OAKLAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Saturday, August 1.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with an RBI.  Tim Laudner was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Dave Stewart struck out fourteen in a complete game, giving up two runs on eight hits and a walk.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.  Tony Bernazard was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk, driving in one.

The game:  In the second, Steve Henderson scored from first on a Bernazard double to put the Athletics ahead 1-0.  The Twins did not score until the eighth, when Puckett tied the score with a sacrifice fly and Hrbek put the Twins ahead with a run-scoring single.  Alfredo Griffin tied it in the bottom of the eighth with an RBI single.  In the ninth, Lansford hit a leadoff walkoff homer.

Of note:  Puckett's average was .325 after this game...Greg Gagne batted second, with Steve Lombardozzi dropping to eighth...This is another time where a starter probably would not be allowed to finish in today's game.  Stewart probably would've been replaced after giving up a double to Dan Gladden to start the eighth and almost certainly after walking pinch-hitter Randy Bush.  Viola would almost certainly have been removed after starting the eighth by hitting Terry Steinbach and walking Tony Bernazard, if indeed he'd even have been allowed to start the inning.  This is not to say which is better or worse, but the game has definitely changed.

Record:  The Twins were 56-49, in first place by 1.5 games over California.

We hope to resume player profiles late this week or early next week.