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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1970, Game Fifty-two

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MINNESOTA 5, BOSTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 12.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 4-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with three walks.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Tom Satriano was 2-for-3 with a home run.  Mike Andrews was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the second when Brant Alyea reached on an error, Cardenas singled, and Perry delivered an RBI single.  The Twins loaded the bases in the third on two walks and a single, but could not add to their lead.  That changed in the fifth.  Tony Oliva singled with one out.  With two down, Alyea had an RBI double and Cardenas hit a run-scoring single, making it 3-0 Twins.

The Red Sox got on the board in the sixth when Satriano led off with a home run.  Rico Petrocelli led off the seventh with a single.  He was still on first with two out, but Satriano singled and Mike Fiore had an RBI single.  The Twins lead was down to 3-2 and the tying run was on third, but Andrews struck out to end the inning.

The Twins got control again in the eighth.  Jim Holt walked, Cardenas singled, and George Mitterwald had an RBI single.  With two out, Rod Carew delivered a run-scoring double to build the lead back to three at 5-2.

The Red Sox managed only a one-out single in the ninth.  The game ended, oddly enough, when Jerry Moses popped up a bunt, which was caught by Perranoski.

WP:  Perry (8-5).  LP:  Gary Peters (3-7).  S:  Perranoski (14).

Notes:  Rick Renick was the third baseman in this game, with Killebrew moving to first.  Killebrew was primarily a third baseman in 1970, with Rich Reese the regular at first.  Others who played a decent number of games at third, often coming in for defense, are Danny Thompson and Frank Quilici.

Carew was the second baseman in this game.  Between injuries and military service, he was able to play only forty-five games at second base, with Thompson and Quilici handling most of the second base duties.

Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the fifth and remained in the game in left field.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Perry in the sixth, even though Perry was batting .313 and Manuel was batting .214.  Reese pinch-hit for Renick in the seventh and went to first base, with Killebrew moving to third.  Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and remained in the game at third base.

Carew was leading the team in batting at .371.  He would finish at .366 in 204 plate appearances.  Oliva was batting .333.  He would finish at .325.  Killebrew was batting .315.  He would finish at .271.  Perry was batting .313.  He would finish at .247.

All the Twins pitchers had ERAs under 3.00.  Perry was at 2.81.  He would finish at 3.04.  Stan Williams was at 2.21.  He would finish at 1.99.  Perranoski was at 2.00.  He would finish at 2.43.

Record:  The Twins were 35-17, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of California.  They would finish 98-64, in first place, nine games ahead of Oakland.

The Red Sox were 26-27, in fourth place in the American League East, 9.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 87-75, in third place, twenty-one games behind Baltimore.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2010, Game Twenty-six

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MINNESOTA 10, DETROIT 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, May 3.

Batting stars:  Wilson Ramos was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  J. J. Hardy was 2-for-4 with a double.  Justin Morneau was 2-for-4.  Denard Span was 2-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs.  Michael Cuddyer was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his fourth), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Scott Baker pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Brad Thomas pitched 3.2 scoreless innings of relief, giving up four hits and striking out one.  Austin Jackson was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Miguel Cabrera was 2-for-3.  Brennan Boesch was 2-for-4 with a double.

The game:  The Twins took control of this one early.  With one out in the first, Orlando Hudson singled, Morneau walked, Jim Thome had an RBI single, and Cuddyer hit a three-run homer, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead.  In the second Ramos singled, Nick Punto walked, Span hit a two-run triple, and an RBI ground out made the score 7-0 Twins.

The Tigers tried to get back into it.  In the fourth Cabrera singled and scored from first on Boesch's double.  In the fifth Ramon Santiago walked, Jackson singled, a wild pitch moved them to second and third, and a pair of RBI ground outs made it 7-3.

That was as close as Detroit would come.  With one out in the fifth Cuddyer and Jason Kubel walked, Hardy had an RBI single, Ramos hit a run-scoring double, and Punto contributed a sacrifice fly, giving the Twins a 10-3 advantage.

The final Tigers run came in the ninth, when Santiago walked and scored on Jackson's two-out triple.

WP:  Baker (3-2).  LP:  Max Scherzer (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  This was the second game of Ramos' career.  With a 3-for-4 day, his batting average dropped from .800 to .778.  He was playing due to an injury to Joe Mauer.  He would play just seven games for the Twins, go back to AAA, and then be traded in late July with Joe Testa for Matt Capps.

Kubel was in left, with Cuddyer in right and Morneau at first base.  Morneau would be injured and miss the second half of the season, so the regular alignment would then be Cuddyer at first, Kubel in right, and Delmon Young in left.

Punto was still the regular third baseman, as Danny Valencia would not be called up for another month.

Morneau was leading the team in batting at .356.  He would be at .345 when he got hurt.  Cuddyer was batting .308.  He would finish at .271.  Hudson was batting .306.  He would finish at .268.

Scherzer lasted just 4.1 innings and allowed all ten runs on eight hits and four walks and struck out one.  He was just twenty-four, and in his second full season.  He was not what he would become, but he was still a solid pitcher already.  He went 12-11, 3.50, 1.25 WHIP in 2010.  By game scores, this would by far be the worst game he had this season.

Record:  The Twins were 17-9, in first place in the American League Central, 1.5 games ahead of Detroit.  They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.

The Tigers were 16-11, in second place in the American League Central, 1.5 games behind Minnesota.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, thirteen games behind Minnesota.