91/19 World Series Game 5: Nelson Goes Bomba to Stay Alive

Jack Morris was the pick for Tom Kelly in this one while Rocco Baldelli turned to Jake Odorizzi. Although Odo gave up five runs (four earned) and failed to make it out of the 5th, that bested the effort from Morris who gave up five and departed in the third. It was a multi-arm approach for TK’s club the rest of the way while Baldelli needed to rely upon only curveball master Ryne Harper, and a surprising appearance from Gabriel Moya.

The World Series winning 1991 club tallied the first run when Kirby Puckett raced home from second base on a Chili Davis single to center. Baldelli’s group evened the score in the bottom half when Cruz notched his first RBI of the day, scoring Jorge Polanco on a double.

Things remained status quo in the second, and a single run in the top half of the third inning paved way for the original dam to break. A four spot was hung by the Bomba Squad on a pair of two-run dingers from Cruz and Max Kepler. Now with a three-run lead, the newer generation needed to lock things down.

That lead would hold until the 5th, at which point the World Series winners hung a crooked number of their own. Chuck Knoblauch stepped in with Greg Gagne at second following a successful steal attempt. He brought him home on a single, and then hulking Minnesota first basemen Kent Hrbek served up some tater salad of his own. The two-run blast put the 1991 club back out in front, this time by a score of 6-5.

After drawing back even in the bottom of the 5th, the Bomba Squad was ready to put some distance between them and their opponent. Eddie Rosario scampered home on a wild pitch before Luis Arraez drove in C.J. Cron with a single. Then, bases still chucked, Nelson Cruz stepped to the plate. He blasted his second dinger of the day, this one of the grand variety, to punctuate a six-run rally. Miguel Sano would put a stamp on the inning following a Kepler triple with a ground out to drive him in. When the dust had settled the new score read 2019 Twins 13, 1991 Twins 5.

Both teams took a breather in the seventh for just the third scoreless frame of the day. In the 8th however, the 1991 club looked to make it a game again. Davis was looking to make another mark on the action, and he delivered following up a Hrbek single with a two-run shot of his own. Still looking up at their opponents, the runs scratched away making it 13-7.

As if the six-run lead wasn’t good enough, Baldelli wanted to make sure his guys kept the gas pedal down. Rosario lifted a solo shot to double up the 1991 squad and send things to the 9th. With such a commanding lead Rocco allowed Moya to trot back out for the final frame after giving up two in the 8th. He promptly plunked Gene Larkin but then bounced back getting Gagne to ground into a 3-6-3 double play. Mike Pagliarulo popped out to right for the final out and this one was over.

Target Field fans were sent home happy and will see a Game 6 in the series. Still needing to take another with hopes of evening the series and forcing a decisive game seven, this was the type of performance Rocco Baldelli had to have hoped for from his guys. Nelson Cruz played the leadership role in a big way tonight, and the momentum may be swapping sides.

You can find the box score and pitch-by-pitch results for Game One attached below. If you would like to learn more about Out of the Park Baseball 21, please click on this link. If you would like to try it, you can also download it for 10% off the regular price using the code TWINSDAILY. You may also want to read the recaps for:

Game 1

Game 2

Game 3

Game 4

MLB Box Score, Minnesota 2019 Twins at Minnesota 1991 Twins Game 5.pdf

Twins series Game 5 Game Log.pdf