KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, September 17.
Batting stars: Paul Sorrento was 2-for-4 with a double. Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4.
Pitching stars: Jack Morris pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and five walks and striking out six. He threw 126 pitches. Steve Bedrosian pitched a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Bret Saberhagen pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk and striking out six. Kurt Stillwell was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his third. George Brett was 2-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk.
The game: Dan Gladden created the Twins' lone run in the first inning. He got an infield single, went to second on a ground out, stole third, and scored on another ground out, putting the Twins up 1-0. It stayed 1-0 through three innings, but in the fourth Bill Pecota drew a two-out walk, stole second, and scored on a Stillwell single to tie it 1-1.
The Royals took the lead in the sixth, and again it happened with two out. Stillwell walked and stole second and Brent Mayne delivered a single to make it 2-1 Kansas City. Brett homered in the third to increase the lead to 3-1. The Twins threatened in the eighth, putting men on first and third with two out, but a ground out ended the inning. The Royals added their final run in the ninth when David Howard walked, Brett had a two-out single, and Jim Eisenreich singled in the run.
WP: Saberhagen (11-8). LP: Morris (16-12). S: Jeff Montgomery (29).
Notes: Sorrento played first base in place of Kent Hrbek. Scott Leius was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne. Randy Bush pinch-hit for Leius in the eighth, with Gagne going in at short.
Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .324. Brian Harper was 0-for-4 and was batting .311. Shane Mack was 0-for-4 and was batting .310.
The White Sox defeated Oakland 1-0 to take a game off the Twins' lead.
Record: The Twins were 87-59, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Chicago.
In the East, Toronto lost to Seattle and Boston defeated Baltimore, so the Blue Jays' lead was down to 2.5 games.