MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, July 6.

Batting stars:  Jimmie Hall was 3-for-3 with two two-run homers (his fifteenth and sixteenth) and a walk.  Don Mincher was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5 with a double and two runs.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete shutout, giving up eight hits and four walks with two strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Bob Heffner struck out six in five innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits and two walks.  Tony Conigliaro was 1-for-1 with a double and three walks.  Eddie Bressoud was 3-for-5.

The game:  A few big inning made the difference.  In the first, Hall hit a two-run homer and Mincher followed later with a solo blast to make it 3-0.  Hall hit another two-run homer in the second to make it 5-0.  There was no more scoring until the seventh, when the Twins got their remaining four runs.  Two singles and a walk filled the bases, an error brought one home, Earl Battey's bunt scored another, and Bernie Allen singled home two more.  The Red Sox had two on in the second, third, and eighth and loaded the bases in the fifth, but did not score.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a run.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Battey was 0-for-2 with a walk and an RBI.

Record:  The Twins went to 49-28 and increased their lead over idle Cleveland to two games.

Notes:  Bob Allison was hit by a pitch in the first inning and was removed from the game.  He would not play again for a week and a half...Hall raised his average to .325...Battey's average dropped to .305...This was the second straight shutout for Twins pitchers...I am stunned that, in the seventh inning, with the Twins leading 6-0, the bases loaded and one out, Battey was bunting.  If you did that today, the old school types would scream that these young punks don't know how to play the game properly.  Of course, the old school types probably said that then, too.