Tag Archives: 1991 rewind

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Ninety

MINNESOTA 11, BOSTON 3 IN BOSTON

Date:  Thursday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Scott Leius was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second), a stolen base (his fifth), two walks, and three runs.  Chili Davis was 1-for-5 with a home run (his twentieth) and four RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris struck out eight in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk.  Terry Leach pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Jack Clark was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and two RBIs.  Ellis Burks was 1-for-3 with a home run, his eleventh.  Tom Bolton pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and striking out two.

The game:  The two teams combined for one hit in the first two innings, but that changed in the third.  Gene Larkin and Greg Gagne opened the inning with singles, followed by a walk to Leius to load the bases.  Al Newman then delivered a two-run double, Puckett had an RBI single, and Davis drove in a run with a ground out, making it 4-0.  The Twins weren't done.  Brian Harper singled and advanced on a throw, putting men on second and third.  Mack then struck a two-run single to make the score 6-0.

The Twins added some more in the fourth.  With one out, Leius singled and stole second (breaking an unwritten rule?).  Newman reached on an error, Puckett had another RBI single, and Davis hit a three-run homer to make the score 10-0.

It was never close after that.  The Red Sox got on the board on the bottom of the fourth when Jody Reed singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Clark's RBI single.  Burks hit a home run in the fifth to make it 10-2.  Leius homered in the ninth and Clark homered in the ninth, and it ended up 11-3.

WP:  Morris (13-6).  LP:  Kevin Morton (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was again in left in place of Dan Gladden.  Larkin was in right, making his first appearance since July 1.  Newman started at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.  He batted second, with Leius in the number one spot.

Jarvis Brown went to center field in the sixth to replace Puckett.  Randy Bush entered the game in the eighth inning in place of Kent Hrbek.  He went to left, with Mack going to right and Larkin moving to first base.  Tom Kelly usually played Bush in right and Mack in left--perhaps the Green Monster changed his thinking for this game.  Knoblauch replaced Gagne at shortstop in the eighth.

Harper went 1-for-4 and was batting .332.  Puckett raised his average to .326.  Morris lowered his ERA to 3.39.  Leach lowered his ERA to 3.22.

Brown was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.

I referenced this above, but I wonder if there was any comment about Leius stealing second with a six-run lead.  There shouldn't have been--it was only the fourth inning, they were in Boston, and the Red Sox had a pretty good lineup--but the unwritten rules are a tricky thing, and they seem to vary from year to year and team to team.

Morton, the Boston starter, lasted 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.  Morton had pitched decently against the Twins five days earlier, but they certainly figured him out in the third inning of this game.

I don't remember Tom Bolton at all, but he pitched in the majors for eight years.  Most of that was with the Red Sox--he came up in 1987 and stayed with them until July of 1992, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Billy Hatcher.  He was with Detroit in 1993 and Baltimore in 1994.  He was actually pretty good for Boston in 1990, going 10-5, 3.38, 1.32 WHIP.  1991 was not a good year for him:  8-9, 5.24, 1.70 WHIP.  He would make one more appearance, then miss a month due to injury--one wonders if he was fighting an injury most of the season.  Or perhaps 1990 was just a fluke season, because his next lowest ERA for a season was 4.38 in his rookie season.  For his career he was 31-34, 4.56, 1.59 WHIP.  He played in 209 games, 56 of them starts, and pitched 540.1 innings.  After baseball, he went back to his home town of Nashville and went into the real estate development business.

Oakland lost yesterday (when the Twins were idle) and lost to New York 3-2 today, so the Twins gained a game and a half on them.  The Athletics fell into a second-place tie with California, which defeated Cleveland 5-4.

Record:  The Twins were 52-38, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-nine

MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Tuesday, July 16.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-3.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth.

