Game 79: Minnesota Twins (44-34) @ Milwaukee Brewers (39-41)

Monday July 4, 1988

The Brewers had planned to put on a post-game fireworks show, but the twilight game went by so quickly, game time was just over two hours long, that it wasn’t dark enough for the show when the game ended.

Allan Anderson and Don August engaged in a pitcher’s duel for eight innings. Both allowed just a single run over the first eight; Anderson on four hits, August on six.

The Brewers only run came in the fourth inning, and was of the unearned variety thanks to an error by Anderson. The Twins tied the game in the sixth on a Kent Hrbek solo home run. Hrbek led off the ninth with another one, his 16th of the season and fourth in the last three games. Brian Harper added an insurance run later in the inning with his second home run of the year. The final score was a 3-1 Minnesota win.

Despite Hrbek’s two home runs, the buzz after the game was focused on Anderson’s performance:

“I thought he was Whitey Ford,” Trebelhorn said of Anderson. “Seriously, he pitched a great game. That’s as well as anybody has pitched against us all year. It was quick and it was painless.”

-quoted by Mark Vancil, Star Tribune 7/5/1988

With the win, the Twins wrapped up their 11-game road trip with an impressive 7-4 record. The team returns to the dome tomorrow for six game against the Red Sox and the Brewers.

Box

Player of the Game
Allan Anderson

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               81   52   29    0  .642     -   405  323
Minnesota Twins                 79   45   34    0  .570   6.0   380  351
Kansas City Royals              81   43   38    0  .531   9.0   361  325
Texas Rangers                   80   38   42    0  .475  13.5   322  367
Chicago White Sox               80   37   43    0  .463  14.5   316  388
California Angels               81   36   45    0  .444  16.0   345  382
Seattle Mariners                82   32   50    0  .390  20.5   333  400

Game 78: Minnesota Twins (44-33) @ Milwaukee Brewers (38-41)

Sunday July 3, 1988

Though the Twins seemed to be hitting the ball hard off of Bill Wegman all day, the lead was only a single run heading into the bottom of the eighth inning. Once again, the Twins turned to Jeff Reardon to try and close the game out. True, Reardon had been struggling in his last few outings, but that was due to rust. Now that he is seeing regular action, it was expected that he would pitch back to form again.

Instead, Reardon blew his first save opportunity in the last 15 tries. He entered this game with one out in the eighth inning and runners on first and second. Reardon immediately gave up a game-tying double to Darryl Hamilton, but looked as though he might get out of the inning without allowing the go ahead run. With two outs, Tom Kelly decided to intentionally walk Billy Jo Robidoux (a .261/.306/.348 left-handed batter in 50 PA so far in 1988) to load the bases.

With runners at second and third and two out in the eighth, manager and reliever huddled briefly and decided to walk Milwaukee’s Billy Jo Robidoux even though Robidoux was 0-for-1988 in the RBI column.

“We talked and he pretty much left it up to me,” said Reardon, whose streak of 15 straight saves was ended. “He had already gotten a couple hits on fastballs and I’m a fastball pitcher. The consensus was that we’d be better off facing (Bill) Schroeder. I wasn’t thinking that they might pinch hit for him.”

That, too, shouldn’t have mattered. Switch hitting Dale Sveum, deep in a 4-for-35 slump, had been benched before batting for Schroeder. Not only had Sveum struck out 18 times in those 35 at-bats, but 15 strikeouts came from the left side.

Las Vegas would go broke with those kinds of odds.

“The guy was hitting (.215) lefthanded,” said Kelly, “so we figured we’d go that way. It didn’t work out.”

Reardon walked Sveum on four pitches, and the Brewers held on for a 4-3 victory.

