Tony, the Killer, and Carew

I just wrapped up (finally) the series on top pitching performances. Here is a handy guide sorted by Game Score with links to the original post:

1. 98 Eric Milton 9/11/1999
2. 97 Bert Blyleven 8/27/1975
3t. 95 Johan Santana 8/19/2007
3t. 95 Dave Boswell 7/30/1966
5. 94 Jim Merritt 5/30/1967
6t. 93 Scott Baker 8/31/2007
6t. 93 Kevin Tapani 6/24/1992
6t. 93 Bert Blyleven 8/1/1986
9t. 92 Johan Santana 7/6/2004
9t. 92 Eric Milton 8/1/2002
9t. 92 Dave Goltz 8/23/1977
9t. 92 Dave Goltz 8/31/1976
9t. 92 Jim Kaat 9/18/1967
9t. 92 Gerry Arrigo 6/26/1964
15t. 91 Frank Viola 10/5/1986
15t. 91 Joe Decker 6/26/1973
15t. 91 Jim Kaat 5/24/1972
15t. 91 Jim Perry 8/26/1968
15t. 91 Dean Chance 6/19/1968
15t. 91 Jim Merritt 7/26/1967
15t. 91 Jim Merritt 7/21/1966
15t. 91 Camilo Pascual 7/19/1961

Editor’s Note: All 22 write-ups can be found HERE.

This is the final post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Friday August 31, 2007
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

Scott Baker had shown flashes of brilliance in his first few years as a Twin, but for the most part was still showing inconsistency as a starter. Though he and a few other young Twins pitchers had experience coming into the 2007 season, to organization had brought in a few veteran pitchers as insurance policies early in the season. As those veterans became disappointments in the first few months, young pitchers, including Baker, got their chances.

So far in 2007 Baker had been pitching well for the most part, but the beneficiary of bad luck due to poor run support from a team that typically didn’t give its starting pitchers much to work with. Despite inconsistent use and a few poor performances over the course of the season, Baker’s numbers were solid heading into the second game of a Friday double-header against Kansas City.

Through eight innings, Baker was on track to do something nobody has ever done in a Twins uniform. He had faced 24 batters and retired 24 batters. Just three outs stood between Baker and the first perfect game in franchise history.

That he didn’t finish the perfect game was disappointing, but the fact that Baker pitched a complete-game, one hit shutout - even against the Royals - was cause enough for celebration among Twins fans. In his previous three outings, Baker had allowed a total of 29 hits.

The ninth inning started with a walk to John Buck. Baker had fallen behind 3-0 to Buck, and eventually walked him on five pitches. With one out, Mike Sweeney blooped a single into center field to end the no-hit bid.

“I made the right pitch,” Baker said of the sinker Sweeney muscled to center field. “It just wasn’t meant to be tonight.”

Baker retired the next two Royals to end the game, a 5-0 Twins win that put the team back above the .500 mark.

The performance marked the end of a big week for Baker, whose wife gave birth to his second child earlier in the week.

Minnesota Twins    IP   H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
S Baker, W (8-6)    9   1   0   0    1   9   0   4.09   

 	            BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
	            29  111-81     5-13    93    - 

Full Boxscore

This is the 21st post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Sunday August 19, 2007
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

The 2007 season was a bit of a downer for the Twins and their fans, but it did produce two pitching performances that are worthy of this list that I started a few months before either of them happened.

The first came on a Sunday afternoon at the Metrodome. It happened to be the weekend of the 1987 reunion, and the game actually fell on a day in which Gary Gaetti was to be inducted into the Twins Hall of Fame. Fans waited in line on a rainy day to get the Gaetti bobblehead, and filed in to see what was at the time a .500 baseball team try to make its way back into the AL Central race before it was too late.

The other draw, of course, was Johan Santana, whose starts had become events worth seeing a few years ago when he won his first Cy Young award. Once the ceremony honoring Gaetti was complete, and the final out of the 1987 World Series reenacted, Johan took the mound to the familiar sound of Rob Thomas and Santana’s “Smooth” - the song that still brings the best pitcher in baseball to the mound at the Metrodome.

It was a favorable matchup for Santana from the start. The Rangers had an above average offense, but were a collection of free swingers who were prone to striking out. By season’s end, Texas hitters had compiled 1,224 K’s, second most in the league. Santana, of course a strikeout pitcher, took advantage of the free swinging nature of the lineup early and often.

