MINNESOTA 9, CLEVELAND 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 18.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 2-for-3 with a home run (his tenth), a stolen base (his eighth) and a walk, driving in five.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-3 with a home run (his thirtieth), a triple, and a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-fifth) and a walk, driving in two.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out nine in eight innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on five hits and three walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Brook Jacoby was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer, his thirtieth.  Cory Snyder was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirty-second.  Julio Franco was 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his thirtieth.

The game:  Blyleven left a pitch up to Snyder in the third and he put the Indians up 1-0.  The solo homer didn't hurt the Twins, though, as they bounced back with two in the bottom of the third and took control with a four-run fourth.  Puckett homered in the third and Brunansky and Bush homered in the fourth, with Bush hitting a two-run shot.  Bush hit a two-run single in the sixth to make it 8-1.  Cleveland scored two in the seventh and one in the eighth but never really got back into the game.

Of note:  Bush was again at first base and batting third, with Kent Hrbek remaining out of the lineup...Puckett batted fourth and raised his average to .327...Cleveland's starter was Darrel Akerfelds.  He lasted four innings, allowing six runs (three earned) on six hits and three walks with one strikeout.

Record:  The Twins were 78-70, in first place by 3.5 games over Oakland, who defeated Kansas City 4-0.