KANSAS CITY 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, May 22.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, and a walk, scoring once.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with an RBI.  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-5 with an RBI.

Pitching star:  Dick Stigman struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Fred Talbot struck out seven in 7.1 innings, allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks.  Ken Harrelson was 3-for-5 with a triple and a double, scoring twice and driving in one.  Mike Hershberger was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.

The game:  In the first inning, Harrelson had an RBI triple and scored on a wild pitch to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.  Valdespino delivered a two-out RBI single in the third to cut the lead to 2-1, but the Athletics got two more in the fourth on two singles, an error, and a sacrifice fly.  The Twins never got closer than three runs after that.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 0-for-5 with a run, dropping his average to .227.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 21-13, still in second, still two games behind Chicago.

Notes:  The Twins used two pitchers as pinch-runners, Dave Boswell and Mudcat Grant.