MINNESOTA TWINS 5, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, May 23, 1964.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Lee Stange pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Boog Powell was 2-for-3 with a home run (his eighth), a double, and a walk.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4.  

The game:  Baltimore opened the first with singles by Jackie Brandt and Aparicio, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning.  It cost them, because the Twins scored three in the second.  Killebrew drew a one-out walk, went to third on Hall’s single, and scored on an Earl Battey sacrifice fly.  Walks to Bernie Allen and Stange loaded the bases, and Zoilo Versalles delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0 Twins.

There were various threats in the next few innings.  In the third Killebrew hit a two-out double but was thrown out trying to score on a Hall single.  Allen hit a one-out double in the fourth but was stranded at second.  In the bottom of the fourth Bob Johnson singled, and one-out walks to Brooks Robinson and Powell loaded the bases, but a double play again took the Orioles out of the inning.

Then things calmed down until the eighth.  Vic Power led off the inning with a single-plus-error.  With one out, Bob Allison came through with an RBI single.  Killebrew singled, a ground out moved runners to second and third, and Battey was intentionally walked to fill the bases.  Allen then reached on an error to make the score 5-0.  Baltimore managed to spoil the shutout with two out in the ninth, when Powell homered, but the Twins took a 5-1 victory.

WP:  Stange (1-2).

LP:  Dave McNally (3-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Power was at first base.  Allison was actually the main first baseman, but he was in right field in this game in place of Tony Oliva.  This was the only game in 1964 in which Oliva did not play.  Killebrew was primarily a left fielder.

Nobody who played in this game for the Twins was batting .300, and none of them would finish over. 300.  Oliva did bat over .300, at .323.

Vic Power would play only six more games for the Twins before being traded to the Los Angeles Angels in mid-June.  He would play only one more season after this year.

Similarly, Lee Stange would play only six more games for the Twins before being traded to Cleveland in mid-June.  That was the trade that brought Mudcat Grant to the Twins.

Dave McNally was in his second full season and was not yet the star pitcher he would become, although he was not bad at all.  He went 9-11 in 1964 with a 3.67 ERA and a 1.31 WHIP.  He would go on to win twenty games each year from 1968-1971, making three all-star teams, finishing in the top four in Cy Young voting three times, and finishing as high as fifth in MVP voting.

Harvey Haddix pitched the ninth for Baltimore.  He had been a fine starting pitcher for many years, but in the last three years of his career he was an excellent reliever.  In 1964 he went 5-5 with nine saves, posting an ERA of 2.31 and a WHIP of 1.02.  He struck out 90 in 89.2 innings (49 games).

Record:  Baltimore was 21-13 in second place in the AL, a half game behind the White Sox.  They would finish 97-65, in third place, two games behind the Yankees.

Minnesota was 19-15, in fifth place in the AL, 2.5 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 79-83, tied for sixth, 20 games behind the Yankees.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 15-12 (.556).

PITTSBURGH PIRATES 6, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN PITTSBURGH

Date:  Friday, June 5, 1998

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching star:  Mike Morgan pitched six innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Jermaine Allensworth was 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Kevin Young was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kevin Polcovich was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Jose Guillen was 2-for-4 with a double.  Jason Kendall was 2-for-4.  Jose Silva pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and striking out seven.  He threw 110 pitches.

The game:  Pittsburgh got three singles in the first inning, but a double play and a pickoff kept them off the scoreboard.  The Twins actually scored first, in the third inning.  Morgan, batting because the game was being played in a National League park, hit a one-out single.  With two out, Brent Gates and Paul Molitor singled, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.

It stayed 1-0 until the fifth.  Allensworth and Guillen led off with singles, putting men on first and third, and a force out tied the score.  The Pirates went ahead in the sixth.  With two out, Al Martin and Kendall singled and Young walked, loading the bases.  Allensworth followed with a two-run single, making the scored 3-1 Pittsburgh.

The Pirates put the game out of reach in the eighth with another two-out rally.  Young singled and Allensworth walked.  Guillen hit a run-scoring double, Aramis Ramirez walked, and Polcovich hit a two-run single.  Pittsburgh led 6-1, and that’s how it would end.  The Twins got only one hit after the third inning, a single by Javier Valentin in the seventh.

WP:  Silva (6-3).

LP:  Morgan (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Valentin was behind the plate in place of Terry Steinbach.  As there was no DH, Molitor played first base, moving David Ortiz to the bench.  Gates was at third in place of Ron Coomer.