Box

Player of the Game
Bill Wegman

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               80   51   29    0  .637     -   401  321
Minnesota Twins                 78   44   34    0  .564   6.0   377  350
Kansas City Royals              80   43   37    0  .538   8.0   359  316
Texas Rangers                   79   38   41    0  .481  12.5   320  354
Chicago White Sox               79   36   43    0  .456  14.5   311  387
California Angels               80   35   45    0  .438  16.0   334  376
Seattle Mariners                81   32   49    0  .395  19.5   330  395

Game 77: Minnesota Twins (43-33) @ Milwaukee Brewers (38-40)

Saturday July 2, 1988

Though the Twins won the game by a comfortable 8-2 margin, the buzz was that a defensive play in the third inning might have been the key.

With the Twins ahead 2-0, the Brewers made an attempt to stage a rally against Charlie Lea. With one out Jim Gantner singled, and was balked to second. The next batter, Robin Yount, lined a pitch to center that landed just feet in front of Kirby Puckett. With Gantner speeding home, Puckett launched a perfect one-hop throw to Brian Harper behind the plate that nailed Gantner for the second out. The Brewers did not score in the inning.

Lea continued his hot streak of pitching, and improved his ERA over the last 27 innings pitched dating back to June 12 to 0.98. The hero of the day, however, was Kent Hrbek, who hit two home runs. The first was a solo shot in the sixth inning that was Hrbek’s first long ball since May 27, the longest such streak of his career. He enjoyed the first home run so much that he did it again an inning later, this time with a man on.

“Hopefully, this is the start of something brewing,” he said. “I tried something a little different at the plate tonight. I tried to stay back a little more. And I took some extra hitting earlier in the day.”

Hrbek, who has had a sore knee, also was making his first appearance in the field since June 19.

“I feel a lot better when I play in the field,” Hrbek said. “I was a little lost out there tonight. But I feel better when I’m out there with the guys and get to talk. I feel like a part of the team.”

-Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 7/3/1988

Box

Player of the Game
Kent Hrbek

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               79   50   29    0  .633     -   392  313
Minnesota Twins                 77   44   33    0  .571   5.0   374  346
Kansas City Royals              79   42   37    0  .532   8.0   356  314
Texas Rangers                   78   37   41    0  .474  12.5   307  353
Chicago White Sox               78   35   43    0  .449  14.5   307  384
California Angels               79   34   45    0  .430  16.0   324  372
Seattle Mariners                80   31   49    0  .387  19.5   323  389

Game 76: Minnesota Twins (42-33) @ Milwaukee Brewers (38-39)

Friday July 1, 1988

Jeff Reardon had been in a zone. He had allowed just a single run in his last 16 appearances dating back to May 22. The problem is that the Twins’ ace reliever had been used just once since June 19, and that came in garbage time during the 16-7 loss to the Angels last Monday. Reardon’s rust showed, and it almost cost the Twins and Frank Viola a win.

Home runs by Randy Bush and Gary Gaetti had helped the Twins to take a 5-0 lead after seven innings of play. Viola was cruising, and it looked as though this game was as sure a bet as there can be. Viola ran into some trouble in the bottom of the eighth, however, and was removed after an inning in which he gave up a two-run home run off the bat of Paul Molitor that cut the lead to 5-2.

Still, the game seemed well in hand with Reardon on and a three run lead.

The ace reliever was greeted by consecutive singles. A hit batsman later and the bases were loaded with no outs. Reardon got BJ Surhoff and Darryl Hamilton to strike out without any damage done, but Molitor struck again, lining a two-run single down the right field line that cut the lead to one with the tying run at third.

“I was trying to throw Moliter inside,” Reardon said. “He’s a good hitter. But the ball was from the middle to the outside part of the plate and he hit it to right. If I’m in a good streak, I throw the fastball where I want it.

“I was mad at myself after Molitor’s hit. It really made me mad and pumped me up.”

-quoted by Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 7/2/1988

Reardon used that anger to retire the next batter and close out the game. It had been ugly in the later innings, but it did stay in the win column for the Twins, who needed it to stay five games behind the A’s.

