MINNESOTA TWINS 4, TAMPA BAY RAYS 3 IN TAMPA BAY

Date:  Thursday, September 5, 2024.

Batting stars:  Ryan Jeffers was 2-for-4 with a double.  Edouard Julien hit a three-run homer, his eighth.  Matt Wallner hit a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching stars:  Pablo Lopez struck out nine in 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk.  Griffin Jax struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Jhoan Duran struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars: Jonny DeLuca was 3-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Yandy Diaz was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Jose Miranda and Carlos Santana led off the second with singles, and Edouard Julien hit a home run, giving the Twins a 3-0 lead.  It went to 4-0 in the third, when Matt Wallner hit a one-out home run.

Tampa Bay got on the board in the bottom of the third.  Jonny DeLuca and Taylor Walls led off with singles.  The next two batters went out, but a walk to Brandon Lowe loaded the bases and Junior Caminero delivered a two-run single, cutting the Twins’ lead in half at 4-2.

The Twins got a man to third in the fifth when Austin Martin walked, stole second, and went to third on a ground out, but he was stranded there.  The Rays tallied again in the seventh when Jonny DeLuca led off with a double and scored on a two-out double from Yandy Diaz.  The tying run was in scoring position, but Griffin Jax came on to retire Brandon Lowe on a grounder to second to end the inning.

Christopher Morel hit a two-out triple in the eighth, but he was stranded on third.  The last for Tampa Bay batters went out, and the victory was preserved.

WP:  Pedro Lopez (14-8).

LP:  Taj Bradley (6-10).

S:  Jhoan Duran (22).

Notes:  One really can’t say what the “regular” lineup was in 2024, because only two players played as many as one hundred games at one position.  Willi Castro was at short in this game, with Carlos Correa out due to injury.  Austin Martin was in center, with Byron Buxton out due to injury.

Michael Helman was batting .500.  He would finish at .300.  Jose Miranda was batting .301.  He would finish at .284.

Griffin Jax had an ERA of 1.89.  He would finish at 2.03.

Ben Rortvedt came in to catch late in the game.  He played for the Twins in 2021.

Michael Helman was a September call-up.  He was mostly used as a pinch-runner, as in this game, or as a defensive replacement.  He appeared in nine games but had just ten at-bats.

There’s not much I can tell you about this game or this team that you don’t know.  In fact, you may even remember this specific game.  I do.

Record:  Tampa Bay was 69-71, in fourth place in the AL East, 11.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, fourteen games behind New York.

The Twins were 76-64, in second place in the AL Central, four games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, 10.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 30-34 (.469).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 2 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Thursday, June 21, 1979.

Batting star:  Butch Wynegar was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Gary Serum pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on ten hits, striking out three.  Mike Marshall pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Paul Molitor was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Jim Wohlford was 2-for-3 with a double.  Mike Caldwell pitched a complete game, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and two walks and striking out four.

The game:  Milwaukee took a 1-0 lead in the third on consecutive doubles from Jim Wohlford and Paul Molitor.  The Twins tied it in the fourth.  Roy Smalley reached on an error, stole second, and scored on a Jose Morales single.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth when Ron Jackson singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a single by Butch Wynegar.  The Brewers tied it in the bottom of the sixth on singles by Jim Wohlford, Sal Bando, and Cecil Cooper.

Milwaukee took the lead in the seventh.  Sixto Lezcano led off with a single. Charlie Moore singled with one out, putting men on first and second.  A force out moved the runners to first and third, and Paul Molitor laid down a two-out bunt single to bring in the go-ahead run.  The Twins did not get a baserunner after Butch Wynegar’s RBI single in the sixth, and the game went to the Brewers.

WP:  Mike Caldwell (7-5).

LP:  Gary Serum (0-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Bobby Randall was on second.  He shared the position with Rob Wilfong, with the latter getting most of the playing time there.  Hosken Powell, normally the right fielder, was in left, one of eight games he played there in 1979.  Bombo Rivera made the most starts there (61), followed by Ken Landreaux (49), Glenn Adams (45), and Dave Edwards (36).  Edwards was in right.  

Hosken Powell was batting .372.  He would finish at .293.  Bobby Randall was batting .316.  He would finish at .246.  Jose Morales was batting .304.  He would finish at .267.

Mike Marshall had an ERA of 2.25.  He would finish at 2.65.

Paul Molitor would play for the Twins from 1996-1998 and would manage the Twins from 2015-2018.

This was the best of five starts Gary Serum made in 1979.  It was his last year in the majors.  He had been fairly good the previous season:  9-9, 4.10, 1.26 WHIP.  In 1979, however, he went 1-3, 6.61, 1.77 WHIP.

Mike Caldwell has been largely forgotten, but he was a pretty good pitcher.  His best season was 1978, when he went 22-9. 2.36, 1.06 WHIP and finished second to Ron Guidry in Cy Young voting.  For his career, he was 137-130, 3.81, 1.32 WHIP.  Not Hall of Famer or anything, but over fourteen seasons a very respectable career.

Record:  Milwaukee was 39-30, in third place in the AL East, 6.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 95-66, in second place, eight games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 32-32, in fourth place in the AL West, 6.5 games behind California.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, six games behind California.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 29-34 (.460).

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).