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Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1993, Game One Hundred Fifty-two

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MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 2 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, September 22.

Batting stars:  Dave Winfield was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Pedro Munoz was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-second.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out five.  Carl Willis pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.  Rick Aguilera pitched a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Randy Velarde was 2-for-3.  Mike Gallego was 1-for-3 with a home run, his tenth.

The game:  The Twins did almost all of their damage in the second inning.  Hrbek led off the inning with a home run.  Winfield doubled, Brian Harper singled, and Munoz hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 4-0.

The Yankees had only two hits through the first four innings.  They got on the board in the fifth when Bernie Williams doubled and Velarde singled.  It stayed 4-1 until the eighth.  In the top of the inning Chuck Knoblauch walked, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Kirby Puckett's single.  Gallego homered leading off the bottom of the eighth to make it 5-2.  New York got one man on in the ninth but did not bring the tying run to the plate.

WP:  Tapani (10-15).  LP:  Scott Kamieniecki (9-7).  S:  Aguilera (32).

Notes:  Scott Stahoviak was at third base.  I had completely forgotten that Stahoviak came up as a third baseman.  He played 19 games there in 1993 and 22 in 1995 before moving to first base.  Terry Jorgensen and Jeff Reboulet also saw significant time at third.  Mike Pagliarulo had been the regular third baseman, but he was traded to Baltimore in mid-August.

David McCarty was in right field.  The person who actually got the most games in right field was Puckett, with 47, but he also had the most games in center with 95.  Shane Mack played center when Puckett did not and usually played left when Puckett did.  Munoz had the next highest number of games in right field with 41.  McCarty had 34, Winfield had 31, and Gene Larkin had 25.  Munoz moved to left for this game, which he often did when someone else was in right.

Harper was the lone Twin over .300, at .305.  He would finish at .304.  Chip Hale, who did not play in this game, batted .333 in 186 at-bats.

Stahoviak was batting .175 after this game.  He would finish at .193.  It was his rookie season at age 23.  I'd forgotten that he actually had a fine year in 1996--.284/.376/.469 with 13 homers and 30 doubles.  If he'd been able to stay near that level, he'd have been a good player.  Unfortunately, the next season he batted .229 and he played in only nine big-league games after that.

Tapani pitched well in this game but did not have a good year, going 12-15, 4.43.  Maybe it's because of his fine 1991 season, when he was instrumental in the World Championship, but Tapani really does not appear to have been as good as I remember him.  He wasn't awful, but his career numbers--143-125, 4.35, 1.31 WHIP--are really pretty average.  He was really good in 1991, though.

This was the second game of a stretch in which the Twins would win eight out of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 64-88, in sixth place in the American League West, 22.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 71-91, tied for fifth with California, 23 games behind Chicago.

The Yankees were 83-70, in second place, 5 games behind Toronto.  With only nine games left, the loss to the lowly Twins really hurt them.  They would finish 88-74, in second place, 7 games behind Toronto.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1979, Game Twenty-four

MINNESOTA 7, DETROIT 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, May 4.

Batting stars:  Rob Wilfong was 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Mike Cubbage was 2-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Willie Norwood was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third) and two runs.  Ron Jackson was 1-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a walk.  Glenn Adams was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching star:  Mike Marshall pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Rusty Staub was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBIs.  Ron LeFlore was 3-for-5 with three runs.  Steve Kemp was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Jerry Morales was 3-for-5 with a double.

The game:  The Twins gifted the Tigers a run in the top of the third:  LeFlore singled with one out, followed by a walk to Lou Whitaker.  With two out, walks to Jason Thompson and Staub made it 1-0 Detroit.  The Tigers gifted the run right back in the bottom of the third, as Norwood got an infield single, was bunted to second, went to third on a ground out, and scored on an error, making it 1-1 after three.

Detroit got an unearned run of their own in the fourth, as Morales singled, Alan Trammell reached on an error, LeFlore singled to load the bases, and Kemp had a two-run single, making it 3-1 Tigers.  But again the Twins came back in the bottom of the inning.  Butch Wynegar led off with a single.  With one out, Norwood singled and Wilfong walked, loading the bases.  Cubbage delivered a two-run single and Smalley had an RBI single, putting the Twins up 4-3.  Ron Jackson homered in the fifth, making it 5-3.