Pitching star:  Kevin Tapani pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Chris Bosio pitched seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and no walks and striking out two.  Darryl Hamilton was 3-for-3 with two walks.  Paul Molitor was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

The game:  Molitor led off the bottom of the first with a single, followed by Hamilton's bunt single.  Another bunt moved the runners up and a sacrifice fly made it 1-0 Brewers.  The Twins got a pair of two-out singles in the second but could do nothing with them.  Puckett led off the fourth with a double but only got as far as third.  They tied it in the fifth, however, when Greg Gagne got a two-out single and scored from first on a Randy Bush double.

It didn't stay tied long.  In the bottom of the fifth, Jim Gantner singled, stole second, and scored on a B. J. Surhoff single, putting Milwaukee up 2-1.  Puckett again led off with a double in the sixth and again could only get as far as third.

In the top of the ninth, though, things changed.  Chili Davis walked and Harper hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 3-2.  Rick Aguilera came in, and looked like victory was assured.  The first two batters were retired on ground outs.  Then, however, Bill Spiers singled and scored on a Molitor double.  A wild pitch sent Molitor to third and Hamilton singled him home with the game's deciding run.

WP:  Doug Henry (1-0).  LP:  Aguilera (2-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Shane Mack was again in left with Dan Gladden still out.  Randy Bush was again in right and again batted first.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Davis in the ninth and stayed in the game to play right field, with Aguilera inserted into the leadoff spot in the lineup.  Scott Leius pinch-hit for Pagliarulo in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.

Harper raised his average to .333.  Puckett raised his average to .324.  Tapani's ERA fell to 3.16.  Aguilera's ERA rose to 3.02.

Following his 3-for-27 stretch, Puckett was now 10-for-21 in his last five games, raising his average from .314.

Pagliarulo had a seven-game hitting streak.  He was 15-for-24 and had raised his average from .244 to .290.

This was Aguilera's seventh blown save in thirty-one chances.

Texas lost to Detroit 6-5 and fell out of second place.

Record:  The Twins were 51-38, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-eight

MINNESOTA 11, MILWAUKEE 7 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Monday, July 15.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk. Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a double, two walks, and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-6 with two RBIs.  Shane Mack was 1-for-5 with a home run (his ninth), two runs, and three RBIs.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer (his sixth) and a walk.

Pitching star:   Steve Bedrosian pitched three shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Paul Molitor was 2-for-5.  B. J. Surhoff was 2-for-5.  Greg Vaughn was 1-for-4 with a home run (his seventeenth), a walk, and two runs.  Franklin Stubbs was 1-for-4 with a grand slam (his sixth homer).

The game:  In the first Knoblauch walked, went to second on an error, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a ground out, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Pagliarulo led off the second with a single and Mack followed with a two-run homer to make it 3-0.  Vaughn homered leading off the bottom of the third to cut the lead to 3-1, but the Twins built the lead still farther in the third.  Kent Hrbek, Chili Davis, and Pagliarulo all walked to start the inning.  A fielder's choice scored one run and Gagne delivered a three-run homer to make the score 7-1 Twins.  Back-to-back two-out doubles by Hrbek and Davis increased the lead to 8-1 in the top of the fourth.

It looked like the Twins would cruise, but the Brewers came back in the bottom of the fourth.  Walks to Darryl Hamilton and Greg Vaughn and Gary Sheffield getting hit by a pitch loaded the bases, and Stubbs unloaded them with a home run, cutting the lead to 8-5.

No worry.  Knoblauch doubled with one out in the sixth and Puckett got an RBI single.  A ground out moved him to second and Pagliarulo's RBI double made the score 10-5.  Milwaukee got one back in the bottom of the sixth when Sheffield doubled and Willie Randolph singled, cutting the lead to 10-6.  They scored one more on a double play in the seventh to make it 10-7, but that was as close as they would come.  The Twins tacked on one more in the ninth when Jarvis Brown singled, went to second on a balk, and scored on a Puckett single.

WP:  Mark Guthrie (6-5).  LP:  Jim Hunter (0-3).  S:  Bedrosian (4).

