MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 5 IN BOSTON

Date:  Monday, June 1.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his eleventh and twelfth), driving in three.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Dwight Evans was 2-for-4 with a home run (his ninth) and a double, scoring twice.  Bill Buckner was 2-for-4 with a run and two RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit two-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  Smalley's two-run double in the first put the Twins up 2-0 and Brunansky's homer in the fourth made it 3-1.  The Red Sox came back to tie it 3-3 in the fifth.  In the seventh, however, the Twins scored six runs, four of them off Boston starter Roger Clemens, to take control of the game.  The Twins got three home runs in the inning, with Gladden hitting a solo homer and Gary Gaetti a two-run shot off Clemens and Brunansky hitting a two-run homer off reliever Wes Gardner.

Of note:  Gaetti was 1-for-5, and the home run was his thirteenth...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-5 with a triple and a run and was batting .332...Mark Salas was 1-for-4 and was batting .351...Clemens pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins won their third straight game and were 27-23, tied for second with Seattle, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Salas caught in place of Tim Laudner...The Twins were searching for a second-place batter all year.  Greg Gagne filled the role in this game, going 0-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Player profile:  Mike Greenwell peaked early, but still had a fine career.  He was drafted by Boston in the third round in 1982, got a September call-up in 1985, and came up to stay in late July of 1986.  He had a tremendous rookie season in 1987, batting .328/.386/.570 and finishing fourth in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Mark McGwire, Kevin Seitzer, and Matt Nokes).  He posted similar numbers in 1988, but never had an OPS over .900 again.  His power just never quite developed.  After hitting 19 homers as a rookie and 22 the next season, he never topped fifteen the rest of his career.  He remained a good, productive player when healthy, but missed significant time in 1992, 1994, and 1996 due to injury.  He signed to play in Japan in 1997, but the injury problems persisted and he played in only seven games for Hanshin before ending his career.  It was a pretty good career, though--in twelve seasons, all with the Red Sox, Greenwell batted .303/.368/463 with 130 home runs.  At last report, he owned a ranch in Florida and also owned an amusement park, Mike Greenwell's Bat-a-Ball and Family Fun Park, in Cape Coral, Florida.