KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, October 3.

Batting stars:  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-2 with a home run (his thirty-second) and a walk.  Billy Beane was 1-for-1 with a double.  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched seven innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on four hits and three walks with four strikeouts.  George Frazier pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Liebrandt pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.  Danny Tartabull was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-fourth) and two runs.  Kevin Seitzer was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one.

The game:  Don Baylor's RBI single put the Twins up 1-0 in the first.  Tartabull led off the second with an inside-the-park home run down the right field line, raising the issue of whether an inside-the-park home run is the result of leaving a pitch up.  The Royals added two in the fourth to make it 3-1 and Seitzer had an RBI double in the fifth to go up 4-1.  Brunansky led off the seventh with a home run to cut the lead to 4-2, but the Twins did not get the tying run on base at any point after that.

Notes:  Al Newman was the leadoff batter, with Dan Gladden dropping to the seventh spot...Newman played third base with Gary Gaetti out of the lineup...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .331.

Record:  The Twins were 85-76, in first place by three games over Kansas City.  In the East, Detroit defeated Toronto 3-2 in twelve innings to take a one-game lead in the division.  I seem to remember watching that game on the Game of the Week, although I don't remember anything specific about it.