Monthly Archives: January 2017

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Four

MINNESOTA 5, OAKLAND 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Friday, July 31.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his twenty-first) and a double, scoring twice.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a run and an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Jeff Reardon retired all five men he faced striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jose Canseco was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) and two RBIs.  Luis Polonia was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI.  Carney Lansford was 2-for-4 with a run.

The game:  Canseco homered in the fourth to put Oakland ahead 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the sixth with an RBI single by Kent Hrbek and a three-run homer by Gaetti.  The Athletics got one back in the bottom of the sixth on a Canseco single.  They closed to 4-3 in the eighth when Polonia drove in a run with a double.  That brought on Reardon, and he slammed the door, retiring all five men he faced.  Randy Bush drove in an insurance run with a pinch-hit single in the ninth.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 with a run, dropping his average to .325...Greg Gagne batted second in this game, with Steve Lombardozzi batting eighth...Dennis Lamp started for Oakland and went six innings, giving up four runs on five hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 56-48, in first place, 2.5 games ahead of California.

We will try to resume player profiles some time next week.

Keeping Track

Winter Wonderland: Games of January 13

VENEZUELAN LEAGUE

ANZOATEGUI 7, ZULIA 1 IN ANZOATEGUI

Anzoategui scored four in the third, three of them on a home run by Denis Phipps, to take a 4-1 lead.  Reynaldo Rodriguez was 0-for-3 with a walk for Zulia.  Yohan Pino pitched 4.2 innings for Anzoategui, giving up one run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Phipps was 3-for-4 and drove in four runs.

The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1.

LARA 9, LA GUAIRA 5 IN LARA

Lara trailed 3-0 going to the bottom of the sixth, when they scored five times to go ahead to stay.  Rangel Ravelo had a two-run double and Carlos Rivero had a three-run double in the inning.  Lara added four more in the seventh to take control of the game.

The best-of-seven series is tied 1-1.

DOMINICAN LEAGUE

GIGANTES 5, ESCOGIDO 3 IN ESCOGIDO

The Gigantes scored two in the fourth and two in the eighth to take a 4-1 lead.  Jorge Polanco was 2-for-4 with a run for Escogido.  Ernesto Zaragoza pitched 5.2 innings for the Gigantes, giving up one run on five hits and no walks with four strikeouts.  Ketel Marte was 3-for-5 with a triple and an RBI.  Moises Sierra hit a home run for the Gigantes.

AGUILAS 6, LICEY 0 AT AGUILAS

The Aguilas scored two in the third, two in the sixth, and two in the eighth.  Danny Santana was 1-for-3 with two RBIs for the Aguilas.  Jose Urena struck out five in five shutout innings for the Aguilas, giving up five hits and a walk.  Juan Perez was 3-for-4 with a run and an RBI for the Aguilas.  Zoilo Almonte hit a two-run homer for the Aguilas.

STANDINGS

Agulias, 11-2
Licey, 6-8
Gigantes, 5-8
Escogido, 5-9

PUERTO RICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

MEXICAN LEAGUE

No games scheduled.

AUSTRALIAN LEAGUE

ADELAIDE 4, PERTH 3 IN ADELAIDE (GAME 1--7 INNINGS)

Adelaide built a 4-1 lead in the first two innings and held on.  Perth advanced the tying run in to scoring position in both the sixth and seventh.  Jordan Cowan hit a two-run homer in the first inning and Angus Roeger and Jordan McArdle each hit a solo homer in the second.

PERTH 5, ADELAIDE 3 IN ADELAIDE

Perth trailed 3-2 after seven but rallied for three in the eighth to win.  Michael Lee pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

CANBERRA 8, MELBOURNE 1 IN CANBERRA

Already leading 4-0, Canberra scored four in the eighth to put the game out of reach.  Sean Guinard walked seven in 7.1 innings, but only gave up one run because he only gave up two hits and struck out six.  David Kandilas was 3-for-4 with a walk and two runs for Canberra.  River Stevens was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs for Canberra.  Josh Almonte hit a home run for Canberra and drove in five runs (not all on the home run--that would be a record).

BRISBANE 7, SYDNEY 6 IN BRISBANE

Trailing 4-1, Brisbane scored five in the third to take the lead, getting home runs by Trent Oeltjen and Mitch Nilsson in the inning.  Aaron Whitefield was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs for Brisbane and is now batting .350.  Logan Wade was 1-for-4 with a double and a run for Brisbane.  David Sutherland was 4-for-4 with two RBIs for Brisbane.

Keeping Track

1987 Rewind: Game One Hundred Three

SEATTLE 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN SEATTLE

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching star:  Les Straker pitched three innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits and a walk with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Alvin Davis was 3-for-3 with two home runs (his twelfth and thirteenth), a double, and a walk, driving in four.  Mike Kingery was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and a stolen base (his seventh), driving in two.  Lee Guetterman pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and a walk with one strikeout.

The game:  The Mariners scored three in the first to take the early lead.  The Twins cut it to 3-2 in the top of the third, but Davis hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the third to put Seattle up by three again.  Davis hit another two-run homer in the fifth to make it 7-2 and put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Puckett raised his average to .328...Gene Larkin was used at DH...Starter Mike Smithson pitched five innings, giving up seven runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts...It seems likely that Straker was used in relief because the next day was an off day and he was going to be skipped in the rotation.  Skipping guys and using them in relief doesn't seem to happen as often as it used to, but when you really only have two starting pitchers you can rely on it makes sense to keep them on regular rest and use them as often as you can.

Record:  The Twins were 55-48, in first place by two games over Oakland.  They seem to have been exactly two games ahead of Oakland for quite some time now.

I hope to get back to doing player profiles, because I find them interesting and fun, but it probably won't be for a week or so.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–January 14

Billy Meyer (1892)
Smead Jolley (1902)
Phil Piton (1903)
Chet Brewer (1907)
Sonny Siebert (1937)
Dave Campbell (1942)
Ron Clark (1943)
Derrel Thomas (1951)
Wayne Gross (1952)
Terry Forster (1952)
Mike Pelfrey (1984)
Erick Aybar (1984)
J. R. Graham (1990)

Billy Meyer won 1,604 games as a minor league manager, mostly in the Yankees organization.

Phil Piton was president of the National Association of Professional Baseball Leagues from 1964-1971.

Chet Brewer was a star pitcher in the Negro Leagues known for his mastery of throwing scuffed baseballs.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–January 14 →