No-hitter ends in unusual fashion

[JonLP24]

Twins take no-hitter into eighth, down Oakland 4-2

MINNEAPOLIS (AP)—Ron Gardenhire heard the boos from Twins fans Sunday afternoon. And the Minnesota manager acknowledged he was kind of booing himself at the same time.

Even though Kevin Slowey(notes) just thrown seven innings of no-hit baseball against Oakland, Gardenhire went to his bullpen to finish the game. The bid for a combined no-hitter didn’t last long, either, when Jon Rauch(notes) gave up a double to the second batter he faced in what would end being a 4-2 Twins victory.

“I would boo me too,” Gardenhire said. “I took a pitcher out with a no-hitter going. But I would do it 1,000 times the same way.”

The reason was simple: Elbow tendinitis caused Slowey to miss his last start. Combine that with 106 pitches to get through seven innings and there was little chance of him throwing two more innings—even if he continued to hold the Athletics without a hit.

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