MINNESOTA 11, CLEVELAND 7 IN CLEVELAND
Date: Saturday, June 15.
Batting stars: Scott Leius was 3-for-4 with four RBIs. Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with two runs. Dan Gladden was 3-for-5. Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.
Pitching stars: Paul Abbott pitched 6.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Felix Fermin was 3-for-4 with a walk. Chris James was 2-for-5 with a double.
The game: Chili Davis' RBI single got the Twins on the board in the first inning. The Indians came back in the bottom of the first. Singles by Mike Huff and Fermin, a sacrifice fly, a walk to Brook Jacoby, and Jeff Manto's two-run double gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead. In the second a walk, an error, and RBI singles by Fermin and James made it 5-1 Indians, and the Twins' winning streak appeared to be in serious trouble.
Not to worry. The Twins put up a six-spot in the third and went into the lead to stay. With one out, Gladden and Knoblauch singled and Kirby Puckett delivered a two-run triple. Davis walked, followed by Harper's RBI single. Kent Hrbek walked, a force out brought home a run to tie it, and Leius came through with a two-run single to put the Twins up 7-5.
The Twins added to their lead in the fifth. Davis walked, Harper doubled, a ground out scored one run, and Leius had another run-scoring single to make the score 9-5 Twins. The Indians got one back in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and two ground outs, cutting it to 9-6, but the Twins took control in the seventh. Harper was hit by a pitch and Shane Mack got a one-out double. Leius singled home another run and a sacrifice fly made it 11-6. Cleveland got a run in the ninth on a double play to round out the scoring.
WP: Abbott (2-0). LP: Jeff Mutis (0-1). S: None.
Notes: It was a standard lineup, but the Twins made numerous late changes. Pedro Munoz pinch-hit for Puckett in the eighth and went to right field, with Mack moving to center. Lenny Webster went in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper, and Al Newman went to short in the eighth, replacing Greg Gagne. Randy Bush pinch-hit for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at first base.
Harper raised his average to .341. Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .320. Davis was 1-for-3 and was batting .301. Abbott dropped his ERA to 1.98.
Bush went 0-for-1 and was batting .193. Twins starter Mark Guthrie pitched just 1.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned), raising his ERA to 5.60. He would struggle through two more starts, then be dropped from the rotation.
Cleveland starter Jeff Mutis pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks. This was his major league debut, and it obviously didn't go quite like he dreamed. He made two more starts for the Indians in 1991 and continued to struggle. He was with them again briefly in 1992 and was actually in their rotation at the start of 1993, but never had success in the majors. He was in the Florida bullpen in 1994 but fared no better there. For his career, he was 4-11, 6.48, 1.76 WHIP in 143 innings. He appeared in 58 games, 18 of them starts. He wasn't very good in AAA, either, going 17-16, 4.72, 1.49 WHIP. He was with teams who were desperate for pitching, and there was apparently something about him teams liked, but there was really no reason for him to get that many chances in the major leagues. His wikipedia entry closes with "In 1994, on December 15th, he birthed a beautiful child, named Carolyn Mutis". At last report, he was living in Ontario and was a software engineer. We hope he has more success in his current occupation.
So the Twins had made it fourteen in a row and seventeen of eighteen. How long could they keep it going?
Record: The Twins were 37-25, in second place in the American League West, a half-game behind first-place Oakland. They led third-place Texas by three games.