SEATTLE MARINERS 8, MINNESOTA TWINS 7 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Wednesday, July 26, 2023.

Batting star:  Christian Vasquez was 3-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two RBIs.  Matt Wallner was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his third and fourth).  Trevor Larnach was 2-for-4 with a double.  Kyle Farmer was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Josh Winder struck out four in four innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits.

Opposition stars:  Dylan Moore was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his third and fourth) and four RBIs.  Julio Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with a home run (his seventeenth), two doubles and three runs.

The game:  Julio Rodriguez led off the game with a double and scored on a one-out single by Teoscar Hernandez, giving Seattle a 1-0 lead.  It went to 2-0 in the second when Dylan Moore hit a home run.  It went to 3-0 in the third when Julio Rodriguez hit a home run.

The Twins got on the board with solo home runs by Christian Vasquez and Edouard Julien in the third.  The Mariners got one back in the fourth.  Tom Murphy led off with a double and Cade Marlowe walked.  A Dylan Moore single loaded the bases and Kolten Wong singled home a run.  It was 4-2 and Seattle had the bases loaded with none out, but a pair of strikeouts and a fly ball ended the inning.  The Twins got a home run by Matt Wallner in the fourth to cut the lead to 4-3.

Solo home runs may not hurt you, but three-run homers do.  In the fifth, walks to Ty France and Cade Marlowe put two on with two out, and Dylan Moore hit a three-run homer to give the Mariners a 7-3 lead.  It went to 8-3 in the sixth when Julio Rodriguez doubled and Eugenio Suarez singled.

The Twins got back into it in the bottom of the sixth.  With one out, Matt Wallner hit another solo homer, cutting the lead to 8-4.  With two out, Trevor Larnach doubled and scored on a Kyle Farmer single.  Joey Gallo drove him in with a double and Christian Vasquez followed with an RBI single, cutting the lead to 8-7.

But that was it.  The Twins got a man to second in the eighth and again in the ninth, but could not score again, and the score remained 8-7 Seattle.

WP:  Bryce Miller (7-3).

LP:  Joe Ryan (9-7).

S:  Andres Munoz (2).

Notes:  Joey Gallo was at first base in this game.  Donovan Solano played the most games at first base (85), followed by Alex Kirilloff (75).  Kyle Farmer was at third base.  Royce Lewis played the most games at third base (49), followed by Farmer (45), Willi Castro (41), and Jose Miranda (38).  Trevor Larnach was in left field.  Castro played the most games there (54), followed by Gallo (51), Larnach (44), and Matt Wallner (43).  Castro was in center field in place of Michael Taylor.  Wallner was in right field in place of Max Kepler.  Kepler was at DH.  Byron Buxton had the most games at DH with 80.

Edouard Julien was batting .302.  He would finish at .263.

Jordan Balazovic had an ERA of 2.93.  He would finish at 4.44.

Justin Topa pitched a scoreless inning for Seattle, giving up one hit.  He would pitch for the Twins in 2024.

The 2023 Twins had just three players who played 100 games at one position:  Carlos Correa at short, Michael Taylor in center, and Max Kepler in right.  Some of that was due to injuries, but much of it was due to managerial choices.

The Twins hit four home runs in this game, all solo shots.  Seattle hit three home runs, two of them solo shots, but one a three-run homer.

By game scores, this was the third-worst start of 2023 for Joe Ryan.  

I will never understand why the Twins spent eleven million dollars on Joey Gallo.

Record:  Seattle was 52-50, in fourth place in the AL West, 7.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 88-74, in third place, two games behind Houston and Texas.

The Twins were 54-50, in first place, two games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 87-75, in first place, nine games ahead of Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 26-27 (.491).

CHICAGO WHITE SOX 9, MINNESOTA TWINS 7 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, June 26, 1993.

Batting stars:  John Castino was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Randy Bush was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and three RBIs.  Gary Ward was 2-for-5.  Tom Brunansky hit a three-run homer, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Ron Davis struck out the side in a perfect inning..

Opposition stars:  Scott Fletcher was 3-for-4 with a home run (his first), a triple, and three RBIs.  Rudy Law was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, and three runs.  Greg Walker was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Tom Paciorek was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Greg Luzinski hit a two-run homer, his tenth.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to the early lead.  Rusty Kuntz and John Castino led off with singles, putting men on first and third.  With one out, Kent Hrbek hit a sacrifice fly and Randy Bush followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 3-0.  Chicago got one back in the second, when Ron Kittle singled and scored on a Scott Fletcher triple, but the Twins regained a three-run lead in the third on singles by Castino, Gary Ward, and Bush.

The White Sox moved ahead to stay in the third.  Rudy Law led off with a triple and Tom Paciorek singled him home.  With one out Greg Luzinski hit a two-run homer to tie it 4-4.  Chicago wasn’t done, as with two out Vance Law walked and singles by Marc Hill and Scott Fletcher followed, giving the White Sox a 5-4 lead.  It went to 6-4 in the fourth on doubles by Rudy Law and Greg Walker.

The Twins got a one-out double in the fifth by John Castino, but he was stranded at second.  In the bottom of the fifth the first two men went out, but Jerry Dybzinski reached on an error and stole second, leading to an intentional walk to Rudy Law.  RBI singles by Tom Paciorek and Greg Walker followed, making the score 8-4.  Scott Fletcher homered in the seventh to make it 9-4.

