MINNESOTA TWINS 9, KANSAS CITY ROYALS 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 23, 1986.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 3-for-5 with two home runs (his thirty-second and thirty-third) and six RBIs.  Jeff Reed was 2-for-4.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Randy Bush was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Mike Smithson pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on twelve hits and one walk and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Mike Kingery was 4-for-5.  Willie Wilson was 2-for-4.

The game:  Kansas City got singles from Wilson and Kingery in the first, but stranded them on first and second, which would be one of the themes of the game.  The Twins then jumped to an early lead in the bottom of the first.  Mark Davidson led off with a single and stole second.  Kirby Puckett delivered an RBI single with one out, and with two down Gaetti hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins up 3-0.

In the second, Kevin Seitzer hit a one-out single and Buddy Biancalana hit a two-out double, putting men on second and third, but again the Royals could not score.  The Twins added on a run in the second when Greg Gagne singled, Steve Lombardozzi walked, and Bush drove in a run with a single.  They got another in the third when a Hrbek double, a Gaetti single, and a walk to Roy Smalley loaded the bases and Reed hit an RBI single.  They scored one more time in the fourth on a Bush single, a walk to Puckett, and a pair of ground outs, making the score 6-0 Twins.

Kansas City threatened again in the fifth, getting one-out singles from Wilson and Rudy Law, and in the sixth when Jaime Quirk led off with a double, but still could not get on the scoreboard.  The Twins got three more in the sixth on a two-out rally.  Puckett reached on an error, Hrbek singled, and Gaetti hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins in front 9-0.  

The Royals finally got on the board late in the game, but it was too little, too late.  In the seventh Bo Jackson walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Kingery’s single.  With two out in the ninth, Greg Pryor reached on an error, followed by consecutive singles by Lynn Jones, Kingery, and Jorge Orta to make the score 9-2.  Quirk was then caught looking to end the game.

WP:  Smithson (11-14).

LP:  Dennis Leonard (8-13).

S:  None.

Notes:  Reed, Mark Salas, and Tim Laudner split catching duties pretty evenly in 1986.  Bush usually played left, but he was in right this game, with Davidson in left and Tom Brunansky, the regular right fielder, on the bench.

Puckett was batting .332.  He would finish at .328.

Kansas City stranded twelve runners, going 3-for-12 with men in scoring position.  

Again, in the “this would never happen today” file, Smithson pitched a complete game despite giving up twelve hits.  He gave up three hits in a row in the ninth, but was still allowed to complete the game.  No pitch count is given, but it would have to have been substantial.

Buddy Biancalana, of course, achieved some fame due to his appearance in the 1985 World Series and mentions on the David Letterman show.

Mark Davidson was a reserve outfielder for the Twins from 1986-1988 and for Houston from 1989-1991.

Jeff Reed had a long career as a backup catcher, playing for six teams.  His last year was 2000, when he was a backup for the Cubs at age thirty-seven.

This was the last major league season for Dennis Leonard.  He would make only one more start in his career.  It was a good career, though.  He won twenty games three times and finished in the top seven in Cy Young voting twice.

The Royals’ second baseman was Rondin Johnson.  He got a September call-up in 1986, his only time in the majors.  He’d batted .289 in Omaha that year.  However, he had no power, and did not draw a lot of walks, so his batting average was pretty much the substance of his offensive contribution.  He batted .258/.258/.323 in 31 major league at-bats.  He played at the University of Washington at the same time as former Twins pitching coach Rick Anderson.

Tom Kelly was managing the Twins at this point, having taken over for Ray Miller less than two weeks earlier.

Record:  Kansas City was 69-82, in fourth place in the AL West, 19 games behind California.  They would finish 76-86, tied for third with Oakland, 16 games behind California.

Minnesota was 65-85, in seventh (last) place in the AL West, 22.5 games behind California.  They would finish 71-91, in fifth place, 21 games behind California.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 17-12 (.586).

MINNESOTA TWINS 9, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, July 7, 2017.

Batting stars:  Kennys Vargas was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Eddie Rosario was 3-for-4 with a double.  Max Kepler was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Brian Dozier was 2-for-5 with a triple.

Pitching stars:  Trevor Hildenberger struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Matt Belisle pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Taylor Rogers pitched a perfect inning.  Brandon Kintzler pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Manny Machado was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his seventeenth and eighteenth) and four RBIs.  Trey Mancini was 2-for-4.  Seth Smith was 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs.  