The Tigers came back to tie it in the sixth.  Singles by LeFlore and Kemp put men on first and third with one out.  A sacrifice fly scored a run and Staub doubled home another, making it 5-5.  Once again, the Twins countered in the bottom of the inning.  Wilfong singled and scored from first on a Cubbage double, giving the Twins a 6-5 lead.

Detroit tied it once more in the seventh when Morales doubled and scored on a pair of fly balls.  The Twins again took the lead back in the bottom of the inning, when Adams led off the inning with a home run and put the Twins up 7-6.

And that was it.  The Tigers threatened in the eighth, when Kemp doubled and Jason Thompson singled to put men on first and third with one out, but Staub hit into a double play.  Lance Parrish led off the ninth with a single, but he never advanced past first base.

WP:  Marshall (4-1).  LP:  Aurelio Lopez (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Norwood was in center.  He began the year as the regular center fielder, but lost the job in late May, with Ken Landreaux moving over from left to take over in center.  The Twins pretty much just mixed and matched their corner outfielders the rest of the season.  In left it was Bombo Rivera (61 games), Adams (45), and Dave Edwards (36).  In right it was Hosken Powell (85 games), Rivera (50), Norwood (28), Edwards (24), and Rick Sofield (22).

The DHs had a similar situation.  The most used was Jose Morales, with 77 games.  Others used were Adams (54), Danny Goodwin (51), Cubbage (22), Norwood (17), and Craig Kusick (12).

Cubbage was at third base in place of John Castino.  He was in somewhat of a platoon with Castino, but the right-handed Castino got the majority of the playing time.  Presumably Gene Mauch tried to spot Cubbage against right-handers he thought he could hit.

Rivera replaced Adams in right field in the eighth.  Castino pinch-hit for Cubbage in the eighth and stayed in at third base.

The Twins were hitting, at least for average, early in the season.  They had five players with averages of .300 or better.  They were led by Smalley, who was batting .396.  He would be over .400 as late as May 20 and was still batting .373 at the end of June.  He did a belly-flop in the second half, though, and finished at .271.  Wilfong was batting .338--he would finish at .313.  John Castino was batting .333--he would finish at .285.  Landreaux was batting .312--he would finish at .305.  Adams was batting .300--he would finish at .301.

Pete Redfern started for the Twins.  He struck out four in four innings, but allowed three runs (one earned) on five hits and four walks.  This would be one of just six starts for Redfern--he spent most of the year in the bullpen and had a fine season, going 7-3, 3.49, 1.30 WHIP.

As you probably know, it was not unusual for Marshall to pitch multiple innings.  He set a league record by appearing in ninety games and pitched 142 relief innings.  That was only his third-highest total of his career--he had pitched 179 relief innings for Montreal in 1973 and 208.1 for the Dodgers in 1974.  He had a fine season for the Twins in 1979 as well, going 10-15, 32 saves, 2.65 ERA, 1.26 WHIP.

This was the last of a six-game winning streak for the Twins.  They would lose one, then win five more, making them eleven of twelve.

Record:  The Twins were 17-7, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.  They would finish 82-80, in fourth place, six games behind California.

The Tigers were 8-11, in fifth place in the American League East, 5 games behind Boston.  They would finish 85-76, in fifth place, 18 games behind Baltimore.

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1989, Game Eighty-four

SEATTLE 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN SEATTLE

Date:  Thursday, July 6.

Batting stars:  Wally Backman was 3-for-5.  Jim Dwyer was 2-for-3.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his eighth) and two runs.  Randy Bush was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Randy St. Claire pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jerry Reed pitched four shutout innings, giving up four hits and striking out one.  I guess when you're hot, you're hot.  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-3.  Darnell Coles was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Dave Valle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jeffrey Leonard was 2-for-4.  Harold Reynolds was 2-for-5.

The game:  It looked good early.  The Twins got on the board in the second when Hrbek and Dwyer singled, a ground out advanced both runners, and Tim Laudner delivered a two-out two-run double.  The Mariners got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning when Coles doubled and scored on a Martinez single.  The Twins took what appeared to be a commanding lead in the third.  Backman and Bush singled and Hrbek hit a three-run homer, putting the Twins up 5-1.