The Rangers didn’t do themselves any favors, of course, but in the end there really wasn’t much they could have done. Santana’s command was clear as he hit the corners with his fastball, change up, and seemingly whatever pitch he decided to throw. Two K’s recorded in the first inning, three in the second, and two more in the third. The rhythm was clear and it wasn’t looking good for Texas. Santana was perfect until the top of the fifth inning, when a Sammy Sosa soft liner found its way to a safe landing in left field. No matter, Santana retired the next three, including two more strikeouts to run the game total to 11 after five innings.

The Twins got the only run they would need in the second inning, when Michael Cuddyer hit a lead off home run to left center.

After trying something new and retiring the Rangers in order without a strikeout in the sixth, Santana struck out three more in the seventh, leaving Sosa’s two out double stranded at second.

With 14 strikeouts under his belt, Santana came out for the eighth inning even though his pitch count was at the point where he might normally be removed. Prior to Santana’s performance, the most strikeouts recorded in a game by a Twins pitcher was 15, done four times, the last by Bert Blyleven in 1986. Santana equaled that mark when he got Gerald Laird swinging for the third time in the game. He surpassed the mark when he got Nelson Cruz to swing and miss. It took him just four pitches to get number 17, when he got Jarrod Saltalamacchia swinging.

Santana pumped his fist and tipped his cap to the cheering crowd on his way to the dugout, a sign that he was not likely to return to make a run at the major league record of 20 K’s. From the Pioneer Press:

“I really didn’t make a decision. He did a curtain call before I even got down there,” manager Ron Gardenhire said after Santana pitched eight record-breaking innings, then walked into history and allowed Joe Nathan to cement the Twins’ 1-0 victory over Texas. “I said ‘Andy, what does that mean?’ (Pitching coach Rick Anderson) said, ‘I guess he’s done.’ ”

 

Minnesota Twins        IP  H  R  ER  BB SO
J Santana, W (13-9)     8  2  0   0   0 17

 HR   ERA BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS

  0  2.88 26  112-83     2-5     95    - 

Box

This is the 20th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Tuesday July 6, 2004
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

By 2004 Johan Santana had already established himself as one of the better pitchers in the league. Still, he had his problems, particularly early in 2004. After his start against Tampa Bay on June 3, Santana had a 2-4 record with a 5.50 ERA. That was a turning point in the season for Santana, who rattled off four straight victories before a 2-1 loss to the White Sox on July 1st. Over that span he managed to lower his ERA to a much more respectable 4.22. Still, Santana’s career numbers had one glaring omission. In 57 career games started over the course of four seasons and some change, Santana had yet to pitch a shut out.

In fact, he had yet to achieve a complete game. His longest outing of the season was the previously mentioned loss to the Devil Rays on June 3rd in which he pitched 7 2/3 innings. He had pitched eight innings several times over the course of the previous two seasons, but had yet to finish a game he started.

That all changed when the Kansas City Royals came to town on July 6, 2004. Truth be told, if a pitcher is going to pitch a shut out, the 2004 Royals were likely candidates. They were shut out 13 times over the course of the season, and were at or near the bottom of the league in almost every offensive category.

Though Desi Relaford started the game with a single off of Santana, the Venezuelan was not bothered. He retired the next three batters, the last two by strikeout. Santana went by the same pattern in the second. This time a Ruben Mateo single was stranded by three consecutive outs, the last two by strikeout. The third inning was a small change of pace, with a one out walk surrounded by three strikeouts.

And so it went for Santana. A Torii Hunter solo home run in the second was all he would need, though the Twins would add three in the sixth. There was a span between the fifth and the eighth inning in which Santana retired 10 Royals in a row. After eight full, the number everyone was watching was 103, Santana’s pitch count.

Twins lefthander Johan Santana threw his 103rd pitch of the night to get a groundout to end the eighth inning. While the Twins batted in the bottom of the inning, reliever Juan Rincon began to warm up in the bullpen.
What was manager Ron Gardenhire thinking?

 

“He was telling me that it was enough, eight innings and I have another start on Sunday,” Santana said. He respects authority, but something had to be said.

 

“I told him, `Forget about Sunday,’ ” Santana said. “We have to do it tonight. I feel pretty good and whatever happens, happens. I felt pretty good and I didn’t want the opportunity to go away.”