Morgan was batting .500.  He would finish at .625.  Todd Walker was batting .347.  He would finish at .316.  Eddie Guardado had an ERA of 2.78.  He would finish at 4.52.

Mike Morgan, 1998 notwithstanding, was not a particularly good batter.  For his career, he hit .109/.132./.119 in 497 at-bats.  This was his only season with the Twins, and it was only a partial season, as he was traded to the Cubs on August 25 for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Scott Downs.

I really thought Jose Guillen was going to be a star.  It never happened, although he had a solid major league career.  He batted .267 with 14 home runs as a 21-year-old rookie in 1997, finishing seventh in Rookie of the Year voting.  He had an incredibly similar year in 1998:  in 1997 he batted .267/.300/.412; in 1998 he batted .267/.298/.414, again with 14 home runs.  He bounced around after that, going to Tampa Bay in 1999, then to Arizona and Cincinnati in 2002.  He had his best year for Cincinnati in 2003, batting .337 with 23 home runs before being traded to Oakland at the July deadline.  He had solid years for Anaheim and Washington in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and another good year for Seattle in 2007.  For his career, he batted .270/.321/.440 with 214 home runs in fourteen major league seasons.

Record:  Pittsburgh was 30-30, in fourth place in the NL Central, 5.5 games behind the Cubs and Houston.  They finished 69-93, in sixth (last) place, 33 games behind Houston.

The Twins were 26-32, in second place in the AL Central, 8.5 games behind Cleveland.  They would finish 70-92, in fourth place, 19 games ahead of Cleveland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-12 (.538)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 9 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, April 8, 1994.

Batting star:  Kirby Puckett was 5-for-6 with a double and four RBIs.  Rich Becker was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Alex Cole was 3-for-5 with a walk and two runs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a walk.

Pitching star:  Carl Willis struck out two in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Brent Gates was 2-for-2 with a home run (his first), a walk, two runs, and three RBIs.  Mark McGwire was 2-for-4 with a home run (his first) and two RBIs.  Troy Neel was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Ruben Sierra hit a home run, his first.  Terry Steinbach hit a home run, his second.  Bob Welch pitched six innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out three.

The game:  Oakland dominated early on.  Sierra hit a two-out homer in the first to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Rickey Henderson led off with a walk and Stan Javier singled.  A ground out moved them to second and third with two out and Gates delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0.  

The Twins got on the board in the third when Pat Meares singled, Cole walked, and Puckett hit an RBI single.  But Oakland got the run back with interest in the fifth.  Henderson singled and McGwire and Gates hit back-to-back home runs, giving the Athletics a 6-1 advantage.  It went to 7-1 in the sixth when Steinbach homered.

The Twins came back, though.  In the seventh, singles by Becker and Cole put men on the corners with one out.  Knoblauch hit a sacrifice fly, Puckett singled, and Kent Hrbek walked to load the bases.  Dave Winfield then doubled to bring the Twins within three at 7-4.

Oakland got an insurance run in the eighth when Gates walked and scored on Neel’s RBI double.  But in the bottom of the eighth, Chip Hale walked, Becker singled, and Cole singled to load the bases with one out.  Knoblauch drove in two with a double, Puckett drove in two more with a single, and the game was tied 8-8.  Neither team scored in the ninth, so the game went to extra innings.

In the tenth, Geronimo Berroa led off with a double and went to third on a bunt. Neel singled to score him, went to second on a ground out, and scored himself on a Scott Brosius single, putting the Athletics up 10-8.  In the bottom of the tenth, Knoblauch led off with a single and scored on a Puckett double.  The tying run was on second with none out.  He went to third on a ground out, but the next two batters were retired and the victory went to Oakland.

WP:  John Briscoe (1-0).

LP:  Larry Casian (0-1).

S:  Billy Taylor (1).

Notes:  Hale was at third in place of Scott Leius.  Becker began the season as the regular center fielder, but was soon replaced by Shane Mack.  Mack usually played left, with Cole, who was in left in this game, moving to center.  Pedro Munoz also saw significant time in left.

This early in the season, of course, the batting averages are skewed.  Jeff Reboulet was batting .500.  He would finish at .259.  Becker was batting .417.  He would finish at .265.  Knoblauch was batting .412.  He would finish at .312.  Puckett was batting .400.  He would finish at .317.  Hrbek was also batting .400.  He would finish at .270.  Cole was batting .333.  He would finish at .296.  Dave Winfield was batting .313.  He would finish at .252.

