BOSTON 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, April 30.
Batting stars: Scott Leius was 2-for-2 with a two-run homer, a walk, and two runs. Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Carlos Quintana was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer. Jack Clark was 2-for-4. Mike Greenwell was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer (his third), a double, and two runs.
The game: The Red Sox opened the scoring in the second. Clark led off with a single, Ellis Burks doubled, and Tom Brunansky hit a two-run single to give Boston a 2-0 lead. It went to 4-0 in the third, as Jody Reed hit a one-out single followed by Greenwell's two-run homer.
The Twins got back into the game in the bottom of the third. Gene Larkin singled and Leius hit a two-run homer. It did not kill the rally, as Gladden got a one-out single and scored on Chuck Knoblauch's double to cut the lead to 4-3.
The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the fifth on a single, an error, and a walk, but a force out and a double play ended the inning. The Red Sox put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but a fly out and a pop up took care of that. In the bottom of the seventh, the Twins took their only lead of the game. With one out, Leius walked, Greg Gagne singled, and Gladden delivered a two-run double to make it 5-4 Twins.
The lead didn't last long. Greenwell led off the eighth with a double. With one out, Burks walked. Tom Brunansky popped up and it looked like the Twins might get out of it, but Quintana hit a three-run homer to give Boston a 7-5 advantage. That was pretty much it, as the only offense the Twins could manage after that was a two-out single by Randy Bush in the eighth.
WP: Jeff Gray (1-1). LP: Steve Bedrosian (2-1). S: Jeff Reardon (8).
Notes: Kirby Puckett was again in center, with Larkin in right. Shane Mack came in for defense in the eighth, playing center with Puckett moving to right. When the Twins fell behind, Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the bottom of the eighth and stayed in the game in right field, with Puckett moving back to center.
Larkin was 1-for-3 and was batting .387. Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .342. Knoblauch was 1-for-5 and was batting .333. Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .327. Gagne was 1-for-3 and was batting .302. Chili Davis was 0-for-4 and was batting .302.
On the other hand, Al Newman went 0-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .158. Bush was 1-for-1 as a pinch-hitter and was batting .167. Kent Hrbek was 0-for-4 and closed out April batting .182. Gladden raised his average to .188.
Neither starting pitcher did that well, although they both got fairly deep into the game. Allan Anderson pitched six innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out none. In thirty-one inning, he had just six strikeouts. Boston starter Matt Young pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.
I had completely forgotten that Jack Clark ended his career with the Red Sox. He was with them two seasons, 1991-1992. He was thirty-five in 1991 and was not what he had been, but he still hit 28 homers and had an OPS of .840. It was his last good year, though. He batted .210 as a part-time player in 1992 and then was done.
Mike Greenwell never became the star that some thought he would early in his career, but he still had a fine career. He was fourth in Rookie of the Year voting in 1987 (behind Mark McGwire, which was understandable, but also behind Kevin Seitzer and Matt Nokes). He was second in MVP voting the next year, in 1988 (behind 40-40 man Jose Canseco), even though statistically his season was almost identical to 1987. He batted .300 or better five times and twice batted .297. He had an OPS over .800 seven times. In his last major league season, 1996, he batted .295 with an OPS of .777. He was only thirty-two at that point, and one would've thought he could continue for a while. Instead, he went to Japan, played in just seven games for Hanshin, and retired. It appears that injuries made him decide that playing baseball was just not worth it anymore. He raced stock cars and trucks for several years and now lives on a ranch in Florida. His son, Bo Greenwell, played in the minors for eight seasons, reaching AA. His nephew, Joey Terdoslavich, played for the Atlanta Braves for parts of three seasons.
Record: The Twins were 9-11, in sixth place in the American League West, four games behind Oakland. They were one game behind fifth place Seattle and a half game ahead of seventh place Kansas City.
Greenwell 's WAR was more than double in 1988 to his 87 campaign. Obviously voters weren't using that, but Greenwells stats weren't that similar. He had 250 more plate appearances, way more walks, better stolen base numbers. I'm sure what got him the MVP votes though were his high RBI total and the Red Sox making the playoffs. But he was a good candidate.
Also, Seitzer and Nokes were plenty good in 87.
Curious to see how TK deploys Mack/Puckett once Mack starts hitting and why he stops playing him in CF as often.
In 1987 he batted .328/.386/.570. In 1988 he batted .325/.416/.531. Yes, he had substantially more plate appearances, and that obviously helped his counting stats. But his averages were about the same. I agree he was a good MVP candidate in 1988, but he wasn't that much better of a batter than he'd been in 1987. He just did it over a full season.
And yes, Seitzer and Nokes were good in 1987. But they weren't as good as Greenwell.
Seitzer was much more valuable than Greenwell in '87. He lead the league in AB and hits, and played all but one game that season; his WAR was actually higher than McGwire's. Neither were defensive gems, but Seitzer was better there, too. I couldn't defend Nokes, though -- he only had the big HR lead, but his defense was so-so and was notoriously easy to steal against.
I disagree. Seitzer was a regular for the whole season, which makes his counting stats higher, and that does matter. But he wasn't as good a player as Greenwell--he just played more.
So you'd vote for Trout over Bregman? 😉
Yes.
Greenwell's eighth inning double was hit right when Kirby moved to right field. "I just messed it up," Puckett said about the ball hitting off his glove in the corner. "It's definitely a ball I should have caught. The ball looks different in right than in center, but it's my job to play both positions, and I have to make that catch."
Bedrosian caught Jack Clark's soft line drive during the next at bat, and he wheeled to throw to second to double off Greenwell before deciding not to throw. An accurate throw should have had him. "It would've been a close play," Bedrosian said. "I didn't want to throw it away. I played it safe. Thinking back, I should have thrown it."
Aguilera was loose on the bullpen before the homerun, but Tom Kelly decided to save him for the ninth inning lead that never arrived. I hope Aguilera wasn't too tired from that outing a few days earlier.
The homerun was Quintana's first since July 30, 1990.
Jack Morris was currently fighting the flu, which had been working its way through the roster over the past ten days.
(Quotes from the STrib)