BOSTON 9, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Jeff Sellers pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.  Wade Boggs was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixteenth) and a walk, driving in four.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third, when Boggs hit a two-run homer and Greenwell a solo blast to put Boston up 3-0.  The Red Sox added two in the fifth, two in the seventh, and two in the ninth.  The Twins had only five hits, all singles.  Their biggest threat came in the first inning, when one-out singles by Puckett and Kent Hrbek put men on first and second.  Gary Gaetti hit into a double play to end the inning.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Brunansky in left and Randy Bush in right...Greg Gagne led off, with Puckett batting second and Hrbek third...Puckett raised his average to .329...Joe Niekro started and pitched four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout...The Twins got through the game with only three pitchers, as Dan Schatzeder worked three innings and George Frazier two...This was the second and last shutout of Jeff Sellers' career.  The other came against Oakland on July 3 of this season.  He would have another complete game in his next start, but would have only one more in his career.  It should be noted, however, that in his last start of 1987 he pitched eleven innings.

Record:  The Twins were 69-64, in first place by a half-game over Oakland, which defeated the Yankees 8-3.