As you probably realized, there were three Oakland players who would eventually finish their careers with the Twins.  Gates played for the Twins in 1998-1999.  Sierra came in 2006.  Steinbach played for them from 1997-1999.

This was the only year as a rotation starter for Pat Mahomes.  He had an eleven year career, which is pretty good for someone who was only able to put up an ERA below five in four of those years.  

This was the only save Billy Taylor would get in 1994.  It was the first save of his career and only his third major league appearance.  He would go on to have some fine years as the Oakland closer, but in 1994 they still had Dennis Eckersley.  Eckersley was used as the closer in this game, but blew the save in the eighth.

Troy Neel was a first baseman/DH.  He played for them from 1992-1994, and finished seventh in Rookie of the Year voting in 1993.  He was actually a very good batter:  in 758 at-bats, he batted .280/.263/.475 with 37 home runs.  Unfortunately for him, the Athletics had Mark McGwire at first base and Geronimo Berroa to DH, so they really didn’t have a spot for him.  You’d think someone else would’ve wanted him, but instead he went to Japan, where he had a long career for the Orix Blue Wave.  

John Briscoe split six seasons between Oakland and AAA from 1991-1996.  A reliever, he was 5-5, 5.67, 1.81 WHIP in 100 games (139.2 innings).  He was not that good in AAA, either:  11-14, 4.87, 1.73 WHIP.  He’s one of the many pitchers who might have been good if he could have found the strike zone.  He averaged 5.8 walks per nine innings in AAA and 8.3 walks per nine innings in the majors.  His “stuff” was obviously good enough for him to keep getting chances, but he simply could not throw enough strikes.  He did go on to pitch for five seasons for Somerset in the Atlantic League.

Record:  Oakland was 1-2, tied for second with Texas in the AL West, a half game behind California.  They would finish 51-63, in second place, one game behind Texas.

Minnesota was 1-3, tied for third with the White Sox in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind Cleveland and Milwaukee.  They would finish 53-60, in fourth place, 14 games behind the White Sox.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-11 (.560)..

MINNESOTA TWINS 7, NEW YORK YANKEES 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 4, 1967.

Batting stars:  Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.  

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on seven hits and four walks and striking out three.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jake Gibbs was 4-for-4 with three RBIs.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Thad Tillotson pitched three innings, giving up one run on two hits and striking out one.

The game: The Twins got on the board in the first inning, as Cesar Tovar walked and scored on a Harmon Killebrew double.  The Yankees responded with four in the second.  Tresh doubled and went to third on Joe Pepitone’s single.  A one-out walk to John Kennedy loaded the bases.  Pitcher Mel Stottlemyre then brought home to runs on a single-plus-error.  Dick Howser walked to re-load the bases, and two more runs scored on Gibbs’ sacrifice fly-plus-error.  It was 4-1 Yankees.

The Twins got two back in the second, as a pitcher once again brought home a couple of runs.  Russ Nixon walked, Uhlaender reached on a two-base error, and Perry singled them both home, cutting the lead to 4-3.  The Twins put men on first and second in both the third and the fourth, but did not score again until the fifth.  Killebrew walked and scored on an Oliva triple.  Bob Allison then delivered a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 5-4 lead.  Uhlaender homered in the eighth to make it 6-4.

It was looking good for the Twins, but the Yankees wouldn’t go away.  In the ninth, Charley Smith singled, Howser doubled, and Gibbs hit a two-run single to tie it 6-6.  With two out, Gibbs stole second and went to third on a throwing error.  Walks to Tresh and Pepitone loaded the bases, but a force out ended the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, however, Tovar led off with a single and Rod Carew bunted him to second.  Pinch-hitter Frank Kostro walked, and Oliva ended things with an RBI single.  Justice prevailed, the good guys won, and on this most American of holidays the evil empire was defeated.  Of course, in 1967, that was a little easier to do.

WP:  Al Worthington (3-4).

LP:  Steve Hamilton (2-2).

S:  None.

Notes:  Nixon was behind the plate in place of Jerry Zimmerman, who was the regular catcher due to an injury to Earl Battey.  Tovar was at third base in place of Rich Rollins.  

Carew was batting .313.  He would finish at .292.  Perry was batting .308.  He would finish at .190, still not bad for a pitcher.