Meanwhile, Powers had some injury updates and other miscellaneous notes:

Kent Hrbek was back in the lineup against the Brewers on Friday as the designated hitter. His sore knee is progressing, but not to the point where he can take grounders at first. Once he is able to take grounders during batting practice, the Twins will make an evaluation about when he can return to play in the field.

Martin says that Tom Herr’s strained quadricep is improving. The goal is to get Herr back after the all-star break. He still hasn’t run all out, however.

Construction has begun on a new Sony scoreboard in center field at the Metrodome. The target date for completion is Aug. 1, although some estimates have completion as early as July 22. The new scoreboard, which will feature color replays, will displace several hundred seats in the upper deck.

Box

Player of the Game
Paul Molitor

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               78   49   29    0  .628     -   381  310
Minnesota Twins                 76   43   33    0  .566   5.0   366  344
Kansas City Royals              78   41   37    0  .526   8.0   353  313
Texas Rangers                   77   37   40    0  .481  11.5   303  346
Chicago White Sox               77   35   42    0  .455  13.5   307  380
California Angels               78   34   44    0  .436  15.0   323  366
Seattle Mariners                79   31   48    0  .392  18.5   316  379

Through June 1988

NL East

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA

New York Mets                   77   49   28    0  .636     -   349  263

Pittsburgh Pirates              77   43   34    0  .558   6.0   340  323

Chicago Cubs                    76   41   35    0  .539   7.5   327  304

Montreal Expos                  78   37   40    1  .481  12.0   294  299

St. Louis Cardinals             77   37   40    0  .481  12.0   297  305

Philadelphia Phillies           76   34   41    1  .453  14.0   286  325

NL West

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA

Los Angeles Dodgers             75   44   31    0  .587     -   333  262

Houston Astros                  77   40   37    0  .519   5.0   327  311

San Francisco Giants            76   39   37    0  .513   5.5   328  318

Cincinnati Reds                 77   35   42    0  .455  10.0   319  331

San Diego Padres                79   34   45    0  .430  12.0   264  327

Atlanta Braves                  75   26   49    0  .347  18.0   292  388

AL East

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA

Detroit Tigers                  75   46   29    0  .613     -   355  307

New York Yankees                76   45   31    0  .592   1.5   396  314

Boston Red Sox                  73   39   34    0  .534   6.0   366  321

Cleveland Indians               77   41   36    0  .532   6.0   331  340

Toronto Blue Jays               79   39   40    0  .494   9.0   379  343

Milwaukee Brewers               77   38   39    0  .494   9.0   324  286

Baltimore Orioles               77   22   55    0  .286  25.0   255  411

AL West

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA

Oakland Athletics               77   48   29    0  .623     -   379  309

Minnesota Twins                 75   42   33    0  .560   5.0   361  340

Kansas City Royals              77   40   37    0  .519   8.0   345  306

Texas Rangers                   76   37   39    0  .487  10.5   302  339

Chicago White Sox               76   34   42    0  .447  13.5   305  379

California Angels               77   34   43    0  .442  14.0   323  355

Seattle Mariners                78   30   48    0  .385  18.5   305  376

Twins Statistics

Kirby Puckett 324 PA .346/.361/.518 10 HR
Gary Gaetti 319 PA .303/.357/.538 16 HR
Dan Gladden 315 PA .270/.319/.433 6 HR
Kent Hrbek 284 PA .301/.385/.500 12 HR
Gene Larkin 276 PA .275/.345/.365 2 HR
Greg Gagne 246 PA .247/.300/.439 8 HR
Randy Bush 216 PA .264/.384/.461 7 HR
Tim Laudner 206 PA .290/.356/.492 8 HR
Tom Herr 177 PA .275/.341/.350 1 HR
Steve Lombardozzi 141 PA .229/.336/.297 1 HR
John Moses 84 PA .338/.393/.481 1 HR
Mark Davidson 65 PA .293/.344/.466 1 HR
Al Newman 65 PA .211/.274/.211 0 HR
*Tom Brunansky 56 PA .184/.286/.265 1 HR
Tom Nieto 47 PA .043/.064/.043 0 HR
Brian Harper 42 PA .333/.429/.500 1 HR
Kelvin Torve 10 PA .222/.300/.556 1 HR
Dwight Lowry 7 PA .000/.000/.000 0 HR

