BOSTON 7, MINNESOTA 6 IN BOSTON (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, June 3.

Batting stars:  Roy Smalley was 4-for-5 with a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Mark Salas was 2-for-4 with two runs and an RBI.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitching star:  Les Straker pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks while striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring three times.  Jim Rice was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and two walks, scoring once.  Calvin Schiraldi pitched two shutout innings, giving up only a walk.

The game:  The Twins led 6-2 after seven.  In the eighth, however, George Frazier gave up a homer to Rice and walked Greenwell.  Keith Atherton came in and retired the first two men he faced, but then walked one, hit one, and walked in a run to make it 6-4 before getting out of the inning.  Jeff Reardon came on to pitch the ninth.  He struck out Wade Boggs but walked Rice and gave up a two-run homer to Greenwell to tie it 6-6.  Joe Klink came on to pitch the tenth.  A walk and a single put men on first and second with two out.  Boggs then grounded a single between second and first to bring home the winning run.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5, raising his average to .327...Reardon's ERA went up to 7.96 and he had his sixth blown save...Boston starter Bob Stanley pitched six innings, allowing five runs on ten hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 27-25, tied with Seattle for second, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Steve Lombardozzi batted second in this game, with Greg Gagne dropping to ninth...Roy Smalley was the third baseman, with Gary Gaetti getting the day off.  Larkin was the DH...This was the last game Salas would start at catcher for the Twins.  He made two more appearances in a reserve role before being traded.

Player profile:  Calvin Schiraldi did not quite come out of nowhere to be the Red Sox' closer in their pennant-winning year of 1986, but pretty close.  He had made fifteen appearances from 1984-1985 for the Mets and had been pretty terrible:  2-3, 7.63, 1.92 WHIP.  He was traded to Boston after the 1986 season and started the year at Pawtucket.  He did very well there and came up to the Red Sox in late July, becoming their closer after just five appearances as the setup man.  He went 9-for-9 in save opportunities.  He did not repeat his performance in 1987, and kind of lost the closer role to Wes Gardner, although nobody got many saves for the Red Sox that year--the team only had sixteen saves total, with Gardner getting ten and Schiraldi six.  He was never a closer again, getting only six more saves in his career.  Traded to the Cubs after the 1987 season, he was put into their starting rotation in 1988 and did okay, though nothing special.  He was back in the bullpen in 1989 and did okay there, too, but was traded to San Diego at the August deadline.  They put him in the rotation in September and he did very well there, although he obviously did not go very deep into the games.  He did not have a good year in 1990, however, and was released after the season.  He signed with Houston for 1991, did not do well in AAA, and finished up the season with Texas.  Overall his career is not that great, but he had that two-month stretch in 1986 where he was awesome, and older Red Sox fans will always remember him for that.  At last report, Calvin Schiraldi was the baseball coach at St. Michael's Catholic Academy in Austin, Texas.

BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN BOSTON

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eleventh.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Mark Portugal pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up no hits and three walks while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Wade Boggs was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks, scoring once and driving in one.  Bill Buckner was 1-for-3 with two walks and three RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk, driving in one.

The game:  A single and four walks (one intentional) plated two runs for the Red Sox in the first inning.  The built a 4-0 lead through four, but the Twins rallied.  Brunansky hit a solo homer in the fifth and Hrbek hit a three-run shot in the sixth to tie it 4-4.  In the eighth a walk, a single, and a wild pitch put Minnesota up 5-4.  Jeff Reardon came on and retired the side in order in the bottom of the eighth.  In the ninth, however, a single and a double put men on second and third with one out.  Dwight Evans popped up, but Bill Buckner delivered a two-run single to center to win the game for the Bostons.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base (his eighth) and a run...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 with a run and is batting .325...Juan Berenguer started but lasted only 3.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits and nine walks...Boston's starter was John Leister, who pitched 5.1 innings and gave up four runs on five hits and one walk with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 27-24, tied for second with Seattle, 1.5 games behind Kansas City.

Notes:  Greg Gagne was again the second-place batter.

Player profile:  You can be forgiven if you don't remember John Leister, as this was one of only ten major league games in which he appeared.  He was chosen in the third round of the January Secondary draft in 1984 by Boston.  He started in Class A and advanced a level a year reaching AAA by 1986.  This was only his second major league start--he had lasted just two innings in his first one, but here he pitched well other than the home run balls.  He would make one more start, then two relief appearances, then be sent back to AAA.  He had a good season in Pawtucket, going 11-5, 3.77, 1.29 WHIP, and made three more starts for Boston as a September call-up.  He was back in Pawtucket for all of 1988 and 1989, doing okay but nothing special.  He began 1990 in Boston but made only two appearances, one starting and one in relief, before being sent back to Pawtucket.  He had a poor year there and his playing career ended.  When people talk about players spending their entire career with one team, John Leister isn't who they have in mind, but he did it.  His record in the majors isn't much:  0-2, 8.50, 2.00 WHIP.  He did have one very good game, in September of 1987, when he pitched 7.1 innings against Baltimore and gave up two runs on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts.  He also had success in football, as he was the starting quarterback for Michigan State for three years and played for the USFL's Michigan Panthers.  He was the head baseball coach at Alma College from 1997-2007 and was the school's athletic director from 2007-2014.  At last report, John Leister was helping coach football at Chesaning Union High School in Chesaning, Michigan.