# 1978 Minnesota Twins season

The 1978 Minnesota Twins finished 73–89, fourth in the American League West.

## Offseason

* October 3, 1977: Jim Hughes was released by the Twins.
* October 3, 1977: Steve Luebber was released by the Twins.
* October 25, 1977: Bombo Rivera was purchased by the Twins from the Montreal Expos.
* December 6, 1977: Jesús Vega was drafted by the Twins from the Milwaukee Brewers in the minor league draft.
* January 10, 1978: Jesse Orosco was drafted by the Twins in the 2nd round of the 1978 Major League Baseball draft.
* March 23, 1978: Don Carrithers was released by the Twins.

## Regular season

On May 7, shortstop Roy Smalley Jr. set a Twins record by drawing five walks in a 15-9 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Smalley went 1 for 1 and scored three times.
Third baseman Mike Cubbage, on July 27, became the fifth Twin to hit for the cycle (following Rod Carew, 1970; César Tovar, 1972; Larry Hisle, 1976 and Lyman Bostock, 1976). Cubbage went double, homer, single, triple off Toronto Blue Jays' pitching. In subsequent years, five others will match the feat: Gary Ward, 1980; Kirby Puckett, 1986; Carlos Gómez, 2008; Jason Kubel, 2009; and Michael Cuddyer, 2009.
787,878 fans attended Twins games, the second lowest total in the American League. Only one Twins player made the All-Star Game: first baseman Rod Carew. In that game at San Diego Stadium, Carew—in his twelfth consecutive All-Star appearance—performed an All-Star first by hitting two triples in the game.
Carew won his seventh AL batting title with a .333 average, leading the team in hits and runs scored. Shortstop Roy Smalley hit 19 HR and collected 77 RBI. Dan Ford hit 11 HR and collected 82 RBI.
Reliever Mike Marshall was signed in May and replaced Tom Johnson and Bill Campbell as manager Gene Mauch's all-purpose reliever. Marshall went on to rack up 10 relief wins along with 21 saves. Three starters had double digit wins: Dave Goltz (15-10), Roger Erickson (14-13), and Geoff Zahn (14-14).

### Season standings

vteAL West :
| Team | W | L | Pct. | GB | Home | Road |
| Kansas City Royals | 92 | 70 | .568 | — | 56‍–‍25 | 36‍–‍45 |
| Texas Rangers | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 52‍–‍30 | 35‍–‍45 |
| California Angels | 87 | 75 | .537 | 5 | 50‍–‍31 | 37‍–‍44 |
| Minnesota Twins | 73 | 89 | .451 | 19 | 38‍–‍43 | 35‍–‍46 |
| Chicago White Sox | 71 | 90 | .441 | 20½ | 38‍–‍42 | 33‍–‍48 |
| Oakland Athletics | 69 | 93 | .426 | 23 | 38‍–‍42 | 31‍–‍51 |
| Seattle Mariners | 56 | 104 | .350 | 35 | 32‍–‍49 | 24‍–‍55 |