Frank Viola 17 G 17 GS 123.1 IP 12-2 2.34 ERA .235/.276/.348 OPP
Bert Blyleven 18 G 18 GS 117.2 IP 7-6 4.51 ERA .283/.337/.399 OPP
Allan Anderson 13 G 13 GS 81 IP 4-6 3.33 ERA .298/.329/.405 OPP
Charlie Lea 12 G 11 GS 63.1 IP 4-3 4.83 ERA .302/.372/.464 OPP
Les Straker 11 G 11 GS 60.1 IP 2-4 4.33 ERA .282/.329/.410 OPP
Juan Berenguer 29 G 0 GS 54.2 IP 7-3 3.13 ERA .204/.316/.265 OPP
Keith Atherton 27 G 0 GS 42.1 IP 5-2 3.19 ERA .219/.276/.361 OPP
Jeff Reardon 29 G 0 GS 34.2 IP 0-2 2.08 ERA .213/.252/.339 OPP
Mark Portugal 12 G 0 GS 32.1 IP 0-1 5.01 ERA .273/.323/.554 OPP
Karl Best 11 G 0 GS 12.0 IP 0-0 6.00 ERA .306/.379/.469 OPP
*Joe Niekro 5 G 2 GS 11.2 IP 1-1 10.03 ERA .320/.424/.480 OPP
*Steve Carlton 4 G 1 GS 9.2 IP 0-1 16.76 ERA .408/.463/.898 OPP
Fred Toliver 2 G 2 GS 8.1 IP 0-1 9.72 ERA .353/.452/.500 OPP
Mike Mason 5 G 0 GS 6.2 IP 0-1 10.80 ERA .286/.459/.536 OPP
*Tippy Martinez 3 G 0 GS 4 IP 0-0 18.00 ERA .471/.542/.765 OPP
Jim Winn 1 G 0 GS 1 IP 0-0 36.00 ERA .600/.600/1.000 OPP
Dan Gladden 1 G 0 GS 1 IP 0-0 0.00 ERA .000/.000/.000 OPP

Game 75: Minnesota Twins (42-32) @ California Angels (33-43)

Wednesday June 29, 1988

The Twins’ had won six consecutive road series, but that all came to an end on get away day in Anaheim.

Though Allan Anderson pitched well (two runs allowed in six innings), it wasn’t enough as Chuck Finley and Bryan Harvey combined to hold the Twins offense to a single run on five hits.

“He pitched good, he did a hell of a job,” Twins manager Tom Kelly said of Anderson. “The other guy just shut us down and ate us up with that curveball. We hit five balls hard all night and that wasn’t good enough.”

Anderson’s effort, however, might have been good enough if it had not been for the Angels’ Chuck Finley (5-8). Finley gave up one run, Brian Harper’s solo homer in the seventh, and the Twins got nothing more.

“I’m happy with what I’ve done but it’s irritating because I busted my butt to get back to .500 and now I’m two games under,” said Anderson, who saw his ERA (3.33) drop along with his record (4-6). “I’m happy I kept us in the ballgame. From my first pitch of the game that’s the only thing I’m thinking about. That’s the only thing I can contribute.

“I know I have to throw strikes and keep us close. That’s what I’ve done. That’s all they want me to do and that’s all I can ask of myself.”

