Game 25: Minnesota Twins (9-15) @ Baltimore Orioles (2-24)

Wednesday May 4, 1988

Since the Twins last saw the Orioles a week ago, Baltimore had been on a relative winning streak. After losing their 21st game to the Twins on Thursday, the Orioles have played a string of 2-3 baseball, off the charts winning in comparison to their poor start.

The Twins scored first, but the Orioles seemed to answer every time. Heading into the bottom of the ninth, the Twins were just three outs away from their 10th win of the season. Jeff Reardon came out to shut the door, but a funny thing happened. The Orioles showed some life.

Down by one, Cal Ripken led off the inning with a line drive double to right. Ripken advanced to third on an Eddie Murray ground out, and scored on a Larry Sheets sacrifice fly. Reardon struck out the final batter of the inning, but the damage had been done and the game headed to extra innings.

It was the same combination of players that ended the game in the 11th. With Ripken on thanks to a walk issued by Keith Atherton, Larry Sheets doubled down the right field line, scoring Ripken, and earning the O’s their third win of the year.

Tom Kelly assessed his team in the Star Tribune the next day.

“We’ve made a couple of mistakes,” said Kelly, whose team fell 10 games behind division-leading Oakland. “We made some mental errors, fielding errors and base-running mistakes. If you don’t pound the ball enough to compensate, you’re going to get beat. We’re pitching well enough to win, but we’re not compensating for the mistakes with the bats.”

Mark Vancil also had this note:

After three days of trying to peddle Joe Niekro and a sizable portion of his $800,000 salary, the Twins swallowed hard and released the veteran righthander Wednesday afternoon, ending a gamble that has proven costly.

Les Straker - who did not find out he was starting last night against Baltimore until he arrived in the clubhouse - came off the disabled list to prompt Niekro’s release after manager Tom Kelly had spent the previous 72 hours unable to tell either player anything. Niekro, who was told to come to the ballpark prepared to pitch, said he’ll try to catch on with another team.

After getting the news Niekro addressed his former teammates and got a standing ovation.

“Like I said in spring training, you can’t be upset when you’ve played 20 years in the big leagues,” said Niekro (1-1, 10.03 ERA). “I’ve been fortunate. I’m thankful. Maybe Jim Kaat said it best. You’d like to go out on your terms instead of somebody else’s. That’s not to say I’m out yet. You never know what might happen the next few days. “You think about it and read about it, but you always wonder if it’s going to be someone else. I know baseball and in certain situations it’s a numbers game.

“I’m not upset with the Twins organization. They were great to me. I came over here and got a chance to play in a World Series. Every time I look at my finger, I see that World Series ring and think of all the great times I had last year.”

Box

Player of the Game
Larry Sheets

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               27   20    7    0  .741     -   158  110
Kansas City Royals              26   14   12    0  .538   5.5   122  109
Chicago White Sox               25   13   12    0  .520   6.0   110  103
Seattle Mariners                28   12   16    0  .429   8.5   123  152
California Angels               27   11   16    0  .407   9.0   130  135
Texas Rangers                   25   10   15    0  .400   9.0    69  101
Minnesota Twins                 25    9   16    0  .360  10.0    99  143

“The Red Sox have taken the suspense, fun and interest out of baseball”

Yesterday’s “Letter of the Day” from the Star Tribune Editorial page:

World Series is about bucks, not baseball

I’ve followed the World Series since the ’50s and have rooted for various teams over the years. However, with the close of the 2007 season in Denver, I’ve watched my last Fall Classic. The Red Sox have taken the suspense, fun and interest out of baseball.

With a players’ payroll of $143 million, nearly three times that of Colorado, Boston has once again proven that the team with the most money wins. Before the final game was over, TV sportscasters were announcing which Boston and which Yankees players would be switching uniforms and leaving their teams as free agents. If I ever hear one more Red Sox fan whining about the “curse” or see a video clip of Yankees owner George Steinbrenner humiliating one of his managers before firing him, I will run screaming from the room.

Comedian Jerry Seinfeld put it best when he said we’re no longer cheering for teams. We’re cheering for laundry. Expensive laundry at that.

M.L. KLUZNIK, MENDOTA HEIGHTS

I’m not sure how much the Red Sox are to blame, but I always find comparisons to the “good old days” of baseball to be fascinating.

