Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Forty-two

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Monday, May 31 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks, driving in one.  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Rich Rollins was 1-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry struck out three in two perfect innings of relief.  Mel Nelson struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Dick Hall retired all seven men he faced, striking out three.  Bob Johnson was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer.  Dick Brown was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer.

The game:  Oliva's RBI double put the Twins up 1-0 in the first.  The Orioles responded with four in the second, getting two-run homers from Johnson and Brown of Twins' starter Dick Stigman.  The Twins came back to tie it with three in the fifth; they loaded the bases with one out, scored one on an infield grounder, and got two more on a Kindall double.  There matters stood until the bottom of the ninth, when Sam Bowens hit a walkoff homer off Johnny Klippstein to give Baltimore the victory.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4 with a run and an RBI.  Don Mincher was 0-for-3.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4.  Stigman pitched only two innings; he struck out three, but gave up four runs on three hits and a walk.

Record:  The loss dropped the Twins to 27-15 but kept them in first place, a half game ahead of Chicago.

Notes:  Bob Allison and Earl Battey were held out of this game.  Allison was replaced by Don Mincher, who made his only appearance in the outfield of the season and one of only three in his career.  Battey was replaced by third catcher John Sevcik, making one of only three starts for the season.  Oddly, he had not played above Class A before being called up to the Twins.  He would play eleven games for Minnesota in 1965, the only major league time of his career.  The starting pitcher for Baltimore was Jim Palmer, in his rookie year and making his third big league start.  He lasted 4.2 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks with two strikeouts.