MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 9.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with two walks and a home run.  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a double and a stolen base.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mike Davis was 3-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, and two stolen bases.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Chris Codiroli pitched 5.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with one strikeout.

The game:  The Twins scored two in the second, but the Athletics tied it with two in the third.  Davis hit a two-run double in the sixth to put Oakland up 4-2 and it stayed 4-2 until the ninth.  With one out, Gaetti doubled, Brunansky singled him home, and Roy Smalley doubled to put men on second and third.  After an intentional walk to Mark Salas, Dan Gladden pinch-hit for Tom Nieto and delivered a two-run single down the left-field line to win the game.

Of note:  Starter Mark Portugal pitched 5.2 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and five walks with five strikeouts.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-3.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4.

Record:  The Twins were 3-0 and moved into sole possession of first place, leading California and Chicago by a game.

Notes:  Mike Davis has been mostly forgotten, but he was a pretty fair player for a few years.  He got partial seasons with Oakland from 1980-82 but finally came up to stay in 1983, when he batted .275.  He had a poor year in 1984 but followed it with his best season in 1985, when he hit .287 with 24 homers, 34 doubles, and 24 stolen bases.  He stayed a productive player for Oakland through 1987, when he became a free agent.  He signed with the Dodgers and his career promptly collapsed.  I don't know if he was hurt or something, but he batted only .196.  He stayed in the majors through 1989, played a couple of seasons in the minors, and then was done.  From 1985-87, though, he batted .274 with 65 homers, 94 doubles, and 70 stolen bases.