Tag Archives: using the bench

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-four

CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, July 4.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 3-for-5 with a double.  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-6.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and no walks and striking out one.  Bill Zepp pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Stan Williams pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Knoop was 2-for-4.  Ed Herrmann was 2-for-5 with a home run, his seventh.  Walt Williams was 2-for-6.  Tommy John pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out seven.

The game:  The White Sox had men on first and third with one out in the second, but Gail Hopkins was thrown out trying to score on a grounder to third and a fly out ended the inning.  Chicago got on the board in the fourth, though.  Carlos May was hit by a pitch and Hopkins reached on a fielder's choice, putting men on first and second with none out.  Herrmann singled home a run and another run scored on a double play, making it 2-0 White Sox.

The Twins only once got a man as far as second base for six innings.  In the seventh, however, Cardenas hit a two-out double and George Mitterwald followed with an RBI single, cutting the lead to 2-1.

Chicago had men on second and third with none out in the eighth but did not score.  Herrmann homered leading off the ninth to make it 3-1.  In the bottom of the ninth Tony Oliva led off with a double and stayed on second on Rick Renick's infield single to short.  Oliva was then picked off second, a huge mistake in the ninth inning.  Bob Allison then walked, putting men on first and second.  Cardenas had an RBI single, making it 3-2 and putting men on first and third, and Rich Reese hit a sacrifice fly to send the game to extra innings.

The Twins missed a good chance in the tenth.  Tovar led off and got to third on a single-plus-error.  Danny Thompson hit a short fly ball for the first out.  Harmon Killebrew and Oliva were both intentionally walked, filling the bases, and the strategy worked, as pinch-hitter Tom Tischinski hit into a double play.  In the twelfth, Bob Spence led off with a walk.  Walt Williams replaced him on first on a fielder's choice.  He then scored when Luis Aparicio reached on an error.  Aparicio went all the way to third and scored on a sacrifice fly, making it 5-3.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the twelfth.

WP:  Wilbur Wood (4-7).

LP:  Dick Woodson (1-2).

S:  Jerry Crider (2).

Notes:  Thompson was again at second in place of Rod Carew.  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Reese to the bench.

There were lots of bench moves.  Frank Quilici pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh.  Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left field in the ninth with the Twins trailing and Alyea due to bat in the bottom of the inning.  Alyea would make only one brief appearance between this game and July 16, so he presumably was dealing with an injury.  Bob Allison pinch-hit for Holt in the ninth and Herman Hill pinch-ran for Allison, with Hill staying in the game in center and Tovar moving to left.  Reese pinch-hit for MItterwald in the ninth and Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Ron Perranoski in the ninth, with Ratliff staying in the game to catch, Reese staying in the game at first base, and Killebrew moving to third.  Jim Kaat pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the tenth, but when the White Sox changed pitchers Tischinski pinch-hit for Kaat.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .324.  Tovar was batting .312.  Killebrew was 0-for-4 and was batting .308.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.68.  Perranoski gave up one run in two innings and had an ERA of 1.75.  Williams had an ERA of 1.78.  Woodson gave up two unearned runs in two innings and had an ERA of 2.70.

Tischinski was batting zero (0-for-2).  Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .118.  Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .175.  Boswell had an ERA of 6.22.

As you can see above, the Twins used seven bench players (not counting Kaat).

Crider, of course, is an ex-Twin, having played for them in 1969.

The loss ended the Twins' five-game winning streak.  It was their second extra-inning game in four days.

Despite lasting twelve innings, the game took just 3:31 to play.

RecordL  The Twins were 48-26, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

Gigantes Recaps: Game Sixteen

ESTRELLAS 5, GIGANTES 0 AT GIGANTES

Batting stars:  None.

Pitching stars:  Montana DuRapau struck out two in two perfect innings.  Randy Rosario pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.  Fernando Romero pitched a perfect inning and struck out all three batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Rainel Rosario was 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBIs.  Socrates Brito was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Jeremy Pena was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second.  Domingo Acevedo struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up a hit and two walks.  Joey Payamps struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Estrellas scored single runs in the second and third and three in the eighth to put it away.  Rosario hit a two-run homer and Pena a solo shot in the eighth.

