Mickey Rivers doubled in the ninth inning for his third hit of the game and scored on a single by Bump Wills to give the Rangers a 5-4 victory over the Twins. Rivers' run put the Rangers ahead, 5-3, and proved to be decisive when the Twins rallied for a run in their half before Jim Kern struck out rookie Ken Landreaux to save the triumph. [The Sporting News]



Texas Rangers 5, Minnesota Twins 4
Game Played on Friday, September 7, 1979 (Night game) at Metropolitan Stadium
Rangers      1  0  0    1  1  0    0  1  1  -   5 12  1
Twins        1  2  0    0  0  0    0  0  1  -   4  7  0


Rangers              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Rivers cf             5   1   3   0     0   0   .283      Cubbage 3b            2   1   2   1     1   0   .279
Wills 2b              3   1   1   2     1   0   .273        Randall ph,2b       1   0   0   0     0   0   .271
Oliver lf             5   1   3   0     0   0   .324        Adams ph            1   0   1   1     0   0   .306
Bell 3b               5   0   1   1     0   1   .298        Ward pr             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
J. Ellis dh           4   0   0   1     0   0   .282      Wilfong 2b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .309
  Putnam ph,dh        1   0   0   0     0   0   .286        Castino 3b          1   0   0   0     0   0   .291
Zisk rf               3   0   0   0     1   0   .271      Smalley ss            3   0   0   0     2   1   .292
Montanez 1b           3   1   2   0     1   0   .241      Landreaux cf          5   0   1   1     0   1   .309
Sundberg c            4   0   1   1     0   1   .265      Wynegar c             3   0   0   0     1   0   .268
Norman ss             4   1   1   0     0   0   .201      R. Jackson 1b         3   1   1   0     1   0   .272
Alexander p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Goodwin dh            2   1   1   0     0   0   .283
  Lyle p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Morales ph,dh       1   0   0   0     1   1   .268
  Kern p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Powell rf             2   0   0   0     0   0   .292
                                                            Rivera ph,rf        1   0   0   0     0   0   .278
                                                          Edwards lf            4   1   1   1     0   1   .267
                                                          Zahn p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Marshall p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            D. Jackson p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Redfern p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               37   5  12   5     3   2             Totals               30   4   7   4     6   4

Time of Game: 2:59   Attendance: 10,793
Left on Base: Rangers 9, Twins 9
DP: Rangers 0, Twins 1
Errors: Zisk
Doubles: Oliver (25), Rivers (25), Montanez (3), Cubbage (10), Edwards (7)
Triples: Rivers (8)
Sacrifice Hits: Wills (11), Wilfong 2 (24), Rivera (12), Castino (19)
GIDP: J. Ellis (3)


Rangers                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Alexander               4.1   4   3   3   4   0   0  21   4.67
Lyle W(5-8)             3.2   2   1   1   2   3   0  15   3.20
Kern SV(24)             1     1   0   0   0   1   0   4   1.45
Totals                  9     7   4   4   6   4   0  40

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Zahn                    7     7   3   3   3   1   0  31   3.69
Marshall L(10-13)       1.1   4   2   2   0   0   0   7   2.71
D. Jackson              0     1   0   0   0   0   0   1   4.42
Redfern                 0.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   2   3.45
Totals                  9    12   5   5   3   2   0  41

Wild Pitches: Kern (4)

Umpires: HP - Nick Bremigan, 1B - Steve Palermo, 2B - Rich Garcia, 3B - Don Denkinger


RANGERS 1ST: Rivers popped to first in foul territory; Wills
walked; Oliver singled to right [Wills to second]; Bell singled
to center [Wills scored, Oliver to second]; J. Ellis grounded
into a double play (shortstop to first) [Bell out at second]; 1
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Cubbage singled to right; Wilfong out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to second) [Cubbage to second]; Smalley flied out
to left; Landreaux singled to right [Cubbage scored, Landreaux
to second (error by Zisk)]; Wynegar made an out to second; 1 R,
2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 1.

RANGERS 2ND: Zisk grounded out (third to first); Montanez
grounded out (first unassisted); Sundberg grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 1.