Jerry Zimmerman was the epitome of the defense-first, light-hitting backup catcher.  In an eight-season career, the last seven with the Twins, he batted .204/.269/.239.  This was the only season in which he played a hundred games, again due to an injury to Earl Battey.  He was not up to it, batting .167/.243/.192.  His OPS of .436 was worse than three pitchers on the roster in 1967:  Perry, Jim Kaat, and Dave Boswell.  The Twins, of course, would miss out on the American League pennant by one game.  I have to think that even an average-hitting catcher would have made up that one game difference.

Tony Oliva hit 48 triples in his career.  He has already hit three for the Random Twins.

This was Thad Tillotson’s only full season in the majors.  Pitching mostly in relief, he went 3-9, 4.03, 1.40 WHIP, numbers which are worse than they may sound given the low-offense context of 1967.  He appeared in seven more games in 1968, then his major league career was over.  I couldn’t find out what happened to him after baseball, but I did find this tidbit from thisdayinbaseball.com:  “On June 21, 1967 In retaliation for Joe Foy getting struck in the helmet in the top of the frame, Red Sox starter Jim Lonborg promptly plunks opposing pitcher Thad Tillotson in the back, igniting a bench-clearing brawl in the second inning of the Yankees’ 8-1 loss to Boston at Yankee Stadium. The five-minute melee results in no ejections but doesn’t quite settle the matter when Reggie Smith is brushed back in the third, and Dick Howser leaves the game in the fifth after being hit the head with a pitch.”

Record:  The Yankees were 34-42, in eighth place in the AL, 11 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 72-90, in ninth place, 20 games behind Boston.

The Twins were 42-34, in second place in the AL, 3 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 91-71, tied for second with Detroit, one game behind Boston.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 14-10 (.583).

CLEVELAND INDIANS 10, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, July 19, 2010.

Batting stars: Delmon Young was 3-for-5 with a double.  Orlando Hudson was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jason Kubel was 2-for-5 with a double.  Jim Thome hit a home run, his eleventh.

Pitching star:  Jeff Manship pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Trevor Crowe was 4-for-5 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Jayson Nix was 3-for-6 with a double.  Carlos Santana was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Shelly Duncan was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs.  Jason Donald was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBIs.  Michael Brantley was 2-for-5 with a walk.  Travis Hafner was 2-for-5.  Matt LaPorta was 2-for-5.  Aaron Laffey pitched five innings, giving up an unearned run on five hits and four walks and striking out two.

The game:  Hafner led off the second with a single and Jhonny Peralta walked.  With one out, Crowe doubled and Donald hit an RBI ground out, making it 2-0 Cleveland.  There were several threats, but no more runs until the fourth, when the Twins got on the board.  Kubel led off with a double, Young singled, and Danny Valencia drew a one-out walk, loading the bases.  All the Twins could manage, though, was one run on a passed ball, so they still trailed 2-1.

It cost them, as the Indians took control in the fifth.  Santana doubled and Duncan singled.  With one out, Peralta hit a sacrifice fly.  Then the roof fell in.  Singles by LaPorta and Crowe made it 4-1 and chased starter Scott Baker from the game.  Alex Burnett came in and gave up RBI singles to Donald and Brantley.  Ron Mahay came in and gave up an RBI single to Nix.  It was 7-1 and the game was effectively over.

It wasn’t literally over, though, and the Twins did get a couple of runs in the sixth.  Thome led off with a home run.  With two out, Denard Span walked and scored on Hudson’s double to make it 7-3.

That was as close as the Twins would get.  In the eighth, consecutive doubles by Duncan and Hafner made it 8-3.  In the ninth, consecutive singles by Crowe, Donald, Brantley, and Nix produced a run, and a sacrifice fly made it 10-3.  The Twins got one last run in the ninth when Michael Cuddyer doubled and scored on a Young single.

WP:  Laffey (2-3).

LP:  Scott Baker (7-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  The Twins used their standard lineup for 2010.  The only substitute used was Jason Repko, who pinch-hit for Thome in the ninth.

Valencia was batting .314.  He would finish at .311.  Young was batting .313.  He would finish at .298.

Joe Mauer was batting .297 at this point.  He would finish at .327.

Manship had an ERA of 2.45.  This was his fifth game of the season, and he would go back to AAA after it.  He would come back for a September call-up but pitch poorly, finishing at 5.28.  Jose Mijares had an ERA of 2.75.  He would finish at 3.31.

Santana appears to be the only player with a Twins connection to play for Cleveland in this game.

