Tag Archives: climbing the standings

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Seventy-two

TORONTO 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 26.

Batting stars:  Chili Davis was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his eighteenth) and a double.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched four innings of relief, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out four.  Terry Leach pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  David Wells pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out two.  Joe Carter was 4-for-5 with two doubles and two RBIs.  Glenallen Hill was 3-for-4 with a double.  Devon White was 3-for-5 with a triple, a double, a stolen base (his eighteenth) and two runs.  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-4 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.

The game:  This time it was the Blue Jays who jumped out to an early lead.  White started the game with a double and stole third.  Alomar then tripled and Carter doubled, putting Toronto up 2-0 after the first three batters of the game.  Twins starter Mark Guthrie then settled down, and there was no more scoring until the fourth.  With two out Hill singled, White tripled, and Carter singled to make the score 4-0.

The Twins got a man to second base in the first, fourth, and fifth, but could not score.  The Blue Jays added one more run in the sixth.  Manny Lee singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Alomar single, increasing the lead to 5-0.

The Twins again got a man to second in the seventh and did not score.  They finally got on the board in the eighth when Knoblauch singled and Davis hit a two-out two-run homer.  After that, however, all the Twins could do is a single by Shane Mack in the ninth.  The score remained 5-2.

WP:  Wells (9-4).  LP:  Guthrie (5-4).  S:  Tom Henke (13).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was again at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Scott Leius in the ninth.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the ninth.  The pinch-hitters the Twins used had batting averages of .202 and .210, respectively.

Brian Harper was 0-for-4 and was batting .333.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .324.  Willis lowered his ERA to 3.03.  Leach's ERA went down to 3.26.

Guthrie allowed four runs in 3.2 innings on eight hits and two walks, striking out one.  His ERA was 5.66.

This was Guthrie's last start of the season.  He would be replaced in the rotation initially by Paul Abbott.  He would do much better out of the bullpen, going 2-1, 2.51, 1.37 WHIP with two saves in 43 innings (29 games).  He would make only two more starts in his major league career, both in 1994.  In his career as a starter, he was 13-18, 4.95, 1.52 WHIP.  As a reliever, he was 38-36, 3.75, 1.36 WHIP with 14 saves.

This was the second-longest stint of Willis' season to date, topped only by his 4.2 innings on April 23.  In August he would twice pitch five innings.  He would have a very good season, going 8-3, 2.63, 1.07 WHIP.  He would be about as good in 1992, going 7-3, 2.72, 1.06 WHIP.  He started to slip a little in 1993, although he was still pretty good.  After that he didn't get much accomplished, but from 1991-1993, he was a very effective relief pitcher.

This game is as good a place as any to declare the Twins' hot streak over.  It was a pretty good one, though.  From May 28 through June 25, the Twins won twenty-four out of twenty-seven.  They went from sixth place to first place.  They would not do that again, obviously, but they would continue to have winning months the rest of the season.

Record:  The Twins were 44-28, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Sixty-three

MINNESOTA 4, CLEVELAND 2 IN CLEVELAND (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, June 16.

Batting stars:  Gene Larkin was 3-for-5 with a double.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a home run (his eighth) and two runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up an unearned run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.  Rick Aguilera pitched three innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks.

Opposition stars:  Greg Swindell pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Mike Aldrete was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Felix Fermin was 2-for-5.

The game:  Harper hit a one-out double in the second and went to third on Larkin's two-out single, but the Twins did not score.  There was no other threat until the fourth, when Fermin led off with a single and scored on a single-plus-error by Aldrete.

In the fifth, Shane Mack led off with a walk, Larkin singled, and Scott Leius reached on a sacrifice bunt/error, loading the bases with none out.  But a strikeout, a foul out, and a fly out followed, keeping the Twins off the board.  The Twins finally broke through in the sixth, however, as Puckett led off with a home run to tie the score 1-1.

The Twins took the lead in the seventh.  Larkin led off with a double and was still on second with two out, but Al Newman came through with an RBI single to make it 2-1 Minnesota.  Aguilera came in to start the eighth, despite the fact that Tapani had retired twelve of the last thirteen batters and had thrown just 82 pitches.  He walked Carlos Baerga and gave up one-out singles to Alex Cole and Fermin to tie the score 2-2.

