Koskie Pays Price, but Twins Win

Corey Koskie took one for his teammates on Sunday.

Koskie was injured on the final, bizarre play of the Minnesota Twins’ 5-4 victory over Kansas City, taking a throw in the chest as Royal first baseman Chan Perry attempted to get Torii Hunter at home plate.

Koskie, who grew up stopping hockey pucks as a high school goalie in Anola, Canada, was standing about 25 feet from Perry when the throw drilled him between the “n” and “s” on his uniform letters. He was on the ground for more than five minutes before coming to his feet, and he was sitting up when he was taken off the field on a cart.

Koskie was diagnosed with a bruised chest and was taken to Abbott Northwestern Hospital in Minneapolis, where X-rays came back negative, the Twins said.

Twin trainer Jim Kahmann said Koskie was responsive and able to walk.

“He’s going to be sore for a few days,” Kahmann said.

With the bases loaded and one out in the 10th, Koskie hit a grounder down the first-base line. Perry dove and gloved the ball, falling on the bag for the second out, but he had to jump up and spin to make the throw from foul ground.

Even with an accurate toss, Perry had little chance to get the speedy Hunter.

Koskie’s injury overshadowed another dramatic Twin victory. Minnesota is now 19-4 since the All-Star break, best in baseball, while the Royals lost their sixth in a row, the last four by one run.

Cleveland 10, Seattle 8--Pinch-hitter Bill Selby hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning against Mariner closer Kazuhiro Sasaki as the Indians blew a six-run lead before winning at Seattle.

The Indians led 8-2 before the Mariners tied the game with six runs in the sixth inning. But Cleveland won it with two runs in the ninth to end Seattle’s six-game winning streak.

With a runner on first and one out, pinch-hitter Lee Stevens singled off Sasaki (2-5) to move Travis Fryman to third base. Selby followed with a single to give the Indians a 9-8 lead. Matt Lawton added an RBI groundout.

Boston 11, Texas 3--Pedro Martinez struck out 10 in seven shutout innings for his 15th victory, and Nomar Garciaparra homered twice as the Red Sox won at Arlington, Texas.

Martinez (15-2), who has pitched 23 scoreless innings over his last three starts, joined teammate Derek Lowe and Oakland’s Barry Zito as the AL’s only 15-game winners. He gave up only three singles.

Garciaparra went four for four to lead the Red Sox, who had 19 hits. Shea Hillenbrand and Cliff Floyd, in only his fourth game for Boston, had three hits each. Every Boston starter had at least one hit.

Oakland 4, Detroit 0--Cory Lidle teamed with three Athletic relievers on a one-hitter, and Miguel Tejada hit a three-run homer at Oakland.

Lidle (4-9) retired Detroit’s first 15 batters before Wendell Magee’s line-drive single to lead off the sixth. He faced only 22 hitters in seven innings, striking out six and getting double-play grounders to kill the Tigers’ only scoring chances.

Tejada extended his hitting streak to 24 games--the second-longest in the majors this season behind Luis Castillo’s 35-gamer for Florida--with his third-inning blast against Mike Maroth (3-4).

Toronto 5, Baltimore 4--Eric Hinske hit a go-ahead single off B.J. Ryan (2-1) in the seventh inning and the Blue Jays won at Toronto. Hinske drove in two runs as Blue Jays ended the Orioles’ four-game winning streak.

Tampa Bay 10, Chicago 3--Aubrey Huff and Jared Sandberg hit consecutive homers and Joe Kennedy threw seven strong innings as the Devil Rays won at St. Petersburg, Fla.