WP:  Payamps (2-1).  LP:  Scott Harkin (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Logan Moore was 0-for-1 and is batting .375.  Kelvin Gutierrez was 1-for-3 and is batting .364.  Ronald Guzman was 0-for-3 and is batting .323.

DuRapau and Romero each has an ERA of zero.  Rosario has an ERA of 1.29.

The Gigantes used three pinch-hitters and a pinch-runner.

The Gigantes were 0-for-8 with men in scoring position.

There was a 1:14 minute rain dealy.  There was supposed to be a second game, making it a doubleheader, but it was postponed.

Record:  The Gigantes are 8-9, but are only a game and a half behind first-place Estrellas.  They are a half game behind fifth-place Licey.

Next game:  The Gigantes host the Toros del Este today.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1968, Game One Hundred Fifty-four

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OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, September 20.

Batting stars:  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Catfish Hunter pitched a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and one walk and striking out four.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his fourteenth), a walk, and two runs.  Dick Green was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.  Danny Cater was 2-for-5 with a home run (his sixth), two runs, and two RBIs.

The game:  Bert Campaneris led off the game with a single and stole second.  Jackson walked, and the two pulled off a double steal, putting men on second and third with none out.  A ground out and a sacrifice fly gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead.

The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the first but did not score.  Roseboro homered leading off the second, however, cutting the lead in half at 2-1.  In the fourth Green singled, stole second, and scored on a Joe Keough single to put Oakland's lead back up to two at 3-1.

The Twins put men on second and third with one out in the fourth but did not score.  It stayed 3-1 until the seventh, when the Athletics put it out of reach.  Campaneris drew a one-out walk and went to second on a pickoff error.  Jackson's RBI single made it 4-1.  Back-to-back errors on shortstop Jackie Hernandez increased the lead to 5-1 with a man on second.  Green delivered a two-out RBI single to make it 6-1.

Cater homered in the ninth to round out the scoring.  The Twins did put men on first and second with none out in the bottom of the ninth, but again, nothing came of it.

WP:  Hunter (13-13).  LP:  Buzz Stephen (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bob Allison was at first base, with Killebrew manning third.  They each played those positions a fair amount in their careers, but not in 1968--Allison had only 17 games at first and Killebrew had just 11 at third.  I don't know why Cal Ermer chose to go with that arrangement here.

Rick Renick started the game at shortstop and was replaced by Hernandez at the start of the second inning.  Renick did not bat in the bottom of the first.  There was one ball hit to shortstop in the first--Renick made the play, but possibly injured himself somehow.  Or, perhaps he wasn't feeling well, tried to go, and just couldn't.  I don't know.

With Allison at first base, September call-up Graig Nettles was in left field.  Nettles began his professional career as a second baseman, then moved to third, but in the majors with the Twins he played more outfield than anything.  He eventually made himself into a fine defensive third baseman, but my understanding is that he was not good on defense early in his career, which is why he was put in the outfield.

With Killebrew at third, Cesar Tovar was put in center field, with Ted Uhlaender moved to the bench.  Pat Kelly was in right field in place of Tony Oliva, who missed the last month of the season.

It was a September game, and the Twins used most of the expanded roster.  Bruce Look pinch-hit for Hernandez in the seventh, Uhlaender then pinch-ran for Look, and Ron Clark came in to play shortstop.  Jim Holt pinch-hit for Kelly and stayed in the game in right field.  Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth, with Frank Quilici going in to play third.  The Twins also used Rich Reese and Rich Rollins as pinch-hitters for pitchers.

Stephen actually pitched fairly well for six innings, but his final line was 6.1 innings, five runs (four earned), eight hits, and five walks with one strikeout.  It was his major league debut.  Five days later would be his major league swan song, as he appeared in just two big league games.  In the latter game he pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and struck out three in getting the win.