Not to worry,  In the tenth, Newman drew a one-out walk and Puckett followed with a single, putting men on first and third.  Chili Davis hit a sacrifice fly to put the Twins in front and Harper had an RBI single for an insurance run.  Mark Lewis drew a leadoff walk in the bottom of the tenth, but a double play followed and the win was secured.

WP:  Aguilera (2-2).  LP:  Shawn Hillegas (2-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Newman was at second base, replacing Chuck Knoblauch.  He batted second despite having an OBP of .279 and an OPS of .488.  He went 1-for-4 with a walk, a run, and an RBI, so maybe Tom Kelly was right to bat him there.  Or maybe he just got lucky.

Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  That was probably just to give Hrbek a day off, but again, it worked very well.

Pedro Munoz pinch-ran for Harper in the tenth inning.  Munoz stayed in the game in right field, with Mack moving to center and Junior Ortiz coming in to catch and batting in Puckett's spot.  It's interesting that Kelly apparently thought the better defense was with Mack in center and Munoz in right, rather than just substituting Ortiz in Harper's spot and leaving Puckett and Mack in center and right, respectively.

It's also interesting that Kelly removed Tapani after just seven innings and 82 pitches, and even more interesting that he brought in Aguilera for what at best would be a two-inning save.  Aguilera had not pitched since June 11, when he was at the end of a streak in which he had pitched in seven of eight games.  Tapani would not miss a start, so I assume he was not injured.  There may have been a good reason for doing that, but I don't know what it was.

We previously went through Felix Fermin's struggles as a batter.  Minnesota Twins fans, however, could've been forgiven for thinking he was an all-star.  Against the Twins that year, he batted .378/.452/.405.  For his career against the Twins, he batted .344/.393/.439.  Again, his career batting numbers were .259/.305/.303 and in 1991 he batted .262/.307/.302.

The Twins had now won fifteen in a row and eighteen of nineteen.  The first two wins were against Kansas City.  They had swept Baltimore, Cleveland, the Yankees, and Cleveland again.  None of those teams were very good, but it's not easy to win fifteen in a row against anybody.  The winning streak had carried them from sixth place to first place.  They would next travel to Baltimore.  Could they keep the streak going?

Record:  The Twins were 38-25, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

MINNESOTA 11, CLEVELAND 7 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, June 15.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5.  Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Paul Abbott pitched 6.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Felix Fermin was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Chris James was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Chili Davis' RBI single got the Twins on the board in the first inning.  The Indians came back in the bottom of the first.  Singles by Mike Huff and Fermin, a sacrifice fly, a walk to Brook Jacoby, and Jeff Manto's two-run double gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead.  In the second a walk, an error, and RBI singles by Fermin and James made it 5-1 Indians, and the Twins' winning streak appeared to be in serious trouble.

Not to worry.  The Twins put up a six-spot in the third and went into the lead to stay.  With one out, Gladden and Knoblauch singled and Kirby Puckett delivered a two-run triple.  Davis walked, followed by Harper's RBI single.  Kent Hrbek walked, a force out brought home a run to tie it, and Leius came through with a two-run single to put the Twins up 7-5.

The Twins added to their lead in the fifth.  Davis walked, Harper doubled, a ground out scored one run, and Leius had another run-scoring single to make the score 9-5 Twins.  The Indians got one back in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and two ground outs, cutting it to 9-6, but the Twins took control in the seventh.  Harper was hit by a pitch and Shane Mack got a one-out double.  Leius singled home another run and a sacrifice fly made it 11-6.  Cleveland got a run in the ninth on a double play to round out the scoring.

WP:  Abbott (2-0).  LP:  Jeff Mutis (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was a standard lineup, but the Twins made numerous late changes.  Pedro Munoz pinch-hit for Puckett in the eighth and went to right field, with Mack moving to center.  Lenny Webster went in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper, and Al Newman went to short in the eighth, replacing Greg Gagne.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at first base.

Harper raised his average to .341.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .320.  Davis was 1-for-3 and was batting .301.  Abbott dropped his ERA to 1.98.

Bush went 0-for-1 and was batting .193.  Twins starter Mark Guthrie pitched just 1.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned), raising his ERA to 5.60.  He would struggle through two more starts, then be dropped from the rotation.

