MINNESOTA 4, SEATTLE 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Monday, August 17.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one. Tom Brunansky was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-fifth. Al Newman was 0-for-1 with two walks and a run.
Pitching stars: Les Straker pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks with two strikeouts. Keith Atherton pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit while striking out one. Jeff Reardon retired all four men he faced, striking out two.
Opposition stars: Mark Langston pitched a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts. Jim Presley was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-first. Ken Phelps was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run.
The game: The Twins jumped on Langston for three in the first inning, as Gaetti hit an RBI double and Brunansky followed with a two-run homer. Presley hit a two-run homer in the fourth to cut the lead to 3-2. In the fifth, a walk, a double, and an error gave the Twins an insurance run. The Mariners threatened in the eighth, putting men on second and third with two out, but Reardon came in to strike out Gary Matthews. He then retired Seattle in order in the ninth.
Of note: Newman played short in place of Greg Gagne and batted second...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .317...Mark Davidson played right field, with Brunansky at DH...Gene Larkin played first base, with Kent Hrbek out of the lineup...This was the second consecutive complete game loss for a Mariners pitcher.
Record: The Twins were 66-54, in first place by five games over Oakland.
Player profile: Third baseman Jim Presley was nothing special, really, but he was a big league regular for six and a half seasons. Born and raised in Pensacola, Florida, he was drafted by Seattle in the fourth round in 1979. He spent two and a half seasons at AA and did not particularly improve over the course of them, but started 1984 in AAA anyway and was promoted to the majors in late June. He didn't do much for Seattle that year, but then had three seasons in which he was a fairly productive player. The best was 1985, when he hit .275/.324/.484 with 28 home runs. He made the all-star team in 1986, even though the numbers were not as good: .265/.303/.464 with 27 homers. He finished 21st in MVP voting that year, probably on the strength of having 107 RBIs. He went down farther in 1987: .247/.296/.433 with 24 homers. That was his last decent year. In 1988 he batted .230 with an OPS of .635. His playing time diminished somewhat in 1989 and then he was traded to Atlanta. He was a Brave for one season, doing a little better but not much, signed with San Diego for 1991, and was released in June. He finished out the year in AAA for Texas, not doing a whole lot, and then his playing career was over. He has stayed in baseball as a batting coach, and was the batting coach for Round Rock last season. His career numbers are .247/.290/.420 with 135 home runs. Again, he was nothing special, but he was a big league regular for six and a half years, and there aren't just a whole lot of people who can say that.