The truth is, professional baseball has always, and will always be about money. It was in the 1950’s when owners counted the money while occasionally throwing a nickel the players’ way; and it is today with the $143 million payroll and the perpetually increasing ticket prices. Baseball was very different in the 1950’s, but it would be a mistake to suggest that it wasn’t about money.

Now, complaining about the TV sportscasters; that is a rant that I can get behind. It’s amazing that a network-that-shall-not-be-named had rendered the biggest event in the season of my favorite sport almost unwatchable. It’s a good thing that baseball still works with the volume turned down.

Game 24: Minnesota Twins (9-14) @ Milwaukee Brewers (11-11)

Tuesday May 3, 1988

All four of Milwaukee’s runs were unearned, but they counted nonetheless, and the Brewers defeated the Twins 4-3 for the second straight game.

With two outs in the bottom of the second, Gary Gaetti committed a throwing error that ultimately caused the first three Brewers’ runs. Following the error, Milwaukee rattled off four straight singles at the expense of Allan Anderson, who was not charged for any of the runs.

“It was a tough error,” Anderson said. “That would have made it three outs, but all the sudden there’s a blooper over second, a ground ball just runs in the hole, and there’s nothing I could do. I thought, `Why can’t somebody hit it at somebody instead of blooping it?’ I knew I had to keep battling, but the ball seemed like it had eyes.”

The Twins were able to tie the game, however, and did so when Greg Gagne hit a solo home run to start the seventh inning.

It was Gagne’s error, however, that did the Twins in. With nobody out in the bottom of the ninth, Gagne airmailed a throw to first on a routine grounder. The very next play seemed to be a tailor-made double play ball, but inexplicably Tom Herr could not get to it.

“I really wasn’t shaded toward first,” said Herr. “I wasn’t playing bunt, but I was thinking bunt. It was just one of those balls. Another 6 inches, and I might have gotten it.”

Jim Gantner ended the game with a single that knocked in the run from third.

Earlier in the game, St. Paul native Paul Molitor left the game after being hit in the face with a thrown ball. As Tom Herr attempted to advance to third on a grounder off the bat of Kirby Puckett, Dale Sveum threw the ball to Molitor at third. Instead, the ball glanced off of Herr’s shoulders and hit Molitor in the mouth. He was taken to a local hospital where he was stitched up. He’ll miss at least a game.

Box

Player of the Game
Ted Higuera CG, 6 H, 3 R

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               26   19    7    0  .731     -   155  108
Kansas City Royals              25   14   11    0  .560   4.5   119  105
Chicago White Sox               24   12   12    0  .500   6.0   104  101
California Angels               26   11   15    0  .423   8.0   130  134
Texas Rangers                   24   10   14    0  .417   8.0    64   95
Seattle Mariners                27   11   16    0  .407   8.5   118  148
Minnesota Twins                 24    9   15    0  .375   9.0    96  139

The Franchise 1941

1941 Washington Nationals

Manager: Bucky Harris 18th Season (12th with Washington 925-908-19)
70 W 84 L 2 T 728 RS 798 RA T 6th AL 31 GB (New York 101-53-2)
4.67 RPG (AL = 4.74) 4.35 ERA (AL = 4.15)
.680 DER (8th AL)

All Stars (2) Sid Hudson, Cecil Travis

Franchise (1901-1941) 2958-3201-89; 8-11 WS

The big news of 1941, of course, was the bombing of Pearl Harbor in December. That event would change the course of events for the entire nation, including baseball, which would look very different during the war years.

Though the focus of Washington the summer before that was on the events in Europe, 1941 produced two major baseball stories as well. That was the year in which Ted Williams batted .406, the first player to hit over .400 since 1930, and the last player to do so. Williams also hit his famous game-winning All Star home run in the 1941 game, and was five RBI short of winning the AL triple crown.

Williams’ accomplishment, however, were overshadowed by Joe DiMaggio’s 56-game hitting streak that carried the nation’s interest over two months from May to July.

Baseball was not as interesting to the Washington fan. The Nats finished with a losing record and were well out of contention in the American League for the fifth consecutive season. There were a few bright spots, but, for the most part, 1941 was an ugly year in Washington.