Cleveland starter Jeff Mutis pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks.  This was his major league debut, and it obviously didn't go quite like he dreamed.  He made two more starts for the Indians in 1991 and continued to struggle.  He was with them again briefly in 1992 and was actually in their rotation at the start of 1993, but never had success in the majors.  He was in the Florida bullpen in 1994 but fared no better there.  For his career, he was 4-11, 6.48, 1.76 WHIP in 143 innings.  He appeared in 58 games, 18 of them starts.  He wasn't very good in AAA, either, going 17-16, 4.72, 1.49 WHIP.  He was with teams who were desperate for pitching, and there was apparently something about him teams liked, but there was really no reason for him to get that many chances in the major leagues.  His wikipedia entry closes with "In 1994, on December 15th, he birthed a beautiful child, named Carolyn Mutis".  At last report, he was living in Ontario and was a software engineer.  We hope he has more success in his current occupation.

So the Twins had made it fourteen in a row and seventeen of eighteen.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 37-25, in second place in the American League West, a half-game behind first-place Oakland.  They led third-place Texas by three games.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty

MINNESOTA 10, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, June 13.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 2-for-5 with two home runs (his thirteenth and fourteenth) and three RBIs.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his fifth) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out five.  He threw 85 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Steve Sax was 3-for-4.  Kevin Maas was 2-for-4 with a home run, his tenth.  Pat Kelly was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Don Mattingly was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins again got off to a big start.  Gladden singled and stole second.  Chuck Knoblauch walked, and a wild pitch moved runners to second and third.  An infield out scored one run and Hrbek doubled in another.  With two out, Larkin doubled in a run and Lenny Webster singled home another, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead.

The Yankees nearly got on the board in the third, but Alvaro Espinoza was thrown out trying to score from second on a Mattingly single.  Davis led off the third with a home run to make it 5-0.  With one out in the fourth, Gladden singled and Knoblauch walked.  Puckett then singled in a run and Hrbek doubled home another to make it 7-0.

New York got on the board in the fifth on a sacrifice fly and Maas led off the sixth with a home run to cut the lead to 7-2.  Three consecutive two-out singles got the Twins a run in the seventh.  The Yankees got three singles to open the eighth but could only score once, making the score 8-3.  Davis rounded out the scoring with a two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth.

WP:  Erickson (10-2).  LP:  Mike Witt (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin started in right field.  Al Newman was at short, replacing Greg Gagne.  With Erickson pitching, Webster was behind the plate.

In the eighth, Scott Leius came in to play short, with Newman moving to second and Knoblauch leaving the game.  Shane Mack went to center field to replace Puckett.  Pedro Munoz went to right field, with Larkin moving to first base and Hrbek leaving the game.

Puckett raised his average to .321.  Munoz was 0-for-1 and was batting .308.  Davis raised his average to .301.  Erickson's ERA went to 1.60.  Terry Leach gave up a run in two innings to make his ERA 3.21.

Newman was 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his average to .184.

Mike Witt was near the end of his career and was battling injury.  He pitched to only four batters in this game, and would not appear in another major league game until 1993.

This made twelve in a row and fifteen of sixteen for the Twins.  They had swept Baltimore, Cleveland, and New York, all at home.  They would go back on the road next, traveling to Cleveland.  Could they keep the streak going?

Record:  The Twins were 35-25, in second place in the American League West, 1.5 games behind Oakland.  They led third-place California by a game.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-nine

MINNESOTA 6, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 12.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5.  Pedro Munoz was 1-for-4 with a grand slam, his second home run.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.  Steve Bedrosian retired all four men he faced, striking out two.

Opposition star:  Jesse Barfield was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his twelfth and thirteenth) and three RBIs.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to a big lead early.  In the first inning, Knoblauch led off with a single-plus-error and went to third on a wild pitch.  With one out, Kirby Puckett walked and Chili Davis singled for the first Twins run.  With two out, Kent Hrbek walked and Munoz followed with a grand slam, giving the Twins a 5-0 lead.

Barfield homered in the second to cut the lead to 5-1.  The Twins put two on with one out in the bottom of the second but did not score.  In the fourth the Yankees got back into the game.  Don Mattingly singled and Barfield hit his second home run, making the score 5-3.

