Tag Archives: using the bench

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-three

MINNESOTA 9, CLEVELAND 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, September 2.

Batting stars:  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Shane Mack was 1-for-3 with a grand slam, his seventeenth home run.

Pitching stars:  Scott Erickson struck out seven in seven shutout innings, giving up six hits and two walks.  He threw 119 pitches.  Rick Aguilera pitched two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Mike Aldrete was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Albert Belle was 2-for-4 with a double.  Alex Cole was 2-for-4 with a walk.

The game:  Despite the final score, it was a pitchers' duel for six innings.  The Indians had a couple of mild threats, getting a two-out double from Carlos Baerga in the first and putting men on first and second with one out in the third.  The Twins did not get a hit until the fourth.  Knoblauch led off with a single and went to third with none out on a pickoff error, but he was thrown out trying to score on a ground ball to short (one assumes it was the contact play).  Cleveland put men on first and second with one out in the fifth and had men on first and third with one out in the sixth, but the latter threat went away when Carlos Martinez was thrown out at home on the back end of a second-and-home double steal.  So the game remained scoreless in the sixth.

The Twins broke through in the seventh.  Randy Bush led off with a walk.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran and scored from first on Puckett's double.  Hrbek followed with an RBI single.  A pair of productive outs moved Hrbek to third and he scored on an error.  Junior Ortiz delivered an RBI double to put the Twins up 4-0.

The Indians came right back in the eighth.  Steve Bedrosian came in to pitch and walked Baerga.  Belle doubled, and RBI singles by Martinez and Aldrete made it 4-2.  Aguilera came on and got Jeff Manto to hit into a double play, but a run scored to make it 4-3.

Undaunted, the Twins put it away in the bottom of the eighth.  Knoblauch led off with a single and Chili Davis walked.  Puckett delivered an RBI single.  Hrbek laid down a bunt single, loading the bases.  Mack then hit a grand slam, making the score 9-3 and effectively ending the game.  Not literally, of course--Cleveland still batted in the ninth, but they went down in order.

WP:  Erickson (17-6).  LP:  Eric King (5-9).  S:  Aguilera (37).

Notes:  Mack was in left field, with Dan Gladden getting the day off.  Gene Larkin was in right.  Once again Ortiz caught Erickson, with Brian Harper on the bench.  Randy Bush was at DH in place of Davis.  Knoblauch led off, with Bush batting second.

Again, we had plenty of bench players used.  Brown pinch-ran for Bush in the seventh.  Davis pinch-hit for Brown in the eighth.  Al Newman then pinch-ran for Davis in the eighth.  Gladden pinch-ran for Larkin in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field, with Mack moving to right.  Paul Sorrento pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the eighth.  Scott Leius went into the game at shortstop in the ninth.

Puckett raised his average to .330.  Mack raised his average to .310.  Mike Pagliarulo was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.  Erickson lowered his ERA to 3.08.

Tom Kelly allowing Erickson to throw seven innings and 114 pitches is at least questionable.  Yes, he was pitching well, and yes, it was a scoreless game until the seventh.  But he was obviously still hurting, this was the first good game he'd pitched in a month, and the Twins were in first place by eight games.  Plus, TK gave Gladden and Davis the day off, so he clearly did not consider this a must-win game.  It seems to me a lower pitch-limit would have been indicated, even though such things were not as common back then.

Using three pinch-runners in a game is certainly unusual.  Even back then the only way you could do it is with September call-ups, and with the new limit on September call-ups it may never happen again.  I think if I ran a team, I'd have a couple of pitchers practiced up so they could be used as pinch-runners when necessary.  It used to not be uncommon to use pitchers as pinch-runners--there's no real reason you couldn't do it today.  Yes, there's a chance someone could get hurt, but there's also a chance someone could get hurt running in the outfield before the game.  To me, with today's shorter benches, it makes perfect sense.

Oakland did not play, but the White Sox defeated Kansas City 5-1, so the two teams were once again tied for second place.