### Record vs. opponents

1978 American League recordvte Sources: :
| Team | BAL | BOS | CAL | CWS | CLE | DET | KC | MIL | MIN | NYY | OAK | SEA | TEX | TOR |
| Baltimore | — | 7–8 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 9–6 | 7–8 | 2–8 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 11–0 | 9–1 | 7–4 | 8–7 |
| Boston | 8–7 | — | 9–2 | 7–3 | 7–8 | 12–3 | 4–6 | 10–5 | 9–2 | 7–9 | 5–5 | 7–3 | 3–7 | 11–4 |
| California | 6–4 | 2–9 | — | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–7 | 9–6 | 5–5 | 12–3 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 9–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 |
| Chicago | 1–8 | 3–7 | 7–8 | — | 8–2 | 2–9 | 8–7 | 4–7 | 8–7 | 1–9 | 7–8 | 7–8 | 11–4 | 4–6 |
| Cleveland | 6–9 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 2–8 | — | 5–10 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 4–6 | 8–1 | 1–9 | 10–4 |
| Detroit | 8–7 | 3–12 | 7–4 | 9–2 | 10–5 | — | 4–6 | 7–8 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 6–4 | 8–2 | 7–3 | 9–6 |
| Kansas City | 8–2 | 6–4 | 6–9 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 6–4 | — | 6–4 | 7–8 | 6–5 | 10–5 | 12–3 | 7–8 | 5–5 |
| Milwaukee | 8–7 | 5–10 | 5–5 | 7–4 | 10–5 | 8–7 | 4–6 | — | 4–7 | 10–5 | 9–1 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 12–3 |
| Minnesota | 5–5 | 2–9 | 3–12 | 7–8 | 5–5 | 6–4 | 8–7 | 7–4 | — | 3–7 | 9–6 | 6–9 | 6–9 | 6–4 |
| New York | 9–6 | 9–7 | 5–5 | 9–1 | 9–6 | 11–4 | 5–6 | 5–10 | 7–3 | — | 8–2 | 6–5 | 6–4 | 11–4 |
| Oakland | 0–11 | 5–5 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 6–4 | 4–6 | 5–10 | 1–9 | 6–9 | 2–8 | — | 13–2 | 6–9 | 7–4 |
| Seattle | 1–9 | 3–7 | 6–9 | 8–7 | 1–8 | 2–8 | 3–12 | 5–5 | 9–6 | 5–6 | 2–13 | — | 3–12 | 8–2 |
| Texas | 4–7 | 7–3 | 10–5 | 4–11 | 9–1 | 3–7 | 8–7 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 4–6 | 9–6 | 12–3 | — | 4–7 |
| Toronto | 7–8 | 4–11 | 3–7 | 6–4 | 4–10 | 6–9 | 5–5 | 3–12 | 4–6 | 4–11 | 4–7 | 2–8 | 7–4 | — |

### Opening Day starters

* Rod Carew
* Dan Ford
* Craig Kusick
* Willie Norwood
* Bob Randall
* Bombo Rivera
* Roy Smalley
* Larry Wolfe
* Butch Wynegar
* Geoff Zahn

### Notable transactions

* May 15, 1978: Mike Marshall was signed as a free agent by the Twins.
* June 6, 1978: 1978 Major League Baseball draft
** Lenny Faedo was drafted by the Twins in the 1st round (16th pick).
** Kent Hrbek was drafted by the Twins in the 17th round.