The Twins stranded nine runners and were 0-for-9 with men in scoring position.

As far as the Twins' team batting and pitching stats in 1968, we've been through that a couple of times already and I really don't have anything to add.

This was one of only four losses the Twins had in their final fourteen games of 1968.

Record:  The Twins were 73-81, in seventh place in the American League, 27 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 79-83, in seventh place, 24 games behind Detroit.

The Athletics were 78-76, in sixth place in the American League, 22 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 82-80, in sixth place, 21 games behind Detroit.

Random Record:  The Twins are 55-51 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1978, Game Thirty-eight

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KANSAS CITY 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Saturday, May 20.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.  Roy Smalley was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Willie Norwood was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his twelfth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Freddie Patek was 4-for-4 with two stolen bases, his eighth and ninth.  Hal McRae was 3-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Amos Otis was 2-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base, his eighth.  George Brett was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Clint Hurdle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Rich Gale pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Dan Ford drew a two-out walk in the first and scored from first on a Mike Cubbage double, putting the Twins up 1-0.  That would be their only lead of the game.

The Royals loaded the bases in the second and did not score.  In the third, however, Willie Wilson led off with a single, stole second, and scored on McRae's single.  McRae went to second on the throw home and later scored on an Otis single, giving Kansas City a 2-1 lead.

The Twins got two singles and a walk in the fourth but failed to produce a run with them.  It stayed 2-1 until the sixth, when Hurdle doubled and scored on Patek's single to make it 3-1.  The Royals then took over in the seventh. McRae singled, George Brett doubled, and Al Cowens singled to make it 4-1.  Otis walked to load the bases and Hurdle singled to give Kansas City a 5-1 advantage.

The Twins tried to get back into it in the eighth.  Norwood singled and Carew hit a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 5-3.  But the Twins gave a run back in the bottom of the sixth when Patek singled, stole second, and scored on McRae's double.  In the ninth Jose Morales walked and Smalley doubled, bringing the tying run to the plate with none out.  It came to nothing, however, as the next two batters fanned and a popup to the pitcher ended the game.

WP:  Gale (4-0).  LP:  Paul Thormodsgard (1-6).  S:  Al Hrabosky (5).

Notes:  Rob Wilfong was at second base.  He platooned with Bobby Randall, kind of, but the right-handed Randall still got more playing time.  One assumes Randall was considered the better defender, because there's not a lot to choose from offensively.

The Twins made liberal use of their bench, although it doesn't seem to have helped much.  Rich Chiles pinch-hit for Wilfong in the eighth, with Randall coming in to play second.  Larry Wolfe pinch-hit for Cubbage in the eighth and stayed in the game at third.  Morales pinch-hit for Glenn Adams in the ninth.  Bombo Rivera pinch-hit for Hosken Powell in the ninth.  Craig Kusick pinch-hit for Randall in the ninth.

Carew was batting .397.  He would falter, finishing the season at .333.  Rivera was batting .341.  He would finish at .271.  Morales was batting .333.  He would finish at .314.  Cubbage was batting .321.  He would finish at .282.  The Twins finished fifth in batting at .267.

Smalley led the team in home runs with 19.  The only other Twin in double figures was Dan Ford at 11.  The Twins cleanup hitter in this game was Cubbage, who finished the season with 7 homers and a slugging average of .401.  The Twins were dead last in home runs with 82, fifteen behind the next-to-last team.

Thormodsgard started and pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out one.  The Twins' rotation wasn't bad:  Roger Erickson (14-13, 3.96), Geoff Zahn (14-14, 3.03), Dave Goltz (15-10, 2.49), and Gary Serum (9-9, 4.10).  Thor was the odd man out at (1-6, 5.05), but he would be replaced by Darrell Jackson (4-6, 4.48).

It was kind of fun hearing the names of those great Royals players of the seventies.