Record:  The Twins were 80-53, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Toronto continued to lead Detroit by 2.5 games in the East.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-two

MINNESOTA 14, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Brian Harper was 3-for-4 with a home run (his ninth), a double, and three runs.  Shane Mack was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3.  Gene Larkin was 2-for-4 with a double, two runs, and two RBIs.  Chili Davis was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his twenty-seventh), a walk, and two runs.  Paul Sorrento hit a pinch-hit two-run homer, his second.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris pitched seven innings, giving up three unearned runs on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Mark Guthrie struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Brady Anderson was 2-for-3 with a triple and two walks.  Chito Martinez was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.

The game:  Anderson led off the game with a triple but failed to score.  That was the only time the Orioles threatened to take the lead.  In the second, Harper and Mack led off with back-to-back doubles, with a bunt and a sacrifice fly bringing home the second run.  The Twins took control in the fourth.  Davis led off with a walk, which was followed by five consecutive singles.  Harper, Mack, Scott Leius, Larkin, and Greg Gagne all got base hits, making the score 5-0 with the bases loaded.  With one out Knoblauch walked to bring in a run and a sacrifice fly brought home another, giving the Twins a 7-0 lead.  Harper led off the fifth with a home run to make it 8-0.

Baltimore got on the board in the sixth.  Anderson led off with a single and went to third on a pair of productive outs.  Glenn Davis then reached on an error, bringing home a run, and Martinez hit a two-run homer to cut the margin to 8-3.

That was as close as the Orioles would come.  Davis hit a three-run homer in the sixth to make it 11-3.  They added three more in the seventh, two of them coming on a Sorrento pinch-hit two-run homer, to bring the final score to 14-3.

WP:  Morris (16-10).  LP:  Arthur Rhodes (0-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Larkin was at first base in place of Kent Hrbek.  At least some of the September call-ups arrived, and with a blowout game there were numerous substitutions.  Jarvis Brown went to center field in the seventh, replacing Puckett.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Gagne in the seventh and stayed in the game at second base.  Sorrento pinch-hit for Gladden in the seventh and stayed in the game at first base.  Lenny Webster came in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper.  Knoblauch moved from second base to shortstop in the eighth.  Mack moved from right field to left in the eighth.  Larkin went from first base to right field in the eighth.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Davis in the eighth.

Puckett raised his average to .329.  Harper went up to .321.  Webster went 1-for-1 and was batting .313 (5-for-16).  Mack raised his average to .310.

Rhodes lasted just three innings and allowed seven runs on eight hits and a walk.  This was his rookie season, and was just his third start.  He would make eight starts in 1991, five of them with game scored of forty or lower.  He would go on to have a long and relatively successful career as a reliever, pitching in twenty major league seasons and lasting until he was forty-one.

This was Knoblauch's second game at shortstop.  He had played one inning there on July 18.  For his career he played thirteen games at shortstop.  He started two of them, one in 1993 and one in 1997.  It's interesting that Tom Kelly played Newman at second and Knoblauch at short, rather than vice-versa.  It was a blowout game--maybe TK just wanted to give Knoblauch a little time at short in case injuries came up and he needed to play him there.

Oakland lost to Detroit 5-2, so the Twins regained the game they'd lost yesterday.

Record:  The Twins were 79-53, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of Oakland.

There was a closer race in the American League East.  Toronto had a record of 73-59 and was in first place, 2.5 games ahead of Detroit.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-five

MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 2 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, August 24.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifteenth) and two RBIs.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4.  Dan Gladden was 2-for-5 with a triple and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Edens pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks and striking out two.  Steve Bedrosian pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Bob Milacki pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out three.  Randy Milligan was 2-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  In the first Mike Devereaux walked, went to third on a one-out single by Cal Ripken, and scored on a ground out to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  Devereaux led off the second with a home run to make it 2-0.  Meanwhile, the first eleven Twins batters were retired.  They got a pair of one-out singles in the fourth, but nothing came of it.  The Twins had only one more hit until the seventh, when Mack homered to cut the lead to 2-1.

It stayed 2-1 until the ninth.  Gregg Olson was the Baltimore closer, but he had pitched in three games in a row and four of the last five, so Mike Flanagan came in to try to close it out.  He was greeted by a single by Hrbek, a walk to Chili Davis, and an RBI single by Mack to tie the score.  Mike Pagliarulo hit into a force out, putting men on first and third.  At that point, Olson came into the game anyway.  He walked Randy Bush and struck out Brian Harper.  Gladden then hit a three-run triple to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.  The Orioles went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

WP:  Steve Bedrosian (5-3).  LP:  Flanagan (2-5).  S:  Aguilera (33).

