Chisox take 2 of 3 from Twinkies as both teams are tied for 2nd in AL West and 1 GB Oakland

9/12 – 9/14 @ Comiskey Park

GAME 1 – White Sox 5, Twins 3

Wilbur Wood had that magical knuckleball dancing and the normally lax Southside offense came to life as the Chisox won 5-3.  Wood (5-3, 3.o8) went the distance and gave up 3 to the Twins who put their trust in Pete Filson in relief, who could not keep it close.  Wood made just 2 real mistakes on the day.  One wound up being a 2 run shot by Gary Gaetti and a solo shot Tim Teufel.  Buddy Bradford knocked in 2 and went 2 for 3 for the Southsiders.

GAME 2 – White Sox 7, Twins 1

Stan Bahnsen (2-3, 6.83) finally displayed pitching brilliance with 8 innings of 1 run work before yielding to Goose Gossage in the 9th.  Alvin Williams (0-1, 6.00) gave up 5 (4 earned) in 6 as the Twins blew a great opportunity to gain ground on the slumping A’s.  Dick Allen’s bat came to life in this day of resurrection for the Chisox.  Allen, hitting just .222, went 2 for 3 with 2 tape measure shots and 5 RBI’s.  Tony Muser went 3 for 4 batting in the 8th hole for Chicago.  Kent Hrbek took the collar (0-4) as his chances of contending for the triple crown fade fast.

GAME 3 – Twins 9, White Sox 3

The stopper, Frank Viola was on the mound for the Twins with one mission:  Get this ship righted.  Minnesota needed this game to keep pace with the A’s and to prevent the Chisox from leapfrogging them in the standings.  Solo runs in the 1st and the 3rd off of Chicago starter Bart Johnson were just what the doctor ordered for the Twins, but Viola hit a huge pot hole when he gave up 3 in the bottom of the 5th to give Chicago a 3-2 lead.  Dick Allen’s 7th homer of the season was the first blow off of Viola, which was followed up a bit later by Brian Downing’s first of the season…a 2 run shot.  The Twins battled back to scratch out a solo run in the top of the 6th, when Tom Brunansky singled home  Tim Teufel with 2 outs.  It would stay that way throughout regulation, so, this getaway day game went to extra innings.  The Twins wasted no time in the top of the 10th when John Castino led off the inning with a pinch hit single.  Meier followed up with a pinch hit single of his own.  Contact hitter Kirby Puckett forgot how to make contact and fanned on 3 pitches for out #1.  Kent Hrbek got his MVP campaign back on track with a 3 run homer off of reliever Terry “Big Tub of Goo” Forster.  By that point the wind was now taken out of Chicago’s sails.  Minny managed 3 more runs that inning to turn this one into an extra inning laugher, which helped them salvage a tie with Chicago in the AL West standings.