BOSTON 11, MINNESOTA 3 IN BOSTON

Date:  Friday, August 21.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-sixth.  Roy Smalley was 1-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Roger Clemens struck out nine in 6.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and three walks.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-5 with a triple, scoring once and driving in three.  Dwight Evans was 3-for-4 with a walk, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  RBI singles by Evans and Greenwell put Boston up 2-0 in the first.  The Red Sox opened the fourth with four singles, which produced three runs and made the score 5-0.  Gary Gaetti singled in a run in the sixth to get the Twins on the board, but Boston got three in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Randy Bush was once again in the leadoff spot, this time in left field replacing Dan Gladden...Kirby Puckett was 1-for-5 with a run, making his average .312...Al Newman was at shortstop, replacing Greg Gagne and batting ninth...Frank Viola started for the Twins, pitching 4.1 innings and allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and two walks with four strikeouts...This was the fourth loss in a row by the Twins, all of them by big scores.  The Twins were outscored 37-6 over the four games.

Record:  The Twins were 66-58, in first place by three games over Oakland.

We hope to resume player profiles next week.