Notes:  Junior Ortiz was again behind the plate in place of Harper.  Al Newman pinch-ran for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at shortstop.  Bush pinch-hit for Ortiz in the ninth.  Harper pinch-hit for Greg Gagne, who was back in the lineup, in the ninth and stayed in the game behind the plate.  Gene Larkin went to first base in Bush's spot in the ninth.

Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Harper was 0-for-1 and was batting .311.  Mack raised his average to .309.  Aguilera's ERA went down to 2.33.

Edens was making his first major league appearance in 1991.  He had made thirty-five appearances for them in 1990.  He would make six starts in 1991 (plus two relief games) and pitch pretty well in four of them.  These would be the last major league starts he would make.  He would pitch in relief for Minnesota (1992), Houston (1993-1994), Philadelphia (1994), and the Cubs (1995).

The Twins handled Cal Ripken fairly well in this series (3-for-11, all singles), but not on the season.  In 1991, Ripken batted .354/.373/.563 in 51 plate appearances.  Maybe they should've walked him more.  For his career, he batted .307/.371/.478 against the Twins.  His overall career numbers were .276/.340/.447.

Flanagan was nearing the end of his career, but he had a fine year out of the Orioles bullpen.  He was 2-7, but his ERA was 2.38 and he had a WHIP of 1.11.  He also had three saves.  This was the last good year he would have, though.  In 1992 he was 8.05 ERA and 2.11 WHIP in 34.2 innings, and then he was done.

Hrbek had a fine August, batting .316/.391/.500 with four home runs in 110 plate appearances.

The White Sox lost to Cleveland 2-1 and Oakland lost to Milwaukee 7-0, so the Twins gained another game on both teams.

Record:  The Twins were 75-50, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

 

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-three

MINNESOTA 5, SEATTLE 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, August 22.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fifth) and a walk.  Brian Harper was 2-for-4.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-5 with a double.  Chuck Knoblauch was 2-for-5.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and five walks.  Rick Aguilera pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Rick DeLucia pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Greg Briley was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases, his seventeenth and eighteenth.  Pete O'Brien was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Jay Buhner was 2-for-5 with a double.  Edgar Martinez was 2-for-6 with a double and two runs.  Harold Reynolds was 2-for-6 with a double.

The game:  Martinez led off the game with a single, went to second on a ground out, and scored on an O'Brien single to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  Each team missed a chance in the second.  In the third O'Brien hit a two-out single and scored on Buhner's double to make it 2-0 Seattle.

Each team put a man on second in the fourth but neither scored.  The Twins had two on in the sixth and the Mariners loaded the bases in the seventh, but the score remained 2-0.  The Twins finally got on the board in the seventh when Mike Pagliarulo doubled and scored on Knoblauch's two-out single.  Seattle came right back in the eighth.  Dave Cochrane singled, and with two out Martinez had an RBI double and Reynolds had a run-scoring single, putting the Mariners ahead 4-1.

It was still 4-1 going to the bottom of the ninth.  With one out, Al Newman walked, Knoblauch singled, and Bush hit a three-run homer to tie the score 4-4.  Seattle went down in order in the top of the tenth.  With two out and none on in the bottom of the tenth, Leius hit a walkoff home run to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Aguilera (4-4).  LP:  Mike Schooler (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Shane Mack was in left field, with Dan Gladden out of the lineup.  Gene Larkin took Mack's place in right.  Knoblauch was the leadoff batter, with Bush batting second.  Bush replaced Chili Davis in the DH slot.  Newman was again at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.

The Twins again made liberal use of their bench.  Gagne pinch-ran for Brian Harper in the eighth.  Davis pinch-hit for Larkin in the eighth and stayed in the game in left field, with Mack moving to right.  Junior Ortiz replaced Gagne in the ninth and was the catcher.  Gladden pinch-hit for Pagliarulo in the ninth and stayed in the game in left field, replacing Davis.  Leius entered the game in the tenth at third base.

