MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, June 10 (Game 1 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-2 with three walks and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-3 with three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bill Pleis pitched two perfect innings with one strikeout.  Dick Stigman pitched two perfect innings with four strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Norm Cash was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.  Jim Northrup was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.  Don Wert was 1-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in two.

The game:  The Twins got one in the second and the Tigers matched it in the fourth to tie it 1-1.  Hall's two-run single in the top of the sixth gave the Twins a 3-1 lead, but Detroit got a two-run triple by Wert and an RBI double from Bill Freehan in the bottom of the sixth to make it 4-3 Tigers.  That lead held up until the ninth, when two walks and a pickoff error (Twins Baseball!) tied the score.  In the tenth, Valdespino and Frank Kostro opened the inning with singles, advanced on a bunt, and Valdespino scored on a Hall sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 5-4 advantage.  The Tigers did not get a baserunner after the sixth inning.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a walk and a run.  Rich Rollins was 0-for-2.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.  Mudcat Grant pitched 5.2 innings, giving up four runs (one earned) on eight hits and two walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win snapped a brief two-game losing streak, gave the Twins a record of 33-18, and kept them in first place by 1.5 games over Chicago.

Notes:  Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison were both rested, though each was used as a pinch-hitter.  The lineup that would be the world champion 1968 Tigers was already pretty much in place in 1965, with the only addition being Mickey Stanley.