A couple of guys played in this game for who we would have hopes, only to see them dashed.  Delmon Young had the best year of his career, batting .298/.333/.493.  He was twenty-four, and seemed to have figured things out.  His list of similar batters by age included Carl Yastrzemski and Al Oliver.  Instead, he went backward.  The Twins traded him to Detroit in August of 2011 and he would be out of the majors before he was thirty.  Danny Valencia batted .311 as a rookie.  He would lose his starting job by 2012, be traded to Baltimore, and bounce around the majors for several more years.  He would have a couple more good years, but would never fulfill the promise he seemed to have.

On the pitching side, Jose Mijares followed a good 2009 with a fine 2010.  He would be down in 2011, become a free agent, have a decent year in 2012 with Kansas City and San Francisco, but be out of the majors after 2013.

Record:  Cleveland was 39-54, in fifth place in the AL Central, 12.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 69-93, in fourth place, 25 games behind Minnesota.

The Twins were 49-44, in third place in the AL Central, 2.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 94-68, in first place, six games ahead of Chicago.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-10 (.545)

OAKLAND ATHLETICS 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 3 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, September 19, 1988.

Batting star:  Jim Dwyer was 2-for-3.  John Moses was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Roy Smith pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and a walk.  Juan Berenguer pitched two shutout innings, walking three and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Luis Polonia was 2-for-3 with two walks.  Mike Gallego was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jose Canseco was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Dave Parker was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his eleventh.  Dave Stewart pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out six.  Dennis Eckersley pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.

The game:  Moses led off the game with a single, was balked to second, went to third on a fly out, and scored on a ground out, giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second, Carney Lansford walked and scored on Terry Steinbach’s single-plus-error to tie it.  Steinbach went to third on a wild pitch and scored on a Stan Javier infield single to give Oakland a 2-1 advantage.

The Twins went back in front in the third.  Singles by Greg Gagne and Tom Herr put men on first and second with one out.  RBI singles by Randy Bush and Kirby Puckett made it 3-2 Twins.  But the lead was short-lived, as Canseco led off the bottom of the third with a single and Parker followed with a two-run homer, putting the Athletics in front 4-3.  Later in the inning, singles by Lansford, Walt Weiss, and Gallego made it 5-3 Oakland.

And that was it for the scoring.  Each team had threat in the sixth.  For the Twins, Dwyer had a one-out single and Gene Larkin walked.  With two-out, Al Newman walked to load the bases, but a foul fly ended the inning.  For the Athletics, Polonia had a bunt single and stole second with two out.  Canseco was intentionally walked, but a ground out put an end to the inning.

Moses led off the seventh with a single, but he never moved past first.  The last nine Twins were retired, and the victory went to Oakland.

WP:  Stewart (19-12).

LP:  Fred Toliver (7-5).

S:  Eckersley (42).

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Herr was acquired specifically to play second, but Steve Lombardozzi actually made the most appearances there in 1988.  Newman was at third in place of Gary Gaetti.  Moses was in left in place of Dan Gladden, although Gladden would pinch-hit and then go to left, with Moses moving to right.  Dwyer, who had been acquired at the August trade deadline, was the DH, where Larkin had made the most appearances.

Puckett was batting .346.  He would go 24-for-54 over the last twelve games to finish at .356.  Moses was batting .314.  He would finish at .316.  Gaetti was batting .300.  He would finish at .301.

Terry Steinbach would go on to play for the Twins at the end of his career.  He was 1-for-3 with a walk in this game.

This was Fred Toliver’s only year as a rotation starter.  He would make 19 starts and go 7-6, 4.24.  He might have been a good pitcher if he could’ve found the strike zone more often, although there are lots of pitchers of whom that could be said.  He walked 4.1 per nine in 1988 and 4.5 per nine for his career.  He made 37 starts in his career, so just over half of them came in 1988.

This was a September game and the Twins were out of the pennant race, so several substitutes were used.  This includes a couple of guys who had very brief Twins careers, Eric Bullock and Doug Baker.  Bullock appeared in 16 games with the Twins and in 131 games over seven seasons.  Baker appeared in 11 games with the Twins in 1988, 57 games total, and 136 games over seven seasons.

This was Eckersley’s first full season as a closer, and he made the most of it.  He had 45 saves and a WHIP of 0.87.  He would finish second in Cy Young voting to Frank Viola.  

Record:  Oakland was 96-55, in first place in the AL West, 12.5 games ahead of Minnesota.  They would finish 104-58, 13 games ahead of Minnesota.

