This Day in Twins History – August 28, 1980

An odd game for sure at Toronto’s Exhibition Stadium. The game officially lasted 15 innings and 4 hours and 24 minutes but the game was actually not completed until the next day when the Twins defeated the Blue Jays by a 7-5 score. The game was scheduled as a day game because the Canadian National Exhibition (Canada’s version of a state fair) was going on next door to the ballpark and as part of the event, a concert stage was erected next to the stadium for a daily nighttime concert and it was declared that no inning could begin after 5:00 PM local time. The teams played for 14 innings and were tied at 5 apiece when the curfew kicked in. The game resumed the following afternoon but both of the line-ups had to be modified because Blue Jays 1B Otto Velez and the Twins OF Bombo Rivera were injured in an auto accident after the game. Rivera was in no condition to play and Blue Jay Otto Velez was injured and out for the season. Since Toronto had used all their position players, the Blue Jays sent pitcher Dave Stieb (who was scheduled to start that days game for Toronto) out to left field. As often happens in these situations, the Twins scored two runs quickly in the top of the 15th and Al Williams held the Blue Jays scoreless in the bottom of the inning for a Twins win and in the process recorded the first of his two career saves. Minnesota then won the regularly scheduled game for that day 5-2 and naturally, Dave Stieb was the losing Toronto pitcher. A strange two days at Exhibition Stadium in Toronto. John Verhoeven only won 3 games in his Twins career and this was one of them. Box Score