Notes:  Mack was still in left field in place of Dan Gladden, with Randy Bush in right.  Junior Ortiz was once again behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Bush was the leadoff batter.  Brown pinch-hit for him in the sixth.

Puckett's average was .319.  Scott Erickson started and pitched just four innings, allowing five runs on four hits and four walks and striking out one--his ERA was 2.13.

Brown was 1-for-3 and was batting .182.

Bush was batting just .221, but he did have an OBP of .323, which was better than four of the Twins other starters in this game.  That makes his use in the leadoff spot a little more understandable.  He went 1-for-3.

This was Erickson's first start since June 29.  The rest does not seem to have cured him.

Bedrosian would go on to get two more saves, making six for the season.  Three of them were of the three-inning variety, and another was 2.2 innings.

Milwaukee starter Jim "not Catfish" Hunter pitched three innings, allowing seven runs (six earned) on five hits and four walks and striking out two.  This was his only season in the majors.  He would go 0-5, 7.26, 2.00 WHIP.  He was in eight games (six starts) and pitched 31 innings.  There was not a lot in his minor league record to indicate he could pitch in the majors.  He did okay in AAA in 1991 before being called up, but nothing special, and he was twenty-seven by then.  He continued to pitch in the minors through 1995.  Wikipedia tells me that he became a high school teacher in Suwanee, Georgia after his baseball career ended.

Texas lost to Detroit 8-7, so the Twins' lead increased by a game.

Record:  The Twins were 51-37, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-seven

BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 14.

Batting star:  Randy Bush was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit home run, his third.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Terry Leach pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Joe Hesketh pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out four.  Luis Rivera was 3-for-4 with two doubles and three runs.  Jack Clark was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a double.  Wade Boggs was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  Boggs led off the game with a single and Rivera doubled, putting men on second and third.  An RBI groundout and a sacrifice fly gave the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.  In the third Rivera singled, moved to second when Carlos Quintana walked, and scored on a Clark double to make it 3-0.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth when Kirby Puckett tripled and scored on a ground out.  Boston got the run back in the fifth when Rivera doubled and scored on Clark's single, making the score 4-1.  It went to 5-1 in the sixth when Tony Pena doubled, was bunted to third, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Twins tried to battle back.  They scored once in the seventh when Brian Harper doubled and scored on a Scott Leius single.  Bush hit a two-out pinch-hit homer in the ninth, cutting the lead to 5-3, but that was it.

WP:  Hesketh (3-1).  LP:  David West (1-1).  S:  Jeff Reardon (22).

Notes:  Shane Mack was in left field in place of Dan Gladden.  Pedro Munoz was in right.  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Chuck Knoblauch batted leadoff, with Newman second.

Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .330.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .318.  Willis had an ERA of 2.66.  Leach's ERA was 3.31.

West was making his second start of the season.  He pitched four innings and allowed four runs on six hits and three walks and striking out two.  His ERA was 3.27.

This was the first game Munoz played since July 7, and the last major league game he would play until September.

This was the last good season of Hesketh's career.  He went 12-4, 3.29, 1.27 WHIP.  The only season he had that was better was in 1988 with Montreal, when he was a reliever.  That year he went 4-3, 2.85, 1.35 WHIP.  For his career he was 60-47, 3.78, 1.38 WHIP.  He pitched in eleven seasons and appeared in 339 games, pitching 961.2 innings.  He was never a star, but was a solid big league pitcher for quite a few years.

Texas defeated Toronto 8-6, so the Twins lead shrank by a game.

Record:  The Twins were 50-37, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-six

MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 13.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-3 with a triple, a stolen base, and a walk.  Al Newman was 3-for-4.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Jack Morris pitched 8.1 innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out two.

Opposition star:  Dennis Lamp pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  One-out singles by Newman and Puckett put men on first and third and Chili Davis followed with a sacrifice fly, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Junior Ortiz led off the second with a single and two-out singles by Newman and Puckett made the score 2-0 Twins.  Mack hit a one-out triple in the fifth and scored on a sacrifice fly to increase the lead to 3-0.