 

Three outs later, the Twins beat Kansas City 4-0. Santana pitched the first complete-game shutout of his career, a checkpoint in an ascending career. “That was one of the greatest feelings I’ve ever had as a baseball player. First complete game and it was a shutout.”

 

Santana continued, “It’s something I’m going to remember forever.”

 

-LaVelle E Neal, Star Tribune 6/7/2004

 

Santana worked around a ninth inning walk by coaxing Ken Harvey to ground into a double play to end the game.

Box

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
J Santana, W (7-5)          9     3   0   0    2  13   0   3.89  

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   30  114-81     7-5     92    - 

Santana’s performance was part of a pretty nice stretch of pitching for the Twins. The night before, Brad Radke had shut out the Royals; and the next day Kyle Lohse would do the same.

This is the 19th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Thursday August 1, 2002
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

With two months left in the 2002 season, the Twins had a 14-game lead over the next closest competitor in the AL Central. The only drama left for the Twins, it seemed, was playoff positioning. With a 65-47 record, the Twins were only three games behind the team with the best record in the AL, the Yankees.

Still, the White Sox weren’t ready to concede the division title to the Twins just yet, and had split the first two games of a must-win series against the Twins in the Metrodome. The two teams would see each other nine more times after this game, so the Sox still had some hope, but they had to get the job done against the Twins.

Eric Milton took the mound for the Twins on the Thursday afternoon series finale. At 12-7 with a 4.89 ERA, Milton was having a solid season, but had not pitched a shut out. In fact, Milton’s only complete game of the season was in an 8-4 victory at Seattle. Since his no-hitter in 1999, Milton had recorded just one other shut out victory. It may not have been entirely Milton’s fault, however. Since Ron Gardenhire had taken over as manager in 2002, not a single Twins’ pitcher had fired a shut out, and he had allowed a pitcher to go the distance on only three occasions.

After three innings pitched, however, Eric Milton showed that he wanted to go the distance. He faced 10 batters over the first three innings, and struck out six of them. The only blemish was a single allowed to Paul Konerko in the second inning.

The Twins offense removed any doubt as to the ultimate outcome of the game when they put a five-spot on Sox’ pitcher Dan Wright in the bottom of the third. Michael Cuddyer struck the biggest blow with a grand slam off of Wright.

Milton continued to roll through the White Sox lineup. The White Sox had a total of two base runners who reached as far as second base. Royce Clayton hit a two-out double in the fifth inning, and Frank Thomas advanced to second on a wild pitch in the seventh. Milton ended the inning quickly in both cases.

At the end of the day, the Twins had a 15-game lead in the AL Central after a 6-0 win over the second place team. Milton totaled 11 strikeouts and just three scattered hits over nine innings pitched. The most remarkable part of Milton’s performance was his pitch count, which somehow got to 137, even with Ron Gardenhire in the dugout.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA    
E Milton, W (13-7)          9     3   0   0    0  11   0   4.60   

		  	   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   31  137-98     6-11    92    - 

Box

This is the 18th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

September 11, 1999
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

Just about everything was negative for the Twins in 1999. They were well on their way to a seventh consecutive losing season, and hadn’t really had anything to get excited about in recent memory. On a Saturday morning in September, Eric Milton gave the Twins’ organization and its fans something to cheer about.

The game started at 11 AM local time due to a scheduling conflict with the University of Minnesota football team. The early start, combined with the Twins’ performance over the past few years added up to an announced crowd of just over 11,000, despite the fact that the game was not being televised due to MLB rules. The early start had an effect on the game as well. The Angels, who were far from an offensive juggernaut in 1999, had most of their best players watching from the bench, including Mo Vaughn, Tim Salmon, Garret Anderson, and Jim Edmonds.

The Twins’ offense did its part early, scoring four runs off of Anaheim starter Ramon Ortiz in the first two innings. Milton walked Orlando Palmiero in the first inning, and walked Jeff Davanon in the third, but worked around those walks and was looking pretty good with five strikeouts through three innings.

In about the sixth inning, catcher Terry Steinbach got a feeling, quoted here by LaVelle E. Neal III in the Star Tribune:

I was sitting there and I had this feeling that anything can happen,” said Steinbach, who was with Oakland in 1990 when he caught Dave Stewart’s no-hitter. “You don’t want to get too carried away with it. Just keep doing what you’re doing, keep moving the ball in and out and see where it goes.”

 

The sixth inning was when the crowd began to buzz as well. When Milton finished off a pesky at bat against Andy Sheets by blowing him away with a high fastball for the strikeout, the Metrodome crowd started to get the same feeling as Steinbach.

