MINNESOTA TWINS 6, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, May 28, 1990.

Batting star:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his seventh and eighth) and four RBIs.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a double, and a walk.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4.  Gary Gaetti hit a home run, his sixth.

Pitching star:  Tim Drummond pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, walking two and striking out one.  Juan Berenguer struck out three and walked one in two shutout innings.  John Candelaria pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Randy Milligan hit a home run, his third.  Dave Johnson pitched 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out two.

The game:  Joe Orsulak tripled with one out in the first and scored on a sacrifice fly to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.  Kirby Puckett homered in the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1.  Randy Milligan homered leading off the second to put the Orioles in front 2-1.  It went to 3-1 in the third when Baltimore scored on three walks and a wild pitch.  It went to 4-1 in the fourth when Bob Melvin led off with a double, was bunted to third, and scored on a ground out.

The Twins got a run in the fifth when Gene Larkin homered.  Each team put men on second and third with one out in the sixth, but neither team scored.  In the seventh, Junior Ortiz doubled with one out and went to third on a Dan Gladden singled.  With two out, Kirby Puckett hit a three-run homer to give the Twins their first lead at 5-4.  Gary Gaetti homered in the eighth to give the Twins an insurance run.

Baltimore drew four walks, but did not get a hit after the fourth inning.

WP:  Juan Berenguer (4-0).

LP:  Joe Price (0-2).

S:  John Candelaria (2-0).

Notes:  Junior Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Fred Manrique was at second base.  Al Newman played the most games there at 89, with Manrique second at 67.  Gene Larkin was in right field.  John Moses played the most games there at 52, with Shane Mack at 51 and Larkin at 47.  Jim Dwyer was the DH.  Larkin played the most games there with 43, followed by Carmelo Castillo with 35, Randy Bush with 27, Paul Sorrento with 23, and Dwyer with 22.

Kirby Puckett was batting .327.  He would finish at .298.  Dan Gladden was batting .325.  He would finish at .275.  Gene Larkin was batting .314.  He would finish at .269.  John Moses was batting .308.  He would finish at .221.

Terry Leach had an ERA of 2.03.  He would finish at 3.20.

David West started for the Twins, giving up four runs on three hits and four walks in four innings.  He was a top Mets prospect, and came to the Twins in the Frank Viola trade.  In a four-year career with the Twins, he went 15-18, 5.33, 1.52 WHIP in 63 games, 47 of them starts.  The Twins traded him to Philadelphia after the 1992 season and he went on to have a few decent years for them, mostly out of the bullpen.

Joe Price was in the last year of a pretty good career.  He played eleven seasons, mostly for Cincinnati.  In 372 games (84 starts), he went 45-49, 13 saves, 3.65 ERA, 1.30 WHIP.   He had an ERA under three in four of those years and under four in eight of them.  He had a few down years in there, mostly toward the end of his career, but for the most part he was a guy you were happy to have on your team.

John Candelaria had twenty-nine career saves, five of them in 1990.  He was a starter most of his career, but moved to the bullpen in 1989, his fifteenth major league season.  He would be traded to Toronto about two months after this game for Pedro Munoz and Nelson Liriano.

Record:  Baltimore was 20-25, in fifth place in the AL East, four games behind Toronto.  They would finish 76-85, in fifth place, 11.5 games behind Boston.

The Twins were 26-18, in third place in the AL West, 4.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 74-88, in seventh (last) place, twenty-nine games behind Oakland.  They would have the worst record in the American League after this date (48-70).

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 45-46 (.483).

MINNESOTA TWINS 6, SEATTLE MARINERS 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 8, 2009.

Batting stars:  Justin Morneau was 2-for-3 with a home run (his first), a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-4 with a double.  Alexi Casilla was 2-for-4.  Denard Span hit a two-run homer, his first.

Pitching stars:  Craig Breslow pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Jesse Crain pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Joe Nathan pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jose Lopez was 2-for-4 with a home run, his first.  Russell Branyan hit a home run, his first.  Chris Jakubauskas struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first inning, as Alexi Casilla hit a one-out single and Justin Morneau hit a two-out two-run homer.  The lead lasted until the top of the second, when Adrian Beltre led off with a double and Russell Branyan followed with a two-run homer, tying the score at two.

The Twins got right back in front in the bottom of the second, as Carlos Gomez led off with a double and Denard Span hit a two-out two-run homer.  This time the lead lasted until the fourth, when Jose Lopez homered, Ronny Cedeno hit a two-out single, Yuniesky Betancourt followed with an RBI double, Endy Chavez got an infield single, and a wild pitch put Seattle ahead 5-4.

That lead didn’t last long, either.  In the fifth Denard Span led off with a single and went to second with two out on a wild pitch.  Justin Morneau and Jason Kubel then hit consecutive doubles to give the Twins a 6-5 advantage.

And that was it.  The bullpen held it from there.  The Mariners got a man to second base in the seventh, when Yuniesky Betancourt led off with a single and was bunted to second, but he was stranded there.  They got only one other baserunner, a one-out walk to Russell Branyan in the eighth, who never got past first base.

WP:  Kevin Slowey (1-0).

LP:  Carlos Silva (0-1).

S:  Joe Nathan (1).

Notes:  Jose Morales was behind the plate in place of Joe Mauer.  Nick Punto was at short.  He played the most games there with 58, followed by Orlando Cabrera with 57 and Brendan Harris with 56.  Denard Span was in left.  Delmon Young had the most games there with 98, followed by Span with 74.

Denard Span was batting .444.  He would finish at .311.  Jason Kubel was batting .375.  He would finish at .300.  Alexi Casilla was batting .308.  He would finish at .202.

Craig Breslow had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 6.28.  Joe Nathan had an ERA of zero.  He would finish at 2.10.

Carlos Silva started for Seattle.  He had pitched for the Twins from 2004-2007.

It’s always interesting to me how some guys get chance after chance and others, at most, get one.  Chris Jakubauskas pitched in parts of three seasons and in 69 major league games, 15 of them starts.  He went 8-10, 5.58, 1.46 WHIP.  In no season did he have an ERA under five.  Give him credit for persistence–he spent over four years in independent ball before he even got to a major league organization.  Unfortunately, he was a better story than he was a pitcher.

Record:  Seattle was 1-2, tied for third with Los Angeles in the AL West, 1.5 games behind Texas.  They would finish 85-77, in third place, twelve games behind Los Angeles.

The Twins were 2-1, in first place in the AL Central, a half game ahead of Chicago and Kansas City.  They would finish 87-76, in first place, one game ahead of Detroit due to winning game 163.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 44-46 (.489).