MINNESOTA 2, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, September 4.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-third.  Randy Bush was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Billy Beane was 1-for-1 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer pitched four shutout innings, giving up five hits and no walks with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Greg Brock was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a walk.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-6 with a double.  Len Barker pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

The game:  There were no runs, and very few hits, until the seventh, when Puckett led off with a home run to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but Puckett grounded back to the pitcher to end the inning.  In the bottom of the ninth, Rob Deer led off with a ground rule double and scored on Dale Sveum's one-out single to tie it 1-1.  In the bottom of the twelfth, Dan Plesac, who came in with one out in the eleventh, hit Gary Gaetti with a pitch.  Tom Nieto, back with the team as a September call-up, pinch-hit for Roy Smalley and singled, putting men on first and second.  Tom Brunansky hit into a fielder's choice, but an error the fielder didn't really choose to make resulted in bases loaded and none out.  A strikeout and a popup made it look like the threat might be for naught, but Beane, who was a September call-up and was in his first major league at-bat of the season, lined a single to center to win the game for the Twins.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Bush again in right and Brunansky in left.  Bush was in the leadoff spot...Roy Smalley was the DH, with Don Baylor used as a pinch-hitter in the tenth...Puckett raised his average to .329...With the expanded rosters, Tom Kelly used three pinch-hitters (Baylor, Gene Larkin, and Nieto) and three pinch-runners (Mark Davidson, Al Newman, and Chris Pittaro).

Record:  The Twins were 72-64, in first place by three games over Oakland, who lost to Boston 5-2.

Player profile:  When people criticize sabremetrics and "moneyball" as something for stat nerds, they never mention that Billy Beane was a major league player, appearing in 148 games over six seasons.  An outfielder, he was drafted by the Mets with the second pick of the 1980 draft.  He reached AA by age twenty and clearly wasn't ready for it, but by his third year there, in 1984, he hit .281/.352/.490 with twenty home runs.  He got a September call-up that season but was in AAA in 1985, batting .284/.341/.480 with 19 homers and 34 doubles.  You'd think a guy with those AAA numbers might get a shot at the big-leagues, but the Mets had George Foster, Mookie Wilson, and Darryl Strawberry in their outfield, so Beane had to settle for another September call-up.  That off-season, he was traded to the Twins with Joe Klink and Bill Latham for Pat Crosby and Tim Teufel.  The Twins had Brunansky and Puckett in the outfield, but one would think Beane might have been a good platoon partner for Bush.  As it turned out, though, of his 183 at-bats, only 88 came against left-handed pitchers.  He wasn't terrible against them, batting .261, but that was as good as it would get for him.  He was back in AAA in 1987, getting just another September call-up, and was traded to Detroit before the 1988 campaign for Balvino Galvez.  He started the season with the Tigers but rarely played, getting only six at-bats in April before being sent down.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with Oakland.  He was with the team most of the season but again rarely played, getting only 79 at-bats in 39 games.  That brought an end to his playing career, and you don't need me to tell you about his post-playing career.  His career major league numbers are .219/.246/.296.  He had fine AAA seasons from 1985-87, though, and one wonders what he might have done if he'd gotten a real chance in the majors.  I don't think he'd have been a star or anything, but I don't think he'd have been the worst outfielder in the league, either.

MINNESOTA 2, BOSTON 1 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, September 3.

Batting stars:  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his fourteenth), driving in one.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-second.  Gene Larkin was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out eleven in nine innings, giving up one run on six hits and four walks.  Keith Atherton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Calvin Schiraldi struck out eleven in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-5 with a double and a run.  Marty Barrett was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Each team threatened in the first, but failed to score.  The Red Sox put together a two-out threat in the sixth, but nothing came of it.  As a result, it was a scoreless tie until the ninth, when Greenwell walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ed Romero.  The first two Twins in the ninth went out, and the Twins win-expectancy was at five percent, when Puckett homered to tie it up 1-1.  Boston got men to second and third with two out in the tenth, but Todd Benzinger grounded out to end the inning.  In the bottom of the tenth, Larkin hit a one-out double and Randy Bush was intentionally walked.  Pinch-hitter Roy Smalley was accidentally walked, loading the bases, and Newman drew a walkoff walk to win it for the Twins.

Of note:  Newman led off and played second base, replacing Steve Lombardozzi...Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Bush in right and Tom Brunansky in left...Don Baylor made his Twins debut as DH, going 1-for-4...Larkin was at first base, with Kent Hrbek out of the lineup...This was the only start Calvin Schiraldi made in 1987.  He had been the Red Sox' closer at the end of 1986 and the start of 1987.  He made 47 starts in his career, with 27 of them coming in 1988, when he played for the Cubs...In thirty-seven starts in 1987, Blyleven had seven in which he did not leave a pitch up.  This is the last of those seven.

Record:  The Twins were 71-64, in first place by two games over Oakland, who was idle this day.