-from Mark Vancil’s game story, Star Tribune 6/30/1988

With the loss the Twins once again dropped five games behind first place Oakland. The road trip concludes this weekend with a four game series in Milwaukee.
Box

Player of the Game
Chuck Finley

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               77   48   29    0  .623     -   379  309
Minnesota Twins                 75   42   33    0  .560   5.0   361  340
Kansas City Royals              77   40   37    0  .519   8.0   345  306
Texas Rangers                   76   37   39    0  .487  10.5   302  339
Chicago White Sox               75   34   41    0  .453  13.0   302  374
California Angels               77   34   43    0  .442  14.0   323  355
Seattle Mariners                78   30   48    0  .385  18.5   305  376

Game 74: Minnesota Twins (41-32) @ California Angels (33-42)

Tuesday June 28, 1988

Tom Powers’ column from the Pioneer Press on June 29:

It’s a long season, and you take the breaks as you get them. Tuesday night in Anaheim, the Twins got one when Dan Petry was scratched as the Angels starter and was replaced by Jack Lazorko.

Merry Christmas.

The Twins took full advantage as they rode a 15-hit attack and Bert Blyleven’s right arm to a 8-2 victory.

Petry couldn’t start as advertised because of a sprained ankle. The Angels actually decided late Monday night that Lazorko would be the replacement, although Tom Kelly said he didn’t know about it until he read it in Tuesday’s morning paper.

Petry is 10-3 lifetime against the Twins with a 2.94 ERA. Lazorko, called up from Edmonton for this special occasion, hasn’t won 10 games in his career.

Take it and don’t ask questions.

Gene Larkin knocked in three runs in the Twins’ victory, including a solo home run that started the scoring in the second inning. Blyleven went the distance and allowed just a single earned run against seven strikeouts.

Box

Player of the Game
Bert Blyleven

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               76   47   29    0  .618     -   372  307
Minnesota Twins                 74   42   32    0  .568   4.0   360  338
Kansas City Royals              76   39   37    0  .513   8.0   336  298
Texas Rangers                   75   36   39    0  .480  10.5   301  339
Chicago White Sox               74   34   40    0  .459  12.0   294  365
California Angels               76   33   43    0  .434  14.0   321  354
Seattle Mariners                77   30   47    0  .390  17.5   305  375

Game 73: Minnesota Twins (41-31) @ California Angels (32-42)

Monday June 27, 1988

If the double header sweep of the first place Oakland A’s was a season high for the Twins, the following game at Anaheim may have been a season low. The Angels erased an early 3-0 deficit to score 15 runs off of Twins pitching in six innings and won going away, 16-7.

The game can be summarized in one sad fact: Dan Gladden, a left fielder by trade, was the Twins’ best pitcher against the Angels. Gladden threw a perfect ninth inning, and was the only Twins’ pitcher that did not allow a run.

Tom Kelly explained the move to Mark Vancil:

“We didn’t have anybody else,” said Kelly. “We had a doubleheader in Oakland (Sunday), (Keith) Atherton pitched, (Juan) Berenguer pitched, and we didn’t have anybody else out there. Reardon needed the work, but I wasn’t going to use him more than an inning. That’s pretty much the way it worked.

“Toliver and Winn had a tough time out there, and Portugal was worn out. We just couldn’t hold them down.”

Randy Bush and Gary Gaetti each went 3-for-4 in the losing effort. Also of note, Twins first baseman Kelvin Torve hit his first major league home run in the seventh inning.

Box

Player of the Game
Wally Joyner

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               75   47   28    0  .627     -   371  303
Minnesota Twins                 73   41   32    0  .562   5.0   352  336
Kansas City Royals              75   39   36    0  .520   8.0   333  294
Texas Rangers                   74   35   39    0  .473  11.5   295  339
Chicago White Sox               73   33   40    0  .452  13.0   290  362
California Angels               75   33   42    0  .440  14.0   319  346
Seattle Mariners                76   30   46    0  .395  17.5   305  369

Games 71 & 72: Minnesota Twins (39-31) @ Oakland A’s (46-26)

Sunday June 26, 1988

Mark Vancil’s game story from the Star Tribune:

Tom Kelly kept up his part of the illusion while all around him it seemed to collapse. The Twins manager’s time-tested battle hymn about highs and lows, victory and defeat should have droned through the background as he fixed his eyes on a snowy television screen and answered questions from stunned observers with emotion as cold as his cramped office walls.