Neal noted that Milton’s fastball was in the low 90’s the entire game, and that his control was near perfect throughout. Denny Hocking’s two-run home run in the fifth had given the Twins a 6-0 lead, so the drama rested solely on Milton’s shoulders.

Milton sent down the Angels in order in the seventh inning, including two more strikeouts to bring his game total to 11. The eighth was another quick inning, and Milton added one more strikeout to the total when he caught Matt Luke looking.

In the middle of the eighth inning, the Twins did their regular trivia promotion. The question: “Who threw the first no-hitter in Twins history?” The bit gave Tom Kelly some negativity for the post game.

“That was quite upsetting,” Twins manager Tom Kelly said. “I know it was for the players. I don’t know if [Milton] saw it, but the players were very upset. I don’t know what possessed them to do that today of all days, unless it was a coincidence.”

 

If Milton saw it, the question didn’t seem to bother him, as he went about his business of getting Angels out. The lefty recorded the first two outs of the ninth inning, and only Jeff Davanon stood between Milton and a no-hitter.

With the count full, Milton blew his money pitch by Davanon, a fastball for strike three to end the game.

Box

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA    
E Milton, W (7-11)          9     0   0   0    2  13   0   4.64    

		           BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   28  122-78     4-9     98    - 

Anaheim’s interim manager Joe Maddon was the subject of a lot of criticism for leaving his big bats on the bench late in the game. To his credit, he managed to the best interests of his team, rather than to break up a no-hitter. Down 7-0, he didn’t feel that bringing in the starters who were supposed to have a day off was the best move for the team.

Milton took care of those batters he did face, however, and recorded the top Bill James Game Score in team history, a 98.

This is the 17th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Wednesday June 24, 1992
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

Kevin Tapani had been somewhat of a forgotten man in 1991. Though he had a career year and was the most consistent starter for a team that won the World Series, Tapani was overshadowed the entire season by the story lines surrounding Jack Morris, Scott Erickson, and Rick Aguilera; partially due to a lower win total than the first two. 1992 started out much the same for Tapani. The buzz at the beginning of the season seemed to surround new acquisition John Smiley and Erickson, leaving Tapani to the familiar spot as the third most popular starter on the team.

Tapani didn’t have a great start to the 1992 season. After winning his first start, he lost four straight and had to work to keep his ERA below six. Coming into a the late June game against the Angels, Tapani had a 6-5 record with a 5.08 ERA. Tapani’s slow start mirrored that of his team. The defending World Series champions struggled through the early months of the season. After hovering just below .500 for most of April and May, the Twins seemed to settle in just above the .500 mark until late June. It was then that the Twins put together a streak, and had won six of seven games heading into the final game a 13-game home stand.

Tapani took the mound against the Angels and Chuck Finley. Finley had a history of looking good against the Twins, and was one of those pitchers that Twins’ fans expected a tough game against regardless of Finley’s tough start in 1992 (he was 2-6 with a 5.71 ERA as of June 23).

The Twins got to Finley early in front 0f 30,000 fans at the Metrodome. Chili Davis’ fifth home run of the season gave the Twins a quick 2-0 lead in first inning. Tapani worked around a two-out single in the top of the first, then went on a string in which he retired 18 in a row, including the fourth inning, in which he struck out the side. Jeff Lenihan summarized the performance in the next day’s Star Tribune:

Tapani’s complete-game two-hitter represented the finest pitching performance by a Twins starter this season and perhaps the best start of Tapani’s 82-start major league career. Tapani, a righthander, did not walk a batter, allowed only three baserunners and struck out a career-high 10. After the Twins scored twice in the first off Chuck Finley - or someone giving a poor impersonation of the pitcher that used to dominate the Twins - Tapani was never in trouble as the Twins recorded their fifth consecutive victory.

 

In his past two starts, Tapani has thrown 17 1/3 innings and given up only six hits, two walks and one earned run. That gives him two quality starts in the team’s current streak of eight straight. But before Friday’s 1-0 loss to Dave Fleming of the Mariners, Tapani had given up 100 hits and 46 earned runs in only 75 innings, and the Twins were having to score six or seven runs for him to win.

