Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game Seventeen

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CALIFORNIA 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 24.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4.  Roy Smalley was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Mark Salas was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer struck out six in three innings, giving up one run on two hits and two walks.  Joe Klink pitched three innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Wally Joyner was 4-for-4 with a double and a stolen base, scoring twice and driving in three.  Don Sutton pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts.  Brian Downing was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring three times and driving in one.

The game:  The Angels led 3-0 through three and then scored four in the fourth to put the game away.  The first five batters reached.  Downing drove in a run with a walk and the other three came in on Joyner's bases-clearing double.  The lone Twins run came in the seventh, when they loaded the bases with one out and scored on an RBI groundout by Al Newman.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 to raise his average to .338...Salas raised his average to .364...Starter Mark Portugal lasted only three innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.  His line would've been better had he received help from the bullpen.  He left with the score 3-0, the bases loaded, and none out in the fourth.  Berenguer came in to walk Downing and give up the three-run double to Joyner before striking out the next four batters he faced.

Record:  The Twins were 10-7, in second place, trailing California by a game.

Notes:  Newman was again at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne...Randy Bush was again in right field with Brunansky in left...Despite his batting average, Salas would not play again for a week and would play only twice in the next two and a half weeks...The catcher for California was Butch Wynegar, who was nearing the end of his career.  Wynegar was the Angels' starting catcher as the season began, but he apparently got hurt soon after this game.  He played only two games in May and two in June.  He played nine more in July, then was done for the year.  He played in twenty-seven games in 1988, but his season and his career ended in late May.

10 thoughts on “1987 Rewind: Game Seventeen”

  1. Apparently Mark Salas has found a second career as the South Siders' bullpen catcher, a position he has held since 2006 (and which he also previously held from 1995-1999). That seems like something I should've known, but it was news to me.

    httpv://youtu.be/mbDKnQHaPOk

    Despite being charged with four eared runs in three innings, this wasn't Portugal's worst start of the year, either by fewest batters faced, in-game ERA or WPA. He posted -0.230 WPA in this game. His last start before being dropped from the rotation in May was significantly worse.

    Gags must've been a little banged-up – he missed three straight games in late April, tied for his second-longest stretch out of action over the course of the season.

  2. Hey Jeff -- any plan for some in-season summaries? I think it would be cool to see standings, league leaders, etc. at points throughout the season to put things in better context.

    1. I think that would be cool, too, but I doubt I'll have time to do them. If someone else would like to, though, they are more than welcome!

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