BALTIMORE ORIOLES 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, May 5, 1987.
Batting star: Kirby Puckett hit a three-run homer, his eighth.
Pitching star: Juan Berenguer struck out four in 3.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk.
Opposition stars: Eddie Murray was 3-for-5 with a home run (his third) and a double. Alan Wiggins was 2-for-4. Jim Dwyer was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his first. Eric Bell pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on two hits and a walk and striking out seven.
The game: Baltimore threatened in the first inning. Jim Dwyer singled and Cal Ripken walked with one out in the first, but nothing came of it. In the third, however, Ken Gerhart singled and Dwyer hit a two-run homer, putting the Orioles up 2-0.
The Orioles added to their lead in the sixth. Eddie Murray led off the inning with a home run. Larry Sheets then singled, Ray Knight walked, and Terry Kennedy hit an RBI double. Juan Berenguer replaced Mike Smithson at that point and got out of the inning without further damage, but it was 4-0 Baltimore.
The Orioles got one more in the ninth. Alan Wiggins led off with a single. He was still on first with two out, but Eddie Murray doubled and John Shelby hit an RBI single, making it 5-0.
The Twins, meanwhile, had done nothing for the first eight innings, and we mean that literally. They had no hits and just one walk through eight innings. In the ninth, however, Greg Gagne reached on an error and Tom Nieto singled for the Twins’ first hit. Steve Lombardozzi then got another single, driving in the Twins’ first run. Kirby Puckett hit a three-run homer, to cut the Twins lead to 5-4. Gary Gaetti and Kent Hrbek hit one-out singles, putting the tying run in scoring position. A ground out moved the runners to second and third and Randy Bush was intentionally walked. Pinch-hitter Roy Smalley popped up to third, however, and Baltimore hung on to win 5-4.
WP: Eric Bell (3-1).
LP: Mike Smithson (3-2).
S: Ken Dixon (1).
Notes: Tom Nieto was behind the plate in place of Tim Laudner. Mark Davidson was in left in place of Dan Gladden, who moved to DH.
Kirby Puckett was batting .351. He would finish at .332.
Juan Berenguer had an ERA of 2.61. He would finish at 3.94.
Jim Dwyer would play for the Twins from 1988-1990. Mike Kinnunen, who faced one batter in this game, had played for the Twins in 1980.
Joe Klink got the last out for the Twins. This was his fifth major league appearance He would play in seven more games for the Twins before being sent down, not coming back to the majors until 1990 with Oakland.
Ken Dixon had six major league saves, five of them in 1987.
Record: Baltimore was 10-15, in fifth place in the AL East, ten games behind Milwaukee. They would finish 67-95, in sixth place, thirty-one games behind Detroit.
The Twins were 14-11, in first place in the AL West, percentage points ahead of California. They would finish 85-77, in first place, two games ahead of Kansas City.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 29-33 (.468).