Ron Gardenhire replaced Greisinger with 41-year-old left-hander Terry Mulholland, an anchor of the Phillies’ rotation for six seasons in the 1980s and ’90s. Rollins grounded out to end the inning.

The next day Greisinger was dispatched to the minors. “It didn’t catch me off guard,” he said. “I knew my last three outings had not been that great.”3 He spent the rest of the year at Triple-A Rochester before being released by the Twins at the end of the season.4

Myers had allowed one run through the first four innings, but Minnesota’s bats came alive over the next three innings. Mauer led off the fifth with a long home run to left-center, his second in the big leagues.

The Twins pushed another run across in the sixth to narrow the Phillies’ lead to 6-3. Leadoff hitter Lew Ford smashed Myers’ second pitch to left for a double. (Ford, who was acquired by the Twins in a 2000 trade with the Boston Red Sox, emerged as the regular left fielder and middle-of-the-order bat for the Twins in 2004.

Cleanup hitter Corey Koskie pulled a grounder to second, advancing Ford to third, and Hunter’s groundball scored Ford. Jones followed with a double to right and stole third, but Myers escaped further trouble by striking out LeCroy.

Mauer, who had been a thorn in Myers’ side, was due to lead off the seventh. He hit a pop fly past shortstop that fell for a double, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Cristian Guzmán’s grounder to second. When Doug Mientkiewicz followed with a double, Phillies manager Larry Bowa headed to the mound to have a discussion with Myers. “This is your last batter,” said Bowa. “Get him.”5

Ford worked the count to 2-and-2, then belted a home run to left-center, tying the score, 6-6. “I went after him with everything I had,” Myers said. “He beat me. That’s it. But I wanted to go after him. I wanted to stay in.”6 Rhéal Cormier replaced Myers, and recorded the final out when Hunter was gunned down at second on a single to deep right. Tim Worrell came in to pitch a scoreless eighth.

Mulholland held the Phillies scoreless in the seventh and eighth and headed back to the mound to start the ninth.  Byrd grounded out, but Rollins and Polanco hit back-to-back singles. Gardenhire pulled Mulholland and summoned J.C. Romero.

Romero walked Abreu on five pitches. With the bases loaded, Thome hit a line drive to deep right-center that sailed over Hunter’s head for a ground-rule double. “I was playing him deep, I took four steps and the ball was over my head,” Hunter said.7 Thome added, “It surprised me it got over his head.”8

Burrell struck out looking, but Ledée hammered a three-run homer that landed in the upper deck in right field to extend the lead to 11-6. Bell grounded out to end the inning and a downcast Romero walked off the mound. “We thought J.C. was the right guy to bring in in that situation with the hard sinker … and try to get a ground ball,” said Gardenhire.9

Phillies’ closer Billy Wagner pitched a one-two-three ninth as the Twins’ four-game winning streak came to an end. “We’ve swung the bats well,” Thome said. “Hopefully we can continue to ride this thing out.”10 The Phillies split the final two games of the weekend series, but ended the season in second place, failing to make the playoffs for the 11th straight season.

Romero was sent to the minors after the game. “He needs to go down and find the J.C. with a smile on his face who can make pitches,” said Gardenhire. “I still believe he has some of the best stuff on the staff. If we win it, it’s going to be with him.”11 After three encouraging outings at Rochester, Romero was recalled. In 42 appearances the rest of the season, he pitched to a 2.03 ERA and was instrumental in the Twins’ third straight AL Central title.12

Acknowledgments

This article was fact-checked by Bill Marston and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources

In addition to the sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for pertinent information, including the box score and play-by-play.

https://www.baseball-reference.com/boxes/MIN/MIN200406110.shtml

https://www.retrosheet.org/boxesetc/2004/B06110MIN2004.htm

Notes

1 The Phillies and Twins had previously played a three-game series at Philadelphia’s Veterans Stadium in June 2002.

2 Bob Ford, “Thome, Ledee Rescue Win for Phillies,” Philadelphia Inquirer, June 12, 2004: D1.

3 Lavelle E. Neal III, “Greisinger Sent to Minors,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, June 13, 2004: C18.

4 Greisinger briefly made it back to the big leagues in 2005 with the Atlanta Braves before finding success in South Korea and Japan for nine seasons.

5 Bob Ford, “Thome, Ledee Rescue Win for Phillies.”

6 “Thome, Ledee Rescue Win for Phillies.”

7 Patrick Reusse, “Thome Has Really Felt at Home in the Dome,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, June 12, 2004: C1.

8 “Thome, Ledee Rescue Win for Phillies.”

9 Lavelle E. Neal III, “Struggling Romero Might Be Sent Down,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, June 12, 2004: C1.

10 “Thome, Ledee Rescue Win for Phillies.”

11 LaVelle E. Neal III, “Romero Stays Upbeat About Move to Minors,” Minneapolis Star-Tribune, June 13, 2004: C1.

12 The 2004 season was Romero’s sixth of seven with the Twins. After stints with the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim and Boston Red Sox, he signed with the Phillies in June 2007. Romero appeared in 237 regular-season games, all in relief, for Philadelphia from 2007 through 2011. He pitched in 13 postseason games for the Phillies, recording two wins in Philadelphia’s 2008 World Series victory over the Tampa Bay Rays.