Puckett raised his average to .330.  Harper went up to .312.  Mack was 0-for-4 and was batting .306.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.38.

The Twins stranded nine men and went 2-for-12 with men in scoring position.  The Mariners stranded fourteen men and went 2-for-19 with men in scoring position.

Morris threw 137 pitches in his 6.1 innings.

It seemed odd that Schooler had not had a decision before this game, but he missed the first half of 1991, not appearing in his first game until July 12.  He had five saves to this point.

Edgar Martinez was the leadoff batter for Seattle in this series.  It was his second full season, and he was still primarily a third baseman at this point.  He batted leadoff 67 times in 1991 and was good at it.  He didn't steal any bases, which is no surprise, but he batted .307 as a leadoff batter with an OBP of .405.  He would move down to (primarily) the number two spot in 1992 and would not return to the number one position.

The White Sox did not play and Oakland defeated California 2-1, so those two teams moved in to a "virtual tie" for second place.

Record:  The Twins were 74-49, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of Chicago and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game One Hundred Twenty-two

MINNESOTA 9, SEATTLE 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 21.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-3 with a triple, a double, a walk, and five RBIs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-3 with two runs.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out one.  Denny Neagle pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Ken Griffey was 2-for-3 with a double.  Bill Swift pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.  Russ Swan pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

The game:  Edgar Martinez led off the game with a double, went to third on a fly ball and scored on another fly ball to give the Mariners a 1-0 lead.  The Twins came back with six in the bottom of the first, and they did after their first two batters were retired.  Puckett singled, Chili Davis walked, and Harper was hit by a pitch to load the bases.  Mack hit a bases-clearing triple and scored on Kent Hrbek's single.  Scott Leius walked and Al Newman delivered a two-run double.  The Twins led 6-1 and were never threatened after that.

The Twins added two runs in the second for good measure.  Singles by Puckett and Harper put men on first and second with two out.  Mack's double brought them both home to make it 8-1.  The final run of the game came in the seventh, when Davis singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Mack's single-plus-error.

Seattle only got close to scoring twice after the first inning.  Griffey doubled leading off the sixth but could only get as far as third base.  Greg Briley doubled with two out in the ninth but was thrown out at the plate trying to score on a Scott Bradley single.

WP:  Tapani (11-7).  LP:  Bill Krueger (10-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  Newman started at short in place of Greg Gagne.

With a big lead, the Twins made lots of substitutions.  Gagne pinch-hit for Chuck Knoblauch in the sixth and stayed in the game at shortstop, with Newman moving to second base.  Gene Larkin pinch-hit for Puckett in the seventh and stayed in the game in right field, with Mack moving to center.  Junior Ortiz replaced Harper behind the plate in the eighth.  Randy Bush replaced Hrbek at first base in the eighth.

Puckett raised his average to .329.  Harper raised his average to .310.  Mack raised his average to .310.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 2.97.

Tapani threw 111 pitches.  Today, with a lead that big, he would undoubtedly have come out after seven innings, if not sooner.

Krueger started for the Mariners but lasted only two innings.  He surrendered eight runs on seven hits and two walks and struck out two.

It seems kind of amazing to have the last out be made at the plate in a 9-1 game.  In that situation, if there's any chance that the runner might not make it home safely (other than falling down or something), you hold him at third, because that run is meaningless anyway.  It could be, I suppose, that, knowing the run was meaningless, Seattle assumed Dan Gladden would concede it and not make a throw to the plate.  If so, they were wrong.

I don't recall what the deal was with Gagne at this point.  I had assumed he was nursing a minor injury, but if so, why use him late in a game like this?  It's clearly not a case of being able to bat and not play in the field, or vice-versa, because he did both here.  He would not be back in the starting lineup until August 24, but he would play in each of the two games in-between.  I'm sure there was a reason, but I don't know what it was.

Mack had an eight-game hitting streak.  He was 15-for-32 over that streak with three doubles and three triples.  The three triples have come in the last two games.  His average jumped from .292 to .310.

The White Sox lost to Detroit 12-9.  Not only did they lose another game to the Twins, but they were only a half-game above third-place Oakland.