The Twins got an insurance run in the fifth when Puckett singled, went to second on a fly ball, and scored on a Brian Harper single.  That was it for the scoring.  New York threatened a few times.  Steve Sax hit a two-out double in the fifth.  They got a pair of one-out singles in the seventh.  They put men on first and third with two out in the eighth.  But they did not score, and the final tally was 6-3 Twins.

WP:  Allan Anderson (4-4).  LP:  Jeff Johnson (0-2).  S:  Bedrosian (3).

Notes:  Shane Mack was in left field, replacing Dan Gladden.  Munoz was in right.  Mack batted second, with Knoblauch moving to the leadoff spot.

Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Puckett was 1-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base (his second), and two runs.  He was batting .317.  Munoz was batting .313.  Willis lowered his ERA to 3.04.

Anderson started and pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out four.  Jeff Johnson was the starter for New York, pitching five innings and allowing six runs on six hits and two walks and striking out two.

Rick Aguilera had pitched in four of the last five Twins games, and so presumably was unavailable for this game.  Bedrosian certainly came through in his stead.

This was Jeff Johnson's second major league start.  He was in the Yankee rotation for the rest of the season and went 6-11, 5.95, 1.49 WHIP.  He started 1992 in the rotation as well, but when he was no better he was sent to AAA.  He made two more major league starts in 1993, was in AAA for Cleveland in 1994, then was done.  His major league stats 8-16, 6.52, 1.63 WHIP.  He has, however, been a minor league pitching coach for several seasons.

The Twins had won eleven in a row and fourteen of fifteen.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 34-25, in second place in the American League West, two games behind Oakland.  They led third-place California by a half game.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

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MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 11.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 2-for-2 with a stolen base, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk and striking out four.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Scott Sanderson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out three.  Mel Hall was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.  Roberto Kelly was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.

The game:  There was no score until the third, when Gagne singled, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a ground out.  It stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Don Mattingly walked and Hall hit a one-out two-run homer, putting the Yankees ahead 2-1.  In the eighth, Kelly homered to increase the lead to 3-1.

The Twins came back in the bottom of the eighth.  Mike Pagliarulo led off with a single, chasing Sanderson from the game.  Steve Howe came in and gave up a single to Shane Mack, putting men on first and second.  John Habyan came in and Dan Gladden got a bunt single, loading the bases.  Chuck Knoblauch walked, forcing in a run to make the score 3-2.  Kirby Puckett struck out, but Greg Cadaret came in and gave up a two-run single to Hrbek, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead.  Chili Davis walked to re-load the bases and bring on Steve Farr.  He retired Brian Harper on a popup, but Gene Larkin walked to force in another run to give the Twins a 5-3 advantage.

The Yankees went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Tapani (4-6).  LP:  Habyan (4-2).  S:  Aguilera (17).

Notes:  Larkin was in right field, replacing Mack.  Mack came on in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter for Randy Bush, who had been sent up as a pinch-hitter for Gagne.  Mack stayed in the game in right field.  Al Newman, who had pinch-run for Pagliarulo, stayed in the game at shortstop.  Scott Leius replaced Larkin in the batting order and played third base.

Harper was 1-for-4 and is batting .333.  Puckett was 0-for-4 and is batting .317.  Gagne raised his average to .307.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.12.

As shown above, the Yankees used five pitchers in the eighth inning.  I'm not going to judge that--I don't have the time to go back and look at all these pitchers and the matchups and all that to see if it made sense to make all those pitching changes.  I'll just echo what Bill James once said--it sure looks bad when it doesn't work.

As also shown above, and as we've already seen several times, Tom Kelly was not at all afraid to use his bench.  Of course, teams had bigger benches back then, but still, he was not hesitant to put his reserves into the game.

My recollection was that Mel Hall was somewhat of a Twins killer.  My recollection was correct.  For his career, Hall batted .314/.346/.511 against Minnesota.  For comparison, his career numbers are .276/.318/.437.  In 1991, he batted .323/.313/.452 against the Twins.  The home run in this game was his only homer against Minnesota this season.  Among teams against which he had a hundred or more plate appearances, he did best against St. Louis--.323/.376/.616.