“You pitch good and you’ve always got a chance,” said Kelly.

You fire a shotgun into a paper cup and you have a chance of making a hole, too. And if you pitch as the Twins did Sunday in sweeping the Oakland Athletics 11-0 and 5-0, you also would have had a chance to beat the 1927 Yankees. Kelly fought off human nature and tried to keep an awesome afternoon in perspective, but he couldn’t avoid the numbers or the optimism that blew through the Twins’ clubhouse after a doubleheader sweep of Oakland.

Charlie Lea and Juan Berenguer combined on a shutout in the opener and Keith Atherton teamed up with Frank Viola for another whitewash in the nightcap as the Twins stormed to within four games of the A’s and quieted a sellout crowd at Oakland Coliseum.

In game one, the Twins got home runs from Gary Gaetti and Dan Gladden and a couple of RBI from Kirby Puckett. Tim Laudner went 3-for-4 in the second game with a couple of RBI in the three-run fifth inning. The story, however, was the pitching.

The Twins might have been happy to leave Oakland with a split with the best team in baseball, but they managed to win three out of four. Oakland’s lead in the division, which had seemed insurmountable just a few weeks ago, is now down to four games.

Game 1 Box

Player(s) of the Game
Charlie Lea/Juan Berenguer

Game 2 Box

Player(s) of the Game
Frank Viola/Keith Atherton

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               74   46   28    0  .622     -   366  299
Minnesota Twins                 72   41   31    0  .569   4.0   345  320
Kansas City Royals              74   38   36    0  .514   8.0   331  293
Texas Rangers                   73   35   38    0  .479  10.5   292  333
Chicago White Sox               72   33   39    0  .458  12.0   289  360
California Angels               74   32   42    0  .432  14.0   303  339
Seattle Mariners                75   29   46    0  .387  17.5   299  366

Game 70: Minnesota Twins (39-30) @ Oakland A’s (45-26(

Saturday June 25, 1988

At the end of the second game of the series in Oakland, the Twins felt it had come down to one pitch. But for the Allan Anderson fastball that Jose Canseco took out of the park for a three-run home run in the bottom of the third inning, the Twins might be celebrating a second consecutive win against the A’s.

A couple of Twins errors led to the home run, meaning that with two outs all three runs were unearned for Anderson.

Manager Tom Kelly said it was Allan Anderson’s “one “crummy pitch” of the game. Anderson, the Twins’ starter, said it was a case of “one too many fastballs.”

Oakland’s Jose Canseco said simply, “I muscled it out.”

…

“Sometimes with a young pitcher, when someone makes an error behind them, they just can’t find a way to get out of it,” Kelly said. “A ground ball to third, a little bouncer over the mound and he throws one crummy pitch in the game and (Canseco) hits the hell out of it.”

-quoted by Tom Powers, Pioneer Press 6/26/1988

Though Gene Larkin’s RBI double off of Dennis Eckersley in the eighth inning brought the Twins within one, the best closer in the game shut them down the rest of the way to even the series at a game a piece. The two teams will finish the series with a double header on Sunday.

Box

Player of the Game
Jose Canseco

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Oakland Athletics               72   46   26    0  .639     -   366  283
Minnesota Twins                 70   39   31    0  .557   6.0   329  320
Kansas City Royals              73   38   35    0  .521   8.5   331  285
Texas Rangers                   72   35   37    0  .486  11.0   287  326
Chicago White Sox               71   32   39    0  .451  13.5   282  355
California Angels               73   31   42    0  .425  15.5   299  337
Seattle Mariners                74   28   46    0  .378  19.0   291  366