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.