MINNESOTA TWINS 2, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, July 11, 1987.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush hit a home run, his sixth.  Gary Gaetti hit a home run, his sixteenth.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and two walks and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Dave Van Gorder was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Ron Washington was 2-for-4.  Alan Wiggins was 2-for-4.  Mike Griffin pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.

The game:  With one out in the third Dave Van Gorder walked, Alan Wiggins singled, and Ron Washington delivered an RBI single to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.  The Twins came right back in the fourth, as Randy Bush led off with a homer to tie it 1-1.

Each team had men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but did not score.  With one out in the sixth, Gary Gaetti homered to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

And that’s where it stayed.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the seventh but did not score.  The Orioles got a single in each of the last three innings, and moved a runner to third base with two out in the ninth, but a ground out ended the game.

WP:  Frank Viola (8-6).

LP:  Mike Griffin (1-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Tom Brunansky, normally in right, was in left in place of Dan Gladden.  Mark Davidson was in center in place of Kirby Puckett.  Randy Bush was in Brunansky’s spot in right.

Roy Smalley was batting .314.  He would finish at .275.

Frank Viola had an ERA of 2.96.  He would finish at 2.90.

Ron Washington had played for the Twins from 1981-1986,

The only substitute in the game was Mike Young, who pinch-hit for Ken Gerhart with two out in the ninth.

Baltimore was 1-for-8 with men in scoring position.  The Twins were 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.

This was the only complete game of Mike Griffin’s career.  He made 24 starts and 43 relief appearances in parts of six seasons.

This was the last major league game for Dave Van Gorder.  At least he got to go out on a high note.

In the “things that would never happen today” file, it’s rare that anyone pitches a complete game at all.  But to do it when the score is 2-1, and to be allowed to stay in the game after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth, and to be allowed to stay in when the tying run moves to third, would simply not happen today.

Record:  Baltimore was 34-53, in sixth place in the AL East, 19.5 games behind New York.  They would finish 67-95, in sixth place, thirty-one games behind Detroit.

The Twins were 49-39, in first place in the AL West, two games ahead of Kansas City and Oakland.  They would finish 85-77, in first place, two games ahead of Kansas City.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 50-51 (.495).

MIAMI MARLINS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN MIAMI

Date:  Wednesday, June 26, 2013.

Batting stars:  Joe Mauer was 3-for-5.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Casey Fien pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Placido Polanco was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his first) and two runs.  Giancarlo Stanton was 2-for-4.  Ed Lucas was 2-for-4.  Jeff Mathis hit a two-run homer, his first.  Kevin Slowey pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up four hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  Clete Thomas walked and went to third on a pickoff error.  Brian Dozier then walked, followed by RBI singles by Joe Mauer and Josh Willingham and a run-scoring ground out.  The Twins had a 3-0 lead with one out in the first inning.

And that was as good as it would get.  The Twins got a pair of two-out singles in the third and had men on second and third with two out in the fifth, but could not extend their lead.  In the bottom of the fifth, Placido Polanco led off with a single and Jeff Mathis hit a one-out two-run homer to cut the lead to 3-2.  There followed singles by Kevin Slowey, Justin Ruggiano, and Ed Lucas to load the bases, and a ground out tied the score 3-3.  In the sixth, Logan Morrison led off with a single and Placido Polanco followed with a two-run homer to give Miami a 5-3 lead.

That was it.  The Twins got a pair of singles in the seventh, but a double play took them out of the inning and they did not get another baserunner.

WP:  Kevin Slowey (3-6).

LP:  Scott Diamond (5-7).

S:  Steve Cishek (14).

Notes:  Chris Parmelee was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Eduardo Escobar was at short in place of Pedro Florimon.  Clete Thomas was in center.  Aaron Hicks played the most games there with 81, followed by Thomas with 50.  Oswaldo Arcia was in right.  Chris Parmelee played the most games there with 68, followed by Ryan Doumit with 32 and Arcia with 29.  There was no DH in this game.

Joe Mauer was batting .337.  He would finish at .324.

Ryan Pressly had an ERA of 2.27.  He would finish at 3.87.

Logan Morrison would play for the Twins in 2018.  Kevin Slowey had pitched for the Twins from 2007-2011.

This was the last home run of Placido Polanco’s career.  He hit 104 in a career that lasted sixteen years.

Jeff Mathis hit fifty-three home runs in a thirteen-year career.  He would hit five in 2013.

PItcher Scott Diamond went 1-for-3 in the game, getting a one-out single in the sixth.  He did not advance beyond first base.

The Twins had eight hits and five walks, but all their hits were singles.  They stranded nine.

Record:  Miami was 27-50, in fifth (last) place in the NL East, seventeen games behind Atlanta.  They would finish 62-100, in fifth place, thirty-four games behind Atlanta.

The Twins were 34-40, in fourth place in the AL Central, seven games behind Detroit.  They would finish 66-96, in fourth place, twenty-seven games behind Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 49-51 (.490).