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Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Seventy-four

CHICAGO 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 28.

Batting stars:  Pedro Munoz was 2-for-3 with a home run, his third.  Shane Mack was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

Pitching star:  Allan Anderson pitched a complete game, giving up four runs (three earned) on eight hits and no walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Charlie Hough pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out two.  Craig Grebeck was 2-for-4.  Sammy Sosa was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his ninth.  Cory Snyder was 1-for-4 with a home run (his third) and two runs.

The game:  The White Sox got all the runs they needed in the second inning when Grebeck singled, Snyder reached on an error, and Sosa hit a three-run homer.  The Twins had only two hits in the first four innings.  They got on the board in the fifth, however, when Mack led off with a home run and Munoz hit a two-out homer, cutting the lead to 3-2.

The Twins threatened in the eighth when Kirby Puckett was hit by a pitch and went to third on a one-out single by Brian Harper, but a popup and a strikeout ended the inning.  Chicago got an insurance run in the ninth when Snyder homered.

The Twins threatened again in the ninth.  Pinch-hitter Scott Leius led off with a walk and was replaced at first base by Randy Bush via a forceout.  Munoz and pinch-hitter Kent Hrbek singled, loading the bases.  It looked promising, with arguably the Twins' two best batters, Puckett and Chili Davis, coming to bat.  But Puckett struck out and Davis hit a long fly to left to end the game.

WP:  Hough (5-3).  LP:  Anderson (4-6).  S:  Bobby Thigpen (15).

Notes:  Gene Larkin was at first base in place of Hrbek.  That was the only change from the regular starting lineup, but Tom Kelly made liberal use of his bench in this game.

At the start of the fourth, Dan Gladden came out of the game and was replaced by Munoz, who went to right with Mack going to left.  Gladden left due to injury, and would not return until July 25.  Al Newman pinch-ran for Harper in the eighth and then came out of the game, with Junior Ortiz coming in to catch.  Leius pinch-hit for Pagliarulo, Bush pinch-hit for Greg Gagne, and Hrbek pinch-hit for Chuck Knoblauch.

Harper was 1-for-4 and was batting .332.  Puckett was 1-for-3 and was batting .319.  Munoz raised his average to .301.

Bush lowered his batting average to .194.

I had completely forgotten that Charlie Hough pitched for the White Sox.  He did so for two seasons, 1991 and 1992.  This was his age forty-three season, but he was still a good pitcher, posting an ERA of 4.02 and a WHIP of 1.31.  He was actually a little better the next year, with an ERA of 3.93 and a WHIP of 1.28.  He would then pitch for Florida for two years before retiring at age forty-six.

I'd also forgotten that Cory Snyder played for the White Sox.  This one is more understandable, as he only played fifty games for them.  He'd been a good player for Cleveland from 1986-1988, but then had two poor years and was traded to the White Sox prior to the 1991 season.  He played poorly, was traded to Toronto in mid-July, and continued to play poorly.  He bounced back with the Giants in 1992 and had a decent season for the Dodgers in 1993.  He slipped back in 1994, however, and was done after that.

This was the Twins' third straight loss.

Record:  The Twins were 44-30, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Sixty-two

MINNESOTA 11, CLEVELAND 7 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, June 15.

Batting stars:  Scott Leius was 3-for-4 with four RBIs.  Chuck Knoblauch was 3-for-5 with two runs.  Dan Gladden was 3-for-5.  Brian Harper was 2-for-3 with a double, a hit-by-pitch, and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Paul Abbott pitched 6.1 innings of relief, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Felix Fermin was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Chris James was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  Chili Davis' RBI single got the Twins on the board in the first inning.  The Indians came back in the bottom of the first.  Singles by Mike Huff and Fermin, a sacrifice fly, a walk to Brook Jacoby, and Jeff Manto's two-run double gave Cleveland a 3-1 lead.  In the second a walk, an error, and RBI singles by Fermin and James made it 5-1 Indians, and the Twins' winning streak appeared to be in serious trouble.

Not to worry.  The Twins put up a six-spot in the third and went into the lead to stay.  With one out, Gladden and Knoblauch singled and Kirby Puckett delivered a two-run triple.  Davis walked, followed by Harper's RBI single.  Kent Hrbek walked, a force out brought home a run to tie it, and Leius came through with a two-run single to put the Twins up 7-5.

The Twins added to their lead in the fifth.  Davis walked, Harper doubled, a ground out scored one run, and Leius had another run-scoring single to make the score 9-5 Twins.  The Indians got one back in the bottom of the fifth on two walks and two ground outs, cutting it to 9-6, but the Twins took control in the seventh.  Harper was hit by a pitch and Shane Mack got a one-out double.  Leius singled home another run and a sacrifice fly made it 11-6.  Cleveland got a run in the ninth on a double play to round out the scoring.

