CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND (10 INNINGS)
Date: Tuesday, June 22.
Batting stars: Bernie Allen was 2-for-4 with a double and two runs. Earl Battey was 2-for-2 with a double and a run. Jimmie Hall was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: Johnny Klippstein retired all four men he faced.
Opposition stars: Chuck Hinton was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh) and two RBIs. Max Alvis was 2-for-5 with two runs. Duke Sims hit a pinch-hit home run in his only at-bat.
The game: Hinton singled in a run in the first to give the Indians a 1-0 lead. Each team scored twice in the fifth, leaving the Indians still up 3-2. The Twins again took the lead by one in the seventh, as a Sandy Valdespino sacrifice fly tied it and Oliva's RBI single put the Twins ahead 4-3. The Twins opened the eighth with a pair of singles but could do nothing with them. In the bottom of the eighth, Sims hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to tie it 4-4. Hinton led off the bottom of the tenth with a walkoff homer off Al Worthington, who was starting his fourth inning of work.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-3. Valdespino was 0-for-3 with two RBIs, both on sacrifice flies. Oliva was 1-for-5 with an RBI. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was hit by a pitch. Starter Jim Kaat was apparently affected by his relief stint between starts, as he lasted only 4.2 innings and gave up three runs (although only one was earned) on nine hits and two walks with one strikeout.
Record: The loss dropped the Twins to 38-24 and cut their hold on first place to only a half game ahead of both Chicago and Cleveland.
Notes: Valdespino replaced Bob Allison in left. Allison apparently had a minor injury, as he would not start again until June 26. Battey was apparently injured in the game, too, as he came out in the fifth inning and did not play again until July 2. Rollins was again at second base, with Allen playing third. Sims' pinch-hit homer was the first home run of his career. He went on to hit ninety-nine more, with his highest total coming in 1970, when he had twenty-three.