CHICAGO 17, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Monday, June 28.
Batting stars: Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourteenth) and two runs. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in one. Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Danny Cater was 3-for-5 with a home run (his tenth) and a double, scoring twice and driving in three. Don Buford was 2-for-5 with a walk, scoring three times and driving in three. Tom McCraw was 2-for-5 with a grand slam, his second homer.
The game: The Twins actually led for nearly half the game. Jimmie Hall had an RBI single and Killebrew drove in a run with a double in the first to give them a 2-0 lead. Hall's run-scoring single in the third made it 3-0. In the fifth the first two White Sox were retired, but then two singles, a walk, and McCraw's grand slam made it 4-3 Chicago. Hall homered in the bottom of the fifth to tie it 4-4, but the roof fell in in the sixth inning, as the White Sox scored seven times. Cater and John Romano each homered to make it 6-4. That chased starter Dave Boswell and brought in Jerry Fosnow, who walked his first batter, gave up a single, then walked two more to make it 7-4 with the bases loaded. Dick Stigman came in and struck out McCraw but then allowed three consecutive singles that produced four runs. The White Sox added two in the eighth and four in the ninth, all off Mel Nelson, who had started and pitched four innings the previous day.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3. Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-3 with a run. Boswell struck out six in 5.1 innings but gave up six runs on six hits and a walk.
Record: The loss dropped the Twins to 42-27 and, coupled with a Cleveland win, dropped them all the way to third place, a half game behind both Cleveland and Chicago.
Notes: Hall raised his average to .322. Cater did not start the game, but came on in the second, replacing Floyd Robinson for an unknown reason. It is hard for me to imagine a pitcher now being asked to pitch two innings of mop-up relief after starting and pitching four innings the day before. I know there were fewer pitchers on a staff back then, but it still seems like a lot to ask.