MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 21.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his second.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, scoring twice and driving in one.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Les Straker pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Phil Bradley was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.  Ken Phelps was 1-for-2 with two walks and an RBI.  Mike Kingery was 2-for-4 with a triple.

The game:  Brunansky's three-run homer in the second put the Twins up 3-0.  RBI singles by Hrbek and Gaetti made it 5-0 after three.  Straker took it from there.  The only times he was in any trouble were the first, when the Mariners had men on first and second with two out, and the sixth, when men were on second and third with two out.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett went 0-for-3 with a walk and saw his average fall to .377.  Mark Salas was 0-for-3 with an RBI to drop his average to .333.  Keith Atherton pitched two innings and allowed his first run of the season, raising his ERA to 0.93.

Record:  The Twins were 10-4, in first place, leading California by one game.

Notes:  Hrbek stole thirty-seven bases in his career.  His season high was five, in 1987, 1990, and 1992.  He stole at least one in every season of his career except 1988, when he was 0-for-3, and his last year, 1994, when he did not attempt any steals.  He was not a good percentage base stealer, going 37-for-63 (59%)...Al Newman was at second in this game, replacing Steve Lombardozzi...Randy Bush was again in right, with Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench...Salas started for the second time in three games.  He would make eight more starts for the Twins before being traded to the Yankees in June for Joe Niekro...Mike Morgan, who had started yesterday's game but faced only six batters, retiring none, came in at the start of the sixth and pitched a perfect inning of relief.