The game: Smith and Machado opened the game with back-to-back home runs off Twins starter Felix Jorge, giving Baltimore a 2-0 lead.  In the third, Ruben Tejada walked, Smith singled, and Machado hit another home run, making it 5-0.  The Orioles weren’t done, though.  With two out, Mark Trumbo doubled and Mancini singled him home to put Baltimore up 6-0.

The Twins started their comeback in the fourth.  With one out, consecutive singles by Miguel Sano, Kepler, and Vargas loaded the bases.  Rosario singled home one and Chris Gimenez was hit by a pitch to bring in another.  The next two batters fanned, but the Twins were at least on the board at 6-2.

They followed that with a big inning in the fifth.  Dozier led off with a triple and scored on a Robbie Grossman double.  Sano reached on an error, putting runners at the corners.  Kepler singled home one and Vargas delivered a two-run double, tying the score.  Gimenez then came through with a two-out single, and improbably, the Twins were ahead 7-6.

The Orioles threatened in the sixth, putting men on second and third with one out, but nothing came of it.  Neither team did anything after that until the eighth, when the Twins got a couple of insurance runs.  Rosario doubled and was bunted to third, but when Jorge Polanco grounded to short he was thrown out trying to score.  But Polanco stole second and scored on a Byron Buxton single.  Dozier then singled and Buxton scored from first, putting the Twins up 9-6.  Baltimore got a man on in the ninth but did not bring the tying run up to bat.

WP:  Hildenberger (1-0).

LP:  Miguel Castro (1-1).

S:  Kintzler (24).

Notes:  Gimenez was behind the plate in place of Jason Castro.  Vargas was at first in place of Joe Mauer.  

Mauer, who did not play in this game, was the Twins’ lone .300 hitter, batting .305.

Hildenberger had an ERA of 0.00.  He would finish at 3.21.  Rogers had an ERA of 2.14.  He would finish at 3.07.  Kintzler had an ERA of 2.29.  He would finish at 2.78.

Jonathan Schoop was at second base for the Orioles, going 0-for-4.  He would play for the Twins in 2019.

Baltimore pitchers allowed fourteen hits, but did not give up a walk and struck out ten.  Twins pitchers walked only one.

Manny Machado played in Baltimore for six and a half years, making four all-star teams, winning two Gold Gloves, and finishing in the top ten in MVP voting three times.  He was traded in July of 2018 for five players who, while they all played in the majors, were nowhere near as good as Manny Machado even if you added them together.

Brian Dozier fell apart rather quickly.  He went from an OPS of .871 with 76 homers in 2016-2017 to an OPS of .696 in 2018.  He bounced back to have a decent year for Washington in 2019, but got only fifteen major league at-bats in 2020 and then was out of baseball entirely.

I still think Kennys Vargas could have been a good player if he’d been given regular playing time for an extended period.  I can’t prove it, of course, and we’ll never know.

This was the second and last major league appearance for Felix Jorge.

This was the fourth major league appearance for Trevor Hildenberger.  As you can see, he had not yet given up a run in the major leagues.  That would change in his next appearance, but he still was pretty good for the Twins in 2017.

Record:  Baltimore was 40-46, in fourth place in the AL East, 9.5 games behind Boston.  They would finish 75-87, in fifth place, 18 games behind Boston.

The Twins were 45-41, in second place in the AL Central, 1.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 85-77, in second place, 17 games behind Cleveland, but good enough for a wild card spot.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 16-12 (.571).

MINNESOTA TWINS 5, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, May 23, 1964.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Lee Stange pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Boog Powell was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighth), a double, and a walk.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4.  

The game:  Baltimore opened the first with singles by Jackie Brandt and Aparicio, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning.  It cost them, because the Twins scored three in the second.  Killebrew drew a one-out walk, went to third on Hall’s single, and scored on an Earl Battey sacrifice fly.  Walks to Bernie Allen and Stange loaded the bases, and Zoilo Versalles delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0 Twins.

There were various threats in the next few innings.  In the third Killebrew hit a two-out double but was thrown out trying to score on a Hall single.  Allen hit a one-out double in the fourth but was stranded at second.  In the bottom of the fourth Bob Johnson singled, and one-out walks to Brooks Robinson and Powell loaded the bases, but a double play again took the Orioles out of the inning.

Then things calmed down until the eighth.  Vic Power led off the inning with a single-plus-error.  With one out, Bob Allison came through with an RBI single.  Killebrew singled, a ground out moved runners to second and third, and Battey was intentionally walked to fill the bases.  Allen then reached on an error to make the score 5-0.  Baltimore managed to spoil the shutout with two out in the ninth, when Powell homered, but the Twins took a 5-1 victory.

WP:  Stange (1-2).

