NEW YORK 11, MINNESOTA 7 IN NEW YORK
Date: Friday, May 8.
Batting stars: Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk, driving in three. Mark Davidson was 2-for-2 with a home run. Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.
Pitching star: Keith Atherton pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.
Opposition stars: Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his second and third) and a walk, driving in five. Gary Ward was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his second and third) driving in four. Rickey Henderson was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventh), a double, and a walk.
The game: Four singles, accompanied by a couple of stolen bases, produced three first-inning runs for the Twins. The lead was down to 4-3 after two, but Brunansky hit a two-run homer in the third to make it 6-3. The Yankees cut the lead to 7-5 after seven. New York loaded the bases with two out in the eighth, but Jeff Reardon came in to strike out Rick Cerone. In the ninth, however, a leadoff walk to Wayne Tolleson was followed by Henderson's two-run homer to tie the game. Willie Randolph then walked and went to third on a stolen base-plus-error. With one out, Dan Pasqua walked and Dave Winfield was intentionally walked to fill the bases. Gary Ward struck out, but Pagliarulo hit a walkoff grand slam.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his fifth, making his average .345. Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a run. Tim Laudner was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .040. That was as low as it would get, but it would not get into triple digits for a couple of weeks. Starter Mark Portugal pitched six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks with two strikeouts. By allowing six runs in one inning, Reardon's ERA rose to 9.24. Tommy John started for the Yankees and lasted only 1.2 innings, surrendering four runs on six hits and no walks with one strikeout.
Record: The Twins were 15-13, in third place, a half game behind California and Kansas City.
Notes: Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne. He led off and went 0-for-5, dropping his OBP to .301. Gladden was in the number two spot...Davidson was in right field, with Brunansky in right and Roy Smalley on the bench...The winning pitcher for the Yankees was Cecilio Guante, who struck out five in two shutout innings of relief. He had a pretty successful career as a set-up man and occasional fill-in closer. He made his major league debut with Pittsburgh in 1982 and came up to stay in late May of 1983. He was with the Pirates through 1986 and did very well, posting a 3.06 ERA, a 1.22 WHIP, and getting 20 saves. He was traded to the Yankees after the 1986 season in a multi-player deal that also included Doug Drabek and Rick Rhoden. Despite how well he pitched in this game he had a poor year which ended in early July due to injury--one wonders if he wasn't dealing with an injury much of the season. He came back to pitch well in 1988 but was traded to Texas at the end of August. He did not do as well in 1989, signed with Cleveland for 1990, pitched poorly, and was released in late August. Boston signed him but he did not play for them, and he was again released in April, ending his playing career. It was a pretty good one, though: 363 games, 595 innings, a 3.48 ERA, 1.26 WHIP, and 35 saves.
Mark Davidson's first career homer!
bandbox
Reardon's line in this game: 1.0 IP, 2 H, 6 ER, 2 SO, 2 HR, -0.742 WPA.
The Twins have allowed 4 walkoff grand slams in their history and 2 of them were to the Yankees. This one and the one Mike Trombley gave up to Jason Giambi with the Twins ahead 3 in in the 14th inning in 2002. Aggy gave one up to the Brewer's B.J. Surhoff in 1992 to break a tie and He Who Shall Not Be Named gave one up to the Mariners' Phil Bradley with the Twins up by 3 in 1985.
When you think about it, it's kind of astounding that Ron Davis gave up only one walk-off grand salami.
And how many have the Twins hit?, asks Jason Kubel
Four. Julio Becquer pinch-hit one off Chicago's Warren Hacker on Independence Day 1961 (0.819 WPA!). Jimmie Hall hit one off Boston's John McMahon on 02 Aug 1966. These were the only grand slams Becquer & Hall hit during their careers. Nearly forty years after Hall's grand slam, Kubel hit his off Boston's Julian Tavarez (13 June 2006); it was the first of eight career grand slams. Joe Crede was the last to do it, busting a 10-10 tie when he took Brandon Lyon yard on 13 May 2009. That was the seventh & last of Crede's grand slams.
Hall's would have been off Don McMahon. I'm sure I've made many similar mistakes myself, but Don McMahon had a darn good career, pitching effectively through the age of forty-four. He retired three times--the first two times the Giants asked him to come back because of injuries to their bullpen. He was kind of a favorite of mine when I was young.
Right, Don McMahon. At least I didn't say "Jim McMahon," right?
Right. As I said, I'm sure I have made many similar mistakes.
If it makes us both feel better, last night one of the Cleveland broadcasters referred to "John Madden's" lineup construction on air.
I distinctly remember 3 of Kubel's grand slams (that one, the one of Mariano Rivera, and the one he hit to complete the cycle against the Angels).
That's some trifecta, especially for someone with "only" 140 career homers. Kubel is one of those guys that fans tend to not appreciate how good he was because of how good he could have been without injuries. A lot like Francisco Liriano, although Liriano's career ERA+ of 100 isn't as good as Kubel's OPS+ of 108.