BOSTON 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN BOSTON

Date:  Saturday, August 22.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his twenty-sixth.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his twenty-second) and two runs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a walk and a run.

Pitching star:  George Frazier pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a triple, driving in two.  Dave Henderson was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eighth) and two RBIs.  Wade Boggs was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-first) and a walk.

The game:  The Red Sox built a 5-1 lead through five innings.  The Twins battled back, scoring without a hit in the sixth and then getting a three-run homer from Gaetti in the seventh to tie it 5-5.  With two out and none on in the seventh, starter Les Straker gave up a home run to Boggs to put the Bostons back in front.  The Twins did not threaten after that.

Of note:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with an RBI to raise his average to .313...Al Newman was again at shortstop, although Greg Gagne came in late in the game when Newman was removed for a pinch-hitter...Straker pitched 6.2 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts.  It seems strange that he was still in the game in the seventh.  On the other hand, the Twins were coming off some short starts, they didn't exactly have a shutdown bullpen, and Straker had retired five in a row before the Boggs homer, and Boggs hadn't hit the ball out of the infield prior to his home run.  It's hard to say, thirty years later, that it was the wrong decision.  It does seem unusual, though.

Record:  The Twins were 66-59, in first place by two games over Oakland, and had lost five in a row.  I don't specifically remember, but it seems like Twins fans were probably starting to get pretty nervous at this point.

We hope to resume player profiles later this week.