TEXAS 11, MINNESOTA 6 IN TEXAS (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)
Date: Friday, June 27.
Batting stars: Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his eighth), and a run. Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eighth) and a walk. Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his nineteenth).
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Jeff Russell pitched four shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and a walk with one strikeout. Ruben Sierra was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his tenth), a stolen base (his seventh), and a walk, scoring twice. Scott Fletcher was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times.
The game: The Twins had leads of 1-0, 3-2, and 6-4, but couldn't hold them. Texas took the lead with a five-run fourth. With two on and two out, George Frazier came in to relieve Joe Niekro. He gave up a three-run homer to Sierra, walked Pete O'Brien, and gave up a two-run homer to Larry Parrish, leaving Texas up 9-6. The Twins did not get a man past first base the rest of the game.
Of note: Greg Gagne batted second and went 1-for-5 with a home run, his fifth...Puckett raised his average to .344...Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 and raised his average to .330...Niekro pitched 3.2 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on four hits and five walks with three strikeouts...Texas starter Edwin Correa pitched five innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on ten hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 42-31, in first place, two games ahead of Oakland.
Player profile: I don't remember a lot about Jeff Russell, but he had a pretty substantial career. He was drafted by Cincinnati in the fifth round in 1979 and came up to the Reds in 1983. He was a starting pitcher then, and in his first full season (1984), he led the league in losses, going 6-18, although his other numbers suggest that he didn't have a lot of luck that year. The Rangers acquired him in July of 1985 and moved him to the bullpen in 1986. He had a pretty good year there, but did not do well in 1987 (this game notwithstanding) and was back in the rotation in 1988. He did pretty well there, even making the all-star team, but moved back to the bullpen in 1989 and started several years of fine pitching there. He led the league in saves with 38 in 1989, struggled through an injury-marred 1990, but then had around 30 saves a year through 1993, posting fine ERAs and WHIPs each year. He was traded to Oakland in August of 1992 and signed with Boston for 1993. He did well that season, but had a poor 1994 split between Boston and Cleveland. He signed back with Texas in 1995 and had a couple of decent years with them, but was not the pitcher he once had been. For his career, he was 56-73, 3.75, 1.35 WHIP with 186 saves. He made two all-star teams (1988-89) and was ninth in Cy Young voting in 1989. He's apparently remembered fondly with the Rangers, as he was inducted into their Hall of Fame in 2015. In recent years, he has been the pitching coach of the Texas AirHogs in the American Association.