WP:  Abbott (2-0).  LP:  Jeff Mutis (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was a standard lineup, but the Twins made numerous late changes.  Pedro Munoz pinch-hit for Puckett in the eighth and went to right field, with Mack moving to center.  Lenny Webster went in to catch in the eighth, replacing Harper, and Al Newman went to short in the eighth, replacing Greg Gagne.  Randy Bush pinch-hit for Hrbek in the ninth and stayed in the game at first base.

Harper raised his average to .341.  Puckett was 1-for-4 and was batting .320.  Davis was 1-for-3 and was batting .301.  Abbott dropped his ERA to 1.98.

Bush went 0-for-1 and was batting .193.  Twins starter Mark Guthrie pitched just 1.1 innings and allowed five runs (three earned), raising his ERA to 5.60.  He would struggle through two more starts, then be dropped from the rotation.

Cleveland starter Jeff Mutis pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing seven runs on six hits and two walks.  This was his major league debut, and it obviously didn't go quite like he dreamed.  He made two more starts for the Indians in 1991 and continued to struggle.  He was with them again briefly in 1992 and was actually in their rotation at the start of 1993, but never had success in the majors.  He was in the Florida bullpen in 1994 but fared no better there.  For his career, he was 4-11, 6.48, 1.76 WHIP in 143 innings.  He appeared in 58 games, 18 of them starts.  He wasn't very good in AAA, either, going 17-16, 4.72, 1.49 WHIP.  He was with teams who were desperate for pitching, and there was apparently something about him teams liked, but there was really no reason for him to get that many chances in the major leagues.  His wikipedia entry closes with "In 1994, on December 15th, he birthed a beautiful child, named Carolyn Mutis".  At last report, he was living in Ontario and was a software engineer.  We hope he has more success in his current occupation.

So the Twins had made it fourteen in a row and seventeen of eighteen.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 37-25, in second place in the American League West, a half-game behind first-place Oakland.  They led third-place Texas by three games.

Keeping Track

1991 Rewind: Game Fifty-eight

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MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 11.

Batting stars:  Greg Gagne was 2-for-2 with a stolen base, his fourth.  Kent Hrbek was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Kevin Tapani pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits and one walk and striking out four.  Rick Aguilera pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Scott Sanderson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on seven hits and no walks and striking out three.  Mel Hall was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his tenth.  Roberto Kelly was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.

The game:  There was no score until the third, when Gagne singled, went to third on a stolen base-plus-error, and scored on a ground out.  It stayed 1-0 until the seventh, when Don Mattingly walked and Hall hit a one-out two-run homer, putting the Yankees ahead 2-1.  In the eighth, Kelly homered to increase the lead to 3-1.

The Twins came back in the bottom of the eighth.  Mike Pagliarulo led off with a single, chasing Sanderson from the game.  Steve Howe came in and gave up a single to Shane Mack, putting men on first and second.  John Habyan came in and Dan Gladden got a bunt single, loading the bases.  Chuck Knoblauch walked, forcing in a run to make the score 3-2.  Kirby Puckett struck out, but Greg Cadaret came in and gave up a two-run single to Hrbek, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead.  Chili Davis walked to re-load the bases and bring on Steve Farr.  He retired Brian Harper on a popup, but Gene Larkin walked to force in another run to give the Twins a 5-3 advantage.

The Yankees went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Tapani (4-6).  LP:  Habyan (4-2).  S:  Aguilera (17).

Notes:  Larkin was in right field, replacing Mack.  Mack came on in the eighth inning as a pinch-hitter for Randy Bush, who had been sent up as a pinch-hitter for Gagne.  Mack stayed in the game in right field.  Al Newman, who had pinch-run for Pagliarulo, stayed in the game at shortstop.  Scott Leius replaced Larkin in the batting order and played third base.

Harper was 1-for-4 and is batting .333.  Puckett was 0-for-4 and is batting .317.  Gagne raised his average to .307.  Aguilera lowered his ERA to 2.12.

As shown above, the Yankees used five pitchers in the eighth inning.  I'm not going to judge that--I don't have the time to go back and look at all these pitchers and the matchups and all that to see if it made sense to make all those pitching changes.  I'll just echo what Bill James once said--it sure looks bad when it doesn't work.

As also shown above, and as we've already seen several times, Tom Kelly was not at all afraid to use his bench.  Of course, teams had bigger benches back then, but still, he was not hesitant to put his reserves into the game.

My recollection was that Mel Hall was somewhat of a Twins killer.  My recollection was correct.  For his career, Hall batted .314/.346/.511 against Minnesota.  For comparison, his career numbers are .276/.318/.437.  In 1991, he batted .323/.313/.452 against the Twins.  The home run in this game was his only homer against Minnesota this season.  Among teams against which he had a hundred or more plate appearances, he did best against St. Louis--.323/.376/.616.

The Twins had now won ten in a row and thirteen of fourteen.  They continued to climb the standings.  How long could they keep it going?

Record:  The Twins were 33-25, in third place in the American League West, two games behind Oakland.  They were a half game behind second-place California and 2.5 games ahead of fourth-place Seattle.