Roster/Stats
Bold = Player new to Washington in 1941

C Jake Early .287/.338/.468 10 HR 0.2 BFW 11 WS 7 FRAR 3.3 WARP3
On May 15, Washington traded Rick Ferrell to St. Louis for a veteran pitcher named Vern Kennedy. In Ferrell’s place came Jake Early. Early had backed up Ferrell for a couple of years, but finally became the starting catcher when Ferrell left in 1941.

1B Mickey Vernon .299/.352/.443 9 HR -1.0 BFW 16 WS -4 FRAR 3.5 WARP3
After a full year in the minors, Mickey Vernon was back to claim the starting first base job. Unlike in his first attempt in 1939, Vernon had success in 1941, and was able to secure the first base job.

2B Jimmy Bloodworth .245/.303/.346 7 HR 1.5 BFW 12 WS 44 FRAR 5.3 WARP3
Bloodworth excelled with his glove and range at second base, but didn’t hit enough in his era. He was traded to Detroit after the ‘41 season.

SS Cecil Travis .359/.410/.520 7 HR 5.1 BFW 34 WS 40 FRAR 12.3 WARP3
At 27 years of age, Cecil Travis had his finest season. He finished in the top 10 in the league in most offensive categories, and finished sixth in AL MVP voting. Before he plays another season, Travis will join the army. His service in the war is distinguished, and he was notably involved in the Battle of the Bulge. Unfortunately, Travis contracted a severe case of frost bite from the war, and would not be the same player when he returned in 1945. Travis’ career arch looked to be leading towards the Hall of Fame, but he basically lost the rest of his career due to the war.

3B George Archie .269/.324/.367 3 HR -1.1 BFW 8 WS 3 FRAR 1.5 WARP3
After spending a few games with Detroit in 1938, George Archie was playing in the PCL with Seattle. The Nats needed a third baseman, and picked Archie up in the rule 5 draft in 1940. Archie played 105 games with the team before he was traded to St. Louis for Bobby Estalella in September.

LF George Case .271/.325/.354 2 HR -0.9 BFW 15 WS 30 FRAR 5.6 WARP3
Case moved from center to left field in 1941, and though he only stole 33 bases, he still led the AL for the third consecutive season.

CF Doc Cramer .273/.317/.338 2 HR -3.8 BFW 11 WS -2 FRAR 0.7 WARP3
35-year-old Doc Cramer came from Boston in a straight up deal for Gee Walker. In his prime, he had been one of the best center fielders in the league, but had clearly lost more than a few steps by the time 1941 came. At the end of the season, Cramer was traded to Detroit in the deal with Bloodworth.

RF Buddy Lewis .297/.386/.434 9 HR 1.7 BFW 22 WS 26 FRAR 8.1 WARP3
Just like the other offensive star of 1941 Cecil Travis, Lewis would miss a few years due to the war. The difference is that Lewis was able to have some success upon his return, but he missed his 25 to 27-year-old seasons to the war, leaving many to wonder what his career would have looked like if uninterrupted.

SP Dutch Leonard 18-13 3.45 ERA 1.27 WHIP 1.3 PW 19 WS 6.5 WARP3
The knuckleballer will miss most of 1942 with a broken ankle, but will return to anchor the Washington rotation in 1943.

SP Sid Hudson 13-14 3.46 ERA 1.36 WHIP 1.3 PW 17 WS 6.1 WARP3
Although Hudson’s win-loss record doesn’t look nearly as good as it did a year earlier, all of the other numbers indicate that Hudson took a step forward from his rookie season. According to adjusted ERA+ (117), 1941 is among the best years in Hudson’s career.

SP Ken Chase 6-18 5.08 ERA 1.67 WHIP -2.4 PW 4 WS 1.8 WARP3
After Leonard and Hudson the Washington pitching staff took a dramatic drop in performance. Ken Chase had a horrible season, yet somehow Griffith managed to include him in a trade that brought Stan Spence to Washington for the 1942 season. Chase pitched a little better in Boston, with a much lighter work load, but still was out of the league after the 1943 season.

SP Steve Sundra 9-13 5.29 ERA 1.57 WHIP -2.0 PW 5 WS 1.8 WARP3
Sundra was purchased from the Yankees during spring training of 1941 in hopes that he would sure up the starting rotation. Whatever Griffith paid for him, it was too much, and Sundra was traded to St. Louis early in the 1942 season. He had a decent year with the Browns in 1943, but didn’t play much after that.