### Game log

Legend :
| | Twins win |
| | Twins loss |
| | Postponement |
| Bold | Twins team member |
1978 game log: 73–89 (Home: 38–43; Away: 35–46) :
April: 8–16 (Home: 3–8; Away: 5–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
1April 5@ Mariners2–3Abbott (1–0)Goltz (0–1)Romo (1)45,2350–1L1
2April 6@ Mariners5–4Erickson (1–0)Pole (0–1)T. Johnson (1)10,3111–1W1
3April 7@ Mariners3–6Honeycutt (1–0)Redfern (0–1)Romo (2)11,5301–2L1
4April 8@ Mariners8–2Thormodsgard (1–0)Mitchell (0–1)12,8962–2W1
5April 9@ Mariners8–6Serum (1–0)House (0–1)11,8033–2W2
6April 10@ Angels0–3Brett (1–0)Goltz (0–2)10,0743–3L1
7April 11@ Angels8–1Erickson (2–0)Aase (0–1)12,2174–3W1
8April 12@ Angels5–9Tanana (2–0)Redfern (0–2)LaRoche (2)12,2954–4L1
9April 13@ Angels0–1 (11)LaRoche (1–0)T. Johnson (0–1)11,7024–5L2
10April 14Mariners14–5Zahn (1–0)House (0–2)17,4255–5W1
11April 15Mariners6–5 (11)T. Johnson (1–1)Montague (0–1)7,4716–5W2
12April 16Mariners5–8Pole (1–2)Erickson (2–1)Rawley (1)–6–6L1
13April 16Mariners2–7House (1–2)D. Johnson (0–1)14,0216–7L2
14April 17Athletics2–7Broberg (2–0)Thormodsgard (1–1)2,0546–8L3
—April 18AthleticsPostponed (rain); Makeup: August 11
15April 19Athletics5–6 (11)Sosa (1–0)T. Johnson (1–2)1,9356–9L4
16April 21Angels2–3Aase (1–1)Goltz (0–3)LaRoche (3)4,5166–10L5
17April 22Angels3–5Tanana (4–0)Erickson (2–2)Hartzell (3)6,5666–11L6
—April 23AngelsPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 22
—April 24@ AthleticsPostponed (rain); Makeup: April 25
18April 25@ Athletics3–5Sosa (2–0)Thayer (0–1)–6–12L7
19April 25@ Athletics3–4 (14)Coleman (1–0)T. Johnson (1–3)4,8086–13L8
20April 26@ Athletics8–9 (12)Coleman (2–0)T. Johnson (1–4)4,1276–14L9
21April 27@ Athletics6–1Serum (2–0)Wirth (1–2)4,6457–14W1
22April 28Yankees1–3Figueroa (3–1)Thormodsgard (1–2)11,6747–15L1
23April 29Yankees3–1Zahn (2–0)Tidrow (1–2)10,5438–15W1
24April 30Yankees2–3Gossage (1–3)Scarce (0–1)13,9298–16L1 :
May: 11–12 (Home: 4–5; Away: 7–7)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
25May 3@ Red Sox9–11Burgmeier (1–0)D. Johnson (0–2)Stanley (2)16,4038–17L2
26May 4@ Red Sox1–8Eckersley (1–1)Thormodsgard (1–3)15,7848–18L3
27May 5@ Orioles1–2Flanagan (2–3)Zahn (2–1)3,8978–19L4
28May 6@ Orioles8–7Thayer (1–1)Stanhouse (0–2)T. Johnson (2)26,8709–19W1
29May 7@ Orioles15–9Scarce (1–1)Palmer (3–2)8,92310–19W2
—May 8@ YankeesPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 30
30May 9@ Yankees1–3Hunter (2–3)Thormodsgard (1–4)Lyle (5)11,27110–20L1
31May 10@ White Sox2–7Wortham (1–1)Erickson (2–3)8,33810–21L2
—May 11@ White SoxPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 25
—May 12Red SoxPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 24
32May 13Red Sox2–4Torrez (5–1)Zahn (2–2)Burgmeier (2)7,91410–22L3
33May 14Red Sox2–6Eckersley (3–1)Thormodsgard (1–5)Burgmeier (3)7,00810–23L4
34May 15Orioles9–6 (10)Marshall (1–0)Flinn (1–1)3,84711–23W1
35May 16Orioles8–1Goltz (1–3)Palmer (3–4)T. Johnson (3)4,89312–23W2
36May 18@ Royals8–6Zahn (3–2)Leonard (3–7)Marshall (1)17,45913–23W3
