BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, May 5.
Batting stars: Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eighth. Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one. Tom Nieto was 1-for-3 with a run.
Pitching star: Juan Berenguer pitched 3.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and a walk with four strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Eric Bell pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk with seven strikeouts.
The game: Jim Dwyer hit a two-run homer in the third and Eddie Murray homered in a two-run sixth to give the Orioles a 4-0 lead. They added what appeared to be a meaningless run in the ninth on a John Shelby single to go up 5-0. In the bottom of the ninth, however, an error, a single, and a ground out put men on second and third with one down. Lombardozzi singled in a run and Puckett hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 5-4. A pair of singles, a ground out, and an intentional walk to Randy Bush loaded the bases. The small crowd (8891) was probably in an uproar, but pinch-hitter Roy Smalley popped up to third to end the game.
Of note: Puckett's average fell to .351...Mike Smithson started and pitched five innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 14-11 and were tied for first place with California, although they were ahead on percentage points.
Notes: Mark Davidson started in left field, with Dan Gladden at DH and Smalley on the bench. Davidson was near the beginning of a two-week stretch in which he was pretty much a regular, starting in either left or right. At the start of the stretch, he was batting .263, but with no extra bases hits, for a line of .263/.263/.263. At the end of it, on May 15, he was batting .250/.265/.333...This would be the only season in which Eric Bell was a member of a major league starting rotation. He had made four starts in 1986 and would make only one more start after this season, with Cleveland in 1992. He had a few excellent games in addition to this one, getting complete game wins against Kansas City in July and California in August and going 8.2 innings in another win against Kansas City in July. For the most part, though, he was not very good: 10-13, 5.45, 1.53 WHIP. He would spend 1988-1990 in the minors before going to Cleveland. He got a September call-up in 1991 and pitched very well in relief. He started 1992 with the Indians, but did poorly and was sent down in early May. He started 1993 with Houston, but again was sent down in early May. He pitched in AAA through 1996, then was done.
Jim Dwyer sure had an interesting career. He played 18 seasons, from 1973-1990, but only accumulated 3234 plate appearances. Despite finishing his career with a 107 OPS+, he compiled only 6.3 rWAR. He finished with 402 walks and 402 strikeouts. Dwyer was hardly ever allowed to hit against southpaws: only 201 PA for his career with .660 OPS (against .757 vs righthanders). He hit way better when he was in the AL (116 OPS+ in 2379 PA) than in the NL (83 OPS+ in 855 PA). He must've loved facing the Twins; the .907 OPS in 105 PA was the third-highest against an opponent, behind the Expos (63 PA, 1.013) and White Sox (164 PA, .917). SSS rules are heavily in effect, but he hit very well indoors: .869 OPS across 365 PA.
He hit pretty well for the Twins as well (.767 OPS). I have a pretty vivid memory of him either in '88 or '89 hitting a 3-run HR or grand slam at the Metrodome over the baggy while I was sitting in the front row by the Twins bullpen mound.
Or the visitors' bullpen mound. It was down the first base line.
Two games match your memory: 15 Sept 88 (GS off Chicago's Donn Pall, no direction noted) or 10 June 89 (GS off Bobby Thigpen down the RF line). I like the second one for more than the direction – the Twins were trailing 8-7 in the bottom of the 8th with 2 outs before Dwyer's salami (on an 0-2 count, no less!). That play had a 97% bWE and gave Dwyer .603 WPA. Thigpen was hung with the BS and the L, along with a -0.723 WPA. Ouch.
The one off Thigpen does sound correct. It definitely was a dramatic moment, which is why it has stuck in my memory. I was in those seats because a friend of my family had season tickets and wasn't using them. We saw several games from those seats, including the MLB debut of the Mariners' Erik Hanson vs. Frank Viola, which the Twins won in a pitchers' duel.