The Twins had now won ten in a row and thirteen of fourteen.  They continued to climb the standings.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 33-25, in third place in the American League West, two games behind Oakland.  They were a half game behind second-place California and 2.5 games ahead of fourth-place Seattle.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-seven

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MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, June 10.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Scott Leius was 2-for-2.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-3 with two walks and two runs.

Pitching star:  Paul Abbott pitched four shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Felix Fermin was 4-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his fourth.  Mike Huff was 2-for-5 with a home run, two runs, and two RBIs.  Luis Lopez was 2-for-4.

The game:  Huff led off the game with a home run.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the first when Gladden walked, went to second on a Mack single, and scored on a pair of sacrifice flies.  The Indians responded with three in the second.  Luis Lopez got a one-out single and went to second when Turner Ward walked.  With two out, Huff had a two-run single-plus-error and Fermin had an RBI single, putting Cleveland ahead 4-1.

The Twins got a pair of one-out walks in the second, but a double play took them out of the inning.  In the third, however, Mack and Puckett singled, putting men on first and third with none out.  A force out brought home one run and singles by Chili Davis and Harper plated another, cutting the lead to 4-3.  Another double play, however, took them out of the inning.

The Twins took the lead in the fifth.  Puckett and Hrbek opened the inning with singles.  With one out, Harper was hit by a pitch, loading the bases.  Mike Pagliarulo then delivered a three-run double, giving the Twins a 6-4 lead.  It went to 8-4 in the sixth.  It again started with a pair of singles, this time by Gladden and Mack.  Sacrifice flies by Puckett and Davis followed.

Fermin created a run in the seventh.  He singled, stole second, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a ground out, making the score 8-5.  The Indians threatened in the ninth.  Alex Cole singled but was taken off the bases by a double play.  With two out, Fermin doubled and Jerry Browne singled, bringing the tying run to the plate.  Rick Aguilera then came in and retired Rick James on a deep fly ball to end the game.

WP:  Abbott (1-0).  LP:  Eric King (4-5).  S:  Aguilera (16).

Notes:  Al Newman started at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.  Mack took the second spot in the batting order.  Pagliarulo started at third base.  Leius batted for him in the seventh inning and remained in the game at third base.

Harper raised his average to .336.  Puckett raised his average to .323.  Abbott lowered his ERA to 2.45.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.20.  Terry Leach pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run, to make his ERA 3.12.

Mark Guthrie started for the Twins and allowed four runs in two innings on five hits and a walk.  He struck out two.  King pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on eight hits and four walks.  He struck out none.

This was not Abbott's longest relief stint--in fact, it's tied for third.  Each of his next two appearances would be longer.  It was, however, his longest scoreless appearance of the season.

Despite his four hits in this game, Felix Fermin was not a good batter.  For his career he batted .259/.305/.303.  He played for ten seasons and had over three thousand plate appearances, so one assumes he was a superior fielder.  He was thought to have been one, anyway.  His best offensive season was 1994, when he batted .317 in 411 plate appearances.  That sounds impressive, and in a way it is, but because he rarely walked and had little power, his OPS was still only .718.  That was the only season he got over. 700.  The next year he batted .195, and the following year he was done.  You'd have thought that, as a light-hitting shortstop, he might have been a good base stealer, but you'd have been wrong.  His high in stolen bases was six, in 1989.  For his career, he was 27-for-48 in stolen bases.  b-r.com says that his "main claim to fame in the US is that he was traded by the Cleveland Indians to the Seattle Mariners in return for Omar Vizquel, in what was arguably the worst trade in Mariners history."  He did, however, become a successful manager in the Mexican League, winning a league championship in 2007.

The Twins had now won nine a row and had swept series from Baltimore and Cleveland.  They were continuing to climb the standings.  Next, the Twins would host the Yankees.  The Yankees of this era were not "The Yankees", but they were still about a .500 team at this stage of the season.

Record:  The Twins were 32-25, in third place in the American League West, three games behind Oakland.  They were a half game behind second-place California and 1.5 games ahead of fourth-place Seattle.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-six

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MINNESOTA 9, CLEVELAND 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 9.

Batting stars:  Pedro Munoz was 3-for-3 with a double.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a double, a stolen base (his second), two runs, and three RBIs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Al Newman was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris pitched eight innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on five hits and three walks and striking out three.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition star:  Turner Ward was 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.

