NEW YORK 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Saturday, May 2.
Batting stars: Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third. Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a run. Tom Nieto was 2-for-4 with a double.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Willie Randolph was 3-for-4 with a home run and a walk, driving in three. Ron Kittle was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and a double. Dave Winfield was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) and two RBIs.
The game: A solo homer by Kittle and a two-run shot by Randolph put the Yankees up 3-1 in the fourth. Mark Davidson's RBI single in the bottom of the fourth cut the lead to 3-2, but Winfield homered leading off the fifth and drove in a run with an RBI in the sixth to make it 5-2. Hrbek's two-run homer in the eighth cut it to 5-4, but Randolph struck again with an RBI single in the ninth to make it 6-4. Dave Righetti struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a run to make his average .348...Frank Viola lasted only 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts...Juan Berenguer pitched four innings of relief, giving up two runs on two hits and three walks with two strikeouts...The Yankees' starter was Tommy John, who pitched 6.2 innings and gave up two runs on eight hits and a walk with two strikeouts...Righetti came in with two outs in the seventh and pitched the rest of the way to get the save.
Record: The Twins were 13-10, in first place, a game ahead of California.
Notes: Mark Davidson started in right field, with Tom Brunansky as the DH and Roy Smalley on the bench...Newman started at shortstop...This was tied for Berenguer's longest relief appearance of the season. He would also pitch four innings in an extra-inning game on September 4...Righetti made sixty appearances in 1987. Twenty of them were for two innings or more...For me, Willie Randolph is one of those guys I never think of, but when I do it's kind, "Oh, yeah, he was pretty good." I'll say he was. He made the all-star team six times, got MVP votes twice, and won a Silver Slugger award. He only once led the league in anything (walks, in 1980), but he was a consistently good performer, almost always hitting .270 or better, drawing a lot of walks, hitting a good number of doubles, and playing solid defense. I'd forgotten that he played with some other teams besides the Yankees. He started his career with Pittsburgh as a rookie in 1975, then was traded with Ken Brett and Dock Ellis for Doc Medich. You might say that trade worked out pretty well for New York. He was a Yankee through 1988, but after a down year was allowed to become a free agent and signed with the Dodgers. He played well for them, but was traded to Oakland in mid-May of 1990 for Stan Javier. He went to Milwaukee in 1991 and hit .327, but that was his last hurrah. He signed with the Mets in 1992 and was not awful, but was not very good either, and his playing career was over. I'd also forgotten that he managed the Mets from 2005-2008, taking them to the playoffs in 2006. Tom Nieto was one of his coaches. b-r.com says his nickname was "Mickey", although I don't remember him ever being referred to by that name. He received a plaque in the Yankees' monument park in 2015.
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