MINNESOTA 2, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, September 4.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-third.  Randy Bush was 1-for-3 with a walk.  Billy Beane was 1-for-1 with an RBI.

Pitching stars:  Frank Viola pitched eight innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer pitched four shutout innings, giving up five hits and no walks with one strikeout.

Opposition stars:  Greg Brock was 3-for-5 with two doubles and a walk.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-6 with a double.  Len Barker pitched eight innings, giving up one run on six hits and a walk with three strikeouts.

The game:  There were no runs, and very few hits, until the seventh, when Puckett led off with a home run to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the ninth, but Puckett grounded back to the pitcher to end the inning.  In the bottom of the ninth, Rob Deer led off with a ground rule double and scored on Dale Sveum's one-out single to tie it 1-1.  In the bottom of the twelfth, Dan Plesac, who came in with one out in the eleventh, hit Gary Gaetti with a pitch.  Tom Nieto, back with the team as a September call-up, pinch-hit for Roy Smalley and singled, putting men on first and second.  Tom Brunansky hit into a fielder's choice, but an error the fielder didn't really choose to make resulted in bases loaded and none out.  A strikeout and a popup made it look like the threat might be for naught, but Beane, who was a September call-up and was in his first major league at-bat of the season, lined a single to center to win the game for the Twins.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Bush again in right and Brunansky in left.  Bush was in the leadoff spot...Roy Smalley was the DH, with Don Baylor used as a pinch-hitter in the tenth...Puckett raised his average to .329...With the expanded rosters, Tom Kelly used three pinch-hitters (Baylor, Gene Larkin, and Nieto) and three pinch-runners (Mark Davidson, Al Newman, and Chris Pittaro).

Record:  The Twins were 72-64, in first place by three games over Oakland, who lost to Boston 5-2.

Player profile:  When people criticize sabremetrics and "moneyball" as something for stat nerds, they never mention that Billy Beane was a major league player, appearing in 148 games over six seasons.  An outfielder, he was drafted by the Mets with the second pick of the 1980 draft.  He reached AA by age twenty and clearly wasn't ready for it, but by his third year there, in 1984, he hit .281/.352/.490 with twenty home runs.  He got a September call-up that season but was in AAA in 1985, batting .284/.341/.480 with 19 homers and 34 doubles.  You'd think a guy with those AAA numbers might get a shot at the big-leagues, but the Mets had George Foster, Mookie Wilson, and Darryl Strawberry in their outfield, so Beane had to settle for another September call-up.  That off-season, he was traded to the Twins with Joe Klink and Bill Latham for Pat Crosby and Tim Teufel.  The Twins had Brunansky and Puckett in the outfield, but one would think Beane might have been a good platoon partner for Bush.  As it turned out, though, of his 183 at-bats, only 88 came against left-handed pitchers.  He wasn't terrible against them, batting .261, but that was as good as it would get for him.  He was back in AAA in 1987, getting just another September call-up, and was traded to Detroit before the 1988 campaign for Balvino Galvez.  He started the season with the Tigers but rarely played, getting only six at-bats in April before being sent down.  He was a free agent after the season and signed with Oakland.  He was with the team most of the season but again rarely played, getting only 79 at-bats in 39 games.  That brought an end to his playing career, and you don't need me to tell you about his post-playing career.  His career major league numbers are .219/.246/.296.  He had fine AAA seasons from 1985-87, though, and one wonders what he might have done if he'd gotten a real chance in the majors.  I don't think he'd have been a star or anything, but I don't think he'd have been the worst outfielder in the league, either.

MINNESOTA 2, BOSTON 1 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, September 3.

Batting stars:  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his fourteenth), driving in one.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-second.  Gene Larkin was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven struck out eleven in nine innings, giving up one run on six hits and four walks.  Keith Atherton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Calvin Schiraldi struck out eleven in seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-5 with a double and a run.  Marty Barrett was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Each team threatened in the first, but failed to score.  The Red Sox put together a two-out threat in the sixth, but nothing came of it.  As a result, it was a scoreless tie until the ninth, when Greenwell walked, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Ed Romero.  The first two Twins in the ninth went out, and the Twins win-expectancy was at five percent, when Puckett homered to tie it up 1-1.  Boston got men to second and third with two out in the tenth, but Todd Benzinger grounded out to end the inning.  In the bottom of the tenth, Larkin hit a one-out double and Randy Bush was intentionally walked.  Pinch-hitter Roy Smalley was accidentally walked, loading the bases, and Newman drew a walkoff walk to win it for the Twins.

Of note:  Newman led off and played second base, replacing Steve Lombardozzi...Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Bush in right and Tom Brunansky in left...Don Baylor made his Twins debut as DH, going 1-for-4...Larkin was at first base, with Kent Hrbek out of the lineup...This was the only start Calvin Schiraldi made in 1987.  He had been the Red Sox' closer at the end of 1986 and the start of 1987.  He made 47 starts in his career, with 27 of them coming in 1988, when he played for the Cubs...In thirty-seven starts in 1987, Blyleven had seven in which he did not leave a pitch up.  This is the last of those seven.

Record:  The Twins were 71-64, in first place by two games over Oakland, who was idle this day.

MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighth) and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched six innings, giving up two runs on four hits and a walk with one strikeout.  Jeff Reardon retired all five men he faced, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Steve Crawford pitched 5.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on eight hits and two walks with no strikeouts.  Mike Greenwell was 2-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth) and a double, driving in three.  Marty Barrett was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Bush homered in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Three singles and a sacrifice fly-plus-error produced three Twins runs in the second to make it 4-0 and Roy Smalley singled in a run in the fifth to make it 5-0.  Greenwell hit a two-run homer in the sixth and two walks and an RBI double with one out in the eighth made it 5-3 and brought Reardon into the game.  He allowed a sacrifice fly to make it 5-4, but retired all five men he faced to secure the win.

Of note:  Al Newman led off and played shortstop, with Greg Gagne out of the lineup...Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Bush in right field batting second and Tom Brunansky in left...Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .329...Don Baylor, who had been acquired for a player to be named later (Enrique Rios) just before the August 31 trade deadline, had still not played in a game for the Twins at this point.

Record:  The Twins were 70-64, in first place.  Oakland lost to the Yankees 5-4 in ten innings, so the Twins lead increased to 1.5 games.

We may or may not get back to player profiles later this week.

BOSTON 9, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Jeff Sellers pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and two walks with seven strikeouts.  Wade Boggs was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in three.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixteenth) and a walk, driving in four.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third, when Boggs hit a two-run homer and Greenwell a solo blast to put Boston up 3-0.  The Red Sox added two in the fifth, two in the seventh, and two in the ninth.  The Twins had only five hits, all singles.  Their biggest threat came in the first inning, when one-out singles by Puckett and Kent Hrbek put men on first and second.  Gary Gaetti hit into a double play to end the inning.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Brunansky in left and Randy Bush in right...Greg Gagne led off, with Puckett batting second and Hrbek third...Puckett raised his average to .329...Joe Niekro started and pitched four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and two walks with one strikeout...The Twins got through the game with only three pitchers, as Dan Schatzeder worked three innings and George Frazier two...This was the second and last shutout of Jeff Sellers' career.  The other came against Oakland on July 3 of this season.  He would have another complete game in his next start, but would have only one more in his career.  It should be noted, however, that in his last start of 1987 he pitched eleven innings.

Record:  The Twins were 69-64, in first place by a half-game over Oakland, which defeated the Yankees 8-3.

MINNESOTA 10, MILWAUKEE 6 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Sunday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 6-for-6 with two home runs (his twentieth and twenty-first) and two doubles, scoring four times and driving in four.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring twice.  Al Newman was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching stars:  Keith Atherton pitched 1.1 scoreless innings despite giving up a hit and two walks.  Jeff Reardon struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Bill Schroeder was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his tenth) and a walk.  Glenn Braggs was 3-for-4 with a stolen base (his tenth) and an RBI.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-4 with a walk, a run, and a stolen base (his thirty-first).

The game:  A number of members of the nation indicated they were on vacation in August of 1987.  I was not on vacation, but I was at a week-long meeting in Denver.  I remember hearing about the game Puckett had and being amazed.  Looking at it now, I'm still amazed.  It'd be hard to have a much better day.  6-for-6, two home runs, two doubles, four runs, four RBIs.

Puckett drove in the first run of the game in the first inning with a measly single.  He homered in the third to make it 2-0.  Schroeder hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give the Brewers a 3-2 lead.  The Twins scored three in the fifth, aided by three walks and a hit-by-pitch, to go ahead 5-3.  In the sixth Milwaukee scored three times, two of them scoring on a sacrifice fly-plus-error, to take a 6-5 lead.  Kent Hrbek brought home the tying run in the eighth on a sacrifice fly and Gene Larkin hit a two-run single to give the Twins an 8-6 lead.  Puckett hit a two-run homer in the ninth to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Al Newman led off and was the designated hitter.  We laugh at that, but he was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Maybe TK knew something...Greg Gagne was 2-for-6 and scored twice...Puckett raised his average to .328...Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Mark Davidson in right and Tom Brunansky in left...Frank Viola lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on seven hits and two walks with four strikeouts...Milwaukee starter Juan Nieves lasted 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 69-63.  Oakland lost to Toronto 13-3, so the Twins moved back into first place, a game ahead of the Athletics.

Only twenty-three players have gone 6-for-6 in a nine-inning game since this game.  Oddly, the last two came on consecutive days last season, with C. J. Cron doing it for the Angels on July 2 and Wilmer Flores doing it for the Mets on July 3.  There are two other players who have gone 6-for-7 since this game.

Only one player has ever gone 7-for-7 in a nine-inning game.  Rennie Stennett did it for Pittsburgh on September 16, 1975.

MINNESOTA 12, MILWAUKEE 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  August 29, 1987.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his eighteenth and nineteenth), and three runs.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his thirty-second) and three walks, scoring three times.  Gary Gaetti was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twenty-eighth) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Robin Yount was 1-for-4 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  B. J. Surhoff was 3-for-5.  Mike Felder was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  There was no lack of Twins offense in this one.  Gaetti hit a two-run homer in the first and Puckett hit a solo homer in the third to make it 3-0 Twins.  Milwaukee got single runs in the third and fourth to cut it to 3-2.  Puckett hit another homer in the fifth and the Twins got three more runs later in the inning to go up 7-2.  Hrbek hit a three-run homer in the sixth and the Twins added two more in the seventh.

Of note:  Dan Gladden remained out of the lineup, with Randy Bush in right field and Tom Brunansky in left...Bush batted seventh, with Greg Gagne in the leadoff spot...Puckett moved up from his usual number three slot to bat second, with Hrbek third...Puckett raised his average to .320...Brunansky was 2-for-5 with a run and an RBI...Steve Lombardozzi was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, driving in three...Milwaukee starter Len Barker lasted only 3.1 innings, allowing three runs on six hits and two walks with one strikeout...Milwaukee reliever Jay Aldrich was tagged with six runs in 3.2 innings, allowing eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 68-63, tied for first place with Oakland, who defeated Toronto 6-5 in ten innings.  Oakland, at 67-62, was actually slightly ahead on winning percentage, .5194 to .5191.

Player profile:  I know I said I wouldn't do one until next week, and after this I probably won't, but I had a fondness for guys who had brief careers.  This was the rookie season for Jay Aldrich.  He was born in Alexandria, Louisiana, attended Montclair State University, and was drafted in the tenth round by Milwaukee in 1982.  He did fairly well in AA and AAA, especially considering that he was playing El Paso and Denver, two places where it's hard to get good pitching numbers (one would think it was really hard for the Brewers to evaluate their minor league pitchers at this time).  He came up to Milwaukee in early June of 1987 and was used in long relief.  His ERA of 4.94 is not very good, but he appears to have been allowed to get beaten up a few times just because the Brewers needed someone to fill up the innings.  If you take out the worst three of his 31 appearances, in which he gave up a total of 15 earned runs, his ERA drops to 3.06.  Still, he spent all of 1988 in AAA.  He started 1989 in AAA too, but came up to the Brewers in late May and was traded to Atlanta in September.  1989 was his best major league season, as he went 2-2, 3.29 and got a save.  However, he was released after that season and signed with Baltimore for 1990.  He was with the Orioles at the start of the season, but did not pitch well and was sent down in late April.  He did not pitch well in AAA, either, and was sold to San Francisco in early August.  He became a free agent after the season, did not sign with anyone, and his playing career was over.  He did sign with the Pirates as a replacement player in 1995.  For his career, he was 6-5, 4.72 with two saves and a WHIP of 1.45 in 62 games (108.2 innings).  Not a great career, not even a good career.  But he got to the big leagues, spent about a year and a half there, and got into sixty-two games.  That's better than the vast majority of baseball players do.

MILWAUKEE 1, MINNESOTA 0 IN MILWAUKEE

Date: August 28, 1987.

Batting star:  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-2 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Les Straker pitched seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  Juan Berenguer struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Chris Bosio pitched a complete game shutout, giving up two hits and three walks with eight strikeouts.  Robin Yount was 2-for-4 with a run and a stolen base, his thirteenth.  Greg Brock was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

The game:  The familiar refrain is "We finally get some pitching and we can't hit."  Straker pitched very well, but the Twins managed only two hits off Bosio, a one-out single by Greg Gagne in the first and a one-out single by Hrbek in the seventh.  Both times the runner was erased by a double play.  The Twins' biggest threat, if you want to call it that, came in the second inning, when Gene Larkin was hit by a pitch and stole second with two out.  It was the only time the Twins advanced a man into scoring position.  The game's only run came in the sixth, when Yount singled, stole second, and scored on Brock's double.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup, with Randy Bush in right field and leading off.  Tom Brunansky played left...Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .315...This was Bosio's rookie season.  This was his first complete game, and obviously his first shutout.  He would have 39 complete games and 9 shutouts in his career...The Twins had lost nine of their last ten games.

Record:  The Twins were 67-63, tied for first place with Oakland.  Oakland actually had a slightly higher winning percentage, .516 to .515.  That winning percentage would have merited fifth place in the American League East.

We won't get back to player profiles this week after all.  We'll try again next week.

DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 8 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 26.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times and driving in one.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth) and three RBIs.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-5 with a home run, his twenty-seventh.

Pitching star:  Keith Atherton pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Chet Lemon was 3-for-5 with two home runs, scoring three times and driving in four.  Jim Morrison was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth).  Dan Petry struck out four in four innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits and no walks.

The game:  I don't specifically remember this game, but it must have felt like a devastating loss at the time.  Sacrifice flies in each of the first two innings put the Twins ahead 2-0.  Morrison hit a three-run homer in the fourth to give Detroit a 3-2 advantage.  Brunansky homered in the bottom of the fourth to tie it and Gagne delivered an RBI single later in the inning to put the Twins up 4-3.  Kirby Puckett drove in a run with a single in the fifth to make it 5-3.  Lemon homered in the sixth and Alan Trammell had a run-scoring single in the seventh to tie it 5-5.  Gagne then homered in the eighth to again put the Twins up 6-5 and Jeff Reardon, who hadn't given up a run since August 9, came in to pitch the ninth.  A walk, a strikeout, a walk, a fly out, and an infield single loaded the bases with two down.  Matt Nokes then lined a single to bring home two runs and Lemon hit a three-run homer, and Detroit was ahead 10-6.  To the Twins credit, they came back to score twice (despite having a runner thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on a single) and had the bases loaded with two out before Willie Hernandez came in to get Al Newman to pop up and end the game.

Of note:  Newman led off and played second in place of Steve Lombardozzi.  He was 3-for-6 with a run and two stolen bases (his fifteenth and sixteenth)...Mark Davidson batted second and played left in place of Dan Gladden...Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs, batting .318...Frank Viola started and pitched seven innings, giving up five runs on eleven hits and no walks with six strikeouts...Detroit starter Frank Tanana lasted only four innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and three walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 67-62, in first place by a half game over Oakland.  They had now lost eight out of their last nine games and five of their last six to the Tigers.

We hope to get back to player profiles yet this week.

DETROIT 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Steve Lombardozzi was 1-for-4 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Juan Berenguer struck out three in 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.  Keith Atherton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Chet Lemon was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Kirk Gibson was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Darrell Evans was 0-for-2 with three walks, a run, and a stolen base, his fifth.

The game:  Lemon had a two-run double in a three-run third to give Detroit a 3-0 lead.  The Twins scored two in the fourth to make it 3-2, but Gibson's two-run single in the sixth put the Tigers up 5-2.  Hrbek singled home a run in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 5-3.  In the eighth, Randy Bush delivered an RBI triple to make it 5-4 and put the tying run on third base with one out, but the last five Twins were retired to end the game.

Of note:  Dan Gladden was again out of the lineup.  Lombardozzi led off, with Bush batting second and playing right field.  Brunansky was in left...Puckett's average went to .316...Twins starter Joe Niekro pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on only four hits but seven walks with four strikeouts...Detroit starter Doyle Alexander pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Record:  The Twins were 67-61, in first place by one game over Oakland.

We will try to get back to player profiles later in the week.