The Twins were 83-67, in second place in the AL West, 12.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 91-71, in second place, 13 games behind Oakland.  The Twins finished six games better than they had in their 1987 championship season, but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Athletics.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-9 (.571).

MINNESOTA TWINS 5, CLEVELAND INDIANS 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Sunday, June 23, 2013

Batting stars:  Joe Mauer was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Oswaldo Arcia was 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Ryan Doumit was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Chris Parmelee was 2-for-4.  Josh Willingham was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Pedro Hernandez pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and six walks and striking out two.  Jared Burton pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.  Glen Perkins pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Jason Kipnis was 3-for-4 with two doubles and a walk.  Michael Bourn was 3-for-5.  Drew Stubbs hit a home run, his sixth.

The game: The Twins took the lead in the first inning.  Mauer hit a one-out double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Willingham single.  They threatened in the second, as Parmelee singled and Pedro Florimon walked to put men on first and second with one out, but a pair of ground outs ended the inning.  Cleveland tied it in the second.  Walks to Mark Reynolds, Carlos Santana, and Ryan Raburn loaded the bases with none out.  All the Indians could do, however, was get a sacrifice fly by Yan Goes to tie it 1-1.

Cleveland took the lead in the third.  Mike Aviles led off with a walk and scored on Kipnis’ double.  Another walk to Reynolds put men on first and second with one out, but they did not score again in the inning.  

The Twins got the lead back in the fifth.  Clete Thomas singled and Mauer walked.  The next two batters went out, but RBI singles by Arcia and Trevor Plouffe! gave the Twins a 3-2 lead.  They increased their lead in the seventh.  Singles by Mauer and Doumit put men on first and third with none out, and Willingham singled home a run.  A line drive double play took them out of the inning, but the Twins were still on top 4-2.

Stubbs led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run, cutting the lead to 4-3.  Each team missed a chance to score in the eighth.  A single and a wild pitch put a man on second with two out for the Twins, but a ground out ended the inning.  In the bottom of the inning, Michael Brantley singled, Yan Gomes walked, and a double steal put men on second and third with two out and Stubbs at bat.  He grounded out, however, and the score remained 4-3.

In the ninth, Doumit singled and Arcia delivered a two-out double.  The Indians twice got the tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth.  Bourn led off with a single but was erased on a double play.  Kipnis then doubled, but Nick Swisher grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Hernandez (3-1).

LP:  Carlos Carrasco (0-3).

S:  Perkins (19).

Notes:  Doumit was behind the plate, with Mauer moving to DH.  Parmelee, usually a right fielder, was at first base in place of Justin Morneau.  Clete Thomas was in center in place of Aaron Hicks.  Arcia was in right.  The Twins didn’t have a regular DH–Doumit had the most appearances there, with 49.

Mauer was batting .330.  He would finish at .324.

Perkins had an ERA of 2.20.  He would finish at 2.30.

Future Twin Carlos Santana went 0-for-3 with a walk in this game.

Pedro Hernandez made twelve starts for the Twins in 2013.  He was 3-3, 6.83, 1.82 WHIP.  The Twins had eight pitchers who made at least ten starts, but only three of them had ERAs below five.  The best was Samuel Deduno, who used his magical zoomball to post a 3.83 ERA.  The other two below five were Andrew Albers (4.05) and Kevin Correia (4.18).

This was the only year Pedro Florimon got regular play in his career.  Appearing in 134 games, he batted .221/.281/.330.  It was the only season he got more than 150 at-bats.  He was reputed to be an excellent fielder, but it's yet another example of how none of the other tools matter much if you can’t hit.

This was Oswaldo Arcia’s rookie year, and we thought he was really going to be a good player.  Well, a good batter, anyway.  He hit .251/.304/.430 as a 22-year-old, and he seemed to have a bright future.  Instead, it was the best season he ever had.  He was with the Twins organization through June of 2016, bounced around for a few years, went to a few other teams, and was done as a major league player at age twenty-five.  He has, however, had a long playing career anyway.  He played in Japan for a few years and is still playing in Mexico and in winter ball.  It’s nice to see that his baseball story, while it may not have gone the way he hoped, is still having somewhat of a happy ending.

Record:  Cleveland was 38-36, in second place in the AL Central, four games behind Detroit.  They would finish 92-70, one game behind Detroit.

The Twins were 34-38, in fourth place in the AL Central, seven games behind Detroit.  They would finish 66-96, in fourth place, twenty-seven games behind Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 12-8 (.600).