LP:  Dave McNally (3-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Power was at first base.  Allison was actually the main first baseman, but he was in right field in this game in place of Tony Oliva.  This was the only game in 1964 in which Oliva did not play.  Killebrew was primarily a left fielder.

Nobody who played in this game for the Twins was batting .300, and none of them would finish over. 300.  Oliva did bat over .300, at .323.

Vic Power would play only six more games for the Twins before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels in mid-June.  He would play only one more season after this year.

Similarly, Lee Stange would play only six more games for the Twins before being traded to Cleveland in mid-June.  That was the trade that brought Mudcat Grant to the Twins.

Dave McNally was in his second full season and was not yet the star pitcher he would become, although he was not bad at all.  He went 9-11 in 1964 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  He would go on to win twenty games each year from 1968-1971, making three all-star teams, finishing in the top four in Cy Young voting three times, and finishing as high as fifth in MVP voting.

Harvey Haddix pitched the ninth for Baltimore.  He had been a fine starting pitcher for many years, but in the last three years of his career he was an excellent reliever.  In 1964 he went 5-5 with nine saves, posting an ERA of 2.31 and a WHIP of 1.02.  He struck out 90 in 89.2 innings (49 games).

Record:  Baltimore was 21-13 in second place in the AL, a half game behind the White Sox.  They would finish 97-65, in third place, two games behind the Yankees.

Minnesota was 19-15, in fifth place in the AL, 2.5 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 79-83, tied for sixth, 20 games behind the Yankees.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 15-12 (.556).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES 6, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN PITTSBURGH

Date:  Friday, June 5, 1998

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching star:  Mike Morgan pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Jermaine Allensworth was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Kevin Young was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kevin Polcovich was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Jose Guillen was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jason Kendall was 2-for-4.  Jose Silva pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and striking out seven.  He threw 110 pitches.

The game:  Pittsburgh got three singles in the first inning, but a double play and a pickoff kept them off the scoreboard.  The Twins actually scored first, in the third inning.  Morgan, batting because the game was being played in a National League park, hit a one-out single.  With two out, Brent Gates and Paul Molitor singled, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

It stayed 1-0 until the fifth.  Allensworth and Guillen led off with singles, putting men on first and third, and a force out tied the score.  The Pirates went ahead in the sixth.  With two out, Al Martin and Kendall singled and Young walked, loading the bases.  Allensworth followed with a two-run single, making the scored 3-1 Pittsburgh.

The Pirates put the game out of reach in the eighth with another two-out rally.  Young singled and Allensworth walked.  Guillen hit a run-scoring double, Aramis Ramirez walked, and Polcovich hit a two-run single.  Pittsburgh led 6-1, and that’s how it would end.  The Twins got only one hit after the third inning, a single by Javier Valentin in the seventh.

WP:  Silva (6-3).

LP:  Morgan (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Valentin was behind the plate in place of Terry Steinbach.  As there was no DH, Molitor played first base, moving David Ortiz to the bench.  Gates was at third in place of Ron Coomer.

Morgan was batting .500.  He would finish at .625.  Todd Walker was batting .347.  He would finish at .316.  Eddie Guardado had an ERA of 2.78.  He would finish at 4.52.

Mike Morgan, 1998 notwithstanding, was not a particularly good batter.  For his career, he hit .109/.132./.119 in 497 at-bats.  This was his only season with the Twins, and it was only a partial season, as he was traded to the Cubs on August 25 for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Scott Downs.

I really thought Jose Guillen was going to be a star.  It never happened, although he had a solid major league career.  He batted .267 with 14 home runs as a 21-year-old rookie in 1997, finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.  He had an incredibly similar year in 1998:  in 1997 he batted .267/.300/.412; in 1998 he batted .267/.298/.414, again with 14 home runs.  He bounced around after that, going to Tampa Bay in 1999, then to Arizona and Cincinnati in 2002.  He had his best year for Cincinnati in 2003, batting .337 with 23 home runs before being traded to Oakland at the July deadline.  He had solid years for Anaheim and Washington in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and another good year for Seattle in 2007.  For his career, he batted .270/.321/.440 with 214 home runs in fourteen major league seasons.

Record:  Pittsburgh was 30-30, in fourth place in the NL Central, 5.5 games behind the Cubs and Houston.  They finished 69-93, in sixth (last) place, 33 games behind Houston.

The Twins were 26-32, in second place in the AL Central, 8.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, 19 games ahead of Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-12 (.538)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 9 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, April 8, 1994.

