MINNESOTA 3, CALIFORNIA 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, May 11, 2015
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and a double, scoring twice. Jerry Kindall was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with an RBI.
Pitching stars: Dave Boswell struck out nine in 7.1 innings of relief, giving up an unearned run on four hits and two walks. Johnny Klippstein struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Dean Chance pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on four hits and three walks with six strikeouts. Jose Cardenal was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourth) and a stolen base. Willie Smith was 2-for-5 with a triple and a stolen base, scoring once.
The game: Cardenal led off the game with a home run, but Kindall homered in the bottom of the first to tie it 1-1. Smith hit a two-out triple in the fifth and scored on an error to give the Angels a 2-1 advantage, but Oliva hit a tow-out homer in the sixth to tie it 2-2. Kindall opened the bottom of the ninth with a walk. Oliva followed with a double, but pinch-runner Cesar Tovar was thrown out trying to score on the hit. No problem, as Harmon Killebrew followed with a single to center that scored Oliva with the winning run.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4. Bob Allison was 0-for-2 with a walk. Dick Stigman started and pitched only two-thirds of an inning, giving up one run on two hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The win made the Twins 15-7 and put them back into first place, a game ahead of the White Sox.
Notes: Stigman got what today would be an incredibly quick hook. He gave up a home run to Cardenal, followed by a single. He struck out the next two batters, but then walked the next two and was gone. He does not appear to have been injured, as he started again on May 16. Boswell pitched 7.1 innings of relief, which is also pretty much unheard of today. Also, in a 2-2 tie, not only was Chance allowed to pitch the ninth, he was left in after starting the inning with a walk and a double.
Stigman could have been sick or just cramped up. I'm guessing the final score was 3-2? Also, love the featured pic. Is that Griffith giving Tony O his Silver Slugger?
Since the game was in 2015 (!) I'm guessing at his age he was gassed.
I usually don't even put the year in. I've been kind of busy lately.
Based on your profession that goes without saying!
Could be, but I seem to be noticing some pretty quick hooks on pitchers. On the other hand, as with Chance, you see some games where pitchers throw complete games who never would be allowed to today. I suppose it depended on the manager and how much confidence he had in his starter and in his relievers.
Seconded on the feature image. What a great shot.
The images are pretty much routinely awesome.