KANSAS CITY 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY
Date: Friday, October 1.
Batting stars: Kirby Puckett was 4-for-4 with a run. Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with two RBIs. Greg Gagne was 1-for-3 with two runs.
Pitching stars: Juan Berenguer struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Jeff Reardon pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Bret Saberhagen pitched a complete game, giving up three runs (two earned) on nine hits and no walks with four strikeouts. Scotti Madison was 3-for-4 with three doubles and a run. Danny Tartabull was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his thirty-third homer.
The game: It was scoreless until the fourth, when Puckett doubled and Hrbek singled to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Puckett had a run-scoring infield single in the fifth to make it 2-0. The Royals took the lead in the fifth. A double, a walk, and a Willie Wilson single plated the first run, an error loaded the bases, and Tartabull launched a grand slam to put Kansas City up 5-2. Doubles by Madison and Wilson made it 6-2 in the sixth. The Twins got one more, in the eighth, on two singles and a Hrbek sacrifice fly, but did not get the tying run up to bat.
Notes: Puckett raised his average to .333...Randy Bush was the DH in this game, going 0-for-4...Tartabull hit five home runs against the Twins in 1987, tied for the most he hit against any team (Texas). For his career, Tartabull hit thirty homers against the Twins, the second most he hit against any team (Oakland, 32). For his career he batted .281/.380/.565 against the Twins, compared to his career totals of .261/.361/.471. His .945 career OPS against Minnesota was his third highest, behind the White Sox and Oakland...These were the first three doubles of Scotti Madison's career, in his thirteenth career game. He would go on to play in 71 major league games. The three doubles he hit in this game were one-fourth of his career total. In case you've forgotten, Madison was in the Twins' organization from 1980-81, traded to the Dodgers along with Paul Voigt for Bobby Mitchell and Bobby Castillo.
Record: The Twins were 85-75, in first place by four games over Kansas City.