Batting star:  Kirby Puckett was 5-for-6 with a double and four RBIs.  Rich Becker was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Alex Cole was 3-for-5 with a walk and two runs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Carl Willis struck out two in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Brent Gates was 2-for-2 with a home run (his first), a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Mark McGwire was 2-for-4 with a home run (his first) and two RBIs.  Troy Neel was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Ruben Sierra hit a home run, his first.  Terry Steinbach hit a home run, his second.  Bob Welch pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out three.

The game:  Oakland dominated early on.  Sierra hit a two-out homer in the first to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Rickey Henderson led off with a walk and Stan Javier singled.  A ground out moved them to second and third with two out and Gates delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0.  

The Twins got on the board in the third when Pat Meares singled, Cole walked, and Puckett hit an RBI single.  But Oakland got the run back with interest in the fifth.  Henderson singled and McGwire and Gates hit back-to-back home runs, giving the Athletics a 6-1 advantage.  It went to 7-1 in the sixth when Steinbach homered.

The Twins came back, though.  In the seventh, singles by Becker and Cole put men on the corners with one out.  Knoblauch hit a sacrifice fly, Puckett singled, and Kent Hrbek walked to load the bases.  Dave Winfield then doubled to bring the Twins within three at 7-4.

Oakland got an insurance run in the eighth when Gates walked and scored on Neel’s RBI double.  But in the bottom of the eighth, Chip Hale walked, Becker singled, and Cole singled to load the bases with one out.  Knoblauch drove in two with a double, Puckett drove in two more with a single, and the game was tied 8-8.  Neither team scored in the ninth, so the game went to extra innings.

In the tenth, Geronimo Berroa led off with a double and went to third on a bunt. Neel singled to score him, went to second on a ground out, and scored himself on a Scott Brosius single, putting the Athletics up 10-8.  In the bottom of the tenth, Knoblauch led off with a single and scored on a Puckett double.  The tying run was on second with none out.  He went to third on a ground out, but the next two batters were retired and the victory went to Oakland.

WP:  John Briscoe (1-0).

LP:  Larry Casian (0-1).

S:  Billy Taylor (1).

Notes:  Hale was at third in place of Scott Leius.  Becker began the season as the regular center fielder, but was soon replaced by Shane Mack.  Mack usually played left, with Cole, who was in left in this game, moving to center.  Pedro Munoz also saw significant time in left.

This early in the season, of course, the batting averages are skewed.  Jeff Reboulet was batting .500.  He would finish at .259.  Becker was batting .417.  He would finish at .265.  Knoblauch was batting .412.  He would finish at .312.  Puckett was batting .400.  He would finish at .317.  Hrbek was also batting .400.  He would finish at .270.  Cole was batting .333.  He would finish at .296.  Dave Winfield was batting .313.  He would finish at .252.

As you probably realized, there were three Oakland players who would eventually finish their careers with the Twins.  Gates played for the Twins in 1998-1999.  Sierra came in 2006.  Steinbach played for them from 1997-1999.

This was the only year as a rotation starter for Pat Mahomes.  He had an eleven year career, which is pretty good for someone who was only able to put up an ERA below five in four of those years.  

This was the only save Billy Taylor would get in 1994.  It was the first save of his career and only his third major league appearance.  He would go on to have some fine years as the Oakland closer, but in 1994 they still had Dennis Eckersley.  Eckersley was used as the closer in this game, but blew the save in the eighth.

Troy Neel was a first baseman/DH.  He played for them from 1992-1994, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting in 1993.  He was actually a very good batter:  in 758 at-bats, he batted .280/.263/.475 with 37 home runs.  Unfortunately for him, the Athletics had Mark McGwire at first base and Geronimo Berroa to DH, so they really didn’t have a spot for him.  You’d think someone else would’ve wanted him, but instead he went to Japan, where he had a long career for the Orix Blue Wave.  

John Briscoe split six seasons between Oakland and AAA from 1991-1996.  A reliever, he was 5-5, 5.67, 1.81 WHIP in 100 games (139.2 innings).  He was not that good in AAA, either:  11-14, 4.87, 1.73 WHIP.  He’s one of the many pitchers who might have been good if he could have found the strike zone.  He averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings in AAA and 8.3 walks per nine innings in the majors.  His “stuff” was obviously good enough for him to keep getting chances, but he simply could not throw enough strikes.  He did go on to pitch for five seasons for Somerset in the Atlantic League.

Record:  Oakland was 1-2, tied for second with Texas in the AL West, a half game behind California.  They would finish 51-63, in second place, one game behind Texas.

Minnesota was 1-3, tied for third with the White Sox in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind Cleveland and Milwaukee.  They would finish 53-60, in fourth place, 14 games behind the White Sox.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-11 (.560)..