The year 1990 was a schizophrenic one for the Minnesota Twins.
They got off to a slow start in April, but it wasn’t a terrible beginning as they finished the month at 7-12. But then they stepped on the gas and reeled off a 21-7 record to find themselves at 28-19 and 3.5 games out of first place by the end of May.
And then just as quickly the wheels came shooting off as they slumped to 7-21 in June, ending the month at 35-40, now 13 games back in the the AL West.
Twins manager Tom Kelly reflected on the month to the Star Tribune.
“The pitching has been bad at times, and we’ve had a couple guys in slumps at the same time. Things piled up on us. … A lot of strange things happen. There’s a lot of streaks involved, not just with our baseball team but with all teams. But for the Minnesota Twins, it was not a consistent month. We didn’t do things the way we have to if you want to be successful.”
But they started July with a win, getting a 4-3 walk-off victory at home over the Baltimore Orioles, a game that featured future 200-game winner Curt Schilling making a scoreless relief appearance.
Schilling was drafted by the Boston Red Sox, then traded to the Orioles, the Astros and finally the Phillies where he spent the bulk of his career. He, of course, would famously return to the Red Sox and win a World Series with Boston in 2004.
In that July 1 win, Kirby Puckett had three hits and scored two runs, Kent Hrbek hit a three-run blast and closer Rick Aguilera picked up the win after Juan Berenguer blew the save by striking out five across two innings with two walks, one of them intentional.
The Twins produced a 15-14 record in July, but played losing baseball the rest of the way to finish dead last in the division at 74-88.
Extra innings…
–July 1, 1990, was notable for another game that was played that day. The New York Yankees’ Andy Hawkins tossed a no-hitter against the Chicago White Sox, but lost 4-0 because of two walks and three errors in the 8th inning.
Hawkins’ no-hitter looked like this: Four runs allowed on zero hits with five walks and three strikeouts across eight innings.
Hawkins could barely believe the outcome, according to a wire story that appeared in the Star Tribune.
“I’m stunned,” Hawkins said. “When you pitch a no-hitter, you expect jubilation. You expect to walk off the field shaking hands with everybody, just like Stewart and Fernando,” said Hawkins in reference to recent no-hitters tossed by Dave Stewart and Fernando Valenzuela.
Newsday was there, too.
Hawkins, who only 24 days ago was told by Yankees executives that he was going to be released, pitched a no-hitter yesterday in the Yankees’ last game in “old” Comiskey Park. That piece of trivia was not what made Hawkins’ no-hitter unusual, though. Hawkins lost this no-hitter, 4-0, thanks to a wild, wacky, wind-blown eighth inning in which the White Sox scored four runs on three errors and two walks. Unearned. Unbelievable. Unjust.
Source: Newspapers.com