Stat break: 87 Twins

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Baylor                30     7    9    8        1    0     3     3      0     .300
Brunansky         77     8  16    8        4    1     2     3      0     .208
Bush                  28     5    7    4        1    0     0     7      0     .250
Butera                 9     1     2    3       0     0    1      0      0    .222
Davidson             1     0    0     0       0    0     0     0      0     .000
Gaetti                 86  14   20  18       3    1     5     9      0     .238
Gagne                68    8   20    5       6    2     1     3      1     .294
Gladden             86  12   19    4       4    0     1     7      2     .221
Hrbek                 85  17   25  19       2   0      8      9      0    .294
Larkin                  3     0   0     0        0    0     0      1      0    .000
Laudner             49    3    7     5       2    0     1      4      0    .143
Lombardozzi     59  11  18     6       4    0     3      3     0     .305
Newman            23    3    6     2       2    1     0      4      0    .261
Nieto                  20    0    2     1        0    0     0     0     0     .100
Puckett              88  19  34   16       5    2     8     2      0     .386
Smalley             20    1    3     4       1    0     1     1      0     .150

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Atherton             7      0      9         5      3      3      1      6        0     0     0    3.00
Berenguer          4      0      8       10      5      5      4    11        0     0     1    5.63

Blyleven             7      7    51.3     46   25    22    17     55        0    4     3    3.86

Carlton               3      1      6.3     11   10    10      9       3        0     0    3  14.20

Frazier               5      0      8          3      1      1      5      6        0     1     0    1.13

J Niekro             3      3    19        19    10    10      5    13        0     1     1    4.74
Reardon             8       0    7.6        5     1       1     2     12       8     0     0    1.17

Schatezder        2       0    1           2     0       0     0       1       0      0     0    0.00

Smithson           1       1      9         5     2       2     1       7        0     1     0     2.00

Straker              3       3    17        15     7       7     7       8        0     0     1     3.71

Viola                  8       8    63.6     48   16     15     7     44        0     6     1     2.12

Ringo bracket: Giants (87) defeat Twins (87) in five games

Game One: 87 Twins 5, 87 Giants 2
WP: Viola (6-0)
LP: Reuschel (6-1)
Save: Reardon (8)
HR: Speier (1), Mitchell (2), Gaetti (5)

Game Two: 87 Giants 5, 87 Twins 4
WP: Garrelts (2-0)
LP: Blyleven (4-3)
HR: E, Milner 2 (3), Puckett (8), Lombardozzi (3)

Game Three: 87 Giants 3, 87 Twins 1
WP: Dravecky (3-1)
LP: Straker (0-1)
Save: D Robinson (2)
HR: C Davis (7), Aldrete (1)

Game Four: 87 Giants 6, 87 Twins 2
WP: LaCoss (2-0)
LP: J. Niekro (1-1)
HR: W, Clark (7), Hrbek (8)

Game Five: 87 Giants 1, 87 Twins 0
WP: Reuschel (7-1)
LP: Viola (6-1)
Save: D Robinson (3)

The 1987 San Francisco Giants held the real-life World Series champs to 12 runs in the five games and just three in the final three games to take the Ringo bracket title.

The opener in the Metrodome pitted two undefeated aces, Rick Reuschel for the visitors and Frank Viola for the Twins. Chris Speier's third-inning homer stacked Reuschel to a 1-0 lead, but a Jose Uribe error gave the Twins an opening in the fourth, and they took a 2-1 lead. That score held into the eighth, when Dan Gladden singled to lead off the inning, Reuschel struck out Kirby Puckett, then left for Joe Price, who gave up a single to Kent Hrbek and a homer to Gary Gaetti. Kevin Mitchell homered to lead off the ninth and chase Viola, but Jeff Reardon ended the game with a pair of strikeouts.