Clint Hurdle is regarded as a first-round bust, and I guess he was, but it was because of injuries, not a lack of ability.  In 1980, his age twenty-two season, he batted .294/.349/.458.  He then suffered a back injury and was never again the same player.  He was never able to play more than 78 games in a season and never had more than 184 plate appearances.  Had it not been for the back injury, he could have had a tremendous career.

This was the fifth game of a stretch in which the Twins won seven of eight.  Random.org gave us their only loss in that stretch.

Record:  The Twins were 14-24, in fifth place in the American League West, 9.5 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 73-89, in fourth place, 19 games behind Kansas City.

The Royals were 19-16, in third place in the American League West, 3 games behind Oakland.  They would finish 92-70, in first place, 5 games ahead of California and Texas.

Random record:  The Twins are 38-34 in Random Rewind games.

Keeping Track

Random Rewind: 1968, Game One Hundred Forty-three

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MINNESOTA 2, DETROIT 1 IN DETROIT

Date:  Saturday, September 7.

Batting stars:  Ron Clark was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4 with two home runs, his second and third.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched seven innings, giving up one run on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.  Al Worthington pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Pat Dobson pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four.  Mickey Stanley was 3-for-5.  Don Wert was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twelfth.

The game:  The Tigers had men on second and third with none out in the first, but a line drive double play took them out of the inning.  They had men on first and second with one out in the fourth, but the next two batters could not get the ball out of the infield and they were again turned aside.

Detroit got on the board in the fifth when Wert led off the inning with a home run.  Again, however, they missed a chance to get more, as they loaded the bases with two out and could not add to their lead.  It cost them, because in the next half-inning Nettles hit a two-out home run to tie it 1-1.

The Tigers got a man to second with two out in the seventh, and the Twins did the same in the eighth, but the score remained tied until the ninth, when Nettles led off the inning with a home run to give the Twins their first lead of the game at 2-1.  The Tigers got a one-out walk in the bottom of the ninth, but did not advance the man past first base.

WP:  Worthington (4-5).  LP:  Dobson (5-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Bruce Look was behind the plate in place of Johnny Roseboro.  This was Look's only season in the majors.  He batted .246 with an OBP of .353, pretty good numbers for 1968.  Granted, it was 139 plate appearances, but still, you'd think he might have gotten another chance.  Instead, he went to AAA Denver in 1969, batted .223, and played just two more season, both in AAA, before his career came to an end.

Rich Reese was at first base in place of Harmon Killebrew.  This, or course, was the year Killebrew was injured in the all-star game.  He came back in September but was mostly used as a pinch-hitter, never playing a full game the rest of the season.

Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew, who missed a few games.  Clark was at shortstop.  Jackie Hernandez played the most games at short in 1968 with 79, but Clark was second with 44.  Rich Rollins was at third base.  Cesar Tovar played the most games at third in 1968 with 77, but Rollins was second at with 56.  Tovar was in center field in place of Ted Uhlaender, who missed a couple of weeks.  Nettles was in right field in place of Tony Oliva, whose season ended on August 31.

To sum up, of the eight regular listed by b-r.com, the only one to start the game at his regular position was left fielder Bob Allison.

Killebrew pinch-hit for Perry in the seventh.  Rick Renick came into the game at shortstop in the ninth inning, with Clark moving to third and Rollins coming out of the game.  Frank Kostro came into the game in left field and Jim Holt came into the game in right field, replacing Nettles and Allison.

Oliva led the team in batting at .289.  Uhlaender batted .283 and Carew it .273.  Of players used in this game, Tovar had the highest batting average at .272.

Allison led the team in home runs with 22.  Oliva had 18 and Killebrew had 17.