But that was as good as it would get.  The Twins had men on first and second with one out in the fifth, but were taken out of the inning when Gary Gaetti was caught stealing third.  In the bottom of the inning, Omar Vizquel and Reynolds started the inning with singles, Henry Cotto hit an RBI double, a run scored on a ground out, Leonard drove in a run with a single, cutting the margin to 5-4.

The Twins held the lead until the eighth.  Leonard led off the inning with a single and Ken Griffey reached on an error, putting men on second and third.  Jeff Reardon came in and gave up a two-run single to Coles.  A bunt again put men on second and third, and Valle singled home a run to make the scored 7-5 Seattle.

The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Mike Jackson (3-2).  LP:  Gary Wayne (3-1).  S:  Mike Schooler (20).

Notes:  Laudner was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Both caught a significant number of games, Harper 101 and Laudner 68.

Al Newman was in left field in place of Dan Gladden, who was out with an injury.  It was one of four times that Newman played left field in 1989.

Johnny Moses was in center field in place of Kirby Puckett.

Harper pinch-hit for Dwyer in the eighth.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the eighth.  Puckett came in for defense, with Moses moving to left, Newman to shortstop, and Larkin leaving the game.

Puckett was leading the team in batting at .333.  He would finish at .339.  Dwyer was batting .331.  He would finish at .316.  Harper was batting .289, but would finish at .325.

Shane Rawley started for the Twins and pitched five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out one.  This was the last year of his career and he was, to put it simply, not very good.  He went 5-12, 5.21, 1.57 WHIP in 25 starts.

This was Reardon's seventh blown save of the season, although admittedly this was a tough save situation.  He would finish with 31 saves and eight blown saves, with the last one coming July 16.  This would be his last season with the Twins.  He became a free agent after the season and signed with Boston.

Mike Schooler had 63 saves for the Mariners from 1989-1990.  He was injured in August of 1990, however, and while he did all right in limited action in 1991 he never really got back to being the pitcher he had been.  By 1993 he was done.

We again caught the Twins in the middle of a losing streak.  This was the third of eight consecutive defeats for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 41-43, in fifth place in the American League West, 9.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 80-82, in fifth place, 19 games behind Oakland.

The Mariners were 40-43, in sixth place in the American League West, 10 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 73-89, in sixth place, 26 games behind Oakland.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1985, Game Forty

MILWAUKEE 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Friday, May 24.

Batting stars:  Gary Gaetti was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth) and a walk.  Tom Brunansky was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twelfth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Curt Wardle struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Ray Burris pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and three walks and striking out five.  Rick Manning was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Cecil Cooper was 2-for-4.  Ernie Riles was 2-for-4.  Paul Molitor was 1-for-4 with a home run (his second) and a stolen base (his seventh).

The game:  Gaetti opened the scoring with a home run in the second.  In the fourth, however, Robin Yount singled, stole second, and scored on a Ted Simmons single to tie it.  Singles by Ben Oglivie and Manning brought Simmons home to give the Brewers a 2-1 lead.  In the fifth, Charlie Moore walked, Cooper singled, Yount had an RBI single, and Simmons hit a sacrifice fly, making it 4-1 Milwaukee.

The Twins' best chance to come back came in the seventh.   Brunansky and Randy Bush drew one-out walks and Gaetti walked with two out.  But pinch-hitter Mike Stenhouse flied to center and the inning was over.  Molitor hit a home run leading off the seventh and Brunansky homered leading off the ninth to complete the scoring.

WP:  Burris (2-4).  LP:  Mike Smithson (4-4).  S:  Rollie Fingers (5).

Notes:  Roy Smalley was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Gagne had some injury problems in May--he was on the disabled list for a couple of weeks, and while he was back on the active roster at this point he was not yet at full speed.  Smalley was a mostly-regular, but he had more time at DH than at shortstop.  Randy Bush was the DH in this game.

As noted above, Stenhouse pinch-hit for Tim Teufel in the seventh inning, with Ron Washington then going to second base.  Stenhouse was with the Twins for all of 1985 but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter and part-time DH.  He had just 209 plate appearances, batting .223 with an OPS of .665.

Brunansky was batting .345.  He would finish at .242.  Mark Salas was batting .327.  He would finish at .300.  Mickey Hatcher was batting .303.  He would finish at .282.  Kirby Puckett was batting .300.  He would finish at .288.