TWINS 2ND: R. Jackson walked; Goodwin singled to right [R.
Jackson to second]; Powell grounded out (pitcher to first) [R.
Jackson to third, Goodwin to second]; Edwards grounded out
(shortstop to first) [R. Jackson scored]; Cubbage doubled to
center [Goodwin scored]; Wilfong grounded out (first
unassisted); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 3.

RANGERS 3RD: Norman grounded out (second to first); Rivers
grounded out (first to pitcher); Wills flied out to right; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 3.

TWINS 3RD: Smalley walked; Landreaux grounded out (second to
pitcher) [Smalley to second]; Wynegar lined to right; R. Jackson
flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 1, Twins 3.

RANGERS 4TH: Oliver doubled to left; Bell grounded out (first
unassisted) [Oliver to third]; J. Ellis grounded out (second to
first) [Oliver scored]; Zisk walked; Montanez walked [Zisk to
second]; Sundberg grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Rangers 2, Twins 3.

TWINS 4TH: Goodwin grounded out (shortstop to first); Powell
made an out to third; Edwards flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Rangers 2, Twins 3.

RANGERS 5TH: Norman singled to right; Rivers doubled to right
[Norman to third]; Wills reached on a fielder's choice [Norman
scored]; Oliver flied out to center [Rivers to third]; Bell
reached on a fielder's choice [Rivers out at home (first to
catcher), Wills to second]; J. Ellis lined to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0
E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 5TH: Cubbage walked; Wilfong out on a sacrifice bunt
(pitcher to second) [Cubbage to second]; Smalley walked; LYLE
REPLACED ALEXANDER (PITCHING); Landreaux forced Smalley (pitcher
to shortstop) [Cubbage to third]; Wynegar walked [Landreaux to
second]; R. Jackson forced Landreaux (third unassisted); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Rangers 3, Twins 3.

RANGERS 6TH: Zisk flied out to right; Montanez singled to right;
Sundberg struck out; Norman forced Montanez (shortstop to
second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 6TH: MORALES BATTED FOR GOODWIN; Morales walked; RIVERA
BATTED FOR POWELL; Rivera out on a sacrifice bunt (first to
second) [Morales to second]; Edwards struck out; RANDALL BATTED
FOR CUBBAGE; Randall flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Rangers 3, Twins 3.

RANGERS 7TH: RANDALL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); CASTINO
REPLACED WILFONG (PLAYING 3B); RIVERA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING
RF); Rivers singled to right; Wills out on a sacrifice bunt
(pitcher to second) [Rivers to second]; Oliver popped to third
in foul territory; Bell grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 7TH: Castino flied out to center; Smalley struck out;
Landreaux flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Rangers 3,
Twins 3.

RANGERS 8TH: MARSHALL REPLACED ZAHN (PITCHING); J. Ellis flied
out to left; Zisk flied out to left; Montanez doubled to left;
Sundberg singled to left [Montanez scored, Sundberg out at
second (left to pitcher to second to first)]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Rangers 4, Twins 3.

TWINS 8TH: Wynegar grounded out (third to first); R. Jackson
singled to left; Morales struck out; Rivera forced R. Jackson
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 4, Twins 3.

RANGERS 9TH: Norman grounded out (second to first); Rivers
tripled to right; Wills singled to right [Rivers scored]; D.
JACKSON REPLACED MARSHALL (PITCHING); Oliver singled to left
[Wills to second]; REDFERN REPLACED D. JACKSON (PITCHING); Bell
struck out; PUTNAM BATTED FOR J. ELLIS; Putnam popped to first
in foul territory; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Rangers 5, Twins 3.

TWINS 9TH: PUTNAM STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Edwards doubled
to left; KERN REPLACED LYLE (PITCHING); ADAMS BATTED FOR
RANDALL; Kern threw a wild pitch [Edwards to third]; Adams
singled to right [Edwards scored]; WARD RAN FOR ADAMS; Castino
out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Ward to second];
Smalley lined to right [Ward to third]; Landreaux struck out; 1
R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Rangers 5, Twins 4.