Bert Blyleven struggled early in Game Two, walking three, hitting another and committing a throwing error in the first inning as the Giants took a quick 2-0 lead. Puckett homered in the bottoms of the inning, The Giants made it 3-1 in the fourth on Eddie Milner's homer, but Puckett doubled home Steve Lombardozzi in the fifth, and Greg Gagne tied it with a homer in the sixth. In the top of the eighth, Jeffery Leonard singled and stole second; then, with two out, Milner homered again. Scott Garrelts threw three innings of one-hit ball (a Lombardozzi homer in the ninth) for the win.

The series moved to Candlestick, and Dave Dravecky allowed just four hits in seven innings for the home team. Chili Davis and Mike Aldrete each hit solo homers off Les Straker.

The Giants jumped on Joe Niekro early in Game Four, scoring one in the first and three more in the second, with Will Clark hitting a three run homer. The Giants also stole three bases in the two innings. But the Twins scored single runs in the first and third innings to stay close, and Niekro worked out of a bases-loaded jam in the third as he threw four scoreless frames. But the Twins failed to cash in a leadoff double in the fourth and never again got a man in scoring position against Mike LaCoss, and Uribe broke the game open with a two-run triple off Juan Berenguer in the eighth.

Reuschel got the better of Viola in Game Five. He twice worked out of two-on james in the first three innings and wound up allowing just five singles in eight innings. Viola allowed just two baserunners in the first six innings, but in the seventh Mitchell and Candy Maldonado each doubled. That one run was enough for Big Danny and reliever Don Robinson, and enough to clinch the series for the Giants.

Player of the series: Reuschel allowed one earned run over 15.3 innings, and that scored with a reliever on the hill.

Player availability: The Giants have no injuries, and are free to set up their rotation without restriction.

Projected rotation: Reuschel-Dravecky-Downs-LaCoss-(Reuschel)-(Dravecky)-(Downs)

Stat break: 87 Twins

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Baylor                29     7    9    8        1    0     3     2      0     .310
Brunansky         62     8  14    8        3    1     2     2      0     .226
Bush                  23     5    6    3        1    0     0     6      0     .261
Butera                 9     1     2    3       0     0    1      0      0    .222
Davidson             1     0    0     0       0    0     0     0      0     .000
Gaetti                 67  12   17   15       3    1     4     9      0     .254
Gagne                57    7  18     5       5    2     0     3      1     .316
Gladden             75  10   14    4       4    0     1     7      2     .187
Hrbek                 68  15   19  16        0   0     7      8      0    .279
Larkin                  3     0   0     0        0    0     0      1      0    .000
Laudner             48    3    7     5       2    0     1      4      0    .146
Lombardozzi     44    9  12     5       3    0     2      3     0     .273
Newman            15    2    4     2       1    1     0      4      0    .267
Nieto                    5    0    2     1        0    0     0     0     0     .500
Puckett              68  17  27   14       3    2     7     2      0     .397
Smalley             16    1    2     4       0    0     1     1      0     .125

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Atherton             5      0      7         5      3      3      1      3        0     0     0    3.86
Berenguer          3      0      6         7      3      3      3      9        0     0     1    4.50

Blyleven             6      6    43.6     37   18    17    14     49        0    4     2    3.50

Carlton               3      1      6.3     11   10    10      9       3        0     0    3  14.20

Frazier               4      0      7          3      1      1      5      6        0     1     0    1.69

J Niekro             2      2    13        10      6      6      3    10        0     1     0    4.16
Reardon             7       0    6.6        4     1       1     2     10       7     0     0    1.35

Schatezder        1       0    0.6        1     0       0     0       1       0      0     0    0.00

Smithson           1       1      9         5     2       2     1       7        0     1     0     2.00

Straker              2       2    11          9     4       4     5       6        0     0     0     3.27

Viola                  6       6    47.6     39   13     12     6     33        0     5     0     2.27