The Twins got back into it in the eighth.  Gary Ward led off with a single and Kent Hrbek walked.  With one out, Tom Brunansky hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 9-7.  The Twins got the tying run to bat with one out in the ninth, but Salmoe Barojas came in to retire the next two batters and secure the win for Chicago.

WP:  Richard Dotson (7-5).

LP:  Bryan Oelkers (0-5).

S:  Salome Barojas (6).

Notes:  Ray Smith was behind the plate.  He made 59 appearances at catcher, behind Dave Engle (72) and just ahead of Tim Laudner (57).  Randy Bush was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek, who was at DH.  Bush was the regular DH–this was one of just three games Bush played at first base in 1983.  The usual replacement first baseman was Scott Ullger.  Rusty Kuntz was in center field.  Darrell Brown saw the most action there (76 games), followed by Bobby Mitchell (44) and Tom Brunansky (38).

Kent Hrbek was batting .313.  He would finish at .297.  Randy Bush was batting .305.  He would finish at .249.

Len Whitehouse, who pitched the seventh, had an ERA of 2.82.  He would finish at 4.15.

I don’t believe any White Sox players in this game had any connection to the Twins

Rusty Kuntz had come to the Twins from the White Sox just five days earlier for Mike Sodders.

The Twins really had no backup plan in centerfield once Jim Eisenreich couldn’t play.  That would be solved when Kirby Puckett came along.

1983 was the only season Ray Smith saw any decent amount of playing time.  He batted .224/.274/.257 in 167 at-bats.  He would, of course, go on to a long career managing the Elizabethton Twins.

This was the last start Bryan Oelkers would make as a Twin.  He lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on nine hits and a walk.  He would make two relief appearances, then would not show up in the majors again until 1986, when he appeared in 35 games for Cleveland.  That would be his only other major league season.

I don’t know, but I would not be surprised if this was the only time a team had two players on it named “Law”.  In this case, the Twins fought the Laws, and the Laws won.

Record:  Chicago was 36-34, in fourth place in the AL West, three games behind Texas.  They would finish 99-63, in first place, twenty games ahead of Kansas City.  They were an MLB best 63-29 after this game.

The Twins were 30-44, in sixth place in the AL West, eleven games behind Texas.  They would finish 70-92, tied for fourth with California, twenty-nine games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 25-27 (.481).

MINNESOTA TWINS 10, MILWAUKEE BREWERS 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 20, 1993.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-2 with a triple and a walk.  Dave Winfield was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his third) and three runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Willie Banks struck out seven in 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and two walks.  Pat Mahomes pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Brett Merriman pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Bill Spiers was 2-for-3.

The game:  The Twins scored early and often in this one.  With two out in the first, Kirby Puckett singled, Kent Hrbek walked, and Dave Winfield hit a three-run homer.  With one out in the second, Scott Leius singled in-between walks to Mike Pagliarulo and Chuck Knoblauch, loading the bases.  Gene Larkin hit a sacrifice fly and Puckett delivered an RBI single to make it 5-0. In the third, Pedro Munoz singled and scored on a Pagliarulo triple to make it 6-0.

Milwaukee got a one-out double by Robin Yount in the second and a pair of two-out walks in the fifth, but did not move a man past second base.  The Twins added to their lead in the fifth.  Kent Hrbek led off with a walk, and singles by Dave Winfield and Brian Harper produced a run.  With one out, Mike Pagliarulo singled to load the bases, Scott Leius hit a sacrifice fly, and Chuck Knoblauch hit an RBI double to make it 9-0.

The Brewers loaded the bases in the sixth with one out on singles by Bill Speirs, Greg Vaughn, and Kevin Reimer, but a pair of short fly balls ended the inning.  The Twins got one more in the bottom of the sixth when Dave Winfield reached second on an error and scored on a Brian Harper single.  Milwaukee got two more one-out singles in the seventh, by Dave Nilsson and Dickie Thon, but again nothing came of it.  That was their last threat, and the game ended 10-0.

WP:  Willie Banks (2-0).

LP:  Jaime Navarro (0-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Scott Leius was at shortstop in place of Pat Meares.  Pedro Munoz was in left–he and Shane Mack each played 64 games there.  Gene Larkin was in right.  The Twins didn’t have a regular right fielder–it was Kirby Puckett (47), Munoz (41), David McCarty (34), Dave Winfield (31), and Larkin (25).

Kirby Puckett was batting .317.  He would finish at .296.

Willie Banks had an ERA of 0.68.  He would finish at 4.04.

Tom Brunansky was 0-for-1.  I had forgotten he had played for Milwaukee.  Of course, he was with the Twins from 1982-1988.  Mike Fetters pitched the ninth inning, striking out two in a perfect inning.  He pitched in five games for the Twins in 2003.

Scott Leius was injured most of 1993, playing in only ten games.

Most of the Twins’ runs were scored off Jaime Navarro, who allowed nine runs on eight hits and four walks in four innings.

Record:  Milwaukee was 4-6, in fifth place in the AL East, five games behind Boston.  They would finish 69-93, in seventh place, twenty-six games behind Toronto.

The Twins were 7-5, in third place in the AL West, one game behind Texas.  They would finish 71-91, tied for fifth place with California, twenty-three games behind Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins have lost six in a row and are 25-26 (.490).