Smithson started and pitched six innings, allowing five runs on ten hits and three walks and striking out one.  He had pitched well in 1984 but slipped in 1985.  He wasn't terrible--15-14, 4.34--but it was the start of a downhill slide that never really stopped for him.  He pitched over 250 innings in 1984 and 1985, which may have contributed to his slide.  He led the league in starts in both of those seasons.

This was one of the few good games of Wardle's career.  As a Twin, he was 1-3, 5.43 in 53 innings.  For his career, he was 8-9, 6.13 in 119 innings.

This was the third of a ten-game losing streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 21-19, in third place in the American League West, two games behind California.  They would finish 77-85, tied for fourth, 14 games behind Kansas City.

The Brewers were 16-21, in sixth place in the American League East, 8.5 games behind Toronto.  They would finish 71-90, in sixth place, 28 games behind Toronto.

It's remarkable how many times a team stays in more-or-less the same place they were early in the season.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2007, Game One Hundred Forty-eight

DETROIT 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, September 15.

Batting star:  Nick Punto was 2-for-3 with a stolen base (his sixteenth) and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Johan Santana pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks and striking out seven.  Matt Guerrier struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ivan Rodriguez was 1-for-4 with a double and three RBIs.  Joel Zumaya pitched 1.2 perfect innings.

The game:  The Tigers scored all of their runs in the first inning.  Ryan Raburn and Placido Polanco led off with singles.  With one out Magglio Ordonez walked to load the bases.  Carlos Guillen singled home a run and Rodriguez hit a three-run double.  It was 4-0 Detroit before the Twins came to bat.

The Twins spent the rest of the game trying to come back and could not get there.  In the third Punto singled, went to third on a Jason Bartlett single, and scored on a wild pitch.  In the fifth Luis Rodriguez led off with a double, went to third on a fly ball, and scored on a ground out, cutting the lead to 4-2.

The Twins had their best chance to tie it in the seventh.  Punto singled and Bartlett walked.  With one out Jason Kubel reached on an error, making the score 4-3 and leaving men on first and second.  But Joe Mauer hit into a double play, ending the inning.  The Twins had only one baserunner, a two-out walk to Brian Buscher in the ninth, after that.

WP:  Zumaya (2-3).  LP:  Santana (15-12).  S:  Todd Jones (36).

Notes:  Rodriguez was at second base.  Luis Castillo had been the regular second baseman, but he was traded at the July deadline.  Alexi Casilla became the regular second baseman after that.

Garrett Jones was the DH, one of the 31 games he played as a Twin.  He would go on to have a few fairly good years for Pittsburgh.  The Twins did not have a regular DH in 2007.  Players used there included Kubel (36 games), Jason Tyner (26), Jeff Cirillo (24), Mauer (19), Rondell White (19), Mike Redmond (18), Justin Morneau (14), and Jones (13).

Matthew LeCroy pinch-hit for Jones in the sixth.  Tyner pinch-hit for LeCroy in the ninth.  Buscher pinch-hit for Punto in the ninth.  Casilla pinch-ran for Buscher in the ninth.

LeCroy was at the end of his career.  He had spent the season in Rochester and hadn't done very well, but was given a September call up anyway, probably for sentimental reasons.  He was 1-for-3 at this point, and so was the only Twin over .300 at .333, but ended up 3-for-20.  They had four players in the .290s.  Buscher was at .294--he would finish at .244.  Tyner was at .292--he would finish at ,286.  Mauer was at .291--he would finish at .293.  Torii Hunter was at .290--he would finish at .287.

Santana's ERA was 3.14.  He would finish at 3.33.  Guerrier's ERA was 2.29.  He would finish at 2.35.

Detroit's starter was Yorman Bazardo.  He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks and striking out two.

This was the third of a four-game losing streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 72-76, in third place in the American League Central, 15 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 79-83, in third place, 17 games behind Cleveland.

The Tigers were 82-67, in second place in the American League Central, 5.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 88-74, in second place, 8 games behind Cleveland.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1962, Game One Hundred Twenty-seven

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MINNESOTA 6, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 20.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 3-for-4.  Vic Power was 2-for-3 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his thirty-third) and two runs.

Pitching star:  Frank Sullivan pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Carl Yastrzemski was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Pete Runnels was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Lou Clinton was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.

