This Random Twin Was The Winning Pitcher In Highest-Scoring Game In Franchise History

[Al from SoDak]

Today’s Random Twin is an exceptionally obscure player. He pitched only 27.2 innings in two seasons for two different teams. He came from a baseball family and participated in a record-setting game in Twins history. Let’s get to know right-handed pitcher Erik Bennett.

Erik Hans Bennett was born on September 13, 1968, in Yreka, California, which is in the extreme northern part of the state 20 miles from Oregon. He attended Yreka High School and then Cal State Sacramento. In 1988, he went across the country to play in the Cape Cod League. Shortly after, the California Angels selected Bennett in the fourth round of the 1989 Major League Baseball Amateur Draft.

Erik Bennett shared a middle name, high school alma mater, and baseball acumen with his father, David Hans Bennett. Father Dave had an even shorter MLB career than his son, Erik. Dave pitched one inning in one game in 1964 for the Philadelphia Phillies. Furthermore, Erik’s uncle and Dave’s brother, Dennis, also pitched for that 1964 Phillies team. (The 1964 Phillies are remembered for their epic meltdown that season. They were up 6.5 games as late as September 20 with only 12 games remaining. They would collapse and finish tied for second in the National League, one game behind the St. Louis Cardinals.) All three Bennetts were pitchers. Dennis had a longer career than our subject, Erik, and his father. Dennis pitched in 182 games over seven seasons. He achieved a 43-47 record.

Back to Erik. After being drafted by the Angels, he pitched seven seasons in the Angels minor league system across all levels. He was a starter through 1993 but transitioned to a full-time reliever in 1994. It was as a reliever that he made it to the big leagues. Bennett’s major league debut came May 15, 1995, against our beloved Minnesota Twins. The six-foot-two pitcher threw 0.1 innings. He got the final out in a 9-6 loss to Minnesota by getting Matt Merullo to fly out to center—that single out encompassed Erik Bennett’s entire Angels career.

After the 1995 season, the Twins (did they see something promising in that one-third of an inning?) signed Bennett. He made the team out of spring training as a multiple-inning bullpen arm. He started his Twins career pitching in seven consecutive losses (although he was not charged a loss in any of those games, those games were out of hand when he entered them). In late April, he had the week of his career. He had two career victories and his single career save within six days. I want to focus mainly on the first day of the stretch.

On April 24, 1996, the Twins arrived in Detroit to face off against the Tigers in a short, two-game series opener. Frankie Rodriguez started that game for the Twins but had a rough go of it, to say the least, giving up six runs in two innings. He was replaced by Pat Mahomes, who gave up another two runs in 0.2 innings before giving way to our subject, Mr. Erik Bennett. Bennett put an end to the third inning by striking out Travis Fryman to end the inning. In the fourth inning, Bennett gave up a double and a home run. At this point, despite the terrible pitching, the Twins were not completely out of it. The Tigers’ lead was “only” three, 10-7, because the Twins batters had also started quickly.

In the top of the fifth, the Twins took the lead on a bases-loaded double by Scott Stahoviak, who drove in three. Stahoviak was also allowed to score on an error. That gave the Twins an 11-10 lead. Bennett came out again in the bottom of the fifth, allowing a double to the leadoff hitter, and that was it for his day. Dan Naulty entered to get the side out in order, and the Twins maintained their lead. From that point onward, the Twins offense teed off, scoring three, two, five, and three runs in innings six through nine. We’ll go over the offensive details shortly. Twins pitchers gave up only one additional run in the bottom of the ninth. The Twins won 24-11. The runs scored by the Twins (24) are the most in franchise history. Erik Bennett benefitted from his first major league victory. He was awarded the win because the Twins took the lead while he was pitching, even though his outing (two runs in 1.1 innings, three extra-base hits allowed) was not particularly effective. But, hey, that’s the rule. 

Journeyman catcher Greg Myers was a big contributor to the Twins' record run total on that day. He had five hits (two doubles), five RBI, and three runs scored. Matt Lawton had four hits, four runs, one walk, and one RBI. Paul Molitor had two hits (a home run and a triple), one walk, five RBI, and five runs scored. Marty Cordova was 2-4 with three walks; he drove in one and scored three. The Twins had four doubles, a triple, and three home runs for the day. The Twins had 19 hits total. It seems like less than I would expect to score 24 runs. Maybe it was the 12 walks Detroit pitchers issued? 

Bennett’s career week continued with an extra-inning win against the Yankees a few days later. The Twins won 8-6 in ten innings despite Bennett giving up a run in the bottom of the tenth – the Twins had scored four in the top of the tenth to allow some breathing room. Bennett achieved his one and only save at home two days later against Kansas City. He came into a game with a 7-6 lead and pitched 1.1 innings, allowing no base runners. The Twins scored four runs in the bottom of the eighth to turn a close game into a bit of a laugher, helping Bennett achieve the save.

That was the end of the highlights of Bennett’s Twins career. He continued pitching for the Twins through June 8. His performance worsened, and his ERA grew continuously for that month and a half, finishing at 7.90. His Twins career and MLB career were over. His final career numbers were two wins and zero losses over 27.1 innings and 25 games. His ERA was 7.84 (ERA+ was 65). He struck out 13 and walked 15. His WAR finished at -0.6. He played six more minor league seasons.

Erik Bennett was a minor league pitching coach from 2002 to 2018.

Does anyone else remember, or did you watch this 24-run game? I feel like I watched it, but it’s hard to say, as there was another 20-run game for the Twins at the Tigers in the 1990s. Maybe I’m getting them mixed up. Do you have any memories of this very obscure, random Twin who recorded the win that record-setting day? Please comment below. 

Check out my previous entries at Remembering Random Twins.

Sources include www.baseball-reference.com.

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