The Red Sox didn't do much on offense for the first five innings, only once getting a man as far as second base.  They got on the board on the sixth, though, as Luis Rivera tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly.  They did not get a man to second base after that, and so the Twins took the 3-1 victory.

WP:  Morris (12-6).  LP:  Kevin Morton (1-1).  S: Rick Aguilera (24).

Notes:  Newman was in left field in place of Dan Gladden in this game.  Mack was in right.  Ortiz was once again behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Chuck Knoblauch moved up to the leadoff spot, with Newman batting second.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Newman in the sixth and stayed in the game in right field, with Mack moving to left.

Puckett raised his average to .319.  Morris lowered his ERA to 3.50.  Aguilera came in to get the last two outs and had an ERA of 2.63.

This was the only game Newman played in left field in 1991 and the last game he started there in his career.  For his career he played eleven games there, six starts.  He seems like an odd choice to play left and to bat second, but given that he got three hits one has to say that it worked.

Given how he'd been used all season, it was surprising to see Morris come out of the game in the ninth.  He'd seemed to be in control, giving up just five hits.  One of those hits came with one out in the ninth, and resulted in his leaving the game.  He had thrown just ninety-two pitches.  I'm not arguing that it was the wrong move, and it certainly worked.  It's just that, given how long Morris had remained in games for the first part of the season, I'd have expected him to be given more of a chance to finish the game.

This was Kevin Morton's second career start.  He was just twenty-two years old.  He had made a tremendous debut, giving up just one run in a complete game victory over Detroit.  He didn't pitch badly here, either, going 5.2 innings and giving up three runs on nine hits and three walks and striking out two.  He was in the Boston rotation the rest of the season and was kind of up and down, as one would expect from a twenty-two year old rookie.  For the season, he was 6-5, 4.59, nothing to shout about but not bad given his age.  It would be his only season in the major leagues.  He was awful in Pawtucket in 1992 and pitched poorly in AA for Kansas City in 1993.  He did better, though not great, in AAA for the Mets in 1994, but did not pitch well in AAA for the Cubs in 1995 and then was done.  I wonder if he got hurt--he looked like a reasonably promising young pitcher in 1991, and then never really did anything after that.  I couldn't find anything out about that, but it does look like he's an instructor for IST Sports, which provides baseball instruction in Norwalk, Connecticut.

Texas lost to Toronto 3-2, so the Twins gained another game in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 50-36, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-five

MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, July 12.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 3-for-4.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his ninth) and two runs.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his ninth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Paul Abbott struck out three in two perfect innings.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Rick Aguilera struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4.  Tony Pena was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his third.  Luis Rivera was 1-for-3 with a home run, his fifth.

The game:  The Twins took a 2-0 lead in the first, as Puckett had a two-out single and Hrbek followed with a home run.  It stayed 2-0 until the fifth.  Brunansky led off the inning with a single and Pena followed with a two-run homer.  Rivera made it back-to-back homers and the Red Sox led 3-2.  With one out, Jody Reed walked and stole second.  He went to third on a fly out and scored on a wild pitch to make it 4-2 Boston.

The Twins cut the lead to one in the bottom of the fifth, again with two out.  Knoblauch singled, stole second, and scored when Puckett reached on an error.   With one out in the sixth Pagliarulo and Shane Mack singled and Randy Bush walked, loading the bases.  A ground out scored a run and tied the score 4-4.

Knoblauch led off the seventh with a double and was bunted to third.  Chili Davis came through with an RBI single to give the Twins a 5-4 lead.  Boston got just one single after that and did not advance the man past first base.

WP:  Abbott (3-0).  LP:  Roger Clemens (11-6)  S:  Aguilera (23).

Notes:  Mack was in left with Dan Gladden still out.  Bush was in right.  Junior Ortiz was again behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Greg Gagne batted first.

Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Ortiz in the sixth and hit the run-scoring ground out that tied the game.  Harper came in to catch.  Jarvis Brown went to right field for defense in the eighth, replacing Bush.

Puckett raised his average to .317.  Abbott lowered his ERA to 3.41.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.68.

Sorrento's average fell to .154.

I don't know if Harper was battling a minor injury or if Tom Kelly simply was choosing to take advantage of Ortiz' defense.  If Harper was injured, it seems odd that he kept coming in to catch when Ortiz was pinch-hit for.  But it also seems odd that Kelly would prefer Ortiz' .203 average to Harper's .332, no matter how good his defense was.  At any rate, Harper would not start again until July 14.

Allan Anderson pitched five innings, giving up four runs on five hits and three walks and striking out one.  This would be his last start until late August.  He would make three relief appearances, then go back to AAA for a month before returning on August 23.

Roger Clemens started for the Red Sox and pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eleven hits and two walks and striking out six.  Clemens did just slightly better against the Twins in his career than he did overall.  He was 24-13, 2.97, 1.12 WHIP against Minnesota.  For his career he was 354-184, 3.12, 1.18 WHIP.

Texas lost to Toronto 6-2, so the Twins picked up a game in the standings.

Record:  The Twins were 49-36, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-four

MINNESOTA 7, BOSTON 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 11.

Batting stars:  Mike Pagliarulo was 3-for-3 with a home run (his fourth), a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Paul Sorrento was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit three-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Mark Guthrie pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-4 with a triple.  Tom Brunansky was 2-for-4 with a double.  Tony Pena was 2-for-4 with a double.  Wade Boggs was 2-for-5 with two doubles.

The game:  The Red Sox got a pair of one-out singles in the second, but did not score.  They broke through in the third, though.  Boggs hit a one-out double.  With two down, Mo Vaughn hit an RBI single.  Jack Clark singled, and Greenwell hit an RBI single, putting Boston up 2-0.

The Twins got even in the fourth.  Greg Gagne led off with a single and went to third on a Kirby Puckett single.  Hrbek singled home the Twins' first run and a force out brought home a second, making it 2-2.  Pagliarulo homered in the fifth to give the Twins a 3-2 lead, but the Red Sox got the run back in the sixth when Greenwell tripled and scored on Brunansky's single, making it 3-3.

The Twins took control in the seventh.  Chili Davis led off with a walk and was replaced on a force out by Randy Bush.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran and stole second.  Shane Mack walked, Pagliarulo hit an RBI double, and pinch-hitter Sorrento hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 7-3 lead and the game.  Boston never got more than one man on base at a time after that.

WP:  Willis (4-2).  LP:  Greg Harris (5-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was in left field in place of Dan Gladden.  Gagne batted in the leadoff spot.  Bush was in right field.  Junior Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.

Brown stayed in the game in right field after his pinch-running appearance.  Sorrento batted for Ortiz, with Harper going behind the plate.

Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Since his four-hit game on July 1, he was 3-for-27.  His average had dropped from .332.  Willis had his ERA drop to 2.72.  Starter Kevin Tapani pitched 5.1 innings and gave up three runs, making his ERA 3.22.

The three-run homer was Sorrento's second hit in twelve at-bats since joining the Twins.

This was the Twins' first game after the all-star break.  Back then the all-star break was just three days, the way God intended it to be.

Boston starter Greg Harris pitched six innings, giving up four runs on five hits and two walks and striking out two.

Greenwell had six triples in 1991.  For his career, he had thirty-eight triples, with a high of eight in 1988.

Texas lost to Toronto 2-0, so the Twins moved back into first place.

Record:  The Twins were 48-36, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Texas.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-three

1 Comment

CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Sunday, July 7.

Batting star:  Mike Pagliarulo was 1-for-3 with a double.

Pitching star:  Mark Guthrie pitched 2.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on two hits and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Dan Pasqua was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighth), a walk, and two runs.  Robin Ventura was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his seventh) and a walk.

