MINNESOTA TWINS 4, CALIFORNIA ANGELS 1 IN CALIFORNIA
Date: Friday, September 18, 1992.
Batting stars: Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk. Pedro Munoz was 2-for-4 with a triple. Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Scott Erickson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out six. Rick Aguilera pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Lee Stevens was 2-for-4. Gary Gaetti hit a home run, his twelfth. Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk and striking out three.
The game: Chuck Knoblauch led off the game with a single. With one out Shane Mack was hit by a pitch, and with two out Pedro Munoz delivered an RBI single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. In the second, Lenny Webster singled with one out, went to second on a ground out, and Chuck Knoblauch delivered an RBI single to give the Twins a 2-0 lead. In the third, Shane Mack led off with a single, went to second on a ground out, and Gene Larkin delivered an RBI single to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Scott Erickson was in complete control. The Angels only had one hit through six innings and only once advanced a man to second base. That changed in the seventh, when Gary Gaetti led off with a home run to cut the Twins’ lead to 3-1. California also got a pair of infield singles in the inning, but a double play took them out of the inning.
The Twins got the run back in the eighth. Pedro Munoz hit a one-out triple and scored on a Gene Larkin single to make it 4-1.
And that was it. California got only one more hit, a two-out double by Chad Curtis in the ninth, but it did not lead to anything.
WP: Scott Erickson (13-10).
LP: Bert Blyleven (8-9).
S: Rick Aguilera (39).
Notes: Lenny Webster was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper. Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek. Jeff Reboulet was at short in place of Greg Gagne. Terry Jorgensen was at third in place of Scott Leius. J. T. Bruett was in center in place of Kirby Puckett, who was at DH in place of Chili Davis
Terry Jorgensen was batting .400 He would finish at .310. Kirby Puckett was batting .328. He would finish at .329. Shane Mack was batting .322. He would finish at .315. Chuck Knoblauch was batting .302. He would finish at .297.
Gary Wayne had an ERA of 2.01. He would finish at 2.63. Rick Aguilera had an ERA of 2.93. He would finish at 2.84.
Gary Gaetti had played for the Twins from 1981-1990. Bert Blyleven pitched for the Twins from 1970-1976 and 1986-1988,
The Twins were pretty much out of the race at this point, which is why there were so many reserves and September call-ups in the lineup. It’s kind of impressive that with that lineup, the Twins still won.
Pedro Munoz hit eight triples in his career. His career high was in 1992, when he hit three.
Record: California was 66-81, in fifth place in the AL West, twenty-four games behind Oakland. They would finish 72-90, in fifth place, twenty-four games behind Oakland.
The Twins were 82-66, in second place in the AL West, 8.5 games behind Oakland. They would finish 90-72, in second place, six games behind Oakland.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 46-46 (.500).