MINNESOTA 7, CHICAGO 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 19.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fifteenth) and a walk, scoring twice.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring once and driving in one.  Roy Smalley was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched five innings, giving up one run on six hits and no walks with one strikeout.  Jeff Reardon pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Greg Walker was 4-for-4 with a double and a hit-by-pitch, scoring twice.  Jerry Hairston was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit three run homer, his second.  Donnie Hill was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once.

The game:  Hrbek hit a two-run homer in a three-run first.  The Twins led 4-1 after five, but Chicago scored four in the sixth to take the lead.  Randy Niemann came in to start the inning and gave up two walks and a hit batsman, loading the bases.  He got Daryl Boston to hit into a force out at home, but George Frazier then came in and, after allowing a run to score on a wild pitch, gave up a three-run homer to pinch-hitter Hairston to make it 5-4 White Sox.  In the sixth, Randy Bush delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to give the Twins the lead back, but a sacrifice fly by Ozzie Guillen in the eighth tied it 6-6.  Tim Laudner settled things by leading off the ninth with a walkoff home run.

Of note:  Laudner's home run came was his seventh and came in his only at-bat, as he entered the game after Bush pinch-hit for Sal Butera.  Puckett raised his average to .330.  Smalley was batting .316.  Gene Larkin went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run to make his average .313.  Chicago starter Richard Dotson pitched 5.1 innings, giving up six runs on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 38-28, in first place by three games over Kansas City and Oakland.

Notes:  Gaetti was out of the lineup for his third straight game.  Smalley was at third base with Larkin at DH...This would be the next-to-last of Niemann's six appearances with the Twins.

Player profile:  1987 was the last good year Greg Walker would have.  Drafted by Philadelphia in the 20th round in 1977, he came to the White Sox after the 1979 season in the Rule 5 draft.  He hit very well in the White Sox' organization and made his major league debut as a September call-up in 1982.  He started 1983 with Chicago and was there to stay.  He had a solid rookie season, but his best year was 1984, when he batted .294/.346/.532 with 24 home runs.  He hit 24 homers again in 1985 but his other numbers were down, though still respectable.  He missed some of 1986 due to injury, but posted an OPS of over .800 both in that year and in 1987.  He was having a down year in 1988, then suffered a life-threatening seizure at the end of July, ending his season.  He came back in 1989 but wasn't very good and was released in April of 1990.  He signed with Baltimore but was released again in early July, ending his playing career.  He was a long-time minor and major league coach after his playing career ended.  In 2015 he was a special assistant the the general manager of the Atlanta Braves, but he is not currently listed as such on their website.  For his career, Greg Walker batted .260/.326 /.449 with 113 home runs in 3,177 at-bat.  Not bad for a twentieth round draft choice.