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Random Rewind: 1993, Game Seventeen

DETROIT 16, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, April 25.

Batting stars:  Gene Larkin was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching starsWillie Banks pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and four walks and striking out six.  Rick Aguilera struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Alan Trammell was 3-for-5 with a home run, a stolen base (his third), two runs, and two RBIs.  Mickey Tettleton was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth), a double, two walks, and three runs.  Kirk Gibson was 2-for-5 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.  Chad Kreuter was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second) and a walk.  Tony Phillips was 1-for-4 with a home run (his second), two walks, and two runs.

The game:  It looked good for the Twins for a long time.  Not right away--Tettleton led off the second with a home run to put the Tigers up 1-0.  But it stayed 1-0 until the fourth.  Then Puckett homered to tie it 1-1.  In the fifth, Pedro Munoz and Larkin led off with singles.  A double play followed, but Jeff Reboulet and Chuck Knoblauch walked to load the bases.  Shane Mack then delivered a two-run single to make it 3-1 Twins.

The Twins added two more in the sixth.  Brian Harper led off with a single.  With one out, Larkin walked, Terry Jorgensen had an RBI single, Reboulet walked, and Knoblauch hit a sacrifice fly.  It was 5-1 Twins through six, and things were looking good.

But the roof fell in in the seventh.  Not literally--the Metrodome was still standing at the end of the game.  With one out Scott Livingstone walked, and two wild pitches moved him to third.  Trammell delivered an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2.  Banks came out and Mark Guthrie came in.  He gave up back-to-back homers to Krueter and Phillips, tying the score.  He retired Lou Whitaker, but Gibson hit a ground-rule double.  That led to Guthrie going out and Brett Merriman coming in.  He gave up an RBI double to Cecil Fielder, intentionally walked Tettleton, Rob Deer hit a two-run double, and Livingstone got an RBI single.  It was 9-5 Tigers.

Detroit scored seven more in the eighth.  No need to go into great detail about it.  Milt Cuyler hit a three-run double, a couple of runs scored on wild pitches, there was a sacrifice fly, and Trammell hit a home run.  Nobody got on base after that.

WP:  Mark Leiter (1-1).  LP:  Guthrie (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin was at first-base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Terry Jorgensen was at third base in place of Mike Pagliarulo.

Jeff Reboulet was apparently the starting shortstop at the beginning of 1993.  He was replaced by Pat Meares in early May.

The two pitchers who allowed most of the runs for the Twins were their weakest relief pitchers in 1993.  Guthrie, who'd had an excellent year in 1992, was dealing with an injury in 1993 and would be done for the season in late May.  Merriman would make one more appearance and then go back to the minors, not returning until the end of August.

They spoiled a solid effort by Banks, who had started 1993 really well. This was his third start--he'd given up one run in 13.1 innings in his first two starts.  His ERA would be 2.66 at the end of April.  By the end of May, however, it was 4.14 and he would end the season at 4.04.  It was still his best season as a Twin and the best he ever had as a starter.

The Tigers had Trammell batting eighth in this game.  He was coming off an injury from 1992, but he batted .329 in 1993.  I suspect he did not stay in the eighth spot too long.

Yes, I'm getting tired of random.org giving us Twins losses, too.  But such is randomness.

Record:  The Twins were 8-9, tied for third place in the American League West, 4.5 games behind California.  They would end 71-91, tied for fifth with California, twenty-three games behind Chicago.

Detroit was 12-5, in first place in the American League East, two games ahead of Boston.  They would end 85-77, tied for third with Baltimore, ten games behind Toronto.

Random Rewind: 2015, Game One Hundred Four

NEW YORK 8, MINNESOTA 7 IN NEW YORK (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, August 17.

Batting stars:  Trevor Plouffe was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eighteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Miguel Sano was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, his eighth.  Brian Dozier was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his tenth.  Eddie Rosario was 2-for-5.  Aaron Hicks was 1-for-6 with a home run, his eighth.

Pitching stars:  Casey Fien struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.  Kevin Jepsen pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Brian McCann was 3-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-first), a double, and five RBIs.  Jacoby Ellsbury was 3-for-5.  Carlos Beltran was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his thirteenth.

The game:  The Yankees jumped on Kyle Gibson for three runs in the first inning.  Ellsbury led off with a single, Alex Rodriguez drew a one-out walk, and McCann hit a three-run homer to give New York a 3-0 lead.

To their credit, the Twins battled back.  With two out in the second, consecutive singles by RosarioKurt Suzuki, and Eduardo Nunez got them on the board.  In the third, Dozier led off with a single and Sano hit a one-out two-run homer to tie the game.  Plouffe then singled, went to third on an error, and scored on a Rosario single to put the Twins ahead 4-3.

The lead didn't last long.  In the fourth, Ellsbury led off with a single and Brett Gardner walked.  Rodriguez reached on an error, but Ellsbury was thrown out trying to score, leaving men on first and third.  Rodriguez stole second with two out and McCann delivered a two-run single to put New York back in front 5-4.

Again, the Twins battled back.  Hicks led off the fourth with a home run and Plouffe led off the fifth with a home run, giving the Twins a 6-5 lead.  In the sixth, consecutive two-out singles by Joe MauerSano, and Plouffe made it 7-5 Twins.  In the bottom of the sixth, however, Mark Teixeira walked and Beltran hit a two-run homer to tie the score 7-7.

The Yankees loaded the bases in the bottom of the seventh but did not score.  There were no other threats in regulation, so we went to an extra inning.  Greg Bird and McCann led off with back-to-back doubles, but Bird only got to third base on McCann's double, so the game continued.  Beltran was intentionally walked, but Chase Headley hit a weak ground ball to short that scored the deciding run.

WP:  Andrew Miller (1-2).  LP:  Glen Perkins (1-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  The leader in batting average in the starting lineup was Miguel Sano at .292.

In addition to those listed above, Twins relivers used were Brian Duensing and Ryan O'Rourke.

Nunez was at shortstop in this game.  Eduardo Escobar is listed as the starting shortstop in 2015, but he played just seventy-one games there.  Next highest was Danny Santana at sixty-six.  Escobar did come into the game in the tenth after the bases were loaded.  He replaced Torii Hunter and is listed in right field, but I suspect Paul Molitor went with a five-man infield.

Twins starter Kyle Gibson pitched five innings, allowing six runs on four hits and three walks and striking out two.  Yankees starter Bryan Mitchell pitched 1.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out two.  Mitchell came out after Nunez hit a line drive back to the pitcher, which I assume is why he was removed.  He would not pitch again until August 28.

When I saw the game random.org had given me, I thought seriously about telling it to try again.  I decided against it, but if it gives me very many more like this we may have to change the rules.

In real life, 2015 doesn't seem very long ago to me.  When I look at some of these names, though, it does.

Record:  The Twins were 59-59, in second place in the American League Central, 12.5 games behind Kansas City.  The Twins would end the season 83-79, in second place in the American League Central, twelve games behind Kansas City.

The Yankees were 65-52, in first place in the American League East, one game ahead of Toronto.  The Yankees would finish 87-75, in second place in the American League East, six games behind Toronto.  They did, however, win the wild card.