Ringo bracket: Twins (87) defeat Blue Jays (87) in six games

Game One: 87 Twins 6, 87 Blue Jays 0
WP: Viola (4-0)
LP: Key (1-2)
HR: Puckett (4), Baylor (3)

Game Two: 87 Twins 13, 87 Blue Jays 1
WP: Blyleven (3-2)
LP: Clancy (0-1)
HR: Smalley (1), Puckett 2 (6), Lombardozzi (2), Gaetti (3)

Game Three; 87 Blue Jays 5, 87 Twins 4
WP: Eichhorn (3-1)
LP: Carlton (0-2)
Save: Henke (6)
HR: G Bell (6)

Game Four: 87 Blue Jays 7, 87 Twins 6
WP: Musselman (2-0)
LP: Carlton (0-3)
Save: Henke (7)
HR: Hrbek 2 (6), Puckett (7)

Game Five: 87 Twins 4, 97 Blue Jays 3
WP: Viola (5-0)
LP: Nunez (0-1)
Save: Reardon (7)
HR: Barfield (2), Hrbek (7)

Game Six: 87 Twins 8, 97 Blue Jays 3
WP: Blyleven (4-2)
LP: Clancy (0-2)
HR: Moseby (4), Gaetti (3), Gladden (1), Whitt (1), Gruber (1)

The Twins longballed their way to the series win, bopping 12 homers in the six games while ace hurlers Frank Viola and Bert Blyleven pitched 35 innings between them in their four starts.

Viola was superb in the Metrodome opener, allowing just four hits and facing just two men over the minimum. He was helped by two double plays and caught stealing. The Twins took a first-inning lead on Kirby Puckett's triple and Kent Hrbke's sac fly. Puckett added a two-run homer in the third inning, and Don Baylor had a two-run shot in the fourth.

Blyleven didn't allow a run in Game Two until the ninth inning. By that time the Twins had battered Jim Clancy and Mike Flanagan for 13 runs on five homers -- a grand slam by Roy Smalley in the fourth, a two-run homer by Puckett in the fifth, a two-run shot by Steve Lombardozzi in the sixth, a two run homer by Gary Gaetti in the seventh and another two-run homer by Puckett in the eighth. Blyleven fanned nine Jays.

The series moved to Exhibition Stadium in Toronto for Game Three, and the Twins jumped out to a 4-0 lead after four innings against Dave Stieb. Les Straker threw six innings of scoreless, four-hit ball, but Steve Carlton entered in the seventh against a string of left-handed hitters. Kelly Bruber pinch hit and singled. Ernie Whitt doubled, and Willie Upshaw tripled home both runners and scofed on Tony Fernandez's grounder to make it 4-3 Twins. With two outs, Lloyd Moseby walked and George Bell homered to give the Blue Jays the lead, and the Twins could do nothing against Mark Eichhorn, Jeff Mussleman and Tom Henke.

The Jays evened the series in Game Four, which pitted the knuckleballing Niekro brothers, Phil for Toronto and Joe for the Twins, against each other. Puckett and Hrbek hit back-to-back homers in the first inning, and Hrbek added a two-run homer in the fourth. The Jays tied it with a four-run outburst in the fifth, with Fernandez and Rance Mulliniks each contributing a pair of RBIs. An Upshaw error helped the Twins score two runs in the top of the sixth. Afer Gruber led off the seventh with a base hit, Carlton again entered and again fared ill -- Upshaw doubled, Fernandez singled and Mulliniks tripled, and the Jays had a 7-6 lead, which again Eichhorn and Henke held.

Viola outdueled Jimmy Key in Game Five, This time it was the Jays who scored early, putting up single runs in the second, third and fourth innings. Key held the Twins scoreless until the eighth. Al Newman led off with a single. One out later, Puckett walked, and Hrbek followed with a game-tying homer, which chased Key. With Eichhorn and Henke hard-used, Jose Nunez entered to get the final outs of the eighth inning and begin the ninth. He left Eichhorn with a bases-loaded. one out jam. Eichhorn got Puckett to bounce back to the mound, but Eichhorn erred on the play, allowing the go-head run to score. Hrbek then grounded into a double play, but the damage was done, and Jeff Reardon worked out of a two-on, no-out jam in the bottom of the ninth to close it out.

