SEATTLE MARINERS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Sunday, April 14, 1985.

Batting star:  Mickey Hatcher was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Tom Klawitter pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Al Cowens was 3-for-4.  Mike Moore pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Twins put two on in the first but did not score.  They got a pair of one-out singles in the third, but the game remained scoreless.  Seattle got a pair of two-out singles in the fourth, but similarly were held off the scoreboard.  The Twins got two two-out singles in the seventh, but it was still 0-0.

Seattle finally broke through in the seventh.  With one out, Al Cowens doubled and Jim Presley was intentionally walked.  With two out, Spike Owen singled home the game’s first run and Harold Reynolds walked to load the bases.  Rick Lysander then came in to replace starter Frank Viola and gave up a three-run triple to Phil Bradley.  Alvin Davis followed with an RBI single and the Mariners led 5-0.

The Twins got one back in the eighth when Tom Brunansky doubled with two out and scored on a Mike Stenhouse single.  But the last four Twins went out and the Mariners won it, 5-1.

WP:  Mike Moore (2-0).

LP:  Frank Viola (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Mike Stenhouse was the DH.  Roy Smalley had the most games in that spot with 56, followed by Dave Engle (38) and Randy Bush (28).

Mickey Hatcher was batting .407.  He would finish at .282.  Tom Brunansky was batting .368.  He would finish at .242.  Mike Stenhouse was batting .333.  He would finish at .223.  Kirby Puckett was batting .333.  He would finish at .288.

Tom Klawitter had an ERA of 0.00.  He would finish at 6.75.

This was the only full season Mike Stenhouse had in the major leagues.  He played in 81 games, got 179 at-bats, and batted .223/.330/.335.  He also played for Montreal from 1982-1984 and for Boston in 1986.

This was Tom Klawitter’s first major league game.  He would appear in six more, never to return.  Speculation at the time was that the main reason he made the team was that Billy Gardner enjoyed making the “claw” gesture when he wanted him to come into a game.  Given the Twins’ pitching staff in 1985, it was probably as good a reason as any.

This was Rick Lysander’s last season in the majors. He’d pitched decently in relief for the Twins in 1983-1984, but it fell apart for him this season.

Mike Moore made thirty-two starts or more every season from 1984-1993.  He pitched over 200 innings in each of those seasons except 1990, when he pitched 199.1.  He finished in the top ten in Cy Young voting twice, finishing third in 1989 (behind Bret Saberhagen and teammate Dave Stewart).  He made 440 starts over a fourteen year career, an average of 31.4 per season.  His career numbers aren’t spectacular by any means:  161-176, 4.39, 1.42 WHIP.  He’s doesn’t belong in the Hall of Fame, or even in the Hall of Very Good.  But he was a guy you were happy to have in your rotation for fourteen seasons.

Record:  Seattle was 6-0, in first place in the AL West, three games ahead of Chicago.  They would finish 74-88, in fifth place, seventeen games behind Kansas City.

The Twins were 2-4, tied for third place in the AL West with California and Oakland, four games behind Seattle.  They would finish 77-85, tied for fourth with Oakland, fourteen games behind Kansas City.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 34-40 (.459).

MINNESOTA TWINS 11, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 2 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Sunday, June 21, 1970.

Batting star:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a walk and three runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a double.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew hit a home run, his seventeenth.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry struck out seven in 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Keough was 2-for-4 with a double.  Lou Piniella was 2-for-4.  Al Fitzmorris pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Bob Allison created a run in the second, getting an infield hit, going to second on an error, and scoring on a stolen base-plus-error.  The Twins took control of the game in the fourth.  Allison reached on an error, Rick Renick walked, and Leo Cardenas brought home two runs on a single-plus-error.  Rich Reese then singled and George Mitterwald hit an RBI single.  A bunt moved runners to second and third and a sacrifice fly brought home the fourth run of the inning, giving the Twins a 5-0 lead.  It went to 6-0 in the fifth when Harmon Killebrew led off the inning with a home run.

Kansas City did not do much in the first six innings, but got on the board in the seventh.  With two out, consecutive singles by Bob Oliver, Joe Keough, Lou Piniella, and Ed Kirkpatrick plated two runs to make the score 6-2.

The Twins added five runs in the ninth.  Cesar Tovar doubled and scored on a Rod Carew single.  Harmon Killebrew walked and Bob Allison was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  An error brough home one run and Leo Cardenas delivered a bases-clearing double, bringing the final score to 11-2.

WP:  Jim Perry (10-5).

LP:  Bill Butler (2-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew was the regular second baseman until the day after this game, when he was injured and missed most of the rest of the season.  He was replaced by Danny Thompson, who, while a nice person who met a sad end, was not exactly Rod Carew at the plate.  Rick Renick was in left field.  Jim Holt played the most games there (76), followed by Brant Alyea at 73 and Cesar Tovar at 45.  Bob Allison was in right field, one of only four games he played there in 1970, in place of Tony Oliva. 

Rod Carew was batting .378.  He would finish at .366.  Jim Perry was batting .368.  He would finish at .247.  Harmon Killebrew was batting .305.  He would finish at .271.

Jim Perry had an ERA of 2.82.  He would finish at 3.04.  Ron Perranoski had an ERA of 1.82.  He would finish at 2.43.

Joe Keough did not play for the Twins, but went to spring training with them in 1974.  Jackie Hernandez came in for defense in the ninth.  He played for the Twins from 1967-1968.

The Bill Butler who played in this game is the second-best Bill Butler in Royals history.

Record:  Kansas City was 23-40, in fourth place in the AL West, 17.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 65-97, tied for fourth with Milwaukee, thirty-three games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 39-21, in first place in the AL West, four games ahead of California.  They would finish 98-64, in first place, nine games ahead of Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 34-39 (.466).