MINNESOTA 7, NEW YORK 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Friday, May 1.
Batting stars: Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his second and third) and a walk, scoring three times. Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh. Randy Bush was 1-for-2 with a run and two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Bert Blyleven struck out ten in eight innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks. Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Don Mattingly was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk. Dan Pasqua was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second. Joel Skinner was 2-for-3 with a run.
The game: The Twins broke open a 1-1 game with five in the fourth. Gaetti opened the inning with a home run. Two singles and a walk filled the bases, and Bush brought home three with a single-plus-error. Kirby Puckett then singled to bring Bush home. It was 7-2 after eight. Blyleven was allowed to start the ninth, but after walking Dave Winfield and leaving a pitch up to Pasqua he was replaced by Reardon, who got the save.
Of note: Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI, making his average .353...Mark Salas was 1-for-4 with a run and was batting .333...Tom Brunansky was 2-for-2 with a stolen base...Yankee starter Rick Rhoden lasted only 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 13-9, leading California and Seattle by two games.
Notes: Lombardozzi was the leadoff batter...Bush was again right with Brunansky in left and Gladden on the bench...Salas replaced Tom Nieto behind the dish...The Yankees used three players with Twins connections: DH Dave Winfield (0-for-3 with a walk and a run--wasn't he supposed to be Mr. May?), Mike Pagliarulo (0-for-4) and Gary Ward (walked as a pinch-hitter)...In another "times change" note, it's hard to think that Blyleven would've started the ninth today, especially after having given up a run in the eighth. It's even harder to think he'd have been left in to face Pasqua after walking the first batter of the inning...Four Hall-of-famers played in this game: Blyleven, Rickey Henderson, Puckett, and Winfield.
Wayne Tolleson, the Yankees' shortstop in this game, is the father of former Twins minor leaguer Steven Tolleson, who was three at the time. Tolleson the Younger might be looking at the end of his career. After a high water mark playing in 109 games for the Blue Jays in 2014, he fell off to 19 games with Toronto in 2015 and then to 11 total games in AAA this season, split between Norfolk and Omaha. That despite the season-ending ACL injury Mike Moustakas suffered in May.
Hmm. I was pleasantly surprised with Tolleson in Toronto, didn't know he'd fallen off. It was good to see he got some major playing time somewhere, eventually
It's not looking much better for Lombo Jr., unfortunately. He split the year between the independent Atlantic League (.829 OPS over 180 PA) and AAA (.592 OPS over 246 PA).
I remember him being mentioned as a possible trade option for the Twins when he was sort of considered a prospect. Junior actually put up better minors numbers than Senior.
Blyleven had 10 Ks in 8 innings, so he was pretty dominant and had a 5-run lead. Once it became a 3-run lead, the closer came in. Seems pretty standard op now. It just depends on what his pitch count was. What frustrates me is when a manager brings in a middle reliever with a big lead in the ninth and then pulls him after a couple guys get on base. Well, if you're going to pull the reliever that quickly, you might as well just immediately go to your closer, which seems like a waste with such a big lead.
He had an estimated 125 pitches when pulled. Through eight innings he would have been at about 116 pitches. Today, he would definitely not have started the ninth and may not have finished the eighth. The eighth inning went: single, single, groundout, groundout (runner scores), strikeout.