The game:  The Twins took a 3-0 lead in the first inning.  Power walked and Rollins reached on an error.  With two out, Bob Allison hit a run-scoring double and Earl Battey delivered a two-run single.

The Twins put men on first and third with none out in the third but failed to add to their lead.  It cost them, because the Red Sox came back.  In the fourth Eddie Bressoud doubled and Yastrzemski singled to make it 3-1.  In the fifth, two singles and a double play grounder made it 3-2.  In the sixth, Yastrzemski led off with a walk and Clinton followed with a two-run homer, putting Boston in front for the first time at 4-3.

Not to worry.  In the bottom of the sixth Rollins singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins back in front 5-4.  With two out in the seventh Power doubled and Rollins singled him home to make it 6-4.

And there it stayed.  The Red Sox threatened in the eighth, putting men on first and second with one out, but Sullivan came in to retire the side on a couple of fly balls.  They got a two-out single in the ninth from Gary Geiger, bringing the tying run to the plate, but Bressoud popped up to end the game.

WP:  Dick Stigman (8-3).  LP:  Don Schwall (6-14).  S:  Sullivan (5).

Notes:  The Twins used their standard lineup for 1962.  The only substitution, other than a pitching change, came in the eighth, when Johnny Goryl pinch-ran for Killebrew.  Bill Tuttle replaced Goryl and went to center field, with Lenny Green moving to left.

The only Twins .300 hitter in this game was Rollins, who was batting .313.  He would finish at .298.  The Twins did not end up with a .300 in 1962 unless you count Tony Oliva, who went 4-for-9 in a September call-up, or reliever Ted Sadowski, who was 2-for-4.

The Twins starter was Dick Stigman.  He pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on eight hits and five walks and striking out five.  The Twins had three fine starters in Jim Kaat, Camilo Pascual, and Jack Kralick, but struggled to find a fourth.  Others to make more than five starts were Stigman (15), Joe Bonikowski (13), Don Lee (9), and Lee Stange (6).  Stigman took over the fourth starter role in mid-July and did well, going 9-3, 3.82 in fifteen starts.  If he had been the fourth starter all season, the Twins might have won the pennant.

This was the third game of a four-game winning streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 71-56, in third place in the American League, five games behind New York.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, five games behind New York.

The Red Sox were 58-67, in eighth place in the American League, 17 games behind New York.  They would finish 76-84, in eighth place, 19 games behind New York.

 

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 2004, Game Eight

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MINNESOTA 10, CLEVELAND 6 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, April 14.

Batting stars:  Henry Blanco was 4-for-4 with a home run (his third), two doubles, three runs, and three RBIs.  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4 with a double.  Nick Punto was 2-for-5.  Corey Koskie was 1-for-5 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Aaron Fultz pitched two perfect innings.  J. C. Romero pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Casey Blake was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Matt Lawton was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Omar Vizquel was 2-for-5.  Victor Martinez was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

The game:  The Indians got on the board first, scoring once in the second inning on singles by Blake, Travis Hafner, and Ben Broussard.  The Twins came right back to take the lead in the third.  Michael Ryan led off with a single and Blanco followed with a two-run homer.  Cristian Guzman then tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 3-1 lead.

They added to the lead in the fifth.  Blanco led off with a single.  He was caught stealing (!), but an error allowed him to get to second anyway.  Guzman then doubled him home and later scored on a fly out-plus-error, making the score 5-1.

Cleveland chipped away at the lead.  In the bottom of the fifth Coco Crisp doubled and scored on Lawton's single.  In the sixth Blake singled, Hafner walked, and a couple of productive outs brought home a run, cutting the margin to 5-3.

The Twins got one of the runs back in the seventh on doubles by Blanco and Shannon Stewart.  They put the game out of reach in the eighth.  Mientkiewicz doubled and Jose Offerman walked.  RBI singles by Jacque Jones and Lew Ford followed, and a run-scoring double by Blanco gave the Twins a 9-3 advantage.  Koskie homered in the ninth to make it 10-3.

It wasn't quite over, though.  Martinez led off the ninth with a home run and Broussard walked.  The next two batters went out, but RBI singles by Lawton and Omar Vizquel narrowed the Twins lead to 10-6 before Blake struck out to end the game.

WP:  Carlos Silva (1-0).  LP:  Jeff D'Amico (1-1).  S:  Juan Rincon (1).

