MINNESOTA 5, TEXAS 3 IN TEXAS

Date:  Monday, September 28.

Batting stars:  Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a home run (his eighth) and four RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks, scoring twice.  Tom Brunansky was 0-for-2 with two walks and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Joe Niekro pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks with two strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer retired all five men he faced.  Jeff Reardon pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit while striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Tom O'Malley was 3-for-3 with a double.  Scott Fletcher was 2-for-4 with a run.  Jose Guzman struck out nine in 7.2 innings but allowed four runs on seven hits and four walks.

The game:  This was the clincher, but it wasn't easy.  After retiring the first Texas batter, Niekro gave up a pair of singles, a wild pitch, a walk, another wild pitch, a sacrifice fly, and a single to give Texas a 3-0 lead.  He got it going after that, though, as those were the only runs Niekro would give up this night.  In the fourth, Lombardozzi hit a three-run homer to tie the game.  Both teams had threats, but there was no more scoring until the eighth.  Two singles and a walk resulted in the bases being loaded with one out.  Lombardozzi came through again, lining a single to right to bring home the go-ahead run.  Mitch Williams then balked to make it 5-3.  The Rangers got one more base runner, on a one-out single in the ninth by Oddibe McDowell, but Geno Petralli lined into a double play to end the game.  There was much rejoicing in Jeff A's apartment on Poplar Avenue in Pierre, SD, and presumably there was much rejoicing in the homes of others reading this as well.  The Twins had won the division for the first time since 1970.

Notes:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-5, making his average .329...The save was Reardon's thirty-first...The four RBIs were the most Lombardozzi had in a game all season.  He did not get his fourth RBI of the year until May 1.  The only other time in his career he had four RBIs in a game was August 5, 1988...Dan Gladden had two assists in this game, and they came on consecutive plays.  Petralli singled to short left and Gladden threw him out trying to stretch it into a double.  O'Malley followed with a single to left-center and Gladden threw hit out trying to stretch it into a double, too.  The next batter, Jerry Browne, hit a ground ball single to left and was content to stay on first base.

Record:  The Twins were 85-72, in first place by seven games over Kansas City.

MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 27.

Batting stars:  Al Newman was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-eighth.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-first) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and two walks while striking out eight.

Opposition stars:  Danny Tartabull was 2-for-4 with a home run, his thirty-second.  Steve Farr struck out five in 4.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and no walks.

The game:  This is the one that clinched a tie for the division.  My main memory of it is that our local TV station that carried the Twins had technical difficulties for the first half-hour of the game, which means that I basically missed the game being decided, as the Twins ambushed Kansas City starter Charlie Liebrandt in the first inning.

Dan Gladden led off the first with a fly out, but then Newman doubled, Puckett homered, and Gaetti homered to make it 3-0.  Tom Brunansky grounded out, but Don Baylor singled and Kent Hrbek hit a two-run homer.  It was 5-0 after one inning and the Twins were never threatened the rest of the game.  Newman singled home a run in the second to make it 6-0.  In the fourth, Blyleven left a pitch up to Tartabull to put the Royals on the board, but it was the only run they would get.  In fact, they would not get a man past first base after that.  The Twins added two runs in the eighth to put the icing on the cake.

Notes:  Newman was at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi...With the Royals on the brink of elimination, manager John Wathan was apparently not worried about abusing his relief pitchers.  Farr, who had pitched 4.1 innings Friday, again pitched 4.1 innings just two days later.  John Davis, who had pitched two innings Saturday, pitched 2.1 the next day...Liebrandt lasted only two-thirds of an inning, giving up five runs on five hits with no walks and no strikeouts.  As we all know, Liebrandt, who was a fine pitcher, also lost to the Twins in Game Six of the 1991 World Series, meaning that he was a key figure in both of the Twins World Championship years...I could not quickly find if the Twins have ever hit more than three home runs in the first inning of a game.  It would be cool if someone had the time to look that up.

Record:  The Twins were 84-72, in first place by six games over Kansas City.