MINNESOTA TWINS 5, TEXAS RANGERS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 25, 2024

Batting stars:  Alex Kirilloff was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer and two runs.  Jose Miranda was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Chris Paddack pitched five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and striking out three.  Cole Sands struck out two in two perfect innings.  Jhoan Duran pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars: Leody Taveras was 2-for-4 with a double.  Ezequiel Duran hit a home run, his first.  Michael Lorenzen pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game: The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  With one out, Carlos Correa walked and Miranda singled.  A line out followed, but then Byron Buxton got an infield single to load the bases and Ryan Jeffers walked to bring home the game’s first run.  A ground out ended the inning, but the Twins led 1-0.

The lead held up until the fourth.  Corey Seager led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Adolis Garcia’s ground-rule double, tying the score at one.  Ezequiel Duran homered with one out in the fifth to give Texas a 2-1 lead.  In the sixth, Josh Smith walked and stole second and Taveras delivered a two-out double, putting the Rangers ahead 3-1.

The Twins got only one hit in innings two through six.  In the seventh, however, Kirilloff led off with a single and Carlos Santana walked.  Edouard Julien drew a one-out walk and Correa hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to 3-2.  The Twins got the lead back in the eighth.  Max Kepler singled and Buxton walked.  With one out, Kirilloff hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 5-3 advantage.  It held up, as Texas did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

WP:  Sands (2-0).

LP:  David Robertson (2-2).

S:  Jhoan Duran (6),

Notes:  Willi Castro, who played just about everywhere in 2024, was in left.  Manuel Margot, who played the most games in left field, came in for defense in the ninth, with Castro moving to third and Miranda leaving the game.  Kirilloff was at DH.

Max Kepler was batting .303.  He would finish at .253.

This was one of three home runs Ezequiel Duran hit in 2024.  He had a slugging average of .321.

It’s interesting to look at the “regulars” for 2024.  Jeffers and Christian Vazquez each caught 86 games.  Edouard Julien had the most games at second with 90.  Jose Miranda had the most games at third with 79.  Correa led at short with 84.  Margot had the most in left with 64.  Buxton had 94 games in center.  Trevor Larnach had the most games at DH, 52.  The only players to play a hundred games at the same position were Santana at first (146) and Max Kepler in right (103).  Injuries had something to do with that, but some ot if was a deliberate managerial choice.

Record:  Texas was 24-29, in second place, 3 games behind Seattle in the AL West.  They would finish 78-84, in third place, 10.5 games behind Houston.

The Twins were 28-23, in third place, 6.5 games behind Cleveland in the AL Central.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, 10.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-6 (.625).

MINNESOTA TWINS 8, BOSTON RED SOX 7 IN BOSTON

Date:  Wednesday, May 6, 1998.

Batting stars:  Ron Coomer was 3-for-6 with a home run (his sixth) and two RBIs.  Todd Walker was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two runs.  Torii Hunter was 2-for-4 with a double two RBIs.  David Ortiz was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  

Pitching star:  Greg Swindell pitched 2.1 innings, giving up one run on one hit and striking out one.  

Opposition stars:  None.  Nine different players had exactly one hit.  There were no home runs, and each pitcher allowed at least two runs.

The game:  Walker led off the game with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out.  Coomer added a two-out home run to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  They tallied twice more in the third.  With one out, Walker walked, Paul Molitor singled, and Matt Lawton walked, loading the bases.  Coomer singled home a run and Ortiz hit a sacrifice fly, making the score 4-0.

Boston did nothing on offense until the fourth.  John Valentin and Mo Vaughn led off that inning with singles, putting men on first and third, and a double play brought home a run.  They got back into the game in the fifth.  Scott Hatteberg singled and Darren Bragg doubled, puting men on second and third with none out.  A ground out scored one and Nomar Garciaparra’s two-run single brought home another, cutting the Twins’ lead to 4-3.  But the Twins got the runs back in the sixth.  Ortiz led off with a double and was bunted to third.  With two out, Chris Latham delivered an RBI single and scored on Hunter’s double-plus-error, putting the Twins back up by three at 6-3.

The Twins added on.  In the seventh, Lawton walked, Coomer singled, and Ortiz drove in a run with a single.  In the eighth, Terry Steinbach doubled and scored on a Hunter single, making it 8-3 Twins.

They needed all those runs.  Boston scored in the eighth when Lewis doubled, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a wild pitch.  No problem–the Twins still led 8-4, and Rick Aguilera was coming in to pitch the ninth.  But in the ninth, Reggie Jefferson and Troy O’Leary led off with consecutive doubles to make it 8-5.  A pair of ground outs made Twins fans breathe easier, but Jim Leyritz was hit by a pitch, bringing the tying run to the plate.  Pinch-hitter Midre Cummings then drove in two with a double, making it 8-7 and bringing the deciding run to the plate in the dangerous Garciaparra.  But he grounded out to second and the victory was preserved.

WP:  LaTroy Hawkins (1-3).

LP:  Robinson Checo (0-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Latham was in right, with Lawton shifting to left and Marty Cordova out of the lineup.  Hunter was in center in place of Otis Nixon.  

Walker was batting .382.  He would finish at .316.  Pat Meares was batting .308.  He would finish at .260.  Coomer was batting .301.  He would finish at .276.  Mike Trombley, who pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 0.73.  He would finish at 3.63.  Eddie Guardado, who also pitched a third of an inning, had an ERA of 2.63.  He would finish at 4.52.

We really thought we had something in Todd Walker.  He was batting over .350 as late as August 9.  He would go on to have a solid major league career, most of it elsewhere, but he was never the star we thought he would be in 1998.

This was the last of just six games Torii Hunter played for the Twins in 1998.  He was not expected to be in the majors yet that season, but filled in for a little while when Nixon was injured.  He would be with the Twins all of 1999, but be sent back to AAA for two months in 2000 before coming up to stay.  He was batting just .207 when he was sent down in late May of 2000, but would come back strong when brought back in late July and would finish the season batting .280.

Hawkins would continue to be a starter, with little success, through 1999.  Moved to the bullpen in 2000, he went on to have a solid career as a reliever.

Cummings would go on to play for the Twins from 1999-2000.  He had been drafted by the Twins in 1990, but was traded in 1992 with Denny Neagle for John Smiley.  The Twins would trade him again at the August deadline in 2000 for Hector De Los Santos, who would not pitch for them in the majors.

This was the last of two starts Robinson Checo would make in 1998.  He had made two in 1997 and would make two more (along with seven relief appearances) in 1999.  For his career, he was 3-5, 7.71, 1.86 WHIP in 36.2 innings.

I wonder what the record is for most hits in a game with no player getting more than one.

Record:  Boston was 21-10, in second place, 2.5 games behind the Yankees.  They would finish 92-70, in second place, 22 games behind the Yankees.

Minnesota was 13-19, tied for second place with Kansas City, 6.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, 19 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 9-6 (.600).