TEXAS RANGERS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 7 IN TEXAS
Date: Thursday, June 1, 1978.
Batting stars: Rich Chiles was 3-for-4 with a walk. Glenn Adams was 3-for-5 with a home run (his third), a double, and two RBIs. Mike Cubbage was 2-for-4 with a triple. Dan Ford was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer, his sixth.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Juan Beniquez was 3-for-3 with a double and a walk. Richie Zisk was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Mike Hargrove was 2-for-5 with a double. Toby Harrah hit a three-run homer, his second. Steve Comer pitched three innings, giving up one run on five hits and striking out two.
The game: Hosken Powell led off the game with a walk, and Roy Smalley reached on an error. A productive ground out and a sacrifice fly followed, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead. Jim Mason led off the inning with an error and Bobby Bonds and Mike Hargrove followed with singles to tie it up. A ground out scored another run, and Texas took a 2-1 lead.
Jim Sundberg led off the fourth with a single, Juan Beniquez doubled, and a ground out made it 3-1. In the fifth, Mike Hargrove led off with a double. He was still one second with two out, but then Richie Zisk singled to make it 4-1. Jim Sundberg walked, Juan Beniquez singled in a run, and a wild pitch brought home another run, giving the Rangers a 6-1 lead.
Meanwhile, the Twins were missing chances all over the place. Roy Smalley and Dan Ford singled with one out in the third. Rich Chiles singled and Rob Wilfong doubled with two out in the fourth. Mike Cubbage hit a two-out triple in the fifth. But none of it led to anything.
Finally, in the sixth, the Twins broke through. Glenn Adams led off with a home run. Craig Kusick walked and Rich Chiles singled. Jose Morales then singled in a run to make it 6-3. The next two batters went out, but Dan Ford delivered a three-run homer to tie it 6-6. In the seventh, Butch Wynegar and Adams led off with consecutive doubles, giving the Twins a 7-6 lead.
It didn’t last long. In the bottom of the seventh, Bump Wills led off with a walk and stole second. With one out, Richie Zisk doubled to tie the score. With two out Juan Beniquez walked and Toby Harrah hit a three-run homer to put Texas back in front 10-7.
And that was it. The Twins got a single in the eighth and another in the ninth, but never brought the tying run up to bat and the game was gone.
WP: Steve Comer (1-1).
LP: Mike Marshall (1-3).
S: None.
Notes: Craig Kusick was at first base in place of Rod Carew. Rob Wilfong was at second base. He shared the position with Bobby Randall, with Randall playing in more games (115 to 80). Rich Chiles was in left in place of Willie Norwood.
Mike Cubbage was batting .326. He would finish at .282. Bombo Rivera was batting .323. He would finish at .271. Dan Ford was batting .314. He would finish at .274. Jose Morales was batting .314. He would finish at .314.
The Twins stranded eleven men and were 3-for-14 with men in scoring position.
Mike Cubbage set his career high in triples with seven in 1978. He hit twenty for his career.
The Twins brought Mike Marshall, their closer, in to start the seventh inning. They allowed him to finish the game even after he gave up four runs in the seventh. Marshall was unusual even for his time, but one cannot imagine that happening today.
Juan Beniquez was not as good as I remembered, even though he played for a long time. In seventeen seasons, he batted .274/.327/.379. He only had an OPS of over .800 once, in 1984 with California. He had an OPS of under .700 nine times. He won one gold glove, but he wasn’t generally considered an awesome defender. He came to the majors early, at age twenty-one, but he had his best years late in his career. He batted .300 or better four times, 1983-1986, when he was age thirty-three through thirty-six. Even in his last year, at age thirty-eight, he batted .293.
We have a restaurant in Pierre called Richie Z’s. I don’t suppose Richie Zisk has anything to do with it.
Record: Texas was 24-22, in fourth place in the AL West, 2.5 games behind Kansas City. They would finish 87-75, tied for second with California, five games behind Kansas City.
The Twins were 19-29, in fifth place in the AL West, 8.5 games behind Kansas City. They would finish 73-89, in fourth place, nineteen games behind Kansas City.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 42-46 (.477).