November 30, 2006
Thursday May 28, 1987
Twins 13, Brewers 1
Everything seemed to click for the Twins, who swept the Metrodome series against Milwaukee by defeating the Brewers 13-1.
The Twins jumped ahead early with the following line in the bottom of the first (from Retrosheet):
TWINS 1ST: Gladden singled to center; Gladden stole second;
Gagne walked; Puckett singled to right [Gladden scored, Gagne to
third]; Hrbek forced Puckett (second to shortstop) [Gagne
scored, Hrbek to first]; Hrbek stole second; Gaetti doubled to
right [Hrbek scored, Gaetti to third (error by Deer)];
Trebelhorn ejected for arguing that Deer caught Gaetti's
hit; Larkin singled to right [Gaetti scored]; Birkbeck threw
a wild pitch [Larkin to second]; Brunansky homered [Larkin
scored]; Lombardozzi singled to second; CRIM REPLACED BIRKBECK
(PITCHING); Laudner made an out to left; Gladden lined to first;
6 R, 6 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Brewers 0, Twins 6.
You know things are going right when Kent Hrbek successfully steals a base (the 15th base swiped in his career).
For the Brewers, the turn-around this season has been striking. After a 20-3 start the Brewers were the talk of baseball. Since that time, the team has managed only two more wins in 19 games to fall back to the pack. When the Brewers were finally able to score a run in the ninth against the Twins, Milwaukee fans who had crossed the border for the series cheered sarcastically.
Tom Kelly on the Twins:
“That was a good game,” Kelly said. “Good pitching, good hitting. You can’t ask for too much more than that. We’ve been pitching well for the last three nights and our guys have been swinging the bats, too. I think we caught the Brewers when they were down a little bit. That’s just the way it goes. I guess we put together three pretty good games.”
Player of the Game
Gene Larkin
AL West Standings through 5/28
Kansas City 26-17 191 RS 154 RA -
Minnesota 24-22 223 RS 222 RA 3.5 GB
Seattle 23-23 217 RS 245 RA 4.5 GB
Oakland 22-23 213 RS 198 RA 5.0 GB
California 21-25 211 RS 242 RA 6.5 GB
Chicago 18-24 18-24 160 RS 175 RA 7.5 GB
Texas 17-26 202 RS 239 RA 9.0 GB
Tomorrow @ Detroit: Les Straker 2-1 2.62 vs Walt Terrell 3-5 3.21
Saturday-Sunday @ DET
Monday-Wednesday @ BOS
6/5-6/7 vs DET
6/8-6/10 vs KC
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Posted by Scot
November 29, 2006
Wednesday May 27, 1987
Twins 7, Brewers 2
It has been almost a month since the Twins have won back to back games. They finally did it against the Brewers, taking game two of the series 7-2.
Frank Viola allowed just two runs in six innings pitched, while the Twins offense presented a balanced attack, scoring seven runs on nine hits.
Greg Gagne seemed to be the spark plug for the Twins bats. Gagne, coming off of a 4-32 slump, had two hits in the game including a key double and an RBI single.
Player of the Game
Greg Gagne
AL West Standings through 5/27
Kansas City 26-17 191 RS 154 RA -
Minnesota 23-22 210 RS 221 RA 4.0 GB
Seattle 23-22 215 RS 240 RA 4.0 GB
Oakland 21-23 209 RS 195 RA 5.5 GB
California 21-24 204 RS 234 RA 6.0 GB
Chicago 18-24 160 RS 175 RA 7.5 GB
Texas 17-26 202 RS 239 RA 9.0 GB
Tomorrow vs Milwaukee: Juan Berenguer 2-0 2.61 vs Mike Birkbeck 1-3 5.04
Friday-Sunday @ DET
Monday-Wednesday @ BOS
6/5-6/7 vs TEX
6/8-6/10 vs KC
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Posted by Scot
November 28, 2006
Tuesday May 26, 1987
Twins 4, Brewers 2
After he pitched the seven innings pitched and a 4-2 lead, Bert Blyleven had enough. He told Tom Kelly that his arm was a bit weary, and with that, the man who has 218 career complete games took himself out of the game.
Blyleven allowed only two runs on four hits. He did give up another home run, this time to Jim Ganter, but that was the only runs Milwaukee managed.
Jeff Reardon picked it up from there, pitched two scoreless innings, and secured the win for the Twins.
Tom Brunanksy provided most of the offense with a triple and home run.
Player of the Game
Tom Brunansky
AL West Standings through 5/26
Kansas City 26-16 189 RS 151 RA -
Minnesota 22-22 203 RS 219 RA 5.0 GB
Seattle 22-22 209 RS 235 RA 5.0 GB
California 21-23 198 RS 226 RA 6.0 GB
Oakland 20-23 205 RS 104 RA 6.5 GB
Chicago 17-24 157 RS 173 RA 8.5 GB
Texas 17-25 199 RS 235 RA 9.0 GB
Tomorrow vs Milwaukee: Frank Viola (L) 2-5 4.12 vs Bill Wegman 3-4 3.74
Thursday vs MIL
Friday-Sunday @ DET
Monday-Wednesday @ BOS
6/5-6/7 vs TEX
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Posted by Scot
November 27, 2006
November 27, 1947
MVP controversy is not a recent development. In 1947, Ted Williams won the American League triple crown, but Joe DiMaggio won the League MVP award by one point in the voting system.
