CALIFORNIA 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 13.

Batting stars:  Chili Davis was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Batting stars:  Terry Leach struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Denny Neagle pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and three walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jim Abbott pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out four.  Wally Joyner was 3-for-6 with a double and two RBIs.  Luis Polonia was 3-for-6 with a stolen base (his thirty-third) and two RBIs.  Lance Parrish was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his thirteenth), a walk, and two runs.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with two walks.

The game:  The Angels put men on first and third in the first inning but did not score.  The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the first when Kirby Puckett hit a two-out single, stole second, and scored on a Davis double.  California took a 2-1 lead in the second when Shawn Abner singled and Parrish followed with a two-run homer.

The Angels took control in the fourth.  Abner walked and went from first to third on a ground out to third base.  An error scored him and put Luis Sojo on second.  Dick Schofield walked.  There were then three consecutive RBI singles, by Polonia, Joyner, and Gaetti, to put California up 6-1.

The Twins got somewhat back into it in the sixth.  Gene Larkin walked and went to second on a passed ball.  Greg Gagne delivered a run-scoring single with two down and Dan Gladden followed with a triple to cut the margin to 6-3.

That was as good as it got.  The Angels added a couple of runs in the ninth on RBI singles by Polonia and Joyner.

WP:  Abbott (11-8).  LP:  Willie Banks (1-1).  S:  Bryan Harvey (26).

Notes:  Brian Harper came out after the fifth inning and was replaced by Junior Ortiz.  He had batted ending the fifth--perhaps he was injured in the at-bat.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Scott Leius in the eighth and Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Gagne in the eighth.  Both stayed in the game, with Newman going to shortstop and Pagliarulo to third base.

Puckett was 1-for-5 and was batting .327.  Harper was 0-for-3 to make his average .308.

Banks pitched 3.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out three.  His ERA was 6.35.  Leach lowered his ERA to 2.76.  Neagle went down to 3.18.

This was Banks' second start of his career.  He would make one more this season.

It was also the second appearance of Neagle's career.  He had made a start on July 27.  He would make three more relief appearances and then make two more starts at the end of the season.  That would, of course, be the extent of his career with the Twins, as he was traded after the season with Midre Cummings for John Smiley.

The Twins were 2-for-12 with men in scoring position.

The White Sox lost a doubleheader to the Tigers, 11-9 and 4-3, so despite the loss the Twins gained a half game on their nearest challenger.

Record:  The Twins were 68-46, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of Chicago.