The game:  The White Sox put men on first and third in the first inning and did not score.  They got on the board in the third, however, when Tim Raines hit a one-out double and Ventura followed with a two-run homer.  It did not kill the rally, as with two out Pasqua walked, Matt Merullo singled, and Warren Newson delivered an RBI single to make the score 3-0.

The Twins, meanwhile, had managed only one single in the first five innings.  That changed in the sixth.  Junior Ortiz was hit by a pitch and Pagliarulo doubled, putting men on second and third.  With one out, Greg Gagne got the Twins on the board with a sacrifice fly.  Randy Bush walked and Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek followed with RBI singles, tying the score 3-3.

The Twins put men on first and second with one out in the seventh, but it stayed 3-3 until the eighth, when Pasqua led off the inning with a home run to put Chicago back in front.  The Twins got a leadoff single from Chuck Knoblauch in the ninth but could not move him past first base.

WP:  Ken Patterson (3-0).  LP:  Guthrie (5-5).  S:  Bobby Thigpen (18).

Notes:  With Dan Gladden still out, Pedro Munoz was in left and Bush was in right.  Gagne was the leadoff batter with Bush batting second.  Paul Sorrento was the DH in place of Chili Davis.  Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Al Newman was at second base in place of Knoblauch.

Munoz was apparently injured fielding the Raines double in the third, as Shane Mack came in to replace him after that play.  Munoz would not play again until July 14, and after that game would not play again until September.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Bush in the eighth and stayed in the game in right field.  Knoblauch pinch-hit for Mack in the ninth.  Davis pinch-hit for Ortiz in the ninth.

Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Kevin Tapani started and gave up three runs in five innings, making his ERA 3.14.

Sorrento was 0-for-4 and was batting .091.  Brown was 0-for-1 and was batting .143.

I have no memory of Ken Patterson, but he was a pretty good reliever for the White Sox.  He came up as a September call-up in 1988 and from then through 1991 went 11-4, 3.70, 1.38 WHIP with four saves.  He got better every season, and from 1990-1991 he was 5-1, 3.12, 1.35 WHIP with three saves.  After 1991, however, the White Sox traded him and Sammy Sosa to the Cubs for George Bell.  He struggled with the Cubs, had a poor year with California in 1993, and made just one appearance with the Angels in 1994.  He kept pitching through 1997, but did not make the majors again.  His career numbers were 14-8, 3.88, 1.44 WHIP in 224 games (317.2 innings).  Not a great career, but for a couple of seasons he was a very good reliever.

Texas defeated California 7-0, knocking the Twins out of first place.

Record;  The Twins were 47-36, in second place in the American League West, five percentage points behind Texas.  The Rangers had played six fewer games than the Twins.  Minnesota led third-place California by two games.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-two

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 6.

Batting stars:  Brian Harper was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eighth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a double.  Robin Ventura was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his sixth) and a walk.  Ramon Garcia pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks and striking out two hits.

The game:  There was really no threat to score (well, technically, every time someone comes to bat there's the threat of a score, but you know what I mean) until the fourth, when Thomas led off the inning with a home run.  In the fifth, Craig Grebeck drew a one-out walk and Tim Raines drew a two-out walk, followed by Ventura's three-run homer, putting the White Sox up 4-0.

The Twins came back in the seventh.  Randy Bush led off with a single, but was still on first with two out.  Chili Davis then walked and Harper delivered a three-run homer, cutting the margin to 4-3.  The homer was followed by a couple of two-out singles, but the Twins could not get even.

Not to worry.  With two out in the eighth Kirby Puckett singled and Hrbek hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 5-4.  Chicago did not go quietly, however.  Dan Pasqua hit a two-out double in the eighth but was stranded at second.  In the ninth Warren Newson hit a one-out single and stole second.  A ground out and a fly out followed, and the Twins held on to win.

WP:  Willis (3-2).  LP:  Scott Radinsky (2-3).  S:  Aguilera (22).