37May 19@ Royals5–3Erickson (3–3)Pattin (1–1)Marshall (2)31,57414–23W4
38May 20@ Royals3–6Gale (4–0)Thormodsgard (1–6)Hrabosky (5)30,31214–24L1
39May 21@ Royals3–2Serum (3–0)Splittorff (4–4)Marshall (3)29,07915–24W1
40May 22Rangers2–0Zahn (4–2)Matlack (4–5)Marshall (4)6,10816–24W2
41May 23Rangers5–2Erickson (4–3)Umbarger (2–3)6,79117–24W3
42May 24Rangers2–3 (11)Lindblad (1–0)Marshall (1–1)Medich (1)7,59817–25L1
43May 25Rangers1–7Jenkins (5–2)Serum (3–1)7,64417–26L2
—May 26RoyalsPostponed (rain); Makeup: August 16
—May 27RoyalsPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 22
44May 28Royals7–8 (12)Gura (3–1)Marshall (1–2)22,26617–27L3
45May 29@ Rangers1–7D. Ellis (3–2)Serum (3–2)–17–28L4
46May 29@ Rangers7–2Erickson (5–3)Umbarger (2–4)Marshall (5)28,31718–28W1
47May 30@ Rangers2–0Zahn (5–2)Jenkins (5–3)Marshall (6)12,71819–28W2 :
June: 11–13 (Home: 4–5; Away: 7–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
48June 1@ Rangers7–10Comer (1–1)Marshall (1–3)16,08419–29L1
49June 2@ Tigers4–2Erickson (6–3)Billingham (4–3)Marshall (7)21,12720–29W1
50June 3@ Tigers9–2Goltz (2–3)Sykes (3–3)21,22721–29W2
51June 4@ Tigers4–6Morris (1–1)Zahn (5–3)36,57521–30L1
52June 7White Sox3–8Kravec (4–4)Erickson (6–4)6,62721–31L2
53June 8White Sox1–2Wood (6–5)Goltz (2–4)Willoughby (5)11,07121–32L3
54June 9@ Indians3–7Clyde (4–0)Zahn (5–4)Kern (4)8,39021–33L4
55June 10@ Indians3–4Wise (4–9)Marshall (1–4)Kern (5)16,04821–34L5
56June 11@ Indians1–2 (10)Paxton (3–3)Marshall (1–5)25,54721–35L6
—June 12@ Blue JaysPostponed (rain); Makeup: June 13
57June 13@ Blue Jays2–0Goltz (3–4)Moore (2–1)Marshall (8)–22–35W1
58June 13@ Blue Jays7–2Zahn (6–4)Clancy (4–5)14,48923–35W2
59June 14Indians8–2Erickson (7–4)Clyde (4–1)6,61224–35W3
—June 15IndiansPostponed (rain); Makeup: September 3
60June 16Tigers5–2Jackson (1–0)Rozema (2–3)9,47925–35W4
61June 17Tigers3–1Zahn (7–4)Wilcox (3–5)9,80726–35W5
62June 18Tigers8–4Goltz (4–4)Slaton (6–4)Marshall (9)21,48027–35W6
63June 20Angels5–10Tanana (11–3)Erickson (7–5)12,33027–36L1
64June 21Angels2–5Aase (4–3)Zahn (7–5)10,80127–37L2
65June 22Angels2–4 (12)LaRoche (6–3)Marshall (1–6)7,48827–38L3
66June 23@ White Sox2–1Goltz (5–4)Kravec (6–5)28,08228–38W1
67June 24@ White Sox4–7Wood (7–5)Jackson (1–1)LaGrow (8)27,43328–39L1
68June 25@ White Sox8–5Marshall (2–6)Schueler (3–2)–29–39W1
69June 25@ White Sox9–6Erickson (8–5)Hinton (1–1)Marshall (10)20,13730–39W2
70June 26@ Brewers2–8Sorensen (10–4)Serum (3–3)7,98830–40L1
71June 27@ Brewers6–13Replogle (4–1)Goltz (5–5)16,13730–41L2
—June 30White SoxPostponed (rain); Makeup: July 2 :
July: 15–15 (Home: 9–7; Away: 6–8)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
72July 1White Sox10–0Goltz (6–5)Barrios (5–8)7,53331–41W1
73July 2White Sox5–8Wood (9–5)Zahn (7–6)Willoughby (10)–31–42L1
74July 2White Sox9–5Marshall (3–6)Schueler (3–3)26,89732–42W1
75July 3Brewers7–2Erickson (9–5)Augustine (9–9)19,06233–42W2
76July 4Brewers7–2Serum (4–3)Travers (4–4)26,26334–42W3
77July 5Brewers3–1Goltz (7–5)Sorensen (11–5)11,40935–42W4