Record:  The Twins were 73-49, in first place in the American League West, 5.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Ninety-three

MINNESOTA 14, BOSTON 1 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, July 21.

Batting stars:  Shane Mack was 3-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two runs.  Chili Davis was 3-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his third.  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with three RBIs.  Scott Leius was 2-for-5 with a double, a walk, and three runs.  Brian Harper was 2-for-6 with two runs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 1-for-3 with three walks and three runs.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched six innings, giving up an unearned run on three hits and no walks and striking out none.  Paul Abbott struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Allan Anderson pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition star:  Steve Lyons was 2-for-3 with a double.

The game:  Leius led off the game with a single, followed by singles by Knoblauch and Puckett to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  An RBI ground out made it 2-0.  In the third Knoblauch walked and went to third on Davis' two-out single.  Davis then stole second.  A passed ball scored one run, a Harper single scored another, and a Mack double made it 5-0.  in the fourth, Greg Gagne hit a one-out double, walks to Leius and Knoblauch filled the bases, and Puckett's two-run single made it 7-0.

The Red Sox got on the board in the bottom of the seventh.  Jody Reed reached on an error and scored on a Jack Clark double.  That was the end of their good news, though.  The Twins scored five in the sixth and two more in the seventh to get the 14-1 victory.

WP:  Tapani (6-7).  LP:  Tom Bolton (7-7).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was again in left field in the absence of Dan Gladden.  Gene Larkin was in right.  Leius was the leadoff batter.

Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Puckett in the fifth and stayed in the game in center field.  Al Newman went into the game at shortstop in the fifth, replacing Gagne.  Randy Bush went into the game in the sixth inning at first base, replacing Kent Hrbek.  Davis went to left field in the eighth inning, with Abbott entering the lineup in Mack's spot.

Puckett raised his average to .328.  Harper went up to .325.  Tapani lowered his ERA to 3.03.  Abbott went down to 3.31.

Tapani hadn't gotten much run support up to this point in the season, but that turned around in this game.  Including this game, he won five starts in a row and went 9-0 over ten starts.  In those games, the Twins scored 71 runs.  Tapani was still pitching well--he did not give up more than four runs in any of those starts, and six times gave up fewer than three.

This was Davis' first appearance in the field all season.  He would make just one more, about a month later.  He would, of course, play one game in the field in the World Series.  He had been a regular outfielder from 1982-1989 and had played a substantial number of games in the outfield in 1990, but would make only token appearances there after that and none from 1995-1999, when his career ended.

Boston starter Bolton pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on five hits and three walks and striking out one.  He had pitched five innings of relief just three days earlier.  He really couldn't be expected to pitch well after that, and he didn't.

Tapani pitched six innings and neither struck out nor walked anyone.  I don't know how rare that is, but it is at least unusual.  I suspect it might have been more common years ago than it is now, but I don't think it was all that common in the old days, either.

The White Sox lost and Texas won, so the Twins gained a game in the standings while the Rangers tied Chicago for second place.  The Twins had won four in a row, five of six, and eight of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 55-38, in first place in the American League West, 5.5 games ahead of Texas and Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Ninety-one

1 Comment

MINNESOTA 3, BOSTON 2 IN BOSTON (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, July 19.

Batting stars:  Kent Hrbek was 3-for-3 with a walk.  Scott Leius was 3-for-4 with a triple and a double.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4.  Randy Bush was 1-for-1 with a home run, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  David West pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out none.  Carl Willis pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.  Steve Bedrosian pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.  Rick Aguilera pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Joe Hesketh pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on nine hits and two walks and striking out five.  Wade Boggs was 4-for-4 with a triple.  Tony Pena was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.

The game:  The Twins opened the game with two singles, but never advanced either runner.  The Red Sox got a single and two walks in the bottom of the first but also did not score.  The Twins got a single, a walk, and a double in the second, but due to a caught stealing again did not score.  Boston got three singles in the third, but a runner was thrown out at the plate and the game still remained scoreless.

The theme continues.  In the fourth the Twins got a walk and a single and could not score.  In the fifth Leius led off with a triple and still did not score.