Perry was essentially the fifth starter in a four-man rotation, getting starts because of doubleheaders or injuries.  He had a tremendous season, though, going 8-6, 2.27, 1.00 WHIP.  The Twins' starters numbers sound impressive:  Dean Chance (16-16, 2.53, 0.98), Jim Kaat (14-12, 2.94, 1.12), Jim Merritt (12-16, 3.35, 1.09), and Dave Boswell (10-13, 3.32, 1.24.  On the other hand, the league ERA was 2.98, and the league WHIP was 1.19, so those numbers are perhaps not as impressive as they sound.  There's a reason they call it The Year of the Pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 68-75, in seventh place in the American League, 22 games behind Detroit.  They would finish 79-83, in seventh place, 24 games behind Detroit.

The Tigers were 90-53, in first place in the American League, 8 games ahead of Baltimore.  They would finish 103-59, in first place, 12 games ahead of Baltimore.

Rewind record:  The Twins are 29-26 in rewind games.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: World Series Game Seven

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MINNESOTA 1, ATLANTA 0 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, October 27.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Jack Morris pitched ten shutout innings, giving up seven hits and two walks and striking out eight.  He threw 126 pitches.

Opposition stars:  John Smoltz pitched 7.1 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and a walk and struck out four.  Lonnie Smith was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  Obviously there was no score through nine innings, so we'll detail the threats.  In the second, the Twins got a pair of two-out singles.  With one out in the third, Rafael Belliard singled and Smith walked.  Gladden hit a one-out double in the bottom of the third but did not advance.

The Braves had a significant threat in the fifth.  Mark Lemke led off with a single, was bunted to second, and went to third on Smith's infield single.  But Terry Pendelton popped up and Ron Gant struck out to end the inning.

The big threat came in the eighth.  Smith singled and Pendleton doubled, putting men on second and third with none out.  This was the famous Chuck Knoblauch deke play, where he fooled Smith by pretending to field a ground ball and throw to second.  Still, Atlanta had the middle of their order coming to bat.  But Gant grounded out, David Justice was intentionally walked, and Sid Bream hit into a 3-2-3 double play to keep the game scoreless.

The Twins had a threat of their own in the ninth.  Chili Davis and Brian Harper led off with singles.  Shane Mack hit into a double play, but pinch-runner Jarvis Brown was still on third with two out.  But pinch-hitter Paul Sorrento struck out and the game continued.

The Braves went down in order in the top of the tenth.  Gladden led off with a bloop double in the bottom of the tenth.  Knoblauch bunted him to third.  Kirby Puckett and Kent Hrbek were both intentionally walked, loading the bases.  With the outfield drawn in, pinch-hitter Gene Larkin then hit a fly ball to left-center, which fell for a hit and won the game and the series for the Twins.

WP:  Morris (4-0).  LP:  Alejandro Pena (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the eighth.  Al Newman then pinch-ran for Bush and stayed in the game at shortstop.  In the ninth, Brown pinch-ran for Davis and Sorrento pinch-hit for Newman.  Scott Leius came into the game in the tenth at shorstop.  Larkin pinch-hit for Brown in the tenth.

What a game.  If you've watched it, there's probably not much I can tell you about it that you don't know.  If you haven't, I probably can't do it justice.

Morris pitched about as good a game as you will ever see anyone pitch in that situation.

Gladden gets a lot of credit for aggressive baserunning in the tenth, and I guess he deserves it, but I remember thinking as I saw the ball dropping in that it should be a double.

I always think about how close Jarvis Brown came to being a World Series hero.  When he pinch-ran in the ninth, he came that close to scoring the deciding run.  But, of course, it didn't happen.

The Braves eighth was amazing.  Even with Smith's baserunning blunder, I still thought they would score at least once and probably win.  I can still remember how awesome that 3-2-3 double play was.

The only bench player the Twins had left was Junior Ortiz.  Had the game continued, there would've have been almost no moves for Tom Kelly to make beyond pitching changes.

I don't remember if the Twins had anyone warming up to come in to pitch the eleventh or if Morris would've gone back out there.

So, the Twins were World Series champions.  We'll do a couple of statistical wrap-up posts before we let go of 1991 Rewind.  Thanks for reading!

