MINNESOTA 10, BOSTON 8 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)
Date: Sunday, May 17.
Batting stars: Gary Gaetti was 4-for-4 with a home run (his ninth), a walk, and two stolen bases (his third and fourth), scoring three times. Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and two walks. Kirby Puckett was 1-for-6 with a two-run homer, his tenth.
Pitching star: Keith Atherton pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Dwight Evans was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventh) and a walk, scoring twice. Dave Henderson was 2-for-2 with a home run (his fifth) and two RBIs. Ellis Burks was 2-for-6 with a double and a run.
The game: It was 1-1 half-way through. Puckett hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to make it 3-1. Later in the inning, the Twins loaded the bases. A fielder's choice brought home one run and Greg Gagne and Gaetti pulled off a double steal of second and home, respectively, to make the score 5-1. It was 6-1 after seven and things seemed under control. In the eighth, however, the first four Red Sox batters went homer, single, double, single, making the score 6-4 and chasing starter Frank Viola from the game. George Frazier came in and allowed a single and a walk to load the bases. Jeff Reardon came in and another walk to make it 6-5. Bill Buckner fouled out, finally the first out of the inning, but consecutive singles made it 8-6 Boston. Not to worry. Gaetti led off the ninth with a home run and with one out Tom Brunansky homered to tie the score. Keith Atherton, who had retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth, gave up only a two-out single in the tenth. In the bottom of the tenth, Dan Gladden singled and Hrbek hit a two-run homer to win the game for the Twins.
Of note: Puckett was now batting .324...Tim Laudner was 1-for-2 with a walk and a run and raised his average to .079...Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth), a walk, and a hit-by-pitch...Frank Viola pitched very well for seven innings, but his line read seven innings, five runs, eight hits, and a walk, with six strikeouts...Boston starter Jeff Sellers pitched four innings, allowing three runs on four hits and five walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 19-18, tied for third place with California, 2.5 games behind Kansas City.
Notes: Al Newman started at second base in place of Steve Lombardozzi...Randy Bush started in right, with Brunansky in left. Gladden entered the game as a pinch-hitter in the sixth...Boston's first seven batters and nine of their first ten reached base in the eighth inning.
Player profile: The name "Jeff Sellers" meant nothing to me, but he actually made fifty-one starts for the Red Sox from 1985-88. He was drafted by Boston in the eighth round in 1982. He got a September callup by the Red Sox after a fine 1985 season in AA. He split 1986 between AAA and the majors but did not do very well in thirteen big league starts. He was in the majors for most of 1987 but again did not get much accomplished, going 7-8, 5.28, 1.59 WHIP in 25 games (22 starts). It should be noted that he did have two shutouts. He struggled again in 1988 and Boston finally gave up on him, trading him to Cincinnati in a multi-player deal that involved such names as Todd Benzinger and Nick Esasky. He did not make the majors again, but pitched in the minors for the Yankees, Texas, and Colorado, not ending his playing career until 1994. His major league numbers are 13-22, 4.97, 1.60 WHIP in 329.2 innings (51 starts, 10 relief appearances). The Red Sox obviously saw something in him to give him that many chances, but whatever it was, it did not translate into major league success. His son, Justin Sellers, was an infielder with the Dodgers from 2011-2013 and with Cleveland in 2014.