MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (12 INNINGS)
Date: Friday, June 11 (Game 2 of doubleheader).
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth), scoring twice and driving in two. Bob Allison was 2-for-5 with a run, an RBI, and a stolen base (his seventh). Jimmie Hall was 1-for-2 with a triple and an RBI.
Pitching stars: Mel Nelson pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk with six strikeouts. Al Worthington pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up only a walk.
Opposition stars: Mickey Lolich struck out seven in seven innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks. Fred Gladding struck out five in three perfect innings. Don Demeter was 2-for-5 with a home run (his third) and a double.
The game: Killebrew homered in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. It stayed 1-0 until the sixth, when Killebrew's RBI single doubled the Twins lead. George Thomas led off the bottom of the seventh with a home run to cut the lead in half and Demeter homered in the eighth to tie it 2-2. There was no more scoring until the twelfth, when the Twins started the inning with three singles (one an RBI hit by Allison) a sacrifice fly, and a Hall RBI triple to give the Twins a 5-2 lead. The Tigers came back in the bottom of the twelfth, as Jim Northrup hit a two-run homer to make it 5-4. Detroit did not get the tying run on base, however, and the Twins swept a doubleheader, with both games going extra innings and ending 5-4.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run. Jerry Kindall was 0-for-5. Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a run.
Record: The doubleheader sweep improved the Twins' record to 34-18, still in first place by 1.5 games over Chicago.
Notes: Earl Battey and Hall were rested, with Jerry Zimmerman and Joe Nossek taking their places. Hall was used as a pinch-hitter in the tenth inning and played the rest of the game. Nelson was usually a reliever--this was one of only three starts he made in 1965 and only eleven in his career. He had only once pitched more than two innings in a game in 1965 prior to this and in that case he pitched three. He would never be allowed to pitch into the eighth inning in that situation today.