The Twins Almanac for May 8
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May 8, 1967
Rookie Carew Has Twins' First 5-Hit Game
Rookie Rod Carew became the first Twin to collect five hits in a single game in a 7-4 Twins loss to the Senators at home in Bloomington. Rodney was 5-for-5 on the day with a double, an RBI, and run scored. The Twins had 11 hits in total, but no other Twin had more than one.
Kirby Puckett set a new Twins record by going 6-for-6 with two home runs and two doubles in a 10-6 Twins win in Milwaukee on August 30th, 1987. Puckett had gone 4-for-5 with two home runs the day before, making him 10-for-11 with six RBI and seven runs on the weekend. He had gone 0-for-4 on Friday in the first game of the series, a 1-0 Twins loss.
May 8, 1968
Catfish Hunter Pitches a Perfect Game
22-year-old Catfish Hunter pitched a perfect game against the Twins in Oakland, striking out 11 in the Athletics’ 4-0 win. Harmon Killebrew struck out in each of his three plate appearances. In addition to pitching the perfect game, Hunter went 3-for-4 at the plate, driving in three of the Athletics’ four runs. Reggie Jackson was 0-for-4 with two strikeouts.
May 8, 1979
Twins Hit Team-Record 12 Extra Base Hits
The Twins set a team record when 12 of their 19 hits went for extra bases in a 16-6 shellacking of the Blue Jays at home in Bloomington. Roy Smalley and Craig Kusick each hit two home runs. Ken Landreaux hit a home run and a double. Bombo Rivera hit two doubles, while Willie Norwood, Glenn Borgmann and Bob Randall hit one each. John Castino hit a triple. Roy Smalley had the best day of anybody, going 4-for-5 with the two home runs, a walk, four RBI and four runs scored.
May 8, 1984
Puckett Goes 4-for-5 in MLB Debut
Kirby Puckett went 4-for-5 with a run scored in his major league debut as the Twins beat the first place Angels 5-0 in Anaheim. Puckett, hitting leadoff, grounded out to short to start the game. He collected singles in his next four at-bats, becoming the sixth player in American League history to debut with four-hit performance. Frank Viola pitched a complete game, four-hit shutout.
Kirby collected 16 hits in his first seven major league games, hitting .485. He would finish the season with 165 hit in 128 games, batting .296 and finishing third to Seattle’s Alvin Davis and Mark Langston in American League Rookie of the Year balloting. Minnesota’s Tim Teufel came in fourth.
22-year-old Twins catcher Wilson Ramos also went 4-for-5 in his major league debut on May 2, 2010. The following night he went 3-for-4 with a double, becoming the third player in major league history with seven hits in his first two games, and the first since Nanny Fernandez in 1942.
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