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.