DETROIT 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Friday, May 22.
Batting stars: Greg Gagne was 1-for-3 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one. Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a run. Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-3 with a stolen base, his second.
Pitching stars: Frank Viola took a complete game loss, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Jack Morris pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on ten hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Alan Trammell was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third. Eric King pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits with two strikeouts.
The game: Trammell hit his two-run homer in the first inning, putting the Tigers up 2-0. In the third, Gagne had an RBI triple and scored on a ground out to tie it 2-2. It remained tied until the seventh, when doubles by Larry Herndon and Chet Lemon brought home the go-ahead run for Detroit. The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the seventh and again in the ninth but could not tie the score.
Of note: Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with an RBI, making his average .333...Gene Larkin was 1-for-4, making him 3-for-8 since his callup.
Record: The Twins were 20-21, in fifth place, 4.5 games behind Kansas City.
Notes: Larkin was the DH, with Roy Smalley out of the lineup...The Twins had three runners caught stealing: Gary Gaetti twice and Gladden once. In his first few years, Gaetti was not a bad percentage base stealer, going 31-for-42 (74%). In 1987, however, he was 14-for-29 (48%) and for his career he was 96-for-161 (60%). Gladden had his best base stealing numbers when he was with the Twins, going 116-for-158 (74%). For the rest of his career, he was 104-for-165 (67%).
Player profile: Who was Eric King? Well, he was a starter most of his career, and actually had a couple of pretty fair seasons. He came up to the Tigers in 1986 and went 11-4, 3.51, 1.24 WHIP as a rookie. He split his time between a starter and reliever that season, then went to the bullpen the next two years, struggling in 1987 but doing better in 1988. He was traded to the White Sox after that season and put in a couple of good years for them as a starter, going 21-14, 3.34, 1.23 WHIP in 50 starts. The White Sox traded him to Cleveland following the 1990 season and his career went downhill after that. He spent one year with Cleveland, came back to Detroit for 1992, but pitched poorly and his big league career came to an end. Six years later he pitched for Pacific in the Western League, but that was it for his playing career. Wikipedia notes that he is best known for giving up Ken Griffey, Jr's first career home run, which I guess it's better than not being known at all.