 

The game ended up being quite void of drama thanks to an offensive outburst by the Twins, led by Brian Harper who went 4-for-4 with four RBI in the game. The final score was 11-0.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
K Tapani, W (7-5)           9     2   0   0    0  10   0   4.58 

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   30  115-79    11-6     93   -	 

Box

This is the 16th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Sunday October 5, 1986
HHH Metrodome
Minneapolis, MN

On the final day of the 1986 season, the Twins and the White Sox played what was essentially a meaningless game. Neither team had really been in contention that year, and both had at least one change of managers (the Sox when from Tony LaRussa to Doug Rader to Jim Fregosi; the Twins went from Ray Miller to a young guy named Kelly).

Frank Viola had already established himself as the best pitcher on the Twins’ staff. While 1986 was a down year for him, he still managed to come into the last game with a 15-13 record (despite a 4.68 ERA). Viola’s only other game against Chicago that season was a June 25th loss in which he allowed four runs over six innings pitched.

While Viola had pitched very well for the Twins for some time, he had not recorded a shutout in more than two years, his last being in August of 1984.

The first time through the White Sox lineup, Viola was perfect. By the time he took the mound in the fourth inning, he already had a 1-0 lead thanks to an unearned run scored when Greg Gagne stretched a single into a home run thanks to an error charged to the left fielder, John Cangelosi.

It was Cangelosi, however, who broke Viola’s perfect string when he singled to lead off the fourth inning. He didn’t get beyond second base, however, as Viola retired the next three in order.

In the bottom of the fourth, with the bases loaded and one out, Mark Davidson drew a walk to make the Twins’ lead 2-0. A Kirby Puckett ground out scored the third run, a tally that turned out to be the final of the game.

In the final five innings, the only blemishes on Viola’s game was a walk drawn by Ron Karkovice in the fifth inning, and a two-out single by Ozzie Guillen in the eighth. Viola wrapped the game up in a tidy two hours, two minutes by retiring the final four men he faced.

“It’s been too long since the last (shutout), but this is a nice way to end the season,” Viola said. “It’s the first time I’ve ever thrown a complete-game two-hitter. Now, I’ll go for a one-hitter and no-hitter. I’ve already got the 14, 13, 12 and 11-hitters down pat.” - quoted by Howard Sinker in the Star Tribune 10/6/1986.

 

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA   
F Viola, W (16-13)          9     2   0   0    1   9   0   4.51   

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS
			   30     -       8-10    91    - 

Box

After the game, the team focused on 1987.

Kelly has been asked by Twins vice president Andy MacPhail not to leave town for a few days. There are players to be evaluated and tasks to be completed that require a manager’s presence, even if Kelly may not be filling that position for more than another week or two. Interviews are expected to continue this week.

While Kelly has been told there will be a job for him in the organization, perhaps returning to his former job as third-base coach, the other coaches have no guarantees. Their job searches are about to begin, and their only realistic hope of returning to the Twins rests with Kelly’s getting the permanent job.

This is the 15th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Friday August 1, 1986
Metrodome
Minneapols, MN

It took nearly a decade after Dave Goltz scored a 92 Bill James game score in 1977 for another Twin to get to 91 or better. Interestingly, it was a former Twin who had returned in 1986 that got the job done. Bert Blyleven came to the Twins in a mid-season trade in 1985. Since he left the team, he made stops in Texas, Pittsburgh, and Cleveland on his way back to Minnesota. When Blyleven left in 1976, the Twins were still playing their home games at Met Stadium. Upon his return, Blyelven and the Twins were in the middle of their third year in the Metrodome.

Blyleven turned 35-years-old at the beginning of the 1986 season, but he still was a very effective pitcher. After having a bit of a rough go in the early 80’s, Blyleven was again posting numbers that looked very much like a Hall of Fame resume, particularly in 1984 when he won 19 games and had a 2.87 ERA with a sixth-place Cleveland team.

Through July of 1986, however, Blyleven had a 9-10 record with another bad team, and had a mediocre 4.70 ERA heading into the game against Oakland on the 1st of August. In that time, Blyleven had allowed 33 opposition home runs, already a career high (his previous high was 25 allowed in 1975).

Blyleven was on the verge of a positive career milestone as well, coming into the game with 2,992 career strikeouts, just eight K’s away from becoming only the 10th pitcher in history to reach 3,000.