In the bottom of the fifth the Red Sox finally broke through.  Pena led off with a home run.  With one out, Boggs tripled and Reed singled to make it 2-0 Boston.

The Twins got a pair of singles in the sixth, but a double play took them out of the inning.  Finally, in the seventh, Leius hit a one-out double and scored on Kirby Puckett's two-out double to get the Twins on the board.  It was still 2-1 through eight, but Bush came through with a pinch-hit homer in the ninth to tie the score 2-2.  Boston got a leadoff double from Ellis Burks in the bottom of the ninth, but again did not score, so we went to extra innings.

Neither team threatened in the tenth.  With two out in the eleventh, Chuck Knoblauch singled and scored all the way from first on a Mike Pagliarulo single to put the Twins ahead.  Mike Greenwell got a one-out single in the bottom of the eleventh, but he did not move past first base and the Twins came away with the win.

WP:  Bedrosian (3-2).  LP:  Greg Harris (6-9).  S:  Aguilera (25).

Notes:  Mack was again in left field in place of Dan Gladden.  Gene Larkin was in right.  Al Newman was at second base in place of Knoblauch.  Leius was again in the leadoff spot, with Newman batting second.

Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Kent Hrbek in the eighth and stayed in the game in right field, with Larkin moving to first base.  Knoblauch pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the ninth and stayed in the game at second base, with Newman moving to shortstop.  Bush pinch-hit for Leius in the ninth, with Mike Pagliarulo coming in to play third base.

Harper was 0-for-5 and was batting .325.  Puckett was 1-for-5 and was batting .324.  West lowered his ERA to 3.18.  Willis' ERA was 2.59.  Bedrosian went down to 3.35.  Aguilera went down to 2.95.

Brown was 0-for-1 and was batting .154.

The Twins stranded eleven runners and were 1-for-14 with men in scoring position.  The Red Sox stranded eight runners and were 2-for-10 with men in scoring position.

Pagliarulo extended his hitting streak to eight games, despite only getting one at-bat.  He was 16-for-25 over that stretch and raised his average to .294.

This was the lowest West's ERA would be for the rest of the season.  He would end up at 4.54.

Oakland and California both lost, but Chicago won to take over second place.

Record:  The Twins were 53-38, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Ninety

MINNESOTA 11, BOSTON 3 IN BOSTON

Date:  Thursday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Kirby Puckett was 2-for-4 with two runs and two RBIs.  Shane Mack was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Scott Leius was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second), a stolen base (his fifth), two walks, and three runs.  Chili Davis was 1-for-5 with a home run (his twentieth) and four RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jack Morris struck out eight in seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on three hits and a walk.  Terry Leach pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Jack Clark was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and two RBIs.  Ellis Burks was 1-for-3 with a home run, his eleventh.  Tom Bolton pitched five innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and striking out two.

The game:  The two teams combined for one hit in the first two innings, but that changed in the third.  Gene Larkin and Greg Gagne opened the inning with singles, followed by a walk to Leius to load the bases.  Al Newman then delivered a two-run double, Puckett had an RBI single, and Davis drove in a run with a ground out, making it 4-0.  The Twins weren't done.  Brian Harper singled and advanced on a throw, putting men on second and third.  Mack then struck a two-run single to make the score 6-0.

The Twins added some more in the fourth.  With one out, Leius singled and stole second (breaking an unwritten rule?).  Newman reached on an error, Puckett had another RBI single, and Davis hit a three-run homer to make the score 10-0.

It was never close after that.  The Red Sox got on the board on the bottom of the fourth when Jody Reed singled, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on Clark's RBI single.  Burks hit a home run in the fifth to make it 10-2.  Leius homered in the ninth and Clark homered in the ninth, and it ended up 11-3.

WP:  Morris (13-6).  LP:  Kevin Morton (1-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Mack was again in left in place of Dan Gladden.  Larkin was in right, making his first appearance since July 1.  Newman started at second base in place of Chuck Knoblauch.  He batted second, with Leius in the number one spot.

