TEXAS 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN TEXAS

Date:  Wednesday, September 30.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Dan Gladden was 0-for-3 with two walks and a run.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks with six strikeouts.  Steve Carlton pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Witt struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and eight walks.  Jerry Browne was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base (his twenty-seventh), scoring once.  Pete Incaviglia was 2-for-3 with a double and a run.

The game:  Two singles and a Pete O'Brien sacrifice fly gave Texas a 1-0 lead in the first.  The Twins tied it in the third on Puckett's RBI single.  There was no more scoring until the seventh, when a sacrifice fly by Tom O'Malley put the Rangers up 2-1.  Hrbek had a one-out double in the eighth, but he did not move past second and the Twins did not get any closer.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop replacing Greg Gagne...Roy Smalley played third base replacing Gary Gaetti...Puckett's average dropped to .328...The Twins had only four hits, but stranded nine baserunners because they drew eight walks...With eight walks and eleven strikeouts, Witt must have thrown a ton of pitches.

Record:  The Twins were 85-74, in first place by five games over Kansas City.  On the other end of the standings, the White Sox, who had been in last place pretty much all season, defeated California 5-2 to move into a tie for fifth.