Notes:  Punto was at second base in place of Luis Rivas.  Stewart was in left, but injuries would limit him to just 71 games there--Ford actually played more in left, with 81 games.  Ryan was in center field in place of Torii Hunter, who missed a few weeks in April.  This was the year Joe Mauer missed most of the season, so Blanco was the regular catcher.

Offerman had the most games at DH, but the Twins really didn't have a regular DH.  Offerman was there 39 times, Matthew LeCroy 30, Ford 26, Stewart 21, Justin Morneau 11, Hunter 10, Ryan 10, and 11 others had a single-digit number of games there.

Ford came in to play center field in the seventh inning, replacing Ryan.

This early in the season there are some extreme batting averages.  Punto was batting .412--he would finish at .253.  Mientkiewica was batting .317--he would finish at .246.  Blanco was batting .364--he would finish at .206.  Offerman was batting .333--he would finish at .256.  Stewart was also batting .333--he would finish at .304.

On the other end, Koskie was batting .167--he would finish at .251.  Ryan was batting .167--he would finish at .239.

This was Silva's second start of the season, and it was his first year as a starter.  He pitched five innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out one.

This was Joe Nathan's first year as the Twins' closer.  He had pitched three scoreless innings coming into this game, but here he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks in two-third of an inning and was bailed out by Rincon.  Nathan would not give up another run until June 6.

Cleveland had three runs advance due to defensive indifference in the ninth inning.  I don't know if they keep records like that, but I would think that has to be fairly close to the record.

Record:  The Twins were 4-4, tied for third place in the American League Central, 2 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 92-70, in first place, 9 games ahead of Chicago.

The Indians were 3-6, in fifth (last)place in the American League Central, 3.5 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 80-82, in third place, 12 games behind Minnesota.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1995, Game Seventy

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MINNESOTA 11, NEW YORK 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, July 14.

Batting stars:  Pedro Munoz was 3-for-4 with a double and four RBIs.  Marty Cordova was 3-for-5 with two doubles and three RBIs.  Jeff Reboulet was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and four runs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a triple, a stolen base (his twenty-first), a walk, and two runs.  Dan Masteller was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his third.

Pitching stars:  Mark Guthrie pitched three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out two.  Dave Stevens pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jim Leyritz was 2-for-5 with a home run, his fifth.  Luis Polonia was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Don Mattingly was 2-for-4.

The game:  In the first inning Reboulet reached on an error, went to second on Puckett's single, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  It lasted until the bottom of the first.  Polonia singled and scored on a double by Dion James.  James went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Yankees a 2-1 lead.  The Twins tied it in the top of the second on singles by Scott Leius and Matt Walbeck and another sacrifice fly, but New York again took the lead in the bottom of the second when Leyritz led off the inning with a home run.

The Twins wasted a leadoff triple by Knoblauch in the third.  In the fourth, however, Cordova led off with a double, went to third on a ground out, and scored on Masteller's single to tie it 3-3.  The Twins took the lead in the fifth when Knoblauch singled, Reboulet was hit by a pitch, and Munoz delivered a two-run double.  The Yankees cut the lead to 5-4 in the bottom of the fifth when Wade Boggs doubled and scored on a Paul O'Neill single.

The Twins took control of the game in the sixth.  Walbeck led off with a single, but was still on first with two out.  Knoblauch walked.  Reboulet had an RBI single, Puckett hit a run-scoring double, Munoz drove in a run with a single, and Cordova hit a two-run double.  It was 10-4 Twins.

The Twins got their last run in the eighth on singles by Reboulet, Munoz, and Cordova.  The Yankees did not threaten to get back into the game.

WP:  Brad Radke (6-7).  LP:  Sterling Hitchcock (3-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Masteller was at first base.  Twins first basemen in 1995 included Scott Stahoviak (69 games), Masteller (48), Ron Coomer (22), David McCarty (18), Reboulet (17), and Jerald Clark (11), along with four others who played less than ten games there.  It was Coomer's rookie season, and he did not come up until August 1.  it's saying something that he would be the best player out of that group.

Reboulet was at shortstop in place of Pat Meares.  Reboulet played all over the infield in 1995--39 games at shortstop, 22 at third base, 17 at first base, and 15 at second base.  This was his best season in the majors:  .292/.373/.398 in 246 plate appearances.

