MINNESOTA 9, OAKLAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and two doubles, scoring four times and driving in two.  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Steve Carlton pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Steve Henderson was 2-for-3 with a walk and an RBI.  Alfredo Griffin was 1-for-3 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Luis Polonia was 1-for-3 with a triple and a run.

The game:  The first four batters for the Twins reached, as Dan Gladden walked, Greg Gagne singled, Puckett doubled, and Gaetti tripled.  It would've been really cool if Brunansky had followed with a home run, but he had an RBI ground out instead.  Still, it was 4-0 after one inning and Oakland never threatened to get back into the game.  They did not score until the ninth.  Carlton had retired eleven in a row going to the ninth inning, but with one out Oakland got a triple and three singles, scoring once and loading the bases.  Mark McGwire struck out, but when Henderson walked to force in a run Tom Kelly decided it was time for Carlton to come out, with George Frazier getting Reggie Jackson on a fly ball to end the game.

Of note:  Gagne batted second and was 2-for-5 with two runs...Puckett raised his average to .323...Gene Larkin was again the DH...Carlton had three complete games for Cleveland earlier in the season, but this was as close as he would come to getting one for the Twins...Oakland starter Curt Young pitched six innings, giving up seven runs (six earned) on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 60-52, in first place, three games ahead of Oakland.