MINNESOTA 4, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 26.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eighth) and a triple, scoring twice and driving in two.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a run.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out eight in seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

Opposition stars:  Chuck Crim struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Jim Gantner was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his third.  Rob Deer was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  Al Newman doubled home a run in the third to put the Twins up 1-0.  In the fourth, Brunansky delivered an RBI triple and scored on a passed ball to make it 3-0.  Blyleven left a pitch up to Gantner in the fifth, making the scored 3-2.  He came back to retire the last seven batters he faced, and Brunansky homered for an insurance run in the seventh.  Deer walked in the ninth and stole second with two out, but that was as much as the Brewers could do off Reardon, who had come in to start the eighth.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .320...This was Reardon's third consecutive appearance (4.2 innings) without giving up a run.  He allowed two walks and two hits and struck out eight.  His ERA has now come down from a high of 10.80 to 8.27...Juan Nieves started for Milwaukee, going six innings and allowing four runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks while striking out four.

Record:  The Twins are 22-22, tied for second with Seattle, five games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Newman was at shortstop, replacing Greg Gagne...Gene Larkin was the DH rather than Roy Smalley.

Player profile:  Chuck Crim was a pretty fair relief pitcher for the Brewers for about four years.  He was a seventeenth round draft choice for them in 1982.  He pitched quite well in A and AA, but did very little in AAA.  One assumes he must have had a really good spring training in 1987, because he started the season in the majors and stayed there through 1993.  He was never the closer, but he twice led the league in appearances and from 1987-1990 he went 25-26, 39 saves, 3.22, 1.27 WHIP.  He never struck out a lot of guys, but he didn't walk very many, either.  Making between 67-76 appearances a year for three years may have taken a toll, though, because he never had a good year after 1990.  He stayed with the Brewers through 1991, spent two years in California, and pitched for the Cubs in 1994 before ending his playing career.  He has been a minor league pitching coach and a major league bullpen coach since then, and is currently the bullpen coach for the Dodgers.