Knoblauch was leading the team in batting at .319.  He would finish at .333.  Munoz was batting .303.  He would finish at .301.

Radke pitched five innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and one walk and striking out none.  It was his rookie season, and at age 22 he was not ready, going 11-14, 5.32 in 28 starts.  That was actually above average for Twins starters in 1995, though--others who had a significant number of starts were Kevin Tapani (6-11, 4.92), Mike Trombley (4-8, 5.62), Frankie Rodriguez (5-6, 5.38), Scott Erickson (4-6, 5.95), and Jose Parra (1-5, 7.95).  The Twins had thirteen pitchers start games in 1995--other than Tapani, the only one to have an ERA below five was Rich Robertson, who only made four starts.

Hitchcock pitched just four innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits, with no walks and no strikeouts.  Other Yankee pitchers were Scott Bankhead, Dave Pavlas, and Bob MacDonald.  Ah, the good old days.

The 1995 season did not start until late April due to a strike or a lockout, I forget which.  Thus, the Twins were only on their seventieth game on July 14.

Record:  The Twins were 23-47, in fifth (last) place in the American League Central, 25.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 56-88, in fifth place, 44 games behind Cleveland.

The Yankees were 32-37, in fourth place in the American League East, 7.5 games behind Boston.  They would finish 79-65, in second place, seven games behind Boston, but winning the wild card.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1994, Game Thirty

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MINNESOTA 9, TEXAS 7 IN TEXAS

Date:  Saturday, May 7.

Batting stars:  David McCarty was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Scott Leius was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, a stolen base, and three runs.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star:  Pat Mahomes pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Bill Ripken was 4-for-5 with two doubles.  Will Clark was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourth), a walk, and two runs.  Doug Strange was 2-for-4.  Manny Lee was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Juan Gonzalez was 2-for-5.

The game:  Doubles by Knoblauch and Mack put the Twins ahead 1-0 in the first inning.  In the second Leius doubled, went to third on a McCarty single, and scored on a sacrifice fly to make it 2-0.

The Rangers got on the board in the second when Clark walked, Gonzalez singled, a bunt moved them to second and third, and a ground out scored Clark.  Clark homered leading off the fourth to tie it, but Mack homered leading off the fifth to make it 3-2 Twins.  It went to 4-2 in the sixth when Leius walked, went to second on an error, and scored on McCarty's double.

The Twins appeared to take control in the seventh.  Alex Cole singled and Mack walked.  RBI singles by Pedro Munoz, Leius, and Matt Walbeck put the Twins up 7-2.  Texas scored in the bottom of the seventh on doubles by Ripken and Lee, but the Twins got the run back in the eighth when Knoblauch doubled, went to third on a bunt, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  The Rangers scored in the bottom of the eighth on singles by Gonzalez, Ripken, and Lee, but the Twins again got the run back in the ninth when Leius walked, stole second, and scored on an error.

The Twins had a comfortable 9-4 lead going to the bottom of the ninth.  Rick Aguilera came in, presumably just to get an inning of work.  it was work, all right.  Chris James opened the inning with a single-plus error and scored on a Jose Canseco single.  The next two batters were retired, but singles by Doug Strange, Junior Ortiz, and Ripken made the score 7-5 and brought the deciding run to the plate in Lee.  He grounded out to Aguilera, and the victory was finally preserved.

WP:  Mahomes (2-1).  LP:  Kenny Rogers (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  McCarty was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek, who was out due to injury.  Munoz was in right, with Kirby Puckett at DH and Dave Winfield out of the lineup.

Mack had missed the first month of the season, so this was only his fourth game.  He started with a bang, as he was batting .538 after this game.  He would finish at .333.  Cole was batting .340.  He would finish at .296.  Puckett was batting .331.  He would finish at .317.

Twins pitchers were not off to a particularly good start, or at least the ones used in this game were not.  After the game, Mahomes had an ERA of 6.12.  He would finish at 4.73.  Mark Guthrie was at 10.00.  He would finish at 6.14.  Carl Willis was at 7.40.  He would finish at 5.92.  Aguilera was at 6.94.  He would finish at 3.63.

Texas starter (and future Twin) Kenny Rogers pitched 6.1 innings, allowing six runs (five earned) on eight hits and four walks and striking out seven.

