MINNESOTA 8, DETROIT 5 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, October 7.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 2-for-3 with two home runs and a walk, scoring three times. Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in three. Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
Pitching star: Jeff Reardon struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Mike Heath was 2-for-3 with a home run and two RBIs. Kirk Gibson was 1-for-4 with a home run and a walk, scoring twice. Chet Lemon was 2-for-3 with an RBI.
The game: This wasn't supposed to go well for the Twins. Yes, they were at home, and they'd done well there. But the Twins had just lost five straight games, and they were facing Doyle Alexander, who had been almost unbeatable since being traded from Detroit.
Gaetti homered in the second to put the Twins ahead 1-0, but Heath homered in the third to tie it 1-1. Gaetti homered again to lead off the fifth, and this time more was to follow. Randy Bush tripled and Brunansky doubled to make it 3-1 and, with two out, Gladden singled to put the Twins up 4-1. Gibson homered in the sixth to cut the lead to 4-2 and the Tigers opened the seventh with three singles, loading the bases with none out. Frank Viola struck out Tom Brookens but gave up a single to Heath, making it 4-3. Lou Whitaker hit into a force out and Bill Madlock grounded out, so the Twins remained in front. In the eighth, however, a walk and a double put men on second and third with none out and sacrifice flies by Dave Bergman and Lemon put the Tigers ahead for the first time at 5-4. The Twins rallied in the eighth. Gladden led off the eight with a single. Greg Gagne popped up a bunt, but Kirby Puckett doubled home the tying run anyway. That led to Mike Henneman replacing Alexander. He gave an intentional walk to Kent Hrbek and an accidental walk to Gaetti, loading the bases. Willie Hernandez came in to pitch and gave up an RBI single to Don Baylor, putting the Twins in front, and a two-run double to Brunansky, giving the Twins an 8-5 lead. Reardon, who had come in with runners second and third in the eighth and gave up the two sacrifice flies, gave up a leadoff single to Johnny Grubb in the ninth. He struck out Matt Nokes but walked Whitaker to bring up the tying run with Madlock and Gibson coming to bat. Reardon struck out both of them to seal the win for the Twins.
Notes: Bush started the game at DH, with Baylor coming in as a pinch-hitter in the eighth...Gaetti hit a home run in each of his first two LCS at-bats...Viola pitched seven innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and a walk with six strikeouts...Alexander pitched 7.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and no walks with five strikeouts.
Record: The Twins led the best-of-seven series 1-0.
I take no responsibility for anyone's lost productivity.
Why were the Twins hosting? Was it an alternating schedule between East and West, much like the World Series was between AL/NL?
I believe that was the case at the time. Detroit not only had the better record, but also won the season series.
You're correct. (I had the same wonder as Philos yesterday.) Home field advantage for the ALCS was awarded to the team with the best record starting in 1998. Hosting alternated between divisions from inception to 1993. That alternation is perhaps one other piece of the Twins' good fortune in 1987.
What happened from 94 to 97?
Baseball died until Sammy Sosa saved it.
Aw, poor Mark Mcgwire.
I went in favor of alliteration.
I can't argue with that. Always go in favor of alliteration.
I watched this a couple months ago. Some observations:
The announcers referred to the turf as creating "kangaroo bounces" that led to the plexiglass being installed to prevent so many ground-rule doubles.
"Viola is bringing the heat today." Compared to pitchers today Viola looks like he's pitching in slow motion.
They repeatedly said Hrbek is the best first baseman in the league at going back on pop-ups. I believe others here have sad similarly. The Metrodome did have a lot of foul ground so I wonder if he got more practice.
Laudner's strikeout rate was referred to as "embarrassing." He struck out once every four plate appearances. That would not look out of place at all today. Dozier struck out once every five plate appearances last year and was an MVP candidate.
Not only was Plexiglas installed in left & left-center, but the playing surface was also changed from the original Superturf to Astroturf in 1987. Here's a LA Times article on the replacement from January 1987. (Apparently the old Superturf surface was glued to the concrete floor of the Dome, meaning it couldn't be removed for concerts or monster truck rallies.) This change must have satisfied the Twins; the Plexiglas was removed for the 1994 season.
Thanks to everyone for not pointing out an embarrassing spelling error which has been corrected. I do know the difference between "to" and "two". Sometimes my fingers go faster than my brain, which is not a terribly high bar for my fingers.
Hey, I attended this game!
I was at a school function during this game. I remember I was playing in the jazz band and the event was in the gym. They announced the score after Gaetti's first home run and the place went nuts. I had a portable transistor radio that I was able to listen to the game while we tore down after the event. I believe I was able to watch the eighth at home.