RP Alex Carrasquel 6-2 3.44 ERA 1.57 WHIP 0.7 PW 8 WS 3.3 WARP3
Carrasquel had a career year in 1941. Though he pitched in fewer than 100 innings, he had the lowest ERA for a regular on the team. His ERA will continue to hover in the mid-3’s for the rest of the war years.

RP Bill Zuber 6-4 5.42 ERA 1.78 WHIP -1.5 PW 3 WS 0.6 WARP3
Zuber was purchased from Cleveland where in four seasons his high for innings pitched was 31.7. Zuber was a side-arming sinker baller who was not eligible for the draft due to his 4-F status.

RP Walt Masterson 4-3 5.97 ERA 1.97 WHIP -1.3 PW 1 WS 0.4 WARP3
Though Masterson was only 21 years old, he already had two seasons of major league experience coming into 1941. He performed about the same as he had in the previous two seasons, which is poorly, but is a year away from improving to the point that he is helpful to the team.

RP Red Anderson 4-6 4.18 ERA 1.61 WHIP -0.2 PW 5 WS 1.6 WARP3
Anderson had pitched four games for Washington between 1937 and 1940, but spent most of that time in the minors. 1941 was his only full year in the majors.

1941 World Series
The Yankees returned to the World Series after a year’s absence and won their sixth title in seven years. This time, the opponent was the Brooklyn Dodgers, who fell in five games in the first of many World Series between the two franchises.

Game 23: Minnesota Twins (9-13) @ Milwaukee Brewers (10-11)

Monday May 2, 1988

Bert Blyleven struggled early, and Milwaukee capitalized to the tune of four runs in the fist three innings. Though Blyleven settled in and retired the final 18 batters he faced, the Twins only managed three hits off of the Brewers’ pitching combination of Juan Nieves and Odell Jones. Despite the fact that one of those hits was a Gary Gaetti home run, it was not enough for the Twins, who fell 4-3.

“There are no answers,” said Gaetti, disgusted by the Twins’ three-hit effort that included his sixth home run. “We just stink with men in scoring position. He didn’t have crap. But he had more crap than we had.”

The game also marked the end of Kirby Puckett’s 14-game hitting streak.

Meanwhile, the Twins decided to leave Les Straker on the disabled list until Wednesday, putting off the inevitable decision to drop Joe Niekro from the roster.

Box

Player of the Game
Odell Jones 4 IP, 0 H, 5 K

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               25   18    7    0  .720     -   147  106
Kansas City Royals              24   13   11    0  .542   4.5   110  102
Chicago White Sox               23   12   11    0  .522   5.0   103   97
Seattle Mariners                26   11   15    0  .423   7.5   116  139
California Angels               25   10   15    0  .400   8.0   122  130
Minnesota Twins                 23    9   14    0  .391   8.0    93  135
Texas Rangers                   23    9   14    0  .391   8.0    60   93

Game 22: Minnesota Twins (8-13) @ Boston Red Sox (14-6)

Sunday May 1, 1988

Fenway Park had not seen a shut out by a left-handed pitcher since July 1, 1984. It seemed unlikely coming into the game, but if a team ever needed a shut out, it was the Twins entering May 1988.

Boston only scattered five hits off of Frank Viola, who was about as efficient as a pitcher can be.  Of the 111 pitches he threw, 82 of them were strikes.

“Perfect,” manager Tom Kelly said. “Every day is a good time for a shutout, but we needed to get the bullpen some rest.”

-quoted by Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 5/2/1988

The Twins managed just two runs, but it was plenty thanks to Viola’s performance.

Box

Player of the Game
Frank Viola

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               24   17    7    0  .708     -   143  104
Chicago White Sox               22   12   10    0  .545   4.0    99   91
Kansas City Royals              23   12   11    0  .522   4.5   108  102
California Angels               24   10   14    0  .417   7.0   122  127
Minnesota Twins                 22    9   13    0  .409   7.0    90  131
Texas Rangers                   22    9   13    0  .409   7.0    56   84
Seattle Mariners                25   10   15    0  .400   7.5   109  134

The Twins’ road trip continues with two games in Milwaukee followed by two games in Baltimore against the Orioles, who, as of today, are 1-23.