78July 7@ Athletics3–2Zahn (8–6)Renko (3–4)Marshall (11)–36–42W5
79July 7@ Athletics1–0Jackson (2–1)Langford (1–7)7,23937–42W6
80July 8@ Athletics9–8 (11)Marshall (4–6)Heaverlo (3–4)12,20138–42W7
81July 9@ Athletics7–0Goltz (8–5)Broberg (9–7)4,72039–42W8
ASGJuly 11AL @ NL3–7Sutter (1–0)Gossage (0–1)51,549—N/A
82July 13@ Orioles6–8Flanagan (13–6)Goltz (8–6)T. Martinez (3)8,11939–43L1
83July 14@ Orioles1–5McGregor (9–8)Zahn (8–7)24,19539–44L2
84July 15@ Red Sox4–5Lee (10–3)Jackson (2–2)Stanley (6)32,86139–45L3
85July 16@ Red Sox3–5Eckersley (11–2)Harrison (0–1)Campbell (4)–39–46L4
86July 16@ Red Sox2–3Wright (5–1)Erickson (9–6)Stanley (7)35,58939–47L5
87July 17@ Red Sox2–3 (10)Campbell (6–5)Marshall (4–7)33,23339–48L6
88July 19Yankees0–2Figueroa (8–7)Zahn (8–8)29,59139–49L7
89July 20Yankees0–4Guidry (14–1)Jackson (2–3)30,66039–50L8
90July 21Orioles4–5 (10)Stanhouse (4–5)Marshall (4–8)14,70239–51L9
91July 22Orioles5–4Goltz (9–6)McGregor (10–9)10,06340–51W1
92July 23Orioles5–8Palmer (12–8)Serum (4–4)Stanhouse (13)30,89640–52L1
93July 24Red Sox5–4Jackson (3–3)Drago (2–4)Marshall (12)–41–52W1
94July 24Red Sox2–4Hassler (2–4)Zahn (8–9)Stanley (8)21,58041–53L1
95July 25Red Sox5–2Erickson (10–6)Lee (10–5)Marshall (13)18,60842–53W1
96July 26Blue Jays1–5Moore (5–2)Goltz (9–7)6,01442–54L1
97July 27Blue Jays6–3Perzanowski (1–0)Clancy (7–8)18,28543–54W1
98July 28@ Yankees7–5 (10)Marshall (5–8)Lyle (7–2)25,03744–54W2
99July 29@ Yankees3–7Clay (2–3)Jackson (3–4)Gossage (15)46,71144–55L1
100July 30@ Yankees3–4Gossage (7–9)Marshall (5–9)–44–56L2
101July 30@ Yankees2–0Goltz (10–7)Beattie (2–5)Marshall (14)41,49145–56W1 :
August: 13–19 (Home: 9–9; Away: 4–10)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
102August 1@ Mariners6–13House (5–4)Perzanowski (1–1)9,27245–57L1
103August 2@ Mariners1–3Colborn (3–8)Zahn (8–10)8,39445–58L2
104August 3@ Mariners5–6Romo (9–3)Marshall (5–10)9,47145–59L3
105August 4@ Angels3–12Fitzmorris (1–1)Serum (4–5)Brett (1)17,41145–60L4
106August 5@ Angels4–3Erickson (11–6)Tanana (14–7)–46–60W1
107August 5@ Angels3–4Knapp (11–6)Perzanowski (1–2)LaRoche (16)41,72346–61L1
108August 6@ Angels3–4LaRoche (8–5)Marshall (5–11)17,62846–62L2
109August 7Mariners5–6 (14)Todd (2–3)Perzanowski (1–3)6,65746–63L3
110August 8Mariners10–2Serum (5–5)Honeycutt (4–7)6,49947–63W1
111August 9Mariners1–4Abbott (5–9)Erickson (11–7)Todd (2)6,81447–64L1
112August 11Athletics0–2Langford (6–7)Zahn (8–11)–47–65L2
113August 11Athletics3–2Jackson (4–4)Broberg (9–10)Marshall (15)13,79548–65W1
114August 12Athletics6–3Perzanowski (2–3)Renko (6–7)Marshall (16)11,74049–65W2
115August 13Athletics3–1Serum (6–5)Keough (7–10)–50–65W3
116August 13Athletics2–1Erickson (12–7)Norris (0–1)18,57751–65W4
117August 14@ Indians3–4Paxton (9–6)Holly (0–1)Kern (10)6,51351–66L1
118August 15@ Indians9–8Marshall (6–11)Monge (3–2)Serum (1)6,97152–66W1
119August 16Royals5–1Zahn (9–11)Bird (4–6)–53–66W2
120August 16Royals7–11Splittorff (14–10)Perzanowski (2–4)Mingori (7)14,64053–67L1
121August 17Royals6–5 (10)Erickson (13–7)Gura (10–3)15,93654–67W1
