Keeping Track

1965 Rewind: Game Forty-five

MINNESOTA 9, WASHINGTON 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, June 4.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring three times.  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a home run (his ninth), a walk, and a stolen base (his fifth), scoring twice.  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-5 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.

Pitching star:  Jerry Fosnow retired all eight batters he faced, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Woodie Held was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eighth.  Ken McMullen was 2-for-5 with a double and a run.  Don Lock was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one.

The game:  Tony Oliva singled in a run in the first and Allison homered leading off the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Each team scored once in the fourth, with the Twins' run coming on Hall's inside the park home run.  The Twins then scored five time in the sixth to put the game out of reach.  Jim Kaat had a two-run double, Zoilo Versalles had a two-run single, and Kindall contributed an RBI single.  The Senators tried to get back in the game in the seventh, scoring four times.  Three of the runs came on Held's three-run homer.  With the score now 8-5, Kaat was replaced by Fosnow, who slammed the door on Washington's hopes, retiring their last eight batters.

Of note:  Versalles was 1-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Oliva was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4 with a walk.  Kaat pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk with one strikeout.

Record:  The win made the Twins 30-15.  They remained in first place, 1.5 games ahead of Chicago.

Notes:  Hall raised his average to .325.  Earl Battey remained out, with Jerry Zimmerman again catching.  Washington starter Howie Koplitz was making one of his nineteen major league starts, eleven of which came in 1965.  As a starter, he was 2-5, 5.31; as a reliever, he was 2-2, 2.36.  He made twenty-two relief appearances, but never more than five in a season.  One wonders what might have happened had someone put him in the bullpen and left him there.