Jarvis Brown went to center field in the sixth to replace Puckett.  Randy Bush entered the game in the eighth inning in place of Kent Hrbek.  He went to left, with Mack going to right and Larkin moving to first base.  Tom Kelly usually played Bush in right and Mack in left--perhaps the Green Monster changed his thinking for this game.  Knoblauch replaced Gagne at shortstop in the eighth.

Harper went 1-for-4 and was batting .332.  Puckett raised his average to .326.  Morris lowered his ERA to 3.39.  Leach lowered his ERA to 3.22.

Brown was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.

I referenced this above, but I wonder if there was any comment about Leius stealing second with a six-run lead.  There shouldn't have been--it was only the fourth inning, they were in Boston, and the Red Sox had a pretty good lineup--but the unwritten rules are a tricky thing, and they seem to vary from year to year and team to team.

Morton, the Boston starter, lasted 2.1 innings, allowing six runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.  Morton had pitched decently against the Twins five days earlier, but they certainly figured him out in the third inning of this game.

I don't remember Tom Bolton at all, but he pitched in the majors for eight years.  Most of that was with the Red Sox--he came up in 1987 and stayed with them until July of 1992, when he was traded to Cincinnati for Billy Hatcher.  He was with Detroit in 1993 and Baltimore in 1994.  He was actually pretty good for Boston in 1990, going 10-5, 3.38, 1.32 WHIP.  1991 was not a good year for him:  8-9, 5.24, 1.70 WHIP.  He would make one more appearance, then miss a month due to injury--one wonders if he was fighting an injury most of the season.  Or perhaps 1990 was just a fluke season, because his next lowest ERA for a season was 4.38 in his rookie season.  For his career he was 31-34, 4.56, 1.59 WHIP.  He played in 209 games, 56 of them starts, and pitched 540.1 innings.  After baseball, he went back to his home town of Nashville and went into the real estate development business.

Oakland lost yesterday (when the Twins were idle) and lost to New York 3-2 today, so the Twins gained a game and a half on them.  The Athletics fell into a second-place tie with California, which defeated Cleveland 5-4.

Record:  The Twins were 52-38, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Eighty-two

MINNESOTA 5, CHICAGO 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 6.

Batting stars:  Brian Harper was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his eighth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Carl Willis pitched three shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.  Rick Aguilera pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Frank Thomas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a double.  Robin Ventura was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his sixth) and a walk.  Ramon Garcia pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on three hits and three walks and striking out two hits.

The game:  There was really no threat to score (well, technically, every time someone comes to bat there's the threat of a score, but you know what I mean) until the fourth, when Thomas led off the inning with a home run.  In the fifth, Craig Grebeck drew a one-out walk and Tim Raines drew a two-out walk, followed by Ventura's three-run homer, putting the White Sox up 4-0.

The Twins came back in the seventh.  Randy Bush led off with a single, but was still on first with two out.  Chili Davis then walked and Harper delivered a three-run homer, cutting the margin to 4-3.  The homer was followed by a couple of two-out singles, but the Twins could not get even.

Not to worry.  With two out in the eighth Kirby Puckett singled and Hrbek hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins ahead 5-4.  Chicago did not go quietly, however.  Dan Pasqua hit a two-out double in the eighth but was stranded at second.  In the ninth Warren Newson hit a one-out single and stole second.  A ground out and a fly out followed, and the Twins held on to win.

WP:  Willis (3-2).  LP:  Scott Radinsky (2-3).  S:  Aguilera (22).

Notes:  Pedro Munoz was in left, replacing Dan Gladden.  Bush was in right, replacing Shane Mack.  Chuck Knoblauch led off, with Bush batting second.

Tom Kelly again used a lot of his bench.  Mack pinch-hit for Bush in the eighth and stayed in the game in left field, with Munoz moving to right.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base.  Jarvis Brown pinch-ran for Harper in the ninth, with Junior Ortiz coming in to catch.

Harper raised his average to .332.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Willis dropped his ERA to 2.95.  Aguilera's ERA fell to 2.75.

Paul Abbott's second start did not go nearly as well as the first.  He pitched 4.2 innings, giving up four runs on three hits and five walks and struck out two.  Of course, two of the hits were home runs.  I suppose you could argue that he did well other than the home runs, but that doesn't help a whole lot.  He would go back to the bullpen after this start, making just one more start in 1991, on August 1.