Record:  The Twins won the best-of-seven series four games to three.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: World Series Game Three

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ATLANTA 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN ATLANTA (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, October 22.

Batting stars:  Dan Gladden was 3-for-6 with a triple.  Kirby Puckett was 1-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two walks.  Chili Davis had a pinch-hit two-run homer, his second.

Pitching stars:  Steve Bedrosian pitched two perfect innings, striking out one.  Carl Willis pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks.  Mark Guthrie pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Steve Avery pitched seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits and no walks, striking out five.  Mark Lemke was 2-for-5 with a walk.  David Justice was 2-for-6 with a home run (his second), two runs, and a stolen base.  Lonnie Smith was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Greg Olson was 1-for-3 with three walks.

The game:  Gladden led off the game with a triple and scored on Chuck Knoblauch's sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the second Olson drew a two-out walk, Lemke singled, and Rafael Belliard delivered an RBI single to tie it 1-1.

Justice led off the fourth with a home run to put the Braves up 2-1.  Smith homered with one out in the fifth to make it 3-1.  Terry Pendleton walked.  With two out Justice reached on an error, Sid Bream walked, and Olson drew a bases loaded walk to force in a run and make the score 4-1.

The Twins started the sixth with two singles but did not score.  Puckett led off the seventh with a home run to cut the lead to 4-2.  In the eighth Brian Harper reached on an error and Davis (who was not in the lineup because there was no DH) hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to tie the score 4-4.

Each team got a man to second base in the ninth and again in the tenth, but neither scored.  With one out in the top of the twelfth, Gladden singled and went to third when Knoblauch reached on an error.  Knoblauch stole second, but Kent Hrbek struck out.  Puckett was then intentionally walked to bring up Guthrie.  The Twins had burned through their entire bench by now, so Rick Aguilera was sent up to pinch-hit.  He hit a liner to deep center, but it was caught and the inning was over.  in the bottom of the twelfth Justice hit a one-out single.  He stole second with two out, Olson walked, and Lemke singled home the winning run.

WP:  Jim Clancy (1-0).  LP:  Aguilera (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Scott Erickson started, so Junior Ortiz was behind the plate.  There was no DH, so Davis was on the bench.

There were lots of substitutions.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Terry Leach in the sixth.  Harper pinch-hit for Ortiz in the eighth and remained in the game behind the plate.  Davis pinch-hit for Bedrosian in the eighth.  Jarvis Brown replaced Davis and went to right field, with Willis going to the mound and replacing Shane Mack on a double switch.  Mike Pagliarulo pinch-hit for Scott Leius in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Brown in the ninth and stayed in the game in right field.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Willis in the tenth.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Pagliarulo in the eleventh and stayed in the game at third base.  Aguilera pinch-hit for Guthrie in the twelfth.

Erickson lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and two walks and striking out three.

The Twins bullpen was again stellar.  Other than Aguilera, they combined for 6.1 scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and five walks and striking out three.

The Twins used twenty-three players.  The only Twins not to appear in the game were starters Jack Morris and Kevin Tapani.  The Twins had gone with just a nine-man pitching staff, something that would be unheard of today.

The Twins stranded ten men and were 0-for-10 with men in scoring position.  Atlanta stranded twelve and was 2-for-11 with men in scoring position.

Record:  The Twins still led the best-of-seven series 2-1.  The Braves would still have to win at least one more game to send the series back to Minnesota.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-two

TORONTO 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, October 6.

Batting star:  Mike Pagliarulo was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixth) and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Edens pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and no walks and striking out five.  David West struck out two in a perfect inning.  Steve Bedrosian struck out one in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Pat Hentgen pitched five innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out two.  Kelly Gruber was 2-for-2 with a double.  Devon White was 1-for-2 with a home run, his seventeenth.  Rob Ducey was 1-for-3 with a home run.

The game:  White led off the game with a home run, giving the Blue Jays a 1-0 lead.  Pagliarulo homered with one out in the third to tie it 1-1.  The Twins put men on first and second in the fourth and again in the sixth, but the score remained 1-1 until the seventh.

