MINNESOTA 8, CALIFORNIA 7 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 25.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a walk and a home run (his fifth), scoring twice and driving in two.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his second.

Pitching star:  George Frazier pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Jack Howell was 2-for-4 with a double and two walks, scoring three times.  Ruppert Jones was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer and a stolen base.  Mark McLemore was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third) and two RBIs.

The game:  The Twins led 5-2 after four and 6-4 after seven, but the Angels tied it in the top of the eighth on McLemore's two-run single off Jeff Reardon.  Gaetti led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to put the Twins up 7-6, but Wally Joyner's RBI single in the ninth, again off Reardon, tied the score at seven.  In the bottom of the ninth, two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out.  It appears that the Angels went with a five-man infield, but Gaetti made it irrelevant with a fly ball to deep center field, getting a single and driving in the winning run.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with an RBI, raising his average to .348...Reardon continued to struggle, as his ERA was now 8.22.  In fact, as we look at his numbers for the season, it shows how low the bar was set for Twins closers that he was considered a savior and actually got both Cy Young and MVP consideration.

Record:  The Twins were 11-7, tied for first with California.

Notes:  Al Newman played second in this game, replacing Steve Lombardozzi...Randy Bush was again in right, with Tom Brunansky in left and Dan Gladden on the bench.  Have Cory and Dazzle ever talked about how little playing time Dazzle got in April of 1987?...Chuck Finley pitched the bottom of the ninth for California and took the loss.  I had not remembered that, for the first two years of his career, Finley was a relief pitcher.  He was pretty good in a half-season in 1986, but was not good at all in 1987 and not a whole lot better when he moved into the starting rotation in 1988.  In 1989, however, at age twenty-six, he went 16-9, 2.57, 1.27 WHIP.  He made the first of five all-star teams that season.  He would be a solid rotation starter through 2000, pitching over 200 innings in all but two of those years (and he would have in 1994 if not for the strike--he led the league in innings pitched that season with 183.1).  He had a poor year in 2001 but came to pitch fairly well in 2002, going 11-15, 4.15, 1.37 WHIP.  He was with the Angels through 1999, went to Cleveland in 2000, and finished with St. Louis, to whom he was traded in July of 2002.  He only once received Cy Young consideration, finishing seventh in 1990 when he went 18-9, 2.40, 1.23 WHIP.  He was a pretty good pitcher for a long time, and he serves as a reminder that a lot of pretty good pitchers struggle in the early years of their careers.