April 1988

April Recap

NL East

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Pittsburgh Pirates              22   16    6    0  .727     -    98   68
New York Mets                   21   15    6    0  .714   0.5   107   90
Chicago Cubs                    22   10   12    0  .455   6.0    97  104
Montreal Expos                  21    9   11    1  .450   6.0    79   80
Philadelphia Phillies           20    7   12    1  .368   7.5    74   79
St. Louis Cardinals             22    8   14    0  .364   8.0    73   96

NL West

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Houston Astros                  21   14    7    0  .667     -    94   58
Los Angeles Dodgers             20   13    7    0  .650   0.5    85   57
Cincinnati Reds                 22   11   11    0  .500   3.5    94   90
San Francisco Giants            23   11   12    0  .478   4.0    81   84
San Diego Padres                21    9   12    0  .429   5.0    55   77
Atlanta Braves                  19    3   16    0  .158  10.0    50  104

AL East

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Cleveland Indians               22   16    6    0  .727     -   115   75
Boston Red Sox                  20   14    6    0  .700   1.0    96   61
New York Yankees                23   16    7    0  .696   0.5   144  100
Detroit Tigers                  21   13    8    0  .619   2.5   100   89
Milwaukee Brewers               20    9   11    0  .450   6.0    82   76
Toronto Blue Jays               22    9   13    0  .409   7.0   102  106
Baltimore Orioles               23    1   22    0  .043  15.5    54  133

AL West

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               23   16    7    0  .696     -   135  100
Kansas City Royals              22   12   10    0  .545   3.5   102   92
Chicago White Sox               21   11   10    0  .524   4.0    92   88
California Angels               23   10   13    0  .435   6.0   118  121
Seattle Mariners                24   10   14    0  .417   6.5   107  131
Minnesota Twins                 21    8   13    0  .381   7.0    88  131
Texas Rangers                   21    8   13    0  .381   7.0    51   83

Twins Statistics through April

Kirby Puckett 92 PA .287/.326/.414 1 HR
Dan Gladden 90 PA .305/.348/.476 2 HR
Gary Gaetti 87 PA .231/.299/.449 4 HR
Kent Hrbek 81 PA .315/.370/.575 4 HR
Greg Gagne 80 PA .229/.289/.343 1 HR
Gene Larkin 65 PA .291/.391/.473 1 HR
Tom Brunansky* 56 PA .184/.286/.265 1 HR
Tim Laudner 54 PA .320/.370/.600 3 HR
Randy Bush 47 PA .368/.489/.605 2 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 38 PA .094/.194/.188 0 HR
Tom Herr 33 PA .250/.273/.281 0 HR
Tom Nieto 22 PA .048/.091/.048 0 HR
Al Newman 21 PA .211/.286/.211 0 HR
Mark Davidson 16 PA .313/.313/.500 0 HR
John Moses 9 PA .167/.444/.333 0 HR
Dwight Lowry 7 PA .000/.000/.000 0 HR

Frank Viola 5 G 5 GS 33.2 IP 2-1 4.01 ERA Opponents batting .250/.312/.484
Bert Blyleven 5 G 5 GS 26.2 IP 1-2 6.75 ERA .308/.388/.458
Juan Berenguer 10 G 0 GS 21 IP 3-3 5.57 ERA .256/.381/.321
Charlie Lea 4 G 4 GS 17.2 IP 0-3 8.15 ERA .354/.407/.608
Les Straker 3 G 3 GS 16.2 IP 0-1 4.32 ERA .308/.314/.431
Keith Atherton 9 G 0 GS 14.2 IP 0-0 1.23 ERA .204/.259/.296
Joe Niekro 5 G 2 GS 11.2 IP 1-1 10.03 ERA .320/.424/.480
Jeff Reardon 8 G 0 GS 11 IP 0-1 1.64 ERA .195/.298/.366
Steve Carlton* 4 G 1 GS 9.2 IP 0-1 16.76 ERA .408/.463/.898
Mike Mason 4 G 0 GS 6.2 IP 0-0 5.40 ERA .200/.394/.280
Allan Anderson 1 G 1 GS 6.1 IP 1-0 2.84 ERA .174/.269/.217
Mark Portugal 2 G 0 GS 4.2 IP 0-0 1.93 ERA .267/.313/.267
Tippy Martinez* 3 G 0 GS 4 IP 0-0 18.00 ERA .471/.542/.765

* No longer with the Twins

It is interesting to note that zero out of the three veteran pitchers the Twins wanted to work out of spring training (Niekro, Carlton, and Martinez) panned out. Carlton and Martinez are already gone, and Niekro will not pitch again.