The stats:
DiMaggio NYY .315/.391/.522 20 HR 97 RBI 2.2 BFW 30 WS
Williams BOS .343/.499/.634 32 HR 114 RBI 7.2 BFW 44 WS
To make this story more interesting, Williams was completely left off one of the ballots. Based on the scoring system in place, if he had been placed 10th on that ballot, the results would have been a tie. A 9th place finish would have given Williams the award.
It would be easy to place all of the blame for the results on that one writer who left Williams off of the ballot, but there was plenty of blame to go around. Williams recieved only 3 out of 22 first place votes. Lou Boudreau also received 3, while Eddie Joost recieved 2.
Boudreau CLE .307/.388/.424 4 HR 67 RBI 5.3 BFW 28 WS
Joost PHA .206/.348/.330 13 HR 64 RBI 0.3 BFW 18 WS
DiMaggio received 8 first place votes, followed by Joe Page with 7.
Page NYY 14-8 2.48 ERA 1.25 WHIP 3.3 PW 17 WS
So, while the one voter who left Williams off of the ballot certainly had an impact, it seems he is not the only one to have a questionable ballot in 1947.
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Posted by Scot
November 26, 2006
Sunday May 24, 1987
Tigers 7, Twins 2
The Twins squandered a solid pitching performance by Les Straker to drop the game and the series to Detroit. Straker did not allow a run through six innings, but the Twins only managed one run against Jeff Robinson despite coming to bat nine times with runners in scoring position.
It all fell apart for Twins pitching in the top of the seventh, however. After Straker retired the first batter, 1986 Gold Glove award winner Gary Gaetti one-hopped a throw to first that Kent Hrbek could not handle. The error started a five-run rally in which the Tigers only managed two singles, with the help of four walks and a wild pitch.
The Twins will take Memorial Day off before starting a three-game series at home against the cooled-off Brewers.
Player of the Game
Jeff Robinson 8 IP 1 ER 9 K
AL West Standings through 5/24
Kansas City 24-16 178 RS 146 RA -
Seattle 22-21 204 RS 229 RA 3.5 GB
California 21-22 195 RS 220 RA 4.5 GB
Minnesota 21-22 199 RS 217 RA 4.5 GB
Oakland 20-22 202 RS 190 RA 5.0 GB
Chicago 17-22 152 RS 162 RA 6.5 GB
Texas 17-23 187 RS 219 RA 7.0 GB
Twins Statistics through 5/24
Dan Gladden LF .250/.302/.333 1 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 2B .267/.348/.383 3 HR
Kirby Puckett CF .328/.366/.540 10 HR
Kent Hrbek 1B .254/.372/.442 8 HR
Gary Gaetti 3B .263/.303/.491 10 HR
Tom Brunansky RF .268/.354/.437 7 HR
Roy Smalley DH .277/.333/.436 2 HR
Greg Gagne SS .221/.269/.395 3 HR
Tim Laudner C .125/.155/.232 2 HR
Al Newman UT .216/.283/.314 0 HR
Randy Bush RF .200/.310/.329 2 HR
Gene Larkin DH .273/.250/.273 0 HR
Mark Salas C .333/.406/.407 0 HR
Mark Davidson OF .250/.259/.327 1 HR
Tom Nieto C .247/.310/.377 1 HR (IR)
Bert Blyleven 3-4 4.83 ERA 6.06 FIP 1.27 WHIP
Frank Viola (L) 2-5 4.12/4.94/1.16
Les Straker 2-1 2.62/5.07/1.37
Allan Anderson (L) 1-0 9.00/6.91/2.29
Juan Berenguer 2-0 2.61/2.81/1.13
Mike Smithson 3-3 4.43/4.99/1.38 (IR)
Jeff Reardon 1-3 9.16/7.75/2.03
Keith Atherton 2-1 4.76/4.35/1.50
George Frazier 4-2 5.32/3.41/1.65
Mark Portugal 1-3 8.00/7.81/1.83
Joe Klink (L) 0-0 3.93/4.13/1.69
Tuesday vs Milwaukee: Bert Blyleven 3-4 4.83 vs Juan Nieves (L) 3-1 4.70
Wednesday-Thursday vs MIL
Friday-Sunday @ DET
6/1-6/3 @ BOS
6/5-6/7 vs TEX
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Posted by Scot
November 25, 2006
Saturday May 23, 1987
Twins 7, Tigers 5
The headline in the Star Tribune reads “Reardon does his job as Twins win”. Though there may have been many compelling storylines in the Twins’ 7-5 victory, Reardon’s 1 2/3 innings of scoreless relief to earn his ninth save of the year was easily the top story for a team which has lost so may games in the late innings.
Reardon got three out of five out on strikeouts, and looked better than he has all year. His ERA finally dropped to single digits, and now stands at 9.16 for the year.