In that regard, Blyleven started off well, retiring the first 12 men he faced, six by strikeout. A Bruce Bochte single and a Gary Gaetti error that allowed Carney Lansford to reach to start the fifth inning didn’t phase Blyleven, who struck out the next two men he saw, including Mike Davis who became career victim number 3,000. An Alfredo Griffin ground out with the bases loaded helped Blyleven escape the fifth without allowing any runs, and the Twins put up another three in the bottom of the frame to push the score to 7-0 in the home team’s favor.

Blyleven wasn’t satisfied with the career milestone, however, and struck out two more A’s in each of the next two innings to run his total to 12 for the game. By the time Blyleven struck out Jose Canseco for the second out in the ninth inning, he had run his total on the day to a career-high 15 strikeouts.

The only blemish on the game was a familiar one for Blyleven in 1986. With nobody on base in the eighth, Alfredo Griffin lined a Blyelven pitch to right for a solo home run, one of only two hits the A’s managed in the game. It was the 34th home run allowed by Blyleven that season, who eventually would set an ML record by allowing 50 that season.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    ERA    
B Blyleven, W (10-10)       9     2   1   1    1  15   1   4.51    

			   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS		
			   31     -       9-3     93    - 

What might have been the most remarkable thing about Blyleven’s performance, however, was that it stole headlines from what would have been top bill any other day. Over the course of the 10-1 victory, Kirby Puckett had hit for the cycle. Puckett was the seventh (and last) Twin to accomplish the feat, and was the first to do it since 1980.

Box

This is the 14th post in a series detailing the 20 21 22 best pitching performances in Twins history based on Bill James’ game scores. The games are posted in chronological order.

Tuesday August 23, 1977
Metropolitan Stadium
Bloomington, MN

If Dave Goltz was somewhat of an unknown quantity when he threw his first gem in August of 1976, he wasn’t sneaking up on anybody a year later. 1977 was his best season, and Goltz came into the August 23rd game against Boston with a 15-7 record and a 3.36 ERA. With all of his success, however, Goltz had not had a dominant game yet in 1977 like he saw at the end of 1976. In fact, Goltz hadn’t pitched a shutout since September 25, 1976. Still, he had a career high for victories in a season already with a month left to go, and Goltz was starting to be recognized as one of the better pitchers in the AL. The Twins rewarded Goltz with a new, three-year contract in late July of 1976.

It was a good thing too. Things had changed for the Twins in that same year’s time as well. When Goltz shut down the Brewers in August of 1976, the Twins were 15 games out of first place. Almost exactly a year later, the Twins found themselves in second place in the AL West, just one game behind Kansas City with a 71-54 record.

Boston came to Met with something to play for of their own. After losing to the Twins in the first game of the series, Boston still held a slim half-game lead over the New York Yankees in the AL East. The Sox sent Ferguson Jenkins to the mound against Goltz in the second of a short two-game series.

After Goltz got out of the first with just a walk allowed, the Twins offense jumped on Jenkins early. With two outs, Rod Carew hit a solo home run, and the Twins added another with an unearned run later in the inning to take a 2-0 lead. By the time the fourth inning rolled around, the Twins added another run, while Goltz was still cruising along.

A lead-off single by Jim Rice in the fourth inning didn’t seem like a big deal at the time, and Goltz struck the next two men out before getting George Scott to ground out and end the inning with Rice still stranded. Rice’s hit, however, would take on significance as the game progressed.

From the fifth inning on, Goltz allowed just two more Red Sox to reach base; one on an error, the other a walk (his third walk issued of the game). Goltz plowed through the last 10 batters he faced, retiring them all while striking out five of them, to close out the game, a one-hit shut out that would have been a no-no without Rice’s harmless single in the fourth.

The Twins added several runs over the innings in a team effort at the plate; no one player had more than a single RBI in the 7-0 win over the Red Sox.

Minnesota Twins            IP     H   R  ER   BB  SO  HR    
D Goltz, W (16-7)           9     1   0   0    3  10   0   

 			  ERA   BF  Pit-Str   GB-FB  GmSc  IR-IS

			 3.23   32     -      10-7     92    - 

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Unfortunately for the Twins, Goltz performance may have represented the last point at which the team’s hopes for an AL West championship were in reach. They dropped four of five on the ensuing road trip, and went 12-23 overall after August 23. The free fall was enough to drop the Twins to fourth in the AL West.

Goltz played out his contract with the Twins, never again getting particularly close to the post season. When he had his chance, Goltz signed as a free agent with Los Angeles, where he didn’t pitch particularly well, but he did appear in two World Series games and a handful of playoff games.