Game 21: Minnesota Twins (8-12) @ Boston Red Sox (13-6)

Saturday April 30, 1988

The Twins second straight loss, and 13th of the season forced the local beat writers to begin taking stock of some of the decisions that shaped the roster a month ago.

The Plan, collapsing like the house of cards that supported it, seemed simple, if not top-heavy with optimism. “Low risk, high reward” is how executive vice president Andy MacPhail described the calculated gamble that formed the Twins pitching staff four weeks ago.

But the stakes have risen considerably, and they leaped once more Saturday when Boston cuffed another Twins starter and cruised to an 8-3 victory at Fenway Park.

The loss left the Twins 8-13, seven games behind Oakland in the American League West and treading water with the league’s worst pitching staff. Not only did Charlie Lea fail to complete four innings for the second straight start, but the Twins bullpen has been thrown out of order and is dangerously close to bigger problems.

Keith Atherton and Juan Berenguer have appeared in nine games and with Jeff Reardon have helped cover a staff full of holes. But even pitching coach Dick Such knows it can’t last forever.

“They’ve been carrying the whole load basically,” said Such of Atherton and Berenguer. “I don’t have the figures with me, but if you look at their innings compared to last year, they’ve carried more than their share of the load. We’d like to get a rotation out there in the bullpen, but we haven’t been able to rotate them.”

-Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 5/1/1988

Tom Powers may have been even more pessimistic in the St. Paul paper:

During the first 10 games of the season, the Twins were getting decent starting pitching but no clutch hitting. During the second 10 games, they were getting decent clutch hitting but no starting pitching.

Saturday, the Twins put it all together in the 21st game of the season. They got no clutch hitting and no starting pitching. Boston 8, Minnesota 3. Both teams had 12 hits.

Sid Hartman even got into the act:

The Twins need to find another starter or two if they are going to stay in contention. Or as farm director Jim Rantz has suggested, perhaps the team should put Allan Anderson and Mark Portugal in the rotation and see what they can do. The Twins can’t afford to fall too far back the way Oakland is playing. Lea and Niekro must start pitching effectively, or the Twins will have to find replacements in a hurry.

Though they scored first at Fenway, the Twins quickly found themselves in a five-run hole after four innings, thanks to the above mentioned outing by Charlie Lea. They never recovered, and went on to lose their second straight to Boston.

Box

Player of the Game
Rick Cerone 3-for-3, HR, 3 R, 2 RBI

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               23   16    7    0  .696     -   135  100
Kansas City Royals              22   12   10    0  .545   3.5   102   92
Chicago White Sox               21   11   10    0  .524   4.0    92   88
California Angels               23   10   13    0  .435   6.0   118  121
Seattle Mariners                24   10   14    0  .417   6.5   107  131
Minnesota Twins                 21    8   13    0  .381   7.0    88  131
Texas Rangers                   21    8   13    0  .381   7.0    51   83

Game 20: Minnesota Twins (8-11) @ Boston Red Sox (12-6)

Friday April 29, 1988

The Twins have never had great success against Roger Clemens, and it could be argued that he is off to the best start in his career (4-0, 1.26 ERA coming into the game).

Still, the Twins were able to rally and tie the game in the ninth, only to eventually lose in the tenth.

“Against anybody else Roger Clemens takes a 5-2 lead into the ninth and you can wrap it up,” said Kirby Puckett, who extended his hitting streak to 12 games and broke up Clemens’ perfect game with two out in the fourth. “But we battled back and put ourselves in a position to win. That’s all you can ask. If we continue to do that we’ll be fine.”

-quoted by Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 4/30/1988

Clemens started the ninth with a three-run lead, but allowed a couple of men to reach via single with only one out when he was removed in favor of Lee Smith. Gary Gaetti greeted Smith with a home run off of the foul pole just over the green monster in left field.

After Keith Atherton retired the Red Sox in order in the ninth inning, the Twins had their chance in the top of the tenth.