The win pulled the team’s record back to the .500 mark. The Twins will try to win the series tomorrow and, in the process, win back to back games for the first time since April 25-26 against the Angels.
Player of the Game
Jeff Reardon
AL West Standings through 5/23
Kansas City 23-16 173 RS 144 RA -
California 21-21 187 RS 210 RA 3.5 GB
Minnesota 21-21 197 RS 210 RA 3.5 GB
Seattle 21-21 199 RS 227 RA 3.5 GB
Oakland 20-21 199 RS 186 RA 4.0 GB
Texas 17-22 185 RS 214 RA 6.0 GB
Chicago 16-22 148 RS 161 RA 6.5 GB
Tomorrow vs Detroit: Les Straker 2-1 3.21 vs Jeff Robinson 2-2 4.50
Tuesday-Thursday vs MIL
Friday-Sunday @ DET
6/1-6/3 @ BOS
6/5-6/7 vs TEX
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Posted by Scot
November 24, 2006
Friday May 22, 1987
Tigers 3, Twins 2
Frank Viola pitched a four hit complete game, but his effort wasn’t enough to overcome the Tigers in the first of a three game series at Metrodome.
Detroit starter and St. Paul native Jack Morris gave up 10 hits, but held the Twins to two runs over seven innings pitched.
The Tigers started fast with a two-run home run by Alan Trammell in the top of the first. Following the home run, Viola retired the next 16 Tiger hitters, taking his team into the seventh tied at two after the Twins scratched together two runs in the third.
A couple of Tiger doubles in the seventh were enough to take the lead, and Eric King pitched two scoreless innings in relief to seal the win for Detroit.
Tom Brunansky, who was the subject of trade rumors in Sports Illustrated this week, went 1-4 with three strikeouts. Brunansky seems to be involved in trade rumors each year, but Andy MacPhail would not comment on the Brunansky for Richard Dotson rumors.
Player of the Game
Alan Trammell
AL West Standings through 5/22
Kansas City 23-15 169 RS 138 RA -
California 21-20 187 RS 207 RA 3.5 GB
Seattle 21-20 197 RS 221 RA 3.5 GB
Oakland 20-20 195 RS 181 RA 4.0 GB
Minnesota 20-21 190 RS 205 RA 4.5 GB
Texas 16-22 179 RS 210 RA 7.0 GB
Chicago 15-22 139 RS 160 RA 7.5 GB
Tomorrow vs Detroit: Allan Anderson (L) 0-0 27.00 vs Walt Terrell 3-4 2.66
Sunday vs DET
Tuesday-Thursday vs MIL
5/29-5/31 @ DET
6/1-6/3 @ BOS
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Posted by Scot
November 23, 2006
Thursday May 21, 1987
Indians 6, Twins 3
Cory Snyder had been in a slump going into this series with the Twins. All he did in the three game series was go 4 for 7 with four home runs against Twins pitching. He hit three home runs in the final game of the series to give the Indians a series win over the Twins.
Bert Blyleven surrendered two of Snyder’s home runs, and, all told, gave up four solo shots to his former team. Blyleven has now allowed 19 home runs this season, and seems to be well on his way to breaking his ML record of 50 HR allowed set last season.
Player of the Game
Cory Snyder
AL West Standings through 5/21
Kansas City 22-15 161 RS 137 RA -
California 21-19 185 RS 200 RA 2.5 GB
Seattle 21-19 192 RS 214 RA 2.5 GB
Oakland 20-19 189 RS 171 RA 3.0 GB
Minnesota 20-20 188 RS 202 RA 3.5 GB
Texas 16-21 178 RS 202 RA 6.0 GB
Chicago 14-22 135 RS 157 RA 7.5 GB
Tomorrow vs Detroit: Frank Viola (L) 2-4 4.30 vs Jack Morris 4-2 4.28
Saturday-Sunday vs DET
Tuesday-Thursday vs MIL
5/29-5/31 @ DET
6/1-5/3 @ BOS
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Posted by Scot
November 22, 2006
Wednesday May 20, 1987
Twins 8, Indians 2
Juan Berenguer pitched his second consecutive solid game, and was propelled to his second win by a Tom Brunansky grand slam.
More importantly, however, may have been Jeff Reardon’s contribution. Though it was not a save, Reardon pitched a scoreless ninth. Though his ERA is still above 10, this may be the first step in the right direction for the struggling closer.
Player of the Game
Tom Brunansky
AL West Standings through 5/20
Kansas City 22-15 161 RS 137 RA -
California 21-19 185 RS 200 RA 2.5 GB
Seattle 21-19 192 RS 214 RA 2.5 GB
Minnesota 20-19 185 RS 196 RA 3.0 GB
Oakland 20-19 189 RS 171 RA 3.0 GB
Texas 16-21 178 RS 202 RA 6.0 GB
Chicago 14-22 135 RS 157 RA 7.5 GB
Tomorrow at Cleveland: Bert Blyleven 3-3 4.52 vs Greg Swindell (L) 2-3 3.97
Friday-Sunday vs DET
Tuesday-Thursday vs MIL
5/29-5/31 @ DET
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Posted by Scot
