MINNESOTA 4, SEATTLE 3 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Monday, July 27.

Batting stars:  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twentieth.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits and no walks with seven strikeouts.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mark Langston pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.  Jim Presley was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixteenth.  Donell Nixon was 3-for-4 with two stolen bases (his twelfth and thirteenth) and a run.

The game:  Harold Reynolds opened the scoring with a home run in the third and Presley hit a two-run shot in the sixth to give the Mariners a 3-0 lead.  It looked like that would be enough, as Langston blanked the Twins for eight innings.  In the ninth, however, Gagne led off with an infield single, Dan Gladden walked, and Lombardozzi hit a three-run homer to tie the score.  Langston left and Edwin Nunez came in.  He retired Kirby Puckett on a fly ball, but Gaetti homered to put the Twins in front.  Seattle did not go quietly in the ninth.  Reardon retired the first two batters, but Dave Valle doubled.  Manager Dick Williams did not pinch-run for his catcher and it may have cost him, because Rey Quinones singled to center and Valle was thrown out at the plate by Puckett, ending the game.  I don't know how fast Valle was, but he had five career stolen bases in thirteen seasons.

Of note:  Lombardozzi was in the second spot in the order...Puckett was back in center field...Gene Larkin was used as the DH...All seven runs in this game were scored on home runs.  I wonder what the highest number of runs is in a game in which all the runs came on home runs.

Record:  The Twins were 55-46, in first place by two games over Oakland.

Player profile:  Due to personal time constraints, there will be no player profiles for a couple more days.