The Jays struck quickly in Game Six in the Metrodome, hitting three solo homers off Blyleven in the third inning -- Whitt, Gruber and Moseby. But Blyleven allowed just one more hit the rest of the way and struck out 15 for the game. Meanwhile, the Twins picked up a run in the fourth and erupted for four runs in the sixth. Randy Bush and Tom Brunansky's singles were followed by a double by Greg Gagne. After Lombardozzi squeezed Brunansky home with the tying run, Gladden homered for a 5-3 lead. Gaetti hit a two-run homer in the seventh to add to the cushion.

Player of the series: Split it between Viola and Blyleven. Viola allowed three runs in 17 innings, Blyleven four runs in 18 innings. Blyleven struck out 24 batters in his two starts.

Player availability: Blyleven can (and will) start Game Two with the penalty. The bullpen is fully rested.

Projected rotation: Viola-Blyleven-Straker-Niekro-(Viola)-(Blyleven)-(Straker)

Stat break: 87 Twins

Hitters

Name                AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Baylor                21     6    6    5        1    0     2     2      0     .286
Brunansky         42     6  11    8        3    1     2     3      0     .262
Bush                  13     2    3    2        0    0     0     4      0     .231
Butera                 9     1     2    3       0     0    1      0      0    .222
Davidson             1     0    0     0       0    0     0     0      0     .000
Gaetti                 46    8  12     9       2    1     2     4      0     .261
Gagne                36    3  11     2       3    1     0     2      0     .306
Gladden             48    5   10    1       2    0     0     5      2     .208
Hrbek                 43    9    9     8        0   0     4      7      0    .209
Larkin                  3     0   0     0        0    0     0      1      0    .000
Laudner             29    2    5     4       2    0     1      1      0    .172
Lombardozzi      30    5    7     2       3    0     1      2     0     .233
Newman            11    1    3     2       1    1     0      1      0    .273
Nieto                    5   0     2     1        0    0     0     0     0     .500
Puckett              40    8   16    7        3    1     3     1      0    .400
Smalley                9    0     0     0       0    0    0     0      0    .000

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Atherton             4      0      6         5      3      3      1      3        0     0     0    4.50
Berenguer          3      0      6         7      3      3      3      9        0     0     1    4.50

Blyleven             4      4    25.6     25   14    13    10     20        0     2     2    4.91

Carlton               1      1      5          4     3      3      8       1        0     0    1     5.40

Frazier                3      0     5.3       3      1      1      4      4        0     1     0    1.69

Niekro                1      1      7          5     1       1      0      5        0     1     0    1.29
Reardon             6       0    5.6        3     1       1     1       8        6     0     0    1.59

Schatezder        1       0      0.6       1     0       0     0       1       0      0     0    0,00

Smithson           1       1      9           5    2       2     1       7        0     1     0     2.00

Straker              1       1      5           5    4       4     3       5        0     0     0     7.20

Viola                  4      4     30.6     29   10      9      4     18        0     3     0    2.64

Ringo bracket: Twins (87) defeat Royals (87) in six games

Game One: 87 Twins 8, 87 Royals 6
WP: Frazier (1-0)
LP: Farr (0-1)
Save: Reardon (4)
HR: Lombardozzi (1), Balboni (2), White (1), Puckett (3), Wilson (1), Gaetti (2)

Game Two: 87 Royals 5, 97 Twins 4
WP: Leibrandt (1-0)
LP: Blyleven (1-2)
Save: Quisenberry (3)
HR: Brunansky (2)

Game Three; 87 Royals 7, 87 Twins 4
WP: J Davis (1-0)
LP: Berenguer (0-1)
HR: Tartabull 2 (2)

