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).