A double-whammy from Kansas City Royals first baseman Mike Sweeney wasn’t enough to boost his team to a winning rally… nor were the extra innings. The Minnesota Twins edged out Kansas City in 12 innings with a 3-2 win. Sweeney first struck a home-run in the fourth against Twins starter Carlos Silva and cut the lead to 2-1. The long ball marked Sweeney’s first homer since May 10 and his 10th homer for the season. Sweeney struck a no-catcher once again in the ninth. But the first baseman worked harder for this one in an All-Star duel. He battled through 10 pitches, six of which he fouled off, before sending himself ’round the bases and on to home to tie it up 2-2.
In the 12th inning a groundball hit by Minnesota’s Tori Hunter shattered his bat and drove in the tie breaking run. Royals’ third baseman Mark Teahan missed the grounder on an error because half of Hunter’s broken bat soared towards Teahan while Minnesota’s Nick Punto soared home for the winning run. Even though Kansas City fans watched another loss at home, the game did have an interesting spectacle other than Hunter’s shattering hit. Both teams altered their baseball garb and wore replicas of uniforms from the olden days. In honor of the Negro Leagues, the Royals donned the uniforms of the 1948 Kansas City Monarchs. The Twins wore uniforms styled after the 1909 St. Gophers.