April 26 at the Twins

Opponent: Minnesota Twins
Outcome: L
Score: 2-4
Streak: L19
Record: 0-19
Rank: 7th
GB: 15.0

Another game where the Orioles lead early but ended up losing.  Fred Lynn lead the game off with a home run against Frank Viola and Baltimore extended their lead to 2-0 when Cal Ripken doubled in his brother Bill in the third inning.  But Kent Hrbek tied the game up in the bottom of the sixth with a two run home run and Randy Bush followed up with a solo shot three batters later to put the Twins up 3-2.  Hrbek hit a second home run in the bottom of the eighth to extend the lead to 4-2 which was the final score.  These were Hrbek's first two home runs of the season.

One other note about the game - the coaching staff decided to try to loosen the team up by taking batting practice before the game.  This included manager Frank Robinson.  Robinson had hit 586 home runs during his major league career but he was now 52 years old. "I knew I should not have done it," Robinson told Jane Leavy of the Washington Post a few months later.* "I didn't have the heart, maybe the guts, to say 'no, I can't do it.'" He ended up rupturing a disk in his back "I came up short. Warning-track power. It didn't quite go out. But I knew my back had gone out."  He would remain in pain for the rest of the season - so 1988 would end up being physically painful for Frank Robinson as well as professionally.

*The linked article is from the LA Times archive but Leavy is/was with the Washington Post

Here's a video clip from WBAL-TV (Channel 2) from the next day which shows highlights from this game. 



Longtime Baltimore sportscaster Vince Bagli mentions something called "Fantastic Fans Night".  I'm not sure exactly when or where this idea came from although I think Bob Rivers and WIYY were behind it.  The plan was to get fans to show their support for the team by coming out for the game on Monday, May 2nd against the Rangers.  This would be the first home game after the road trip that they were currently on.