Tom Herr’s led off with a single, and eventually made it to third base after a ground out and a Boston error.

Their best chance came in the 10th. Tom Herr led off with a single, his third hit of the game. He went to second on Puckett’s groundout. Then Davidson hit a routine grounder to Boggs at third. Boggs threw to Evans at first. But Evans simply missed the ball and Herr scooted to third. He would have scored too except Barrett had hustled over from second to back up the play.

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 4/30/1988

With runners at the corners and only one out, both Gaetti and Randy Bush struck out swinging, a bit of revenge for Lee Smith on the former.

In the bottom of the frame, Juan Berenguer walked Marty Barrett to lead off the inning. Barrett eventually reached third with one out on Jim Rice’s single that somehow got past Gaetti at third. With Mike Greenwell at the plate, Kelly called for an intentional walk to load the bases, still only one out on the board.

The end came when Dwight Evans hit a fly ball to Mark Davidson in right field. The fact that Davidson dropped the ball only made a difference in the boxscore, because even if he had caught it the winning run would have scored.

Joe Niekro struggled for three innings, allowing five earned runs and six walks to make his season ERA 10.03. This would be the last game Joe Niekro would ever pitch in the major leagues.

Box

Player of the Game
Roger Clemens

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               22   15    7    0  .682     -   124   97
Kansas City Royals              21   12    9    0  .571   2.5   101   88
Chicago White Sox               20   10   10    0  .500   4.0    88   87
Seattle Mariners                23   10   13    0  .435   5.5   104  127
California Angels               22    9   13    0  .409   6.0   112  120
Minnesota Twins                 20    8   12    0  .400   6.0    85  123
Texas Rangers                   20    8   12    0  .400   6.0    48   68

In Chicago, the Orioles finally won a game, defeating the White Sox 9-0.

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Cleveland Indians               21   16    5    0  .762     -   112   64
Boston Red Sox                  19   13    6    0  .684   2.0    88   58
New York Yankees                22   15    7    0  .682   1.5   129   97
Detroit Tigers                  20   12    8    0  .600   3.5    96   86
Toronto Blue Jays               21    9   12    0  .429   7.0   101  100
Milwaukee Brewers               19    8   11    0  .421   7.0    78   75
Baltimore Orioles               22    1   21    0  .045  15.5    53  129

Game 19: Baltimore Orioles (0-20) @ Minnesota Twins (7-11)

Thursday April 28, 1988

The Twins helped the Orioles make history when they completed the three-game sweep at Metrodome. It was the Orioles 21st consecutive loss, a new American League record.

It has come to this: The Baltimore Orioles lost their 21st game of the season Thursday, losing to the Portland Beavers 4-2.

OK, OK, Kent Hrbek hit a home run and Tom Herr made a couple of nice plays at second base. But the guys who did the real damage to the Fighting O’s on Thursday were Allan Anderson, Mark Portugal and John Moses - three guys called up this week from Class AAA Portland. “The Portland connection, the Beaver connection,” said Anderson, the starter and winner for the Twins. “That’s something.”

Something else, really, when considering that Portugal stepped off the plane, arrived at the park in time for the fourth inning, walked into the dugout, loosened up and blew it past those Fighting O’s for 2 2/3 innings.

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 4/29/1988

For the third straight game, the Orioles scored in the first inning, and for the third straight game they ultimately fell to a Twins team that had its own problems, led by Kent Hrbek, a player who until recently had his own problems.

This may have been the biggest series of the year for the Twins, and it certainly had a unique pressure to it. The sweep helped the Twins to get out of the AL West cellar.

The Twins will head to Boston for a three-game weekend series, while the Orioles will take the big story of the early baseball season to Chicago, where the pressure will be on the White Sox to avoid being the first team to lose to the O’s.

Box

Player of the Game
Kent Hrbek 3-for-3, HR 2 RBI

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               22   15    7    0  .682     -   124   97
Kansas City Royals              20   11    9    0  .550   3.0    94   86
Chicago White Sox               19   10    9    0  .526   3.5    88   78
Seattle Mariners                22   10   12    0  .455   5.0    98  118
Minnesota Twins                 19    8   11    0  .421   5.5    80  117
Texas Rangers                   19    8   11    0  .421   5.5    47   66
California Angels               21    8   13    0  .381   6.5   103  115