MINNESOTA 6, CALIFORNIA 5 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Sunday, April 19.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his second.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third) and a hit-by-pitch, scoring twice and driving in one.  Mark Salas was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Devon White was 1-for-4 with a home run (his fourth) and a hit-by-pitch.  Jack Howell was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his second), two walks, and a stolen base.  Gary Pettis was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Gaetti's three-run homer in the sixth put the Twins up 4-2.  It was 4-3 going to the ninth, when the Twins got two runs on one hit.  They were aided by a walk, an error, and two productive outs.  They needed both those runs, as closer Jeff Reardon loaded the bases in the bottom of the ninth with a walk, a single, and a hit batsman, then gave up a two-run single to Ruppert Jones before getting the last out.

Notes:  Al Newman was 1-for-4 with a walk and an RBI, making his average .310.  Puckett raised his average to .426.  Salas, making his first start of the year, was batting .500 (2-for-4).  Reardon had given up at least one run in three of his five appearances and had an ERA of 6.35.  Starter Mark Portugal pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 8-4, tied for first with California.

Notes:  Newman started at shortstop, replacing Greg Gagne, and batted leadoff.  Randy Bush again played right field, with Tom Brunansky moving to left...Don Sutton was the starter for California.  He pitched well until the Gaetti homer, but his line was five innings, four runs, seven hits, one walk, and four strikeouts.  Sutton was in the next-to-last year of his Hall of Fame career and had his worst season, going 11-11, 4.70, although with just a 1.25 WHIP.  He was still durable at age 42, making 34 starts and pitching 191.2 innings.  He also made one relief appearance that season, pitching 4.1 innings of relief on Sept. 27, two days after he had started and pitched five innings.