MINNESOTA 10, SEATTLE 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 20.

Batting stars:  Junior Ortiz was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with two triples, a stolen base, (his seventh), and three runs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Mark Guthrie struck out four in 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up two hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Greg Briley was 3-for-3 with two doubles and two runs.  Alvin Davis was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and three RBIs.  Harold Reynolds was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins started the scoring in the third.  They opened the inning with singles by Ortiz and Al Newman, but a double play left them with a man on third and two out.  Knoblauch and Kirby Puckett each walked, loading the bases, and Hrbek delivered a bases-clearing double to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.

It didn't last long.  In the fourth, Ken Griffey, Jr. doubled.  With one out, he scored when Jay Buhner reached on an error.  Briley doubled, a sacrifice fly scored a run, and Omar Vizquel singled home another to tie the score 3-3.  The tie didn't last long either, though, as the Twins scored three in the bottom of the fourth.  Mack led off with a triple and Mike Pagliarulo singled.  Al Newman was hit by a pitch, and with two out Knoblauch delivered an RBI single which was followed by a run-scoring wild pitch, giving the Twins a 6-3 advantage.

The Twins increased the lead in the fifth when Mack hit his second triple of the game and scored on an Ortiz single.  The Mariners got back into it in the sixth.  With one out, Briley singled and Davis hit a two-run homer to cut the Twins lead to 7-5.  But the Twins put it away in the seventh.  Hrbek singled, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Chili Davis single.  Walks to Pagliarulo and Ortiz loaded the bases, a wild pitch scored a run, and a ground out scored another to put the Twins up 10-5.  Seattle did not threaten after that.

WP:  Scott Erickson (16-5).  LP:  Erik Hanson (7-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  With Erickson pitching, Ortiz was catching.  Newman was at short replacing Greg Gagne.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Hrbek in the eighth and stayed in the game at first base.

Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a walk and was batting .327.  Mack raised his average to .304.

Erickson pitched 5.1 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on seven hits and two walks and striking out four.  His ERA went to 2.96.  Hanson started for Seattle and pitched four innings.  He allowed six runs on seven hits and two walks and struck out three.

The White Sox lost to Detroit 5-0, so the Twins lengthened their lead.

Record:  The Twins were 72-49, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of Chicago.