The game:  Hrbek's RBI single put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning.  In the third, Mack hit a one-out double, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a wild pitch to make it 2-0.  With one out in the fourth, Harper singled and scored on a Munoz double to make it 3-0.

The Indians got on the board in the sixth on a walk, a passed ball, and Mark Lewis' RBI single.  The Twins then put the game out of reach.  In the seventh, Munoz singled, Newman singled, and Mack hit a two-out three-run homer to make the score 6-1.  Cleveland got one back in the eighth when Ward doubled and Joel Skinner singled, but the Twins responded with three more in the bottom of the eighth.  Hrbek singled, Harper doubled, and Gene Larkin was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Randy Bush was then accidentally walked to bring home one run and Newman hit a two-run single to bring the score to 9-2.

WP:  Morris (7-5).  LP:  Rod Nichols (0-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was in left field in place of Dan Gladden.  He batted second, with Chuck Knoblauch moved up to the leadoff spot.  Knoblauch, however, left the game after six innings.  Greg Gagne came in to play shortstop with Newman, who had started the game at short, moving to second base.  Munoz was in right.  Larkin pinch-hit for Munoz in the eighth and remained in the game in right field.  Bush pinch-hit for third baseman Scott Leius in the eighth inning, and Mike Pagliarulo then came in to play third the rest of the game.

Harper raised his average to .331.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 to drop to .320.  Munoz raised his average to .317.  Gagne was 0-for-2 and was batting .304.

With his pinch-hit walk, Bush's average remained .189.

Knoblauch would miss the next day's game, but would be back in the lineup after that, so whatever caused him to leave this game was apparently not too serious.

Cleveland's starter was Rod Nichols.  He pitched 6.1 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on eight hits and a walk and struck out three.  I don't remember him, but he appears to have been a hard-luck pitcher, at least in 1991.  He went 2-11 with an ERA of 3.54 and a WHIP of 1.27.  In his eleven losses, the Indians scored a total of twenty runs.  In fact, in his two wins they only scored five runs.  Cleveland finished dead last in runs scored in 1991, and by quite a bit--they scored 576 runs, and next-to-last was California with 653.  With an offensive offense like that, I suppose they had quite a few hard luck pitchers.  Nichols would end his career 11-31, 4.43, 1.41 WHIP.  It's kind of a shame, though, that he really didn't get rewarded for the one good year he had.

The Indians used two relievers named Valdez in this game--Sergio and Efrain.  A quick check of b-r.com reveals fourteen major leaguers named Valdez, so it's kind of odd that there'd be two of them in the same bullpen.

This was the eighth straight win for the Twins.  They were beating up on some bad teams--Baltimore, Kansas City, and Cleveland--but they didn't make the schedule, and beating bad teams is what you're supposed to do.

Record:  The Twins were 31-25, in third place in the American League West, three games behind Oakland.  They were 1.5 games behind second-place California and a half game ahead of fourth-place Seattle.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-five

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MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, June 8.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-2 with two walks.  Dan Gladden was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching star:  Scott Erickson pitched 8.2 innings, giving up one run on nine hits and two walks and striking out seven.  He threw 115 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Alex Cole was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Chris James was 2-for-4 with a double.  Charles Nagy pitched 6.2 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and five walks and striking out four.

The game:  The Twins put men on first and second in the first, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.  Gladden led off with a double in the third but could not get past third base.  Mark Lewis led off with a double in the sixth but also could not get past third base.

The Twins finally got on the board in the sixth.  With one out, Puckett singled, Kent Hrbek walked, and Chili Davis delivered an RBI double to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  They added another run in the seventh.  Gladden drew a one-out walk and went to second on a ground out.  Puckett was intentionally walked, but Hrbek came through with a single to make the score 2-0.

The Indians rallied in the ninth.  Erickson retired the first two batters, but James singled, Jerry Browne singled, and Turner Ward drove home a run with a single to cut the lead to 2-1.  Rick Aguilera came in and walked Cole to load the bases, but Lewis flied to right to end the game.

WP:  Scott Erickson (9-2).  LP:  Nagy (2-6).  S:  Aguilera (15).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was the right fielder, replacing Shane Mack.  Mack came in for defense in the ninth inning.  With Erickson pitching, Lenny Webster was the catcher rather than Brian Harper.