The Rangers had some thump in the middle of their lineup:  Canseco, Clark, and Gonzalez.  They also had Ivan Rodriguez, who wasn't exactly a banjo hitter.  Despite that, they were sixth in the league in home runs.  Clark hit just 13 homers that year, and Canseco just 19.  Canseco was the only one to hit more than twenty homers that season--he had thirty-one.

It should also be pointed out that this was a strike season.  The season ended on August 10, and there was no post-season.

This was the first game of a stretch in which the Twins won four in a row and eleven of twelve.

Record:  The Twins were 12-18, in fifth (last) place in the American League Central, five games behind Chicago.  They would finish 53-60, in fourth place, fourteen games behind Chicago.

The Rangers were 12-15, in first place (!) in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of Seattle.  They would finish 52-62, in first place (!) in the American League West, one game ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1990, Game One Hundred Fifty-two

TEXAS 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 21.

Batting star:  Pedro Munoz was 1-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out two.  Juan Berenguer pitched four innings, giving up one run on four hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Witt pitched a complete game, giving up one run on two hits and four walks and striking out eight.  Jack Daugherty was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Rafael Palmeiro was 2-for-4.  Ruben Sierra was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Twins took a 1-0 lead in the second.  Brian Harper and Paul Sorrento drew two-out walks and Munoz had an RBI single.  The Twins left the bases loaded, however, and it would cost them, as they never got a man into scoring position again.

In the fourth, singles by Julio Franco, Palmeiro, and Daugherty tied the score 1-1.  In the sixth, singles by Palmeiro, Sierra, and Daugherty put the Rangers ahead 2-1.

The Twins only had two hits in the game, Munoz' RBI single and a sixth-inning single by Kent Hrbek.

WP:  Witt (17-9).  LP:  Berenguer (8-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Newman's primary position in 1990 was second base, but Nelson Liriano played second in this game.  Second base was pretty much a blank space in 1990, with Newman, Liriano, and Fred Manrique trying their best but failing to fill the position.  In 1991, of course, Chuck Knoblauch would solve this problem.

Munoz was in right field.  Shane Mack, who played all over the outfield in 1990, was in center, and Kirby Puckett, who of course was normally in center, played left.  The Twins really didn't have a regular right fielder in 1990.  Johnny Moses played the most games there, with fifty-two.  Mack had fifty-one, Gene Larkin forty-seven, Randy Bush thirty-one, Carmelo Castillo twenty, and Munoz nineteen.  Puckett played nine games there, and Jim Dwyer was out there for one.

Sorrento was the DH in this game.  That's another position at which the Twins did not have a regular.  Larkin was there for forty-three games, Castillo thirty-five, Bush twenty-seven, Sorrenty twenty-three, Dwyer twenty-two, Hrbek twenty, Harper eleven, and Moses ten, with eight other players serving in the role for single digits.

Bush pinch-hit for Mack in the eighth.  He remained in the game in right field, with Munoz moving to left and Puckett coming out of the game.

Mack was leading the team in batting at .318.  He would finish at .326.  No one else was over .300, although Puckett and Harper were in the .290s.

On the other end of the scale, Sorrento was batting .190.  He would finish at .207 in 135 plate appearances.

I don't know why Tapani only pitched five innings and threw just seventy-six pitches.  He was coming off three poor outings in a row, so possibly Tom Kelly decided to take the five good innings and not push any farther.  I also don't know why Berenguer pitched four innings.  The bullpen was not overtaxed, and there'd have been September call-ups anyway.  It was not as uncommon for relievers to go multiple innings back then, so maybe Kelly just saw no reason to take him out as long as he was pitching well.  The fact that this was a meaningless game in a lost season may have had to do with both decisions, also.

This was Bobby Witt's best season:  17-10, 3.36.  For his career he was not all that good--142-157, 4.83, 1.57 WHIP--but he was good in 1990.  I remembered him as a Twins killer, and I was right.  For his career he was 17-7, 3.63 against our boys.

Record:  The Twins were 68-84, in seventh (last) place in the American League West, twenty-nine games behind Oakland.  The would finish 74-88, in seventh place, twenty-nine games behind Oakland.

The Rangers were 80-70, in third place in the American League West, sixteen games behind Oakland.  They would finish 83-79, in third place, twenty games behind Oakland.