In the seventh, Pagliarulo reached on a two-base error and scored on a Paul Sorrento single to put the Twins up 2-1.  In the eighth Mookie Wilson singled, stole second, and scored on a Greg Myers single to tie it 2-2.

The Twins put two on in the ninth, but did not score.  In the tenth, Ducey led off with a home run to give Toronto a 3-2 lead.  The Twins went down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

WP:  David Weathers (1-0).  LP:  Allan Anderson (5-11).  S:  Duane Ward (23).

Notes:  The Twins started their regular lineup, but substituted for everyone but Pagliarulo.  In the fifth, Gene Larkin replaced Kent Hrbek at first base, Al Newman replaced Chuck Knoblauch at second base.  Jarvis Brown had pinch-run for Kirby Puckett in the fourth and went to center field in the fifth.  In the sixth, Randy Bush pinch-hit for Chili Davis and remained at DH.  Paul Sorrento replaced Dan Gladden in the lineup and went to first base, with Larkin moving to right field.  Pedro Munoz replaced Shane Mack and went to left field.  Scott Leius replaced Greg Gagne and went to shortstop.  In the seventh, Junior Ortiz replaced Brian Harper and went behind the plate.

Puckett was 1-for-2 and ended the season at .319.  Harper was 0-for-3 and ended at .311.  Mack was 1-for-2 and ended at .310.  Bush was 0-for-3 and ended at .303.

Newman was 0-for-2 and ended at .191.

Both teams treated this as a spring training game.  No Blue Jay played the entire game.  I'm sure they were thrilled to have to play an extra inning in the last game of the season when it didn't mean anything.  I suspect Tom Kelly was not all that disappointed when the Twins lost in the tenth.

This was the only home run Ducey hit this season and only the second of his major league career.  He had thirty-one for his career.  His career high was eight in 1999.

This was the first win of Weathers' career.  He ended up with 73 in his career.  His career high was eight in 1994.  It may have been a meaningless game, but it was probably not meaningless for him.

Record:  The Twins ended the season 95-67, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.

Toronto ended the season 91-71, in first place in the American League East, seven games ahead of Detroit.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-one

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 3, TORONTO 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, October 5.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-4 with two doubles.  Chili Davis was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-ninth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Scott Erickson pitched six shutout innings, giving up four hits and four walks and striking out two.  He threw 92 pitches.  Rick Aguilera pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk and striking out one.

Opposition star:  Roberto Alomar was 2-for-2 with a home run (his ninth) and two walks.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the first inning when Chuck Knoblauch walked and scored from first on a Kirby Puckett double.  Each team got a man to third base in the second inning, but neither scored.  Each team put men on first second with one out in the fifth, but each was taken out of the inning by a double play.

The Twins stretched their lead to 2-0 in the sixth when Davis homered.  They scored again in the seventh when Knoblauch was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a Hrbek single.

The Blue Jays got on the board in the eighth when Alomar led off the inning with a home run, but did not get a hit after that.

WP:  Erickson (20-8).  LP:  Juan Guzman (10-3).  S:  Aguilera (42).

Notes:  The Twins used their regular starting lineup.  Junior Ortiz was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper, but that always happened when Erickson pitched.

Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Ortiz in the sixth.  Lenny Webster replaced him in the seventh and went behind the plate.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Puckett in the seventh and stayed in the game in center field.  Scott Leius pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the eighth.

Puckett was 1-for-3 and was batting .319.  Mack raised his average to .309.  Erickson lowered his ERA to 3.18.  Carl Willis pitched two-thirds of an inning without allowing a run and lowered his ERA to 2.63.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.35.

The Blue Jays essentially treated this like a spring training game.  Alomar was the only Toronto player to play the entire game.  The regulars pretty much all came out after two turns through the batting order.  Starter Guzman pitched just three innings, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out two.

Each team stranded eight runners.  They combined to go 1-for-15 with men in scoring position, with Hrbek's eighth-inning single as the one hit.

