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CLEVELAND -- His blue sweatshirt drenched with beer, Twins manager Ron Gardenhire picked up the boxed bottle of Dom Perignon off his desk and smiled. Matt Moore Authentic Jersey . "Looks pretty good," he said, admiring the pricey Champagne. "Itll look good on the mantle, unless my wife and I drink it tonight. You just never know." Gardenhire became the 10th manager in major league history to win 1,000 games with the same team on Saturday as Minnesota, staked to an early lead by Brian Doziers homer on the games second pitch, beat the Cleveland Indians 7-3. Following the game, Gardenhire was doused with adult beverages by his players, who wore grey T-shirts that said, "1000 wins ... 67 ejections" on the front and "And Still Counting" on the back. Minnesotas Kyle Gibson limited Cleveland to one run over five innings in his season debut after Dozier led off the game with his homer against Carlos Carrasco. Gardenhire, who has managed Minnesota since 2002, joined Tom Kelly as the only managers in Twins history to reach 1,000 wins. Hes also the fifth active manager to hit the milestone, and he joined a list of managing immortals including Connie Mack, John McGraw, Walter Alston, Tommy Lasorda and Earl Weaver as the only ones to get all 1,000 wins with the same team. In typical fashion, the 56-year-old "Gardy," who has guided the Twins to six AL Central titles, downplayed his accomplishment. "I havent looked at the list," he said. "I kind of stayed away from all that stuff. We were kinda talking about it earlier. I really havent gotten into this very much: How many? Who? Maybe Ill look at it now. "I guess you tip your hat to those guys because I know how hard it is." As he spoke with reporters, Gardenhires cellphone buzzed with a flood of incoming congratulatory texts. One of his daughters called immediately after the game and his wife, Lindsay, was in his office as the Twins celebrated. "My kids and my family are very, very excited," he said. "Theyve been waiting for this." In addition to getting the bottle of bubbly from the Twins and the games lineup card as a souvenir, Gardenhire was also touched by the grey T-shirts, which included a photo on the front of him being thrown out by late umpire Wally Bell, who died of a heart attack in October. "Its really heartwarming because Wally Bell is on the front," Gardenhire said. "Hes a very, very dear friend of mine, so it means an awful lot to have that T-shirt with Wally on there -- and its also a pretty entertaining T-shirt." Before taking the mound, Gibson (1-0) did his usual round of high-fives with teammates and coaches in the dugout before delivering a message to Gardenhire. "I went up to him and said, Hey, lets get it today," said Gibson, who allowed one run and three hits in five-plus innings. "Its exciting to be the guy who is out there for the W but its Gardys W for sure. Its a pretty cool day to be a part of." Gibson made 10 starts as a rookie last season, and the Twins are counting on the 25-year-old to do more after giving him the fifth spot in the rotation. The right-hander worked around four walks -- two in the third, when he escaped a big inning by getting Nick Swisher to ground into a double play. Afterward, Gibson was most pleased about getting Gardenhire his win. "The short time Ive played for Gardy, its been a lot of fun," he said. "Hes fun to play for. Hes a great manager." Indians manager Terry Francona was the last active manager to reach 1,000 wins, and he was more than happy to welcome Gardenhire into the club. "Gardys been doing this for a long time," he said. "Yeah, I guess I wish it would have come in the next series. But hes been good at what he does for a long time. I think that number indicates hes getting old." When reminded that he also has 1,000 wins, Francona quipped: "Im old. Thats why I didnt say too many nice things about it." NOTES: Also on the list of managers with 1,000 wins with the same team are: Mike Scioscia, Kelly, Danny Murtaugh and Red Schoendienst. ... The Twins snapped a seven-game losing streak against the Indians. ... After going 0-for-13 to start the season, Dozier is 3-for-5 with a double and homer in this series. ... Twins OF Oswaldo Arcia was given the day off with a sore right hand. Gardenhire said Arcia injured his hand swinging in the batting cage earlier in the week in Chicago and it flared up during an at-bat late in Fridays game. Rishard Matthews Jersey .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Matt Moore Jersey . -- Kyle Blanks homered in his home debut at the Coliseum and Derek Norris capped Oaklands five-homer day with a grand slam and the Athletics snapped a season-long four-game losing streak with a 10-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Monday.TAIPEI, Taiwan -- Chinas Wenjing Sui and Cong Han won gold at the ISU Four Continents figure skating competition while Canadas Natasha Purich and Mervin Tran finished fifth. Purich, from Sherwood Park, Alta., and Tran, from Regina, rose two spots for their best international result. Its their first season skating together. "Our long program wasnt as good as we would have liked," said Purich. "But we fought to the end and didnt give up. We know we can be bbetter. Jason Fox Authentic Jersey. quot; American teams finished second through fourth overall. Margaret Purdy of Strathroy, Ont., and Michael Marinaro of Sarnia, Ont., were seventh. Takahito Mura led Japan to a 1-2 finish in the mens singles while all three Canadians produced clean free skates. Jeremy Ten of Vancouver was ninth, Nam Nguyen of Burnaby, B.C., was 10th and Elladj Balde of Pierrefonds, Que., was 11th. Competition ends Saturday with the womens free skate. ' ' ' |