MINNESOTA TWINS 3, ST. LOUIS CARDINALS 2 IN ST. LOUIS

Date:  Tuesday, August 1, 2023.

Batting stars:  None.  Seven Twins had exactly one hit, and they did not hit a home run.

Pitching stars:  Pablo Lopez pitched six innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out five.  Emilio Pagan pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Griffin Jax pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Taylor Motter was 2-for-3.  Lars Nootbaar was 2-for-4.  Tyler O’Neill hit a home run, his third.

The game:  Neither team got a man past first base until the fifth, when Ryan Jeffers hit a one-out double.  Michael A. Taylor then reached on an error with two out, scoring Jeffers and giving the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The lead held up until the sixth.  Motter led off with a single, Nootbaar singled with one out, and Nolan Arenado delivered a two-out single that tied it 1-1.  

The Twins got the lead right back in the seventh.  Jorge Polanco singled and Matt Wallner hit a ground-rule double, putting men on second and third with none out.  A strikeout followed, but then Donovan Solano hit a two-run single that put the Twins ahead 3-1.  

Each team threatened in the eighth.  Byron Buxton hit a two-out double for the Twins.  For St. Louis, Nootbaar and Paul Goldschmidt hit two-out singles.  Still, it remained 3-1 until the ninth.  With one out, O’Neill hit a home run to cut the lead to 3-2.  Jhoan Duran struck out the next two batters, however, and the victory was preserved.

WP:  Pablo Lopez (6-6).

LP:  Miles Mikolas (6-7).

S:  Duran (18).

Notes:  Christian Vazquez actually caught more games than Jeffers in 2023, although they split the time fairly evenly.  Joey Gallo started at first base, with Solano pinch-hitting for him in the seventh.  Jorge Polanco started at third base, moving to second when Kyle Farmer pinch-hit for Edouard Julien in the eighth.  Matt Wallner started in left, with Willi Castro replacing him for defense in the seventh.

No one who played in this game for the Twins was batting .300.  The closest was Julien at .293.

Jax had an ERA of 2.98.  He would finish at 3.86.  Duran had an ERA of 2.81.  He would finish at 2.45.

Taylor Motter had played for the Twins briefly in 2018.  He pretty much defines “futility infielder”.  In 480 at-bats over six seasons, he “hit” .188/.258/.294.  He could play all over the infield and also had forty games in the outfield, but he didn’t really help you at any of those positions.  I assume he’s a really nice guy.

This is the first interleague game for the Random Twins.

Record:  St. Louis was 47-61, in fifth place in the NL Central, 11.5 games behind Cincinnati.  They would finish 71-91, in fifth place, 21 games behind Milwaukee.

Minnesota was 55-53, in first place in the AL Central, two games ahead of Cleveland.  They would finish 87-75, in first place, nine games ahead of Detroit.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 11-8 (.579).

BOSTON RED SOX 5, MINNESOTA TWINS 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 4, 1993.

Batting stars: Dave Winfield was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Brian Harper was 3-for-5.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Scott Erickson pitched a complete game, giving up five runs on eleven hits and a walk and striking out five.  He threw 121 pitches.

Opposition stars:  Scott Cooper was 3-for-4 with a triple, a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Mike Greenwell was 3-for-5.  Ivan Calderon was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Aaron Sele pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  Boston took the lead in the second.  Calderon singled with one out and scored on Cooper’s triple.  A ground out scored Cooper, making it 2-0.  John Valentin then singled and Scott Fletcher walked, but a strikeout ended the inning.

The Twins threatened in the third.  With two out Mack walked, Chuck Knoblauch singled, and Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch to load the bases, but a force out ended the threat.  It cost them, because the Red Sox added on in the fourth.  It again started with a Calderon single, followed by a Cooper double that made it 3-0.  The next two batters went out, but Cooper tripled home a run and Greenwell followed with an RBI single that gave Boston a 5-0 advantage.

The Twins got on the board in the bottom of the fourth.  Winfield led off with a double, got to third with one out on an infield single by Mike Pagliarulo, and scored on Gene Larkin’s sacrifice fly.  The Twins threatened in the sixth, getting one-out singles by Winfield and Harper, but nothing came of it.  In the seventh, however, Mack hit a one-out double and scored on Puckett’s two-out triple.  Kent Hrbek walked and Winfield singled, making the score 5-3.  Harper followed with another single, but Hrbek was thrown out at the plate, ending the inning.

