CLEVELAND GUARDIANS 3, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, April 6, 2024.

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching stars:  Joe Ryan struck out seven in six innings, giving up three runs on five hits.  Jorge Alcala struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Jay Jackson struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Brayan Rocchio was 2-for-3.  David Fry hit a three-run homer, his first.  Carlos Carrasco struck out six in three innings, giving up one run on one hit and three walks.  Six relievers combined to shutout the Twins for six innings, giving up one hit and four walks and striking out eight.

The game:  The Twins scored in the bottom of the first when Carlos Carrasco drew a one-out walk and Alex Kirilloff followed with a triple.  In the second, Josh Naylor was hit by a pitch, Will Brennan singled with one out, and David Fry hit a two-out three-run homer, making it 3-1 Cleveland.

And that was it for scoring.  The Twins drew a pair of walks in the third, but the other three batters that inning struck out.  In the fifth their first two batters reach on a hit batsman and an error, but the next three couldn’t get the ball out of the infield.  In the sixth they loaded the bases with one out on two hit batsmen and a walk, but the next two batters struck out.  They opened the seventh with two walks, but a double play took them out of the inning.  A frustrating offensive game, to be sure.

WP:  Nick Sandlin (2-0).

LP:  Joe Ryan (0-1).

S:  Emmanuel Clase (4).

Notes:  As we’ve noted before, the 2024 Twins only had a couple of “regulars” and a number of “semi-regulars”.  Alex Kirilloff was at first base in place of Carlos Santana.  Willi Castro was at third.  Jose Miranda played the most games there with 79, followed by Royce Lewis (51) and Kyle Farmer (29).  Matt Wallner was in left.  Manuel Margot played the most games there (65), followed by Trevor Larnach (52), Austin Martin (40), and Willi Castro (34).  Santana was the DH.  Larnach had the most games there (52), followed by Ryan Jeffers (34), Lewis (28), and Miranda (27).

Alex Kirilloff was batting .385.  He would finish at .201.  Carlos Correa was batting .364.  He would finish at .310.

Jorge Alcala had an ERA of 0.00.  He would finish at 3.24.  Jay Jackson had an ERA of 0.00.  He would finish at 7.52.

The Twins had just two hits, but drew seven walks and had three hit batsmen.  They stranded eleven, going 0-for-11 with men in scoring position.  They struck out fourteen times.

Alex Kirilloff hit five triples in his career.  Three of them came in 2024.

Jay Jackson appeared in twenty games for the Twins in 2024, and I have no memory of him at all.  Granted, they were all in the first part of the season, when I was still working and not able to pay close attention, but still.  He gave up runs in twelve of his twenty appearances, adding up to an ERA of 7.52.  The Twins released him in July.

Six of the Twins nine starters had batting averages below .200.  Carlos Santana (.150), Edouard Julien (.130), Willi Castro (.130), Ryan Jeffers (.111), Matt Wallner (.100), and Max Kepler (.050).  Yes, it was very early in the season, and they would do better.  Still, that’s a really rough start.

Record:  Cleveland was 7-2, in first place in the AL Central, a half game ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 92-69, in first place, 6.5 games ahead of Detroit and Kansas City.

The Twins were 3-4, in fourth place in the AL Central, three games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 82-20, in fourth place, 10.5 games behind Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 38-44 (.463).

NEW YORK YANKEES 12, MINNESOTA TWINS 1, IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, May 21, 1982.

Batting star:  Tom Brunansky was 3-for-4.

Pitching star:  None.

Opposition stars:  Oscar Gamble was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his third), a walk, and two runs.  Dave Collins was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Bobby Murcer hit a three-run homer, his second.  Mike Patterson hit a home run, his first.  Rudy May pitched seven innings, giving up one run on eight hits and a walk and striking out four.

The game:  In the first, Willie Randolph singled, Dave Collins walked, and Lou Piniella hit a two-run triple to make it 2-0 Yankees.  In the second the Twins first three batters went single, double, single, and they did not lose a runner on the bases, but somehow did not score.  In the bottom of the second, Butch Wynegar walked and Oscar Gamble hit a two-run homer, making it 4-0.

The Twins got their sole run in the fifth when Gary Gaetti walked and scored from first on a Dave Engle double.  The Yankees put it away with six runs in the sixth, three of them on a home run by Bobby Murcer.  Mike Patterson homered in the eighth to round out the scoring.

WP:  Rudy May (1-2).

LP:  Brad Havens (1-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jesus Vega was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Larry Milbourne was at second base in place of John Castino.  Dave Engle was in right field in place of Tom Brunansky.  Brunansky was in center in place of Bobby Mitchell.  Mickey Hatcher was the DH.  Randy Johnson played the most games at DH, with 66, followed by Vega at 39.

Ron Washington was batting .347.  He would finish at .271.  Jesus Vega was batting .307.  He would finish at .266.  Tom Brunansky was batting .300.  He would finish at .272.

Roy Smalley was at short for the Yankees.  He played for the Twins from 1976-1982 and 1985-1987, having been traded to New York about six weeks earlier.  Graig Nettles was at third.  He played for the Twins from 1967-1969.  Butch Wynegar was behind the plate.  He played for the Twins from 1976-1982, having been traded to New York nine days earlier.  Roger Erickson pitched an inning of relief.  He pitched for the Twins from 1978-1982, having been traded to New York with Wynegar.  Shane Rawley pitched an inning of relief.  He would pitch for the Twins in 1989.

This was the only triple Lou Piniella would hit in 1982.  He hit forty-one triples in his career, with a high of six in 1979 and 1986.

This was the only home run Mike Patterson hit in his career.  It was his first at-bat of 1982–he had played in sixteen games in 1981.  He would play in ten more games for the Yankees in 1982, which would bring his major league career to a close.  He would play two more seasons in AAA and spend 1985 in Japan.

Paul Boris, who came to the Twins in the Roy Smalley trade, and John Pacella, who came to the Twins in the Roger Erickson/Butch Wynegar trade, both pitched for the Twins in this game.

Record:  New York was 18-19, in fourth place in the AL East, seven games behind Boston.  They would finish 79-83, in fifth place, sixteen games behind Milwaukee.

The Twins were 12-30, in seventh (last) place in the AL West, 15.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 60-102, in seventh place, thirty-three games behind California.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 38-43 (.469).