MINNESOTA 8, