Tag Archives: 1991 rewind

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-three

MINNESOTA 9, CLEVELAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Shane Mack was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, his seventeenth home run.

Pitching stars:  Scott Erickson struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up six hits and two walks.  He threw 119 pitches.  Rick Aguilera pitched two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Mike Aldrete was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Albert Belle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Alex Cole was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  Despite the final score, it was a pitchers' duel for six innings.  The Indians had a couple of mild threats, getting a two-out double from Carlos Baerga in the first and putting men on first and second with one out in the third.  The Twins did not get a hit until the fourth.  Knoblauch led off with a single and went to third with none out on a pickoff error, but he was thrown out trying to score on a ground ball to short (one assumes it was the contact play).  Cleveland put men on first and second with one out in the fifth and had men on first and third with one out in the sixth, but the latter threat went away when Carlos Martinez was thrown out at home on the back end of a second-and-home double steal.  So the game remained scoreless in the sixth.

The Twins broke through in the seventh.  Randy Bush led off with a walk.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran and scored from first on Puckett's double.  Hrbek followed with an RBI single.  A pair of productive outs moved Hrbek to third and he scored on an error.  Junior Ortiz delivered an RBI double to put the Twins up 4-0.

The Indians came right back in the eighth.  Steve Bedrosian came in to pitch and walked Baerga.  Belle doubled, and RBI singles by Martinez and Aldrete made it 4-2.  Aguilera came on and got Jeff Manto to hit into a double play, but a run scored to make it 4-3.

Undaunted, the Twins put it away in the bottom of the eighth.  Knoblauch led off with a single and Chili Davis walked.  Puckett delivered an RBI single.  Hrbek laid down a bunt single, loading the bases.  Mack then hit a grand slam, making the score 9-3 and effectively ending the game.  Not literally, of course--Cleveland still batted in the ninth, but they went down in order.

WP:  Erickson (17-6).  LP:  Eric King (5-9).  S:  Aguilera (37).

Notes:  Mack was in left field, with Dan Gladden getting the day off.  Gene Larkin was in right.  Once again Ortiz caught Erickson, with Brian Harper on the bench.  Randy Bush was at DH in place of Davis.  Knoblauch led off, with Bush batting second.

Again, we had plenty of bench players used.  Brown pinch-ran for Bush in the seventh.  Davis pinch-hit for Brown in the eighth.  Al Newman then pinch-ran for Davis in the eighth.  Gladden pinch-ran for Larkin in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field, with Mack moving to right.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the eighth.  Scott Leius went into the game at shortstop in the ninth.

Puckett raised his average to .330.  Mack raised his average to .310.  Mike Pagliarulo was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.  Erickson lowered his ERA to 3.08.

Tom Kelly allowing Erickson to throw seven innings and 114 pitches is at least questionable.  Yes, he was pitching well, and yes, it was a scoreless game until the seventh.  But he was obviously still hurting, this was the first good game he'd pitched in a month, and the Twins were in first place by eight games.  Plus, TK gave Gladden and Davis the day off, so he clearly did not consider this a must-win game.  It seems to me a lower pitch-limit would have been indicated, even though such things were not as common back then.

Using three pinch-runners in a game is certainly unusual.  Even back then the only way you could do it is with September call-ups, and with the new limit on September call-ups it may never happen again.  I think if I ran a team, I'd have a couple of pitchers practiced up so they could be used as pinch-runners when necessary.  It used to not be uncommon to use pitchers as pinch-runners--there's no real reason you couldn't do it today.  Yes, there's a chance someone could get hurt, but there's also a chance someone could get hurt running in the outfield before the game.  To me, with today's shorter benches, it makes perfect sense.

Oakland did not play, but the White Sox defeated Kansas City 5-1, so the two teams were once again tied for second place.

Record:  The Twins were 80-53, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Toronto continued to lead Detroit by 2.5 games in the East.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-two

MINNESOTA 14, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Brian Harper was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth), a double, and three runs.  Shane Mack was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his twenty-seventh), a walk, and two runs.  Paul Sorrento hit a pinch-hit two-run homer, his second.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris pitched seven innings, giving up three unearned runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Mark Guthrie struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Brady Anderson was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks.  Chito Martinez was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.

The game:  Anderson led off the game with a triple but failed to score.  That was the only time the Orioles threatened to take the lead.  In the second, Harper and Mack led off with back-to-back doubles, with a bunt and a sacrifice fly bringing home the second run.  The Twins took control in the fourth.  Davis led off with a walk, which was followed by five consecutive singles.  Harper, Mack, Scott Leius, Larkin, and Greg Gagne all got base hits, making the score 5-0 with the bases loaded.  With one out Knoblauch walked to bring in a run and a sacrifice fly brought home another, giving the Twins a 7-0 lead.  Harper led off the fifth with a home run to make it 8-0.

Baltimore got on the board in the sixth.  Anderson led off with a single and went to third on a pair of productive outs.  Glenn Davis then reached on an error, bringing home a run, and Martinez hit a two-run homer to cut the margin to 8-3.

That was as close as the Orioles would come.  Davis hit a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 11-3.  They added three more in the seventh, two of them coming on a Sorrento pinch-hit two-run homer, to bring the final score to 14-3.

WP:  Morris (16-10).  LP:  Arthur Rhodes (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  At least some of the September call-ups arrived, and with a blowout game there were numerous substitutions.  Jarvis Brown went to center field in the seventh, replacing Puckett.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Gagne in the seventh and stayed in the game at second base.  Sorrento pinch-hit for Gladden in the seventh and stayed in the game at first base.  Lenny Webster came in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper.  Knoblauch moved from second base to shortstop in the eighth.  Mack moved from right field to left in the eighth.  Larkin went from first base to right field in the eighth.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Davis in the eighth.

Puckett raised his average to .329.  Harper went up to .321.  Webster went 1-for-1 and was batting .313 (5-for-16).  Mack raised his average to .310.

Rhodes lasted just three innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and a walk.  This was his rookie season, and was just his third start.  He would make eight starts in 1991, five of them with game scored of forty or lower.  He would go on to have a long and relatively successful career as a reliever, pitching in twenty major league seasons and lasting until he was forty-one.

This was Knoblauch's second game at shortstop.  He had played one inning there on July 18.  For his career he played thirteen games at shortstop.  He started two of them, one in 1993 and one in 1997.  It's interesting that Tom Kelly played Newman at second and Knoblauch at short, rather than vice-versa.  It was a blowout game--maybe TK just wanted to give Knoblauch a little time at short in case injuries came up and he needed to play him there.

Oakland lost to Detroit 5-2, so the Twins regained the game they'd lost yesterday.

Record:  The Twins were 79-53, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Oakland.

There was a closer race in the American League East.  Toronto had a record of 73-59 and was in first place, 2.5 games ahead of Detroit.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-one

MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 31.

Batting stars:  Chili Davis was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Shane Mack was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-3 with a home run.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out two.  Rick Aguilera retired all four men he faced, striking out one.

Opposition star:  Cal Ripken was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  Davis led off the second with a walk, went to third on a Brian Harper single, and scored on a ground out to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the fourth, Ripken led off with a double.  He went to third on a balk and scored on a ground out to tie it 1-1.

Knoblauch homered with one out in the sixth to put the Twins up 2-1.  The then took a commanding lead in the seventh.  Mack led off with a double and was bunted to third.  Gene Larkin then delivered a run-scoring single, Dan Gladden followed with an RBI triple, and a ground out brought home one more run to make it 5-1 Minnesota.

The Orioles threatened to get back in the game in the eighth.  Dwight Evans led off with a double and Joe Orsulak drew a one-out walk.  With two-out, Glenn Davis hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.  Milligan then walked, loading the bases and bringing the go-ahead run up to bat.  But Chito Martinez flied to center, ending the inning.  Baltimore went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Tapani (13-7).  LP:  Mike Mussina (2-4).  S:  Aguilera (36).

Notes:  The Twins used a standard lineup but made use of most of their bench.  Larkin pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the seventh.  Al Newman then ran for Larkin and stayed in the game at second base.  He did that because Randy Bush pinch-hit for Knoblauch.  Scott Leius then replaced Bush on defense and played shortstop.

Puckett raised his average to .327.  Brian Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .316.  Mack raised his average to .305.  Mike Pagliarulo was 1-for-3 and was batting .304.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 2.89.  Aguilera's ERA went down to 2.35.

This was Knoblauch's first career home run and his only home run in 1991.  He would eventually develop moderate power, hitting 98 home runs in his career with a high of 18 in 1999.

Tapani had allowed just four earned runs in his last three starts (23 innings).

Remember that Mack had hit .143 in April?  He had an awesome second half.  In August, which we've just completed, he batted .343/.387/.637.  His July was even a little better:  .366/.435/.622.  He would not quite match those numbers in September, but he still batted .326/.363/.453.  For the second half of the season, he batted .356/.405/.595.  He hit 19 doubles, 7 triples, and 10 home runs in the second half.

It was a rare thing when the Twins beat Mussina.  For his career, Mussina was 22-6, 3.09, 1.17 WHIP against the Twins.  That's the most wins he had against any team other than Toronto and the best winning percentage against any American League team.  It was the third-lowest ERA he had against any American League team.  His career ERA was 3.68 and his career WHIP was 1.19.

Oakland defeated Detroit 7-6 in ten innings, so the margin between the two teams remained the same.

Record:  The Twins were 78-53, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty

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BALTIMORE 11, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, August 30.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 3-for-4.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his eighth.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4.  Chili Davis was 2-for-5 with a double.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifteenth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Joe Orsulak was 5-for-5 with a double, a walk, three runs, and three RBIs.  Chris Hoiles was 4-for-5 with three runs.  Mike Devereaux was 3-for-5 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  Leo Gomez was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twelfth) and two runs.  Cal Ripken was 2-for-5 with two doubles and four RBIs.  Bob Milacki pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  Orsulak hit a one-out single in the first and scored from first on Ripken's double.  The Twins put men on first and second in the first but did not score.  In the second, Gomez and Hoiles led off with singles.  With one out, Devereaux hit an RBI double.  Orsulak walked to load the bases, Ripken hit a two-run double, and a sacrifice fly made it 5-0 Orioles.

The Twins got two singles and a double in the second but did not score, as Harper was thrown out trying to stretch the single into a double.  Baltimore added to their lead in the fourth.  Devereaux singled, was balked to second, and scored on Orsulak's double.  Randy Milligan had an RBI single later in the inning to make it 7-0.  They added three more in the fifth.  Gomez homered leading off the inning.  Hoiles singled, Bill Ripken walked, and Devereaux was hit by a pitch to load the bases, still with none out.  Orsulak singled home a run and a sacrifice fly brought home another making it 10-0.

The major leagues don't have a ten-run rule, so the game continued.  The Twins got on the board in the sixth when Davis doubled and Harper followed with a two-run homer.  In the seventh Kirby Puckett hit a two-out double and Hrbek followed with a two-run homer to cut the margin to 10-4.  In the eighth Pagliarulo hit a one-out single, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Randy Bush single to make the score 10-5.

That's as good as it got, though.  Singles by Hoiles, Devereaux, and Orsulak produced another run for the Orioles to bring the final score to 11-5.  Todd Frohwirth, who had come on in the seventh, struck out the side in the ninth to end the game.

WP:  Milacki (8-7).  LP:  Tom Edens (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Al Newman played second in place of Chuck Knoblauch, and despite his .271 OBP and .502 OPS he batted second.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the eighth.  He stayed in the game and for some reason was put at third base, with Pagliarulo moving to second and Newman moving to short.  With two out in the ninth, Larkin and Pagliarulo switched, with Larkin moving to second and Pagliarulo moving back to third.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Gladden in the eighth and stayed in left field.

Puckett went 1-for-5 and was batting .325.  Harper raised his average to .317.  Pagliarulo was on a 7-for-13 streak and raised his average to .303.  Mack raised his average to .302.

Edens had pitched well in his first start August 24, but he couldn't not do it again here.  He lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on six hits and two walks and striking out one.  His ERA went to 7.56.  Carl Willis gave up two runs on 2.1 innings to raise his ERA to 2.08.

This was the only time in his career that Larkin played second base.  It was the first time in his career he had played third base--he would do so two more times, both in 1993.  I have no idea why, with Scott Leius and Chuck Knoblauch on the bench, Tom Kelly would put Larkin at those positions.  Maybe they were just trying to have a little fun in a blowout game or something.  It should be noted, though, that if Larkin had gotten injured while playing those positions the episode would not have seemed so funny.

Oakland defeated Texas 6-3 in ten innings, so they edged a bit closer in the standings.  The Twins still had a solid lead, though.

Record:  The Twins were 77-53, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-nine

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 2 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, August 28.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 3-for-4 with a double and a hit-by-pitch.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  Brian Harper was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-5.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  David West pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out none.  Carl Willis pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mark Whiten was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his ninth.  Carlos Baerga was 2-for-4.  Eric King pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the first but did not score.  They opened the second with singles by Pagliarulo and Larkin but scored only once, on a double play.  They added a run in the third on back-to-back two-out doubles by Hrbek and Harper to go ahead 2-0.

The Indians put men on first and second with one out in the third and did not score.  The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the fifth and did not score.  In the sixth, however, Baerga singled and Whiten hit a two-out two-run homer to tie the score 2-2.

The Twins took the lead back in the seventh.  Bush was hit by a pitch to start the inning, went to third on a one-out single by Hrbek, and scored on Harper's single.  In the eighth, Larkin led off by reaching third on a two-error play and scored on Bush's two-out single to put the Twins up 4-2.  Cleveland got a two-out single in the eighth but otherwise did no damage.

WP:  West (4-3).  LP:  King (5-8).  S:  Aguilera (35).

Notes:  Bush was the DH in place of Chili Davis,  He batted second.  Chuck Knoblauch went to third spot.  Kirby Puckett was out of the lineup, with Shane Mack moving to center and Larkin playing right.

Harper raised his average to .314.  Mack was 1-for-5 and was batting .300.  Willis lowered his ERA to 1.89.  Aguilera's ERA went to 2.41.

This was one of only thirteen games in 1991 that Davis was not the starting DH.  Bush was the starting DH in six of those thirteen other games.

This was the last good start West would make in 1991.  He would start two more games and appear in relief three times.

Eric King came up to the Tigers in 1986 as a twenty-two-year old and went 11-4, 3.51, 1.24 WHIP.  He pitched much better out of the bullpen than as a starter, so Detroit put him in the bullpen for 1987 and probably thought they had a coming star.  Instead, he went 6-9, 4.89, 1.48 WHIP.  He did better in 1988, then was traded to the White Sox, for whom he was a rotation starter for the next three seasons.  He did pretty well in the first two, but in 1991 he was 6-11, 4.60, 1.39 WHIP.  He went back to the Tigers in 1992 and then was done, although he did make sixteen starts in the Pacific League in 1998.  His wikipedia entry says that he's best known for giving up Ken Griffey, Jr.'s first major league home run, which makes me feel better for not remembering him.

Oakland finally won a game, defeating Boston 9-3.  The White Sox lost again, falling 7-6 to Kansas City, so the Athletics moved into sole possession of second place.

Record:  The Twins were 77-52, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-eight

CLEVELAND 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, August 27.

Batting star:  Scott Leius was 2-for-3.

Pitching star:  Jack Morris pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on eleven hits and one walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Greg Swindell pitched 8.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out six.  Albert Belle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Carlos Martinez was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Glenallen Hill was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Indians put men on first and second in the first inning but did not score.  The Twins got the scoring started in the third.  With one out, Leius singled, Greg Gagne doubled, and a sacrifice fly put Minnesota up 1-0.  Cleveland tied it in the fourth.  Mark Whiten and Mike Aldrete opened the inning with singles, putting men on first and third.  Martinez then hit into a force out to tie the score at 1-1.

The Indians put men on first and third with one out in the seventh but did not score.  In the eighth, however, Belle hit a one-out double and Whiten walked.  With two out, Martinez delivered an RBI single to give Cleveland a 2-1 lead.

The Twins threatened in the ninth.  With two out, Chili Davis and Kent Hrbek singled, putting men on first and second.  Randy Bush then grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Swindell (8-12).  LP:  Morris (15-10).  S:  Steve Olin (8).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was again at first base in place of Hrbek.  Hrbek pinch-hit for Brian Harper in the ninth.  Al Newman pinch-ran for Davis in the ninth.  Bush pinch-hit for Shane Mack in the ninth.

Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .327.  Harper was 1-for-3 and was batting .313.  Mack was 0-for-3 and was batting .301.

The Indians stranded nine men and were 1-for-11 with men in scoring position.

Olin had started the season with Cleveland, but got off to a poor start and was sent back to AAA in mid-May.  He came back to the majors in mid-July and almost immediately took over the closer role.  He was the Indians closer for all of the 1992 season and had a fine year.  He probably would've remained in that role for some time to come, but as many of you know, he was killed that off-season in a boating accident.

Morris threw 122 pitches.  He pitched well, but unfortunately was not able to sufficiently pitch to the score.

The White Sox again lost, falling to Kansas City 3-2.  Oakland lost again as well, falling to Boston 6-4.

Record:  The Twins were 76-52, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Monday, August 26.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourteenth) and two runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-4 with a double.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4.  Shane Mack was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.

Pitching star:  Kevin Tapani pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.

Opposition star:  Carlos Martinez was 3-for-3.

The game:  The Indians got a man to third in the third, but the scoring did not start until the fourth, when Mack hit a home run to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the sixth, Puckett singled and Harper hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.

Cleveland had just two singles in the first five innings, but they got on the board in the sixth.  Felix Fermin led off with a single, Jerry Browne had a one-out single, a ground out put men on second and third, and Albert Belle had a two-run single to cut the margin to 3-2.  They got the tying run to second with two out in the seventh, but did not score.  The Twins got the two runs back in the eighth when Knoblauch singled and Puckett hit a two-run homer, making the score 5-2.

The Indians threatened in the ninth.  Mike Aldrete walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Luis Lopez single to reduce the Twins lead to 5-3.  The tying run was up to bat with one out, but Chris James and Glenallen Hill each struck out to end the game.

WP:  Tapani (12-7).  LP:  Dave Otto (1-4).  S:  Rick Aguilera (34).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  For a change, the Twins did not use their bench at all, making no substitutions in the lineup.

Puckett raised his average to .329.  Harper raised his average to .313.  Mack was batting .304.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 2.94.  Aguilera gave up a run in one inning to make his ERA 2.45.

Otto started for Cleveland.  He pitched eight innings, but allowed five runs on ten hits and no walks.  He struck out five and threw just 97 pitches.  I guess one would say this was the best year of his career--he went 2-8, 4.23, 1.35 WHIP.  He did have a lower ERA (3.80) in relief in 1994, the last year of his career, but he had a FIP of 4.98 and a WHIP of 1.58.  For his career he was 10-22, 5.06, 1.57 WHIP in 318.1 innings (109 games, 41 starts) spread over eight seasons.  He's another one of those guys who got chance after chance even though he never really did anything to justify it.

Hrbek may have had a minor injury or illness.  He did not play in this game and was used as a pinch-hitter in the next one.  He would be back in the lineup after that.

The White Sox lost Kansas City 7-0 and Oakland lost to Boston 3-0, so the Twins were building a commanding lead in the division.

Record:  The Twins were 76-51, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-six

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BALTIMORE 7, MINNESOTA 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Sunday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-4 with a double.  Greg Gagne was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his tenth.

Pitching stars:  Terry Leach pitched 2.1 innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out one.  Mark Guthrie pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mike Mussina pitched eight innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on seven hits and four walks and striking out four.  Chito Martinez was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Leo Gomez was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Joe Orsulak was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  It was scoreless through three, and Scott Erickson had given up just one hit, a single.  It fell apart in the fourth, though.  Orsulak led off with a single.  With one out, Glenn Davis singled and Randy Milligan walked, loading the bases.  Martinez singled in a run, Gomez doubled home two, and a sacrifice fly made it 4-0 Orioles.

The Twins came back with two in the fifth.  Pagliarulo led off with a double and scored on a pair of ground outs.  Dan Gladden then singled, stole second, and scored on a Gagne single to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the bottom of the fifth, however, Baltimore added three more.  Orsulak had a one-out double and Cal Ripken was intentionally walked.  A wild pitch advanced the runners.  With two out, Milligan hit a two-run double and Martinez followed with another double, making the score 7-2.

The Twins got one back in the fifth.  Kent Hrbek led off with a single, a ground out advanced him to second, and an error brought him home to cut the margin to 7-3.  That was as close as it got, though.  The Twins did not even get another threat going until the ninth.  Pagliarulo and Chuck Knoblauch led off with singles, but a double play followed.  Randy Bush walked, but Gene Larkin lined out to end the game.

WP:  Mussina (2-3).  LP:  Erickson (16-6).  S:  Todd Frohwirth (2).

Notes:  With Erickson pitching, Junior Ortiz caught in place of Brian Harper.  Al Newman was at second base in place of Knoblauch.

The Twins again made liberal use of the bench, using three pinch-hitters in the ninth inning.  Knoblauch batted for Ortiz, Bush batted for Gladden, and Larkin batted for Gagne.  Oddly, Newman and his .207 batting average (and .504 OPS) were not pinch-hit for.

Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 to drop his average to .328.  Shane Mack was 0-for-4 and fell to .305.

Erickson continued to struggle.  He pitched well for three innings, but his line was 4.1 innings, six runs, six hits, two walks, and three strikeouts.  His ERA went up to 3.22.  Leach's ERA went to 2.78.

Frohwirth had an awesome year in 1991.  He started the year in AAA, not coming to the majors until late May, but once he got there he went 7-3, 1.87, 0.97 WHIP with three saves.  He had another good year in 1992 and was still fairly good in 1993, then he fell off a cliff.  In 1994, pitching for Boston, he went 0-3, 10.80, 2.14 WHIP.  He made only four more major league appearances, for California in 1996.  I suspect an injury was involved, but I don't remember and don't have time to check.

The White Sox lost to Cleveland 3-0 and Oakland lost to Milwaukee 8-2, so the Twins' lead remained the same.

Record:  The Twins were 75-51, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-five

MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 2 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifteenth) and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Edens pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks and striking out two.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Bob Milacki pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out three.  Randy Milligan was 2-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  In the first Mike Devereaux walked, went to third on a one-out single by Cal Ripken, and scored on a ground out to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  Devereaux led off the second with a home run to make it 2-0.  Meanwhile, the first eleven Twins batters were retired.  They got a pair of one-out singles in the fourth, but nothing came of it.  The Twins had only one more hit until the seventh, when Mack homered to cut the lead to 2-1.

It stayed 2-1 until the ninth.  Gregg Olson was the Baltimore closer, but he had pitched in three games in a row and four of the last five, so Mike Flanagan came in to try to close it out.  He was greeted by a single by Hrbek, a walk to Chili Davis, and an RBI single by Mack to tie the score.  Mike Pagliarulo hit into a force out, putting men on first and third.  At that point, Olson came into the game anyway.  He walked Randy Bush and struck out Brian Harper.  Gladden then hit a three-run triple to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.  The Orioles went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

WP:  Steve Bedrosian (5-3).  LP:  Flanagan (2-5).  S:  Aguilera (33).

Notes:  Junior Ortiz was again behind the plate in place of Harper.  Al Newman pinch-ran for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at shortstop.  Bush pinch-hit for Ortiz in the ninth.  Harper pinch-hit for Greg Gagne, who was back in the lineup, in the ninth and stayed in the game behind the plate.  Gene Larkin went to first base in Bush's spot in the ninth.

Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Harper was 0-for-1 and was batting .311.  Mack raised his average to .309.  Aguilera's ERA went down to 2.33.

Edens was making his first major league appearance in 1991.  He had made thirty-five appearances for them in 1990.  He would make six starts in 1991 (plus two relief games) and pitch pretty well in four of them.  These would be the last major league starts he would make.  He would pitch in relief for Minnesota (1992), Houston (1993-1994), Philadelphia (1994), and the Cubs (1995).

The Twins handled Cal Ripken fairly well in this series (3-for-11, all singles), but not on the season.  In 1991, Ripken batted .354/.373/.563 in 51 plate appearances.  Maybe they should've walked him more.  For his career, he batted .307/.371/.478 against the Twins.  His overall career numbers were .276/.340/.447.

Flanagan was nearing the end of his career, but he had a fine year out of the Orioles bullpen.  He was 2-7, but his ERA was 2.38 and he had a WHIP of 1.11.  He also had three saves.  This was the last good year he would have, though.  In 1992 he was 8.05 ERA and 2.11 WHIP in 34.2 innings, and then he was done.

Hrbek had a fine August, batting .316/.391/.500 with four home runs in 110 plate appearances.

The White Sox lost to Cleveland 2-1 and Oakland lost to Milwaukee 7-0, so the Twins gained another game on both teams.

Record:  The Twins were 75-50, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-four

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Friday, August 23.

Batting stars:  Junior Ortiz was 3-for-4 with a double.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 1-for-2 with two walks.

Pitching star:  Carl Willis pitched four innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and two walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Ben McDonald pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks and striking out six.  Dwight Evans was 2-for-3 with a three-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.  Chris Hoiles was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Mike Devereaux was 2-for-5.

The game:  With one out in the second, Randy Milligan walked, Evans singled, a sacrifice fly made it 1-0 Orioles.  The Twins came back in the third.  With two out and none on, Dan Gladden singled, Chuck Knoblauch walked, Puckett had an RBI single and Kent Hrbek delivered a two-run double to put the Twins up 3-1.

The lead lasted until the fourth.  Glenn Davis led off the inning with a double, Milligan walked again, and Evans hit a three-run homer to give the Orioles a 4-3 lead.  The Twins tied it in the fifth when Knoblauch led off with a single and scored from first on a Puckett double.  They missed a chance to take the lead when Puckett was caught trying to steal third.

It stayed 4-4 until the ninth.  Ortiz hit a two-out double in the sixth but remained at second.  Baltimore put two on with two out in the sixth and again in the eighth but also did not score.  In the ninth, Hoiles led off with a single.  Pinch-runner Juan Bell was bunted to second and scored on David Segui's two-out single to end the game.

WP:  Gregg Olson (4-3).  LP:  Willis (7-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Gene Larkin started in right field in place of Shane Mack.  Scott Leius was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Gagne pinch-ran for Ortiz in the ninth and remained in the game at shortstop.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Gladden in the ninth.  Harper took Bush's place in the lineup and went in to catch.  Mack took Leius' place in the lineup and went to left field.

Puckett raised his average to .331.  Willis' ERA went up to 1.95.  Terry Leach pitched two-thirds of an inning to drop his ERA to 2.75.

Allan Anderson started for the Twins but pitched just four innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks and striking out two.  I don't know, but it could be that Tom Kelly started Ortiz with the thought that he'd be better able to help Anderson.  If so, it does not it appear to have worked.

Even though he took the loss, Willis again pitched very well in long relief.  His amazing run was nearing an end--he did not pitch well in September, presumably from being worn down during the season.  But he does not get nearly enough credit for the Twins' 1991 success.

The Twins' nearest rivals both lost, the White Sox falling to Cleveland 4-3 and Oakland losing to Milwaukee 13-4.  So, the Twins margin remained the same.

Record:  The Twins were 74-50, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.