August 16: Minnesota 5, Boston 4 (10 innings)
The two teams tied for first in the Original Division kicked off a big series with a tense thriller featuring some top-notch pitching, but not great fielding. ERA leader Johan Santana was knifelike again, and shaved a few more points off his ERA by allowing one earned in eight innings. 21 starts into the season, Santana is yet to make a single bad start, and plenty of great ones.
Tris Speaker doubled in the first off Santana and Ted Williams drove in Speaker with a single to plate Boston’s one earned run against Johan. A Joe Cronin error in the third helped Boston to their second run.
Lefty Grove was also sharp for Boston. Rod Carew scored one against Grove by wall-scraping his first homer of the year, and later a Tony Oliva walk followed by two singles drove home the second and last earned run Grove gave up in 9.2 innings.
In the top of the 10th, Grove retired the first two Minny batters and then walked Harmon Killebrew before inducing a Mickey Vernon grounder to shortstop Nomar Garciaparra that should have been the third out, except Nomah booted it. Kirby Puckett made Boston pay with an RBI double to put the Twins up 3-2, and Oliva drove in two insurance runs with a single.
Joe Nathan had mound duties in the bottom of the 10th and almost blew it. Thanks to a Darrell Evans walk and a Carl Yastrzemski pinch-hit double, the Sox had runners at second and third, but with two outs. Tris Speaker laced an RBI single to cut the score to 5-3, and Ted Williams followed with his own RBI single to cut it to 5-4. Out came Nathan, in came Firpo Marberry, who walked Jimmie Foxx to load the bases. The Fenway faithful were going wild as the previously hot-hitting Carlton Fisk took his place in the box, but Pudge popped to first to quell the come-back. Fisk had a quiet series, reaching just once in the series with a walk in two games played.
R H BB MN 001 001 000 3 - 5 11 4 BOS 101 000 000 2 - 4 7 4 HR: R. Carew (1) starters IP R ER HR BB SO J. Santana 8.0 2 1 0 2 7 L. Grove 9.2 5 2 1 4 2 MN 67-51, BOS 66-52
August 17: Boston 4, Minnesota 3
Walter Johnson and Smoky Joe Wood faced off and both tossed complete games. Johnson was not sharp out of the gate, and the Red Sox scored three quick runs before the Big Train settled in. A Sam Rice error in the fifth helped Boston to their fourth run.
Minnesota managed plenty of singles against Wood, but only scratched across two earned runs plus another on the back of errors by Fisk and John Valentin. Wood dropped his ERA to an even 3.00, third best in the league behind Santana and Johnson.
R H BB MN 100 001 010 - 3 11 1 BOS 210 010 00x - 4 7 3 HR: none starters IP R ER HR BB SO W. Johnson 8.0 4 3 0 3 3 S.J. Wood 9.0 3 2 0 1 4 MN 67-52, BOS 67-52
August 18: Minnesota 8, Boston 5
The rubber match determined who would end the series in first, and Boston probably liked their chances with a Bert Blyleven vs. Roger Clemens match-up. But Clemens has lost it a bit lately, and the Twins got him for five runs in seven innings, Clemens’s third straight rough start. Goose Goslin spanked a two-run triple in the fourth against him.
Blyleven wasn’t great either, and Bobby Doerr tied the game at four with a two-run dinger in the fourth against Blyleven. The Twins turned to Firpo Marberry to pitch the final four innings of the game, and the Amazing Firpo gave up just one run to hold down the fort for Minnesota while their high-average bats kept the offense going. Firpo is holding it down as the most valuable reliever in the league with a 1.63 ERA in 80 innings (despite a 4.62 FIP).
In the eighth, the Twins knocked Boston reliever Derek Lowe out of the game with four straight hits before Lowe could record an out.
Minnesota’s Rice, Puckett, Goslin, Cronin, and Cecil Travis all reached safely three times, and the Twins enjoy a narrow lead at the top of the Original Division for now.
R H BB MN 010 310 030 - 8 11 5 BOS 101 200 010 - 5 12 0 HR: B. Doerr (9) starters IP R ER HR BB SO B. Blyleven 5.0 4 4 1 0 4 R. Clemens 7.0 5 5 0 5 4 MN 68-52, BOS 67-53
August 16: Detroit 7, Baltimore 0
August 13: Chicago 5, Minnesota 1
August 14: Kansas City 5, Houston 2
August 13: Anaheim 8, Toronto 0
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