Game Four: 87 Twins 7, 87 Royals 2
WP: Smithson (1-0)
LP: D. Jackson (0-1)
HR: Baylor (2)

Game Five: 87 Twins 5, 87 Royals 2
WP: Viola (3-0)
LP: Saberhagen (0-1)
Save: Reardon (5)
HR: Butera (1), B Jackson 2 (2), Hrbek (4)

Game Six: 87 Twins 3, 87 Royals 1
WP: Blyleven (2-2)
LP: Leibrandt (1-1)
Save: Reardon (6)
HR: L. Smith (1)

The Twins held the Royals to a total of five runs in the final three games to advance to the third round.

Game One, in the Metrodome, featured plenty of longballs. Kirby Puckett homered in the first inning off Bret Saberhagen. Steve Balboni and Frank White hit solo shots off Frank Viola in the second, and Willie Wilson touched 'em all in the fifth.

At that point, the Royals led 5-2, and they made it 6-2 in the seventh when Balboni drew a bases-loaded walk off George Frazier. But Dan Gladden led off the eighth with a single. One out later, Kent Hrbek walked, and Gary Gaetti homered. Bob Shirley relieved Saberhagen, and Don Baylor pinch-hit for Randy Bush to draw a walk. Steve Farr entered, and gave up a single to Tom Brunansky, a walk to Greg Game and a bases-clearing double to Tim Laudner.

The Royals bounced back quickly in Game Two, tagging Bert Blyleven for four runs in the first inning. Bo Jackson had a two-run double in the outburst. Brunansky hit a three-run homer as the Twins tied it in the second. Blyleven and Charlie Leibrandt settled down into the seventh, when the Royals got three consecutive singles from Wilson, George Brett and Danny Tartabull to break the tie.

The series shifted to Kansas City, and the Royals again took an early lead in Game Three. Tarabull hit a two-out homer off Les Straker, and two walks later Jackson singled home Kevin Seitzer. Mark Gubicza held the lead into the fifth, when the Twins had seven straight batters reach base in a four-run inning. Tartabull hit another homer in the sixth as the Royals tied the game at 4, and he singled home a run in a three-run seventh. John Davis threw three perfect innings in relief for the win. Tim Laudner was injured for the duration of the series in this one and was replaced on the roster afterwards by Sal Butera.

Mike Smithson came through for the beleagured Minnesota pitching staff in Game Four, throwing a five-hit complete game. The Twins scored four times off Danny Jackson in the fifth inning to break a 1-1 tie, the big blow a three-run homer by Baylor. Baylor added a fourth RBI in the seventh. Tom Nieto and George Brett were injured in this game and were each replaced on the roster.

Game Five saw Butera in an unlikely hero's role. The third and final catcher for Minnesota hit a three-run homer in the second inning off Saberhagen. Hrbek homered in the fifth. Viola surrendered a pair of solo shots to Bo Jackson and narrowly avoided a third but pitched into the ninth as the Twins took a 3-2 lead in the series.

Back in the Metrodome, the Twins scored a run in the first inning on a Gladden double, Puckett single and a Hrbek double-play grounder. They added another in the second when Brunansky scratched out an infield single and Al Newman tripled. They picked up another in the fifth on singles by Newman, Butera and Puckett. Meanwhile, Blyleven threw shutout ball into the eighth, when Lonnie Smith homered. Juan Berenguer struck out three men in an inning of relief, and Jeff Reardon retired Willie Wilson with two on in the ninth to end the game and the series.

Player of the series: Not a clear-cut choice, but I'll go with Smithson, whose complete-game win started a string of strong pitching performances for the victors.

Player availability: If Nieto is active for the third round, he cannot play until Game Three. Blyleven can pitch Game Two with the penalty.The bullpen will be fully rested.

Projected rotation: Viola-Blyleven-Straker-J Niekro-(Viola)-(Blyleven)-(Straker)