Puckett raised his average to .326.  Greg Gagne was 1-for-4 and was batting .308.  Davis was 1-for-4 and was batting .303.  Erickson's ERA went to 1.53.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.22.

In twelve starts so far, Erickson had not pitched fewer than 6.1 innings or thrown fewer than 84 pitches in a game.  He also had only one game score below fifty.

Nagy was in the second year of his career.  This was his twelfth start, too, and Cleveland was 3-9 in his starts.  It wasn't his fault--in the nine losses, the Indians scored a total of seventeen runs.  Twice they were shut out.  In one of the victories they scored two runs and in another they scored one.  It's hard to get wins with that kind of run support.

Jesse Orosco pitched in both yesterday's game and in this one.  He was already a veteran, in the twelfth year of his career at age thirty-four.  He would, of course, pitch twelve more years, including appearing in eight games with the Twins in 2003.

This was the Twins' seventh consecutive win.  Again, the streak was driven by pitching--the Twins had scored just 27 runs (less than four per game) but had allowed just fourteen (two per game).  They continued to move up in the standings, as you'll see below.

Record:  The Twins were 30-25, in third place in the American League West, three games behind Oakland.  They were 1.5 games behind second-place California and a half game ahead of fourth-place Seattle.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-four

MINNESOTA 2, CLEVELAND 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 7.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his third.  Chili Davis was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Allan Anderson pitched eight shutout innings, giving up two hits and one walk and striking out three.  He threw just 81 pitches.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect ninth and struck out one.

Opposition star:  Tom Candiotti pitched 7.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  Neither team had a hit until the bottom of the second, when Davis led off the inning with a home run.  The Indians got their first base runner in the fourth, when Mike Huff led off with a single.  He was immediately erased by a double play.  Cleveland would not get another hit until the eighth, when Joel Skinner led off with a double.  Pinch-runner Alex Cole was caught stealing third, so that baserunner was also wiped out.  They did have two on in the seventh, when Carlos Baerga was hit by a pitch and Brook Jacoby walked, but a fly out ended that inning.

The Twins added a run in the eighth.  Chuck Knoblauch and Hrbek singled, and a wild pitch brought home the run to make it 2-0.

WP:  Anderson (3-4).  LP:  Candiotti (7-3).  S:  Aguilera (14).

Notes:  Dan Gladden was dropped to the ninth spot in the batting order, with Greg Gagne leading off.  It would be the only time all year he would bat ninth.  Shane Mack was now the right fielder.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the eighth and remained in the game at third base.

Brian Harper was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .326.  Kirby Puckett was 0-for-4 and was batting .324.  Gagne was 1-for-4 and was batting .309.  Davis was batting .304.  Aguilera's ERA went down to 2.25.

Newman was 0-for-1 and was batting .184.

This was obviously the best game of the year for Anderson.  It's too bad, given his pitch count, that he wasn't allowed to finish the game.  Aguilera had pitched in each of the team's last three games, so it's not like he needed the work.  One can only conclude that Tom Kelly did not trust Anderson with a two-run lead in the ninth and so decided he needed to bring Aguilera in.  Which, given how Anderson had pitched so far this season, was understandable, but he was certainly in complete control in this game.

In 1991, Candiotti had an ERA of 2.65 (sixth in the league), a 1.16 WHIP, and yet had a record of just 13-13.  Playing half the season for Cleveland didn't help, but he also played half the season for Toronto, a very good team.  He had a few seasons like that, where he had a low ERA, a low WHIP, but a poor won-lost record.  1992:  11-15, 3.00, 1.18.  1993: 8-10, 3.12, 1.23.  1995:  7-14, 3.50, 1.29.  For his career, he was 151-164, 3.73, 1.30.  One has to conclude that he didn't get a whole lot of support for a lot of his career.

The win gave the Twins a six-game winning streak, their longest of the season so far.  Pitching was definitely driving the streak.  They had scored more than four runs only once, but had only given up as many as four once.  They were out-scoring their opponents 25-13, for an average score of about 4-2.  And with the winning streak, they were starting to climb in the standings, as you'll see below.

Record:  The Twins were 29-25, fourth in the American League West, just five percentage points behind third-place Texas.  They were four games behind first-place Oakland and led fifth-place Seattle by a half game.