Given how the Twins were flailing around to try to fill the back end of the rotation, it's a little surprising that they never gave Willis a start.  He had started only two games in his major league career, both in 1984, so you can understand why they didn't.  But he made thirteen relief appearances of three innings or more, seven of four innings or more, and one of five innings.  He generally did quite well in those long relief appearances, although I suppose that's skewed because if he hadn't done well he wouldn't have been left in the game that long.  I'm not saying he'd have been the solution to their starting pitching problems.  I'm not even saying it was a mistake not to use him as a starter.  I'm just saying that it might have been an option, and for whatever reason Kelly did not use it.

Texas defeated California 4-3, so the Twins did not increase their lead.

Record:  The Twins were 47-35, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Texas.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Seventy-seven

1 Comment

CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, July 1.

Batting star:  Kirby Puckett was 4-for-5 with a home run (his eleventh) and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Paul Abbott pitched six innings, giving up one run on three hits and four walks and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Carlton Fisk was 2-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a double, a walk, two runs, and two RBIs.  Lance Johnson was 2-for-5 with a double and three RBIs.  Bobby Thigpen pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  The White Sox got a man to second in each of the first two innings, but there was no score until the fourth.  Dan Pasqua led off with a double, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on Johnson's single.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the fourth when Puckett homered to  make it 1-1.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth.  Greg Gagne walked, went to third on Knoblauch's single, and scored on a Pedro Munoz sacrifice fly.  A wild pitch moved Knoblauch to second and he scored on Puckett's single, making the score 3-1 Twins.

Chicago came back in the eighth.  With two out, Frank Thomas and Dan Pasqua walked.  Rick Aguilera came in and gave up back-to-back doubles to Fisk and Johnson, giving the White Sox a 4-3 lead.  The Twins tied it in the bottom of the eighth when Pedro Munoz drew a one-out walk, Puckett had a bunt single, and Kent Hrbek singled.

The Twins came close in the ninth.  Brian Harper reached on an error, was bunted to second, and went to third on a ground out.  Randy Bush was intentionally walked, but Knoblauch grounded out to end the inning.

Fisk hit a two-out homer in the tenth to give Chicago a 5-4 lead.  The Twins threatened in the bottom of the tenth.  Puckett and Paul Sorrento had one-out singles, putting men on first and third.  But Puckett was thrown out trying to score on a grounder to the pitcher (presumably the contact play) and Scott Leius flied out to end the game.

WP:  Bobby Thigpen (5-2).  LP:  Carl Willis (2-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Shane Mack was again in left field in place of Dan Gladden.  Gene Larkin was in right.

Tom Kelly again made liberal use of his bench.  Munoz replaced Larkin in right field after the first inning, presumably due to injury.  Larkin would not play again until July 18.  Al Newman pinch-hit for Mike Pagliarulo in the seventh and stayed in the game at third base.  Pitcher Mark Guthrie pinch-ran for Kent Hrbek in the eighth, with Sorrento coming into the game to play first.  Leius pinch-ran for Harper in the ninth and stayed in the game at third base, with Newman moving to shortstop and Junior Ortiz going behind the plate.  Bush pinch-hit for Greg Gagne in the ninth.

Puckett raised his average to .332.  Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .324.  Abbott lowered his ERA to 2.88.  Aguilera gave up a run in 1.1 innings, making his ERA 2.92.  Willis gave up a run in one inning, making his ERA 3.21.

This was Sorrento's first game with the Twins this season.  He would be with the Twins for about two weeks, then come back as a September call-up.  He'd had two really good years in AAA Portland and was clearly ready to play in the majors, but with Hrbek at first and Chili Davis at DH there was just no spot for him.  The Twins would trade him to Cleveland at the end of 1992 spring training for Curtis Leskanic and Oscar Munoz, and Sorrento would go on to have a solid career for the Indians and Seattle.

If I ran a ball club, especially with thirteen-man pitching staffs, I would put a couple of my pitchers through baserunning drills on a regular basis, so I could use them as pinch-runners when needed.

The Twins had now lost five out of six.  Would they be able to hold on to first place?

Record:  The Twins were 45-32, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of California.