It crossed my mind, I looked it up and there it was: Fernando Valenzuela, who died last week at the much too young age of 63, faced the Twins twice in his 17-year career and beat them both times, getting complete game victories on July 18, 1993, and again on July 23 at the Metrodome.
Valenzuela will forever be associated with the Los Angeles Dodgers, but late in his career he spent one season with the Baltimore Orioles, logging 178-plus innings pitched, including five complete games and two shutouts. His record and earned run average were less impressive at 8-10 and 4.94.
Still, Fernando caught the Twins at the right time. The Twins won the World Series in 1991, they won 90 games in 1992 and then completely fell apart the next season, winning only 71 games. They had lost nine straight that June, then limped into Baltimore at 14 games under .500.
Valenzuela, known for the screwball, scattered six hits, allowing two runs with two walks and two strikeouts on 126 pitches. The Twins had just two extra-base hits, both doubles from Kent Hrbek and Kirby Puckett.
The Star Tribune on the first loss:
“Fernando looked great,” Twins manager Tom Kelly said. “We had a chance to score some runs in that one inning, and after that he shut us down.”
“Valenzuela does not seem to be a fluke, or another mediocrity taking advantage of the Twins. He has allowed just two runs in his last four starts, and is 3-0 with two no-decisions in his last five. But should he have made the Twins look this lifeless? They mustered just six hits, and four of those came in the second inning.”
Fernando faced the Twins again at the Metrodome. This time he allowed one run on six hits with a walk and two strikeouts on 114 pitches.
The Star Tribune
“An elderly Russian gentleman sitting behind home plate Friday night in the Metrodome got hit by line-drive foul balls twice within two innings — in the stomach and the face. He was the only one of the 35,195 fans who could empathize with the Twins, who also got jolted by an unexpected 1-2 punch.
“They have lost twice in six days to an aging, chubby, bespectacled, soft-throwing lefthander whose whose once-famed pitch rarely ruffles the strike zone.”
For his career, Valenzuela was 173-153 with a 3.54 ERA and 2,074 strikeouts. He also won Rookie of the Year and Cy Young honors and was a six-time All-Star.
Extra innings…
-Former Twins hitting coach David Popkins is no longer unemployed after he was hired by the Toronto Blue Jays, MLB Trade Rumors reported last week.
“It is always difficult to separate the performances of the players from the coaching staff, but the Twins are coming off three straight seasons of above-average offense with Popkins as their hitting coach.”
Sources: Baseball-Reference.com, Newspapers.com, MLB Trade Rumors.