Record:  The Twins were 95-66, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Chicago.

Toronto was 90-71, in first place in the American League East, six games ahead of Boston.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty

TORONTO 4, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, October 4.

Batting star:  Jarvis Brown was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Denny Neagle pitched five innings, giving up two runs on nine hits and no walks and striking out three.  Allan Anderson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one walk.

Opposition stars:  Todd Stottlemyre struck out five in five innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks.  Candy Maldonado was 2-for-2 with a double.  Turner Ward was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Derek Bell was 2-for-2 with two stolen bases, his second and third.

The game:  The Blue Jays scored in the first inning when Joe Carter reached on a fielder's choice, stole second, and scored on Maldonado's single.  They had men on first and second in the second and on second and third in the third, but did not score.  The Twins had the bases loaded with one out in the fourth, but Randy Bush lined into a double play.  So it stayed 1-0 Toronto until the fifth.

In the fifth, Eddie Zosky (who?) doubled and Ward singled to put the Blue Jays up 2-0.  The Twins put men on first and second in the fifth, but did not get on the board until the sixth.  Singles by Bush and Shane Mack and a walk to Scott Leius loaded the bases with one out.  Lenny Webster hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the margin to 2-1, but that was all the Twins got, and they would not come that close to taking the lead again.

Toronto got some insurance runs in the eighth.  Ward and Pat Border singled and Rance Mulliniks walked, loading the bases with one out.  Ed Sprague walked to force in a run and a sacrifice fly brought home another, making it 4-1.  The Twins did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

WP:  Stottlemyer (15-8).  LP:  Neagle (0-1).  S:  Duane Ward (22).

Notes:  Randy Bush was at DH in place of Chili Davis.  Paul Sorrento was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  Webster was behind the plate in place of Brian Harper.  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Brown was in center field in place of Kirby Puckett.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Sorrento in the sixth and stayed in the game at first base.

Bush was 1-for-3 and was batting .309.  Mack was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Webster was 0-for-3 and was batting .303.

Newman was 0-for-2 with two walks and was batting .193 with an OPS of .472.

It had to be kind of strange to have a meaningless end-of-season three-game series against the team you would play in a few days for the League Championship.  Both teams treated it somewhat like a spring training game.  As you can see above, the Twins played a number of reserves.  The Blue Jays started most of their regulars, but substituted for them as the game progressed.  Both starters pitched just five innings even though the score was 2-1 after five.

This was the only decision Neagle would have as a Twin, as he was traded after the season.

Eddie Zosky played in forty-four major league games over five seasons and ten years.  He was a good field-no hit infielder who was drafted by Toronto in the first round out of Cal State-Fresno.  He spent two season in AA, where he had a decent but not great batting average, did not draw a whole lot of walks, and had little power.  He hit .264/.315/.350 in AAA in 1991 and got a September call-up, going 4-for-27 in 18 games.  He batted just .231 in AAA in 1992 but again got a September call-up, going 2-for-7 in 8 games.  He missed much of 1993, presumably to injury, was in AAA in 1994, then moved to the Marlins.  He was in AAA for them in 1995 but did get called up for about three weeks early in the season, going 1-for-5.  By this time he was in his late twenties and no longer a prospect, but he kept playing.  He was in the minors for Baltimore in 1996, San Francisco in 1997, and Milwaukee in 1998.  He was still with the Brewers in 1999 and got another September call-up, going 1-for-7.  He was with Pittsburgh and Houston in 2000 and got one more September call-up with the Astros, going 0-for-4.  Adding it all up, he was 8-for-50 in the majors, posting a line of .160/.173/.260.  He was well thought of early on:  Baseball America had him as the third-best prospect in the Southern League in 1990 and as the twenty-second-best prospect in all of baseball in 1991.  As a scout once said, you can talk all you want about the five tools, but none of the others mean much if you can't hit.

Record:  The Twins were 94-66, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Chicago.