122August 18Blue Jays4–3 (10)Holly (1–1)Murphy (4–9)4,59955–67W2
123August 19Blue Jays5–0Serum (7–5)Garvin (3–12)10,74556–67W3
124August 20Blue Jays2–6Kirkwood (2–1)Perzanowski (2–5)Murphy (7)11,68556–68L1
125August 21Tigers6–9Billingham (14–5)Zahn (9–12)7,41956–69L2
126August 22Tigers3–7Slaton (13–9)Perzanowski (2–6)7,72656–70L3
127August 23Rangers0–2Comer (6–3)Erickson (13–8)7,15756–71L4
128August 24Rangers1–4 (10)Jenkins (12–8)Goltz (10–8)8,66656–72L5
129August 25@ Blue Jays3–7Kirkwood (3–1)Serum (7–6)Willis (7)15,20656–73L6
130August 26@ Blue Jays3–4 (10)Cruz (5–1)Zahn (9–13)25,60156–74L7
131August 27@ Blue Jays3–2 (11)Marshall (7–11)Willis (2–6)22,02357–74W1
132August 29@ Tigers2–4Wilcox (12–8)Goltz (10–9)13,83957–75L1
133August 31@ Tigers4–1Zahn (10–13)Young (5–4)Marshall (17)16,99558–75W1 :
September: 15–13 (Home: 9–9; Away: 6–4)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
134September 1Indians1–4Clyde (6–9)Erickson (13–9)Spillner (3)4,91758–76L1
135September 2Indians2–1Goltz (11–9)Reuschel (2–2)Marshall (18)6,77559–76W1
136September 3Indians12–3Serum (8–6)Wise (9–18)–60–76W2
137September 3Indians4–3Marshall (8–11)Kern (8–9)10,24061–76W3
138September 4White Sox2–1Zahn (11–13)Barrios (8–13)6,97862–76W4
139September 5White Sox3–4Trout (1–0)Erickson (13–10)LaGrow (15)3,63062–77L1
140September 6White Sox0–1Kravec (11–13)Goltz (11–10)3,64862–78L2
141September 8Brewers0–3Replogle (8–2)Serum (8–7)9,26262–79L3
142September 9Brewers0–3Caldwell (18–9)Erickson (13–11)10,63962–80L4
143September 10Brewers3–1Goltz (12–10)Travers (10–9)10,51263–80W1
144September 11@ White Sox3–1Zahn (12–13)Kravec (11–14)Marshall (19)7,34264–80W2
145September 12@ White Sox1–6Hinton (2–4)Serum (8–8)6,27964–81L1
146September 15@ Brewers10–3Erickson (14–11)Travers (10–10)12,45665–81W1
147September 16@ Brewers5–2Goltz (13–10)Sorensen (17–11)Marshall (20)37,80966–81W2
148September 17@ Brewers4–3Serum (9–8)Replogle (9–3)Marshall (21)11,00767–81W3
149September 18Angels10–4Zahn (13–13)Knapp (14–8)Perzanowski (1)2,27868–81W4
150September 19Angels1–4Ryan (8–13)Erickson (14–12)3,74768–82L1
151September 20Rangers5–3Goltz (14–10)Comer (9–5)2,73669–82W1
152September 21Rangers3–6Matlack (14–13)Serum (9–9)3,31269–83L1
153September 22Royals2–4Gura (15–4)Jackson (4–5)–69–84L2
154September 22Royals4–0Zahn (14–13)Pattin (3–3)5,17570–84W1
155September 23Royals1–3Splittorff (19–12)Erickson (14–13)Hrabosky (20)13,28870–85L1
156September 24Royals6–4Goltz (15–10)Mingori (1–4)6,62771 –85W1
157September 25@ Rangers2–3 (11)Cleveland (5–8)Marshall (8–12)6,40471–86L1
158September 26@ Rangers6–2Marshall (9–12)Mirabella (2–2)6,79772–86W1
159September 27@ Rangers5–10Mirabella (3–2)Perzanowski (2–7)9,60172–87L1
160September 29@ Royals0–4Leonard (21–17)Jackson (4–6)31,79472–88L2
161September 30@ Royals7–3 (11)Marshall (10–12)McGilberry (0–1)29,08973–88W1 :
October: 0–1 (Home: 0–0; Away: 0–1)
#DateOpponentScoreWinLossSaveAttendanceRecordStreak
162October 1@ Royals0–1Throop (1–0)Zahn (14–14)Paschall (1)23,79473–89L1 :

