MINNESOTA 11, WASHINGTON 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, June 6.

Batting stars:  Jerry Zimmerman was 3-for-4 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in three.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring three times.  Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.

Pitching star:  Bill Pleis struck out seven in five shutout innings of relief, giving up three hits and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Ed Brinkman was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a hit-by-pitch.  Steve Ridzik struck out two in two shutout innings, allowing one hit.

The game:  Tony Oliva homered in the first and Zimmerman singled in a run in the second to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  Each team scored once in the third, but Howard's home run in the fourth cut the lead to 3-2.  Zimmerman struck again in the bottom of the fourth, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins a 5-2 advantage.  Starter Dave Boswell had given up four hits and a walk through four innings, but when he opened the fifth with a walk and a hit batsman he was replaced by Pleis.  The move paid off, as Pleis struck out the next three batters and the Senators did not threaten again until the ninth, by which time the game was well in hand.  A three-run seventh was highlighted by Hall's two-run double and the Twins added three more in the eighth keyed by a two-run single by Oliva.

Of note:  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Oliva was 2-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-5 with a run.  Boswell pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and two walks with no strikeouts.

Record:  The win was the Twins' fourth straight and made their record 31-15.  They were in first place by 3.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Hall's 3-for-4 day raised his average to .335.  Boswell went 1-for-2 and was hitting .313.  Earl Battey was again out of the lineup.