Lee and Thorpe Battle to "Draw" in Historic Head-to-Head Matchup
7/11/2024 12:00:00 PM | Baseball, General
SAN LUIS OBISPO, Calif. — More than 90 years ago, Cal Poly was represented in the Major Leagues for the first time when Thornton Lee donned a Cleveland uniform.
On Wednesday at Guaranteed Rate Field on Chicago’s south side, a Major League game was played for the first time between two former Mustangs who were teammates and roommates during the 2020, 2021 and 2022 seasons.
By all accounts, the Mustang vs. Mustang matchup ended in a draw.
Pitcher Drew Thorpe of the Chicago White Sox struck out Minnesota’s Brooks Lee on a check swing ending the third inning.
Lee answered with a one-out home run in the sixth inning, smashing an 85.1 miles-per-hour cutter from Thorpe on an 0-1 pitch over the right-field fence, putting the Twins on the scoreboard. It was Lee’s second home run in eight games with Minnesota.
Carlos Correa followed with a solo blast of his own, evening the score at 2-2, and Ryan Jeffers singled to left field in the seventh, driving in the tie breaking run in a 3-2 Twins victory and a split of the twin bill.
It was awesome to face Drew! I'm so proud of him and know he'll be pitching in the big leagues for a very long time. He struck me out and I took him deep, so I'd say it's pretty even, as it should be. He's a great competitor and I'm so happy for him.Brooks Lee (Minnesota Twins)
Brooks like that ball is GONE ????? pic.twitter.com/aO9nCMeeFY
— Minnesota Twins (@Twins) July 10, 2024
Lee’s blast extended the Twins’ streak of games with a homer to 28, matching the 2023 Braves for the second-longest in Major League history, three games behind the 31-game record held by the 2019 Yankees.
Drafted following the 2022 season at Cal Poly, Lee (eighth overall) and Thorpe (61st) represent Cal Poly’s first-ever picks in the first and second rounds, respectively, in the same draft. The Mustangs have had three other first-round selections and two more in the second round.
Thorpe left the game after six innings, allowing just the two home runs among his three hits with one walk and one strikeout. He remains 3-1 with a 3.58 ERA in six starts on the mound for the White Sox.
Lee, who had struck out just twice in 25 MLB plate appearances entering Wednesday’s doubleheader, was 1-for-9 in the pair of games, his average dropping to .364.
“It’s emotional for all of us,” Lee said of himself and several other former Mustangs doing well in the professional ranks, including Seattle pitcher Bryan Woo. “You just want to sit back and cry because we’re so proud of each other. We push each other so hard.
“We knew we’d always have the same common goals,” Lee added. “Now, it’s coming to fruition, but we still have bigger dreams than what’s going on right now.”
[Being in the MLB is] unbelievable, pretty special … something we have talked about and worked toward throughout our whole college careers. I’m excited for the future battles between the two of us.Drew Thorpe (Chicago White Sox)
Larry Lee, Cal Poly’s head coach for 22 seasons, was on hand Wednesday to watch his former All-Americans.
“It was a special day for all of us, Brooks, Drew and myself,” said the coach. “They have been best friends, roommates and workout partners in the offseason.
“Both of them have many of the same traits that allow them to be successful at a high level in a difficult sport,” Larry Lee added. “Being in the same division, hopefully this was the first of many matchups against each other.
“I’m extremely proud of both of them.”
There have now been a total of seven matchups between former Cal Poly players in regular-season Major League games. Wednesday’s was the first matching two teammates as both Thorpe and Lee were on the Cal Poly roster for three years (2020-22).
Shortstop Ozzie Smith and pitcher Mike Krukow head the list as they faced each other 55 times from 1978-89. Smith compiled a lifetime .354 average versus Krukow, going 17-for-48 with three doubles, four RBIs and seven walks.
Krukow managed to strike out The Wizard only once and Ozzie grounded into a double play just one time off Krukow.
After the 1989 season, Mustang fans had to wait until 2010 for the next Cal Poly vs. Cal Poly matchup.
That year, Kevin Correia met up with Bud Norris in a battle of former Mustang pitchers.
On July 3, 2010, at Petco Park in San Diego in what is so far the only Major League game in which both starting pitchers once wore a Cal Poly uniform, Norris went 0-for-1 at the plate with a sacrifice bunt and a strikeout. Correia was 0-for-2 versus Norris, striking out twice.
Both pitchers went seven innings on the mound -- Norris allowing three hits and Correia giving up five. Neither was involved in the decision as the Padres scored the only run of the game in the bottom of the eighth inning on a throwing error. Correia struck out four while Norris notched five strikeouts.
A second pitcher vs. pitcher matchup was scheduled for June 11 at Seattle’s T-Mobile Park as Thorpe was slated to make his MLB debut facing Woo, but Woo was a late scratch due to issues with his right forearm.
In 2013, Logan Schafer of the Milwaukee Brewers grounded out and struck out against Correia, who was pitching for the Minnesota Twins.
And in 2015, Norris induced Schafer to ground out to first base in a Brewers versus Padres game.
Back in 2012, Norris faced Brent Morel in an Astros versus Chicago White Sox spring training game at Houston. Morel went 0-for-2.
In 2021, outfielder Mitch Haniger of the Seattle Mariners faced Texas Rangers pitcher Spencer Howard at T-Mobile Park.
Howard pitched three scoreless innings in his second start for Texas. Haniger went 1-for-2 against Howard with an infield single and a groundout.
Haniger also was involved in a Mustang vs. Mustang matchup in 2016. Facing Bud Norris, the 2012 Big West Player of the Year lined a single to left field for the Arizona Diamondbacks against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Lee collected 11 hits in his first six MLB games, second only to Kirby Puckett’s 14 in franchise history. His six-game hitting streak opening his MLB career featured four multiple-hit contests en route to a .458 average was snapped in Wednesday’s opener, a 3-1 White Sox victory.
Lee, who collected at least one hit and an RBI in each of his first four big league games, joining Eddie Rosario as the only Twins to accomplish the feat, produced the game-winning hit, a run-scoring single, in the 11th inning of Monday’s 8-6 triumph.
Tuesday’s game was rained out, resulting in Wednesday’s pair of games.
The Twins play a three-game series against the San Francisco Giants this weekend at Oracle Park while the White Sox host the Pittsburgh Pirates.
