MINNESOTA 13, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 27.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-2 with a home run (his ninth) and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Gene Larkin was 3-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in two.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with two doubles, scoring twice and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Juan Berenguer pitched seven shutout innings, giving up four hits and no walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition star:  Greg Brock was 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins scored six runs in the first and followed that with five runs in the third, making it a laugher early.  Berenguer pitched an excellent game, retiring nine batters in a row at one point and never allowing more than one baserunner in an inning.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with two RBIs...Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his sixth) and three runs...Milwaukee starter Mike Birkbeck lasted only a third of an inning, surrendering six runs on six hits and a walk with no strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 24-22, in second place, 3.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Puckett raised his average to .324...Berenguer lowered his ERA to 2.20...Gene Larkin was the DH, rather than Roy Smalley.

Player profile:  Based on his minor league stats, first baseman Greg Brock was supposed to be a superstar, but it didn't work out that way.  In 1981 he hit .295 with 32 homers and an OPS of .901 in AA San Antonio.  He followed that in 1982 with an average of .310 with 44 homers and an OPS of 1.094 in AAA Albuquerque.  Both of those were hitters parks in hitters leagues, and he was already twenty-five in 1982, but even so, those are impressive numbers.  Brock got a September callup in 1982 and was the Dodgers' regular first baseman in 1983.  He hit 20 homers and had an OBP of .343, but he batted only .224.  He had similar numbers in 1984, getting sent back to the minors for a couple of months.  He had his best year as a Dodgers in 1985, batting .251 with 21 homers and an OBP of .332, but he declined somewhat in 1986 and the Dodgers gave up on him, trading him to Milwaukee.  He rewarded the Brewers with his best year in 1987.  He only hit 13 home runs, but he batted .299 with an OBP of .271 and an OPS of .809, the only time he posted an OPS of over .800.  The next year, however, he slumped to .212 with only six homers.  He stayed with the Brewers until the middle of 1991 as their mostly regular first baseman, but was released in July of that year.  He signed with the White Sox but played only two games of AAA for them before ending his playing career.  He is currently coaching high school baseball in Loveland, Colorado.