The Twins tried to pull it out in the ninth.  Knoblauch drew a one-out walk.  With two out, Hrbek doubled, cutting the margin to 5-4.  Winfield walked, bringing up Harper, who already had three hits in the game.  But he popped up to second, and the game was over.

WP:  Aaron Sele (6-0).

LP:  Erickson (6-13).

S:  Jeff Russell (29).

Notes:  While Puckett was still primarily a center fielder, the Twins had started his transition to right, and that’s where he played in this game, with Mack in center.  Gene Larkin was in left, with Pedro Munoz on the bench.  Chip Hale pinch-hit for Pat Meares and stayed in the game at second base, with Knoblauch moving to shortstop.  It was one of six times Knoblauch would play short in 1993.

Harper was batting .314.  He would finish at .304.

Pagliarulo was in his last days as a Twin.  He would be traded on August 15 for a player to be named later, who turned out to be named Eric Schullstrom.  

It was a different time, but it’s still surprising to see someone allow five runs and pitch a complete game.  Erickson did, however, pitch very well after the fourth inning, giving up just one hit.  At one point he retired twelve consecutive batters.

Largely forgotten now, Scott Cooper was a two-time all-star.  He was traded to St. Louis early in 1995 and fell off rapidly after that.  But from 1992-1994 he batted .279/.347/.410.

The Twins went 4-for-10 with men in scoring position, but still stranded eleven.

Record:  Boston was 60-47, in second place in the AL East, two games behind Toronto.  They would finish 80-82, in fourth place, 15 games behind Toronto.  They had the worst record in the American League after this game, going 20-35.

Minnesota was 45-59, tied for sixth place with Oakland in the AL West, 13 games behind the White Sox.  They would finish 71-91, tied for fifth with California, 23 games behind the White Sox.   

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-8 (.556)

NEW YORK YANKEES 2, MINNESOTA TWINS 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, June 10, 1970.

Batting star:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple.

Pitching star: Bert Blyleven pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.  Ron Perranoski pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Thurman Munson was 2-for-3 with a double.  Horace Clarke was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out seven.

The game:  Neither team had more than one runner on base at a time until the fourth.  The Twins didn’t do it then, either, but they scored anyway, as Oliva led off the inning with a triple and scored on a ground out.  The Yankees took the lead in the fifth when Stottlemyre singled with two out and scored on Clarke’s two-run homer.

And that was it.  There was only one hit after the fifth inning, a bunt single by Munson in the seventh.  Other than Oliva, the Twins only once got a man past first base–Cesar Tovar hit a two-out double in the third.

WP:  Stottlemyre (6-4).

LP:  Blyleven (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew was at second.  He would be injured a couple weeks later and miss almost the entire remainder of the season.  Danny Thompson took his place at second, which was obviously a significant drop-off.  Jim Holt was in left, a position he shared with Brant Alyea in 1970.  Alyea had far superior offensive numbers, but was very streaky.  His OPS by month was 1.257, .519, 631, 1.049, .715, 1.051.  Holt, on the other had, was consistently mediocre.

Carew was batting .377.  He would finish at .366.  Oliva was batting .335.  He would finish at .325.  Harmon Killebrew was batting .313.  He would finish at .271.

This was Blyleven’s second career start.  His ERA was 1.93, but he was 1-1 due to getting a total of three runs of support over the two games.  That would set the tone for much of his career.  He would finish the season 10-9 with an ERA of 3.18.  He would pitch 164 innings despite not making his debut until June.  For comparison, Pablo Lopez led the Twins in innings pitched in 2024 with 185.1.  It was a different era.

Perranoski had an ERA of 2.11.  He would finish at 2.43.

We’ve done two games from 1970.  Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple in both of them.  He would hit seven triples in 1970.  

This was the last of four home runs Horace Clarke would hit in 1970.  He hit a grand total of 27 in a ten-year career.

We’ve done two games from 1970, when the Twins won the division, and they lost both.  We did one game from 1998, when they were terrible, and they won.  I guess it proves the old saying that the best team loses sixty games and the worst team wins sixty games.  Unless, of course, you’re the White Sox.

Record:  The Yankees were 33-24, in second place in the AL East, 4.5 games behind Baltimore.  They would finish 93-69, in second place, 15 games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 34-17, in first place in the AL West, 2 games ahead of California.  They would finish 98-64, in first place, 9 games ahead of Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 10-7 (.588).