MINNESOTA TWINS 8, CHICAGO WHITE SOX 6 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Wednesday, September 23, 2009.

Batting stars:  Delmon Young was 3-for-5 with a double.  Brendan Harris was 2-for-3 with two doubles.  Nick Punto was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Orlando Cabrera was 2-for-5.  Michael Cuddyer was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Joe Nathan pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jermaine Dye was 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBIs.  Alexei Ramirez was 3-for-5 with a double and three runs.

The game:  The Twins started the scoring in the second inning when Michael Cuddyer got to second on a single-plus-error and scored on a Brendan Harris double.  In the third, Nick Punto led off with a single, was bunted to second, and scored on an Orlando Cabrera single.  Singles by Joe Mauer and Michael Cuddyer followed, scoring Cabrera and making the score 3-0.  In the fourth, doubles by Harris, Punto, and Carlos Gomez made it 5-0.

Chicago got on the board in the fourth when Alexei Ramirez hit a two-out double followed by singles by Jermaine Dye and Carlos Quentin to cut the lead to 5-1.  It went to 5-2 in the fifth, as Tyler Flowers led off with a double and scored on a single by Jayson Nix.  It then went to 5-4 in the sixth, when Ramirez reached on an error and Dye followed with a two-run homer.

The Twins re-asserted themselves in the seventh.  Jason Kubel walked and Delmon Young hit a one-out double.  Jose Morales was intentionally walked to load the bases.  It looked like it might work, as a foul popup followed, but then Nick Punto foiled the strategy with a two-run single.  Punto then stole second, and there was an error on the throw that allowed Morales to score, making it 8-4 Twins.

The White Sox didn’t go away.  In the eighth Alexei Ramirez singled and Jermaine Dye hit his second two-run homer, cutting the lead to 8-6.  In the ninth Gordon Beckham was hit by a pitch with one out and Paul Konerko drew a two-out walk, putting the tying run on base.  But Alexei Ramirez popped to first, and the victory was preserved.

WP:  Brian Duensing (5-1).

LP:  Mark Buehrle (12-10).

S:  Joe Nathan (44).

Notes:  Michael Cuddyer, who usually played right field, was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Nick Punto was at second base.  Alexi Casilla played the most games there with 72, followed by Punto at 63.  Matt Tolbert was at third base.  Joe Crede played the most games there with 84, followed by Brendan Harris with 44 and Tolbert with 27.  Jason Kubel was in right field in place of Cuddyer.  Harris was the DH, one of just nine games he played there that year.  Kubel had the most games there with 82, followed by Joe Mauer with 28.

Joe Mauer was batting .371.  He would finish at a league-leading .365.  Jose Morales was batting .354.  He would finish at .311.  Jason Kubel was batting .300.  He would finish at .300.

Jose Mijares had an ERA of 2.10.  He would finish at 2.34.  Joe Nathan had an ERA of 2.14.  He would finish at 2.10. 

A. J. Pierzynski was the Chicago catcher.  He had played for the Twins from 1998-2003.  Carlos Quentin was the left fielder.  He would go to spring training with the Twins in 2016.

Jose Morales and Jose Mijares were guys we had such high hopes for.  They both played well in 2009.  Morales would not have another good year.  Mijares pitched well in 2010, but that was it.  They both looked good at first, but it turned out to be no way, Jose.

The Jose Morales who played in this game was the second Jose Morales to play for the Twins.

This was Brian Duensing’s rookie year.  He had played in one game in April, then came up to stay in early July.  2011 was his only year in the starting rotation.  He did make some starts in other years, but was mostly used out of the bullpen.

Bobby Keppel pitched 1.2 innings in this game.  He was with the Twins for the second half of 2009, making 37 appearances.  He had appeared in eight games for Kansas City in 2006 and four for Colorado in 2007.  This was his next-to-last major league game.

Record:  Chicago was 73-80, in third place in the AL Central, nine games behind Detroit.  They would finish 79-83, in third place, 7.5 games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 79-73, in second place in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit by winning game 163.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 39-45 (.464).

MILWAUKEE BREWERS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 30, 1992.

Batting star:  Shane Mack was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Carl Willis pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Dante Bichette was 3-for-4.  Pat Listach was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Chris Bosio pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out one.

The game:  In the third, Pat Listach singled, stole second, and scored on a two-out single by Franklin Stubbs to give the Brewers a 1-0 lead.

It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Milwaukee took control of the game.  With one out, Darryl Hamilton doubled and went to third on an infield single by Dante Bichette.  B. J. Surhoff delivered an RBI single and Scott Fletcher followed with a run-scoring double.  Pat Listach then singled, driving home two more, and the Brewers led 5-0.

The Twins didn’t just roll over.  They got on the board in the bottom of the sixth, opening the inning with consecutive singles by Greg Gagne, Chuck Knoblauch, and Shane Mack to cut the lead to 5-1.  Then, however, Kirby Puckett hit into a double play.  It scored a run, making the score 5-2, but it took the Twins out of the inning.

Shane Mack led off the ninth with a home run, cutting the lead to 5-3, but the Twins did not get the tying run up to bat.

WP:  Chris Bosio (8-5).

LP:  Willie Banks (4-4).

S:  None.

Notes:  Mike Pagliarulo was at third base in place of Scott Leius.  

Kirby Puckett was batting .332.  He would finish at .329.  Shane Mack was batting .314.  He would finish at .315.  Brian Harper was batting .311.  He would finish at .307.  Chuck Knoblauch was batting .308.  He would finish at .297.

Paul Molitor played first base for Milwaukee and went 0-for-5 in this game.  He would play for the Twins from 1996-1998 and manage the team from 2015-2018.

Willie Banks’ early career as a starter has always reminded me of Pat Mahomes’ early career as a starter.  If Banks had gone to the bullpen as early in his career as Mahomes did, maybe he could’ve been an effective reliever.  Of course, we’ll never know.

Dante Bichette would hit only five home runs in 1992, and at that point his career high was fifteen.  He would not develop into a power hitter until he went to Colorado in 1993.

For a first baseman who didn’t provide much offense, Franklin Stubbs had a long career.  He batted .232/.303/.404 and averaged just over ten homers a year.  Yet, he had a ten-year career and played over a hundred games in five of those seasons.

Record:  Milwaukee was 55-46, in third place in the AL East, five games behind Toronto.  They would finish 92-70, in second place, four games behind Toronto.

The Twins were 60-42, in second place in the AL West, a half game behind Oakland.  They would finish 90-72, in second place, six games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 38-45 (.458).