## Player stats

* = Indicates team leader

### Batting
#### Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Pos | Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| C | Butch Wynegar | 135 | 454 | 104 | .229 | 4 | 45 |
| 1B | Rod Carew | 152 | 564 | 188 | .333 | 5 | 70 |
| 2B | Bob Randall | 119 | 330 | 89 | .270 | 0 | 21 |
| SS | Roy Smalley | 158 | 586 | 160 | .273 | 19 | 77 |
| 3B | Mike Cubbage | 125 | 394 | 111 | .282 | 7 | 57 |
| LF | Willie Norwood | 125 | 428 | 109 | .255 | 8 | 46 |
| CF | Dan Ford | 151 | 592 | 162 | .274 | 11 | 82 |
| RF | Hosken Powell | 121 | 381 | 94 | .247 | 3 | 31 |
| DH | Glenn Adams | 116 | 310 | 80 | .258 | 7 | 35 |

#### Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in
| Player | G | AB | H | Avg. | HR | RBI |
| Bombo Rivera | 101 | 251 | 68 | .271 | 3 | 23 |
| José Morales | 101 | 242 | 76 | .314 | 2 | 38 |
| Larry Wolfe | 88 | 235 | 55 | .234 | 3 | 25 |
| Rob Wilfong | 92 | 199 | 53 | .266 | 1 | 11 |
| Rich Chiles | 87 | 198 | 53 | .268 | 1 | 22 |
| Craig Kusick | 77 | 191 | 33 | .173 | 4 | 20 |
| Glenn Borgmann | 49 | 123 | 26 | .211 | 3 | 15 |
| Dave Edwards | 15 | 44 | 11 | .250 | 1 | 3 |

### Pitching
#### Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Roger Erickson | 37 | 265.2 | 14 | 13 | 3.96 | 121 |
| Geoff Zahn | 35 | 252.1 | 14 | 14 | 3.03 | 106 |
| Dave Goltz | 29 | 220.1 | 15 | 10 | 2.49 | 116 |
| Darrell Jackson | 19 | 92.1 | 4 | 6 | 4.48 | 54 |
| Paul Thormodsgard | 12 | 66.0 | 1 | 6 | 5.05 | 23 |

#### Other pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | IP | W | L | ERA | SO |
| Gary Serum | 34 | 184.1 | 9 | 9 | 4.10 | 80 |
| Stan Perzanowski | 13 | 56.2 | 2 | 7 | 5.24 | 31 |
| Dave Johnson | 6 | 12.0 | 0 | 2 | 7.50 | 7 |
| Pete Redfern | 3 | 9.2 | 0 | 2 | 6.52 | 4 |

#### Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts
| Player | G | W | L | SV | ERA | SO |
| Mike Marshall | 54 | 10 | 12 | 21 | 2.45 | 56 |
| Greg Thayer | 20 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.80 | 30 |
| Tom Johnson | 18 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 5.51 | 21 |
| John Sutton | 17 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3.45 | 18 |
| Mac Scarce | 17 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.94 | 17 |
| Jeff Holly | 15 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3.57 | 12 |
| Roric Harrison | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 7.50 | 7 |

## Farm system

| Level | Team | League | Manager |
| AAA | Toledo Mud Hens | International League | Cal Ermer |
| AA | Orlando Twins | Southern League | Johnny Goryl |
| A | Visalia Oaks | California League | Roy McMillan |
| A | Wisconsin Rapids Twins | Midwest League | Rick Stelmaszek |
| Rookie | Elizabethton Twins | Appalachian League | Fred Waters |
LEAGUE CHAMPIONS: Visalia, Elizabethton