KOD29 1987 California Angels @ 1964 Minnesota Twins
A Division deciding series at the helm where the Angels guided by Douglas Zaner meets up with the Twins and skipper Chris Kaufman.
Game 1: Minnesota 7 - California 5
Lazorko vs Grant - California outhits Minnesota 13-12. Minnesota scores first in the 2nd inning on a sacrifice fly by Earl Battey. Then in the 3rd Minnesota explodes for 4 runs. Mudcat Grant helps his cause by doubling and Tony O smacks a two-run dinger. Minnesota scores two more that inning with hits by Versalles and Kostro. California plates two runs in the 5th with hits by Schofield, Miller and Ray. California mounts a comeback in the 9th with two runs but falls short and Twins win the first game.
Game 2: Minnesota 10 - California 5
Frazier vs Stigman - Minnesota scores 9 of their 10 runs in the first 4 innings as Oliva, Hall and Kostro have multi hit games. Highlight for California was a 3-run jack by Devon White in the 3rd inning.
Game 3: Minnesota 12 - California 3
Witt vs Pascual - A one sided game here as the the Twins explode for 12 runs on 14 hits with only one homer. A punch and judy hitting team these twins are. As Killer was salivating at the plate he did not hit a homerun all series. Darrell Miller hits a solo shot for the Angels. Pascual pitches a complete game allowing 5 hits.
The Senator (Bunning) vs the Merchant (Benes) started out as a big time pitcher's duel through 7 inning where the Bucs nursed a nebulous 1-0 lead. Both hurlers used their guts and guile to dance out of the way of impending doom. The lone tally on the board came courtesy of a Matty Alou groundout that plated Gene Alley, who led off the top of the 3rd with a 3 bagger. This 1-0 white knuckle even lasted until the top of the 8th when Benes' luck ran out and the Bucs scored 4 huge runs as Matty Alou doubled home Maz and Alley to make it 3-0. Clemente's triple made it 4-0 and Clendenon's single rounded it up to 5-0. A 2 run shot in the 9th by Gene Alley finished off the scoring and influenced scoreboard watchers into thinking this was a complete blowout. Pittsburgh, who looked dead to right just a week ago moves into he LDS to play the #1 NL seeded Reds. Congratulations to rookie KOD manager Randy Myers for righting the Pirate ship and getting his team back on track. Special thanks to interim Padre Manager Mark Nixon for taking over the Friars mid season and guiding them back toward the post season.