Notes:  Pedro Munoz was in left, replacing Dan Gladden.  Bush was in right, replacing Shane Mack.  Chuck Knoblauch led off, with Bush batting second.

Tom Kelly again used a lot of his bench.  Mack pinch-hit for Bush in the eighth and stayed in the game in left field, with Munoz moving to right.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Harper in the ninth, with Junior Ortiz coming in to catch.

Harper raised his average to .332.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Willis dropped his ERA to 2.95.  Aguilera's ERA fell to 2.75.

Paul Abbott's second start did not go nearly as well as the first.  He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits and five walks and struck out two.  Of course, two of the hits were home runs.  I suppose you could argue that he did well other than the home runs, but that doesn't help a whole lot.  He would go back to the bullpen after this start, making just one more start in 1991, on August 1.

Given how the Twins were flailing around to try to fill the back end of the rotation, it's a little surprising that they never gave Willis a start.  He had started only two games in his major league career, both in 1984, so you can understand why they didn't.  But he made thirteen relief appearances of three innings or more, seven of four innings or more, and one of five innings.  He generally did quite well in those long relief appearances, although I suppose that's skewed because if he hadn't done well he wouldn't have been left in the game that long.  I'm not saying he'd have been the solution to their starting pitching problems.  I'm not even saying it was a mistake not to use him as a starter.  I'm just saying that it might have been an option, and for whatever reason Kelly did not use it.

Texas defeated California 4-3, so the Twins did not increase their lead.

Record:  The Twins were 47-35, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-one

CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Friday, July 5.

Batting star:  Mike Pagliarulo was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.

Pitching star:  Jack Morris pitched an eight-inning complete game, giving up four runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Jack McDowell pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks and striking out four.  Dan Pasqua was 2-for-4 with a double.  Lance Johnson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his thirteenth.  Robin Ventura was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fifth.

The game:  The Twins opened the second with a single and a walk, but a double play and a fly ball ended the inning.  The White Sox got a pair of one-out singles in the bottom of the second, but also did not score.  In the third, doubles by Pagliarulo and Chuck Knoblauch put the Twins up 1-0.

It stayed 1-0 until the sixth.  Frank Thomas led off with a walk, was bunted to second, and scored on Pasqua's double to tie it 1-1.  Chicago took the lead in the seventh.  Scott Fletcher singled, Tim Raines drew a one-out walk, and Robin Ventura hit a three-run homer to give the White Sox a 4-1 lead.

The Twins tried to get back into the game in the eighth.  Pagliarulo led off with a double and went to third on an Al Newman single.  With one out, a passed ball made it 4-2 and Pedro Munoz walked, bringing the lead run up to bat.  With Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek coming up. the Twins' chances looked good.  But Puckett flied to center and Hrbek lined to center, and the inning was over.

The Twins got the tying run to bat twice in the ninth, but Brian Harper hit into a double play and Pagliarulo flied out.

WP:  McDowell (10-4).  LP:  Morris (11-6).  S:  Bobby Thigpen (17).

Notes:  Shane Mack was again in the lineup in left field to replace Dan Gladden.  Munoz was in right.  Chuck Knoblauch was the leadoff batter, with Munoz second.

Al Newman pinch-hit for Scott Leius in the eighth and singled.  He stayed in the game at shortstop.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the ninth, singled, and was replaced by pinch-runner Jarvis Brown.

Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .324.  Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .316.

Morris threw ninety-seven pitches.

Since his four-hit game on July 1, Puckett has gone 0-for-15.  His average has fallen from .332.

The Twins had now scored just twenty runs in their last ten games.  They were 2-8 in those games.  They had given up just thirty-five runs in those ten games.

California lost to Texas 8-0, so the Twins remained in first place.  However, the win by the Rangers moved them into second place.  Despite their recent poor play, they were in first place at the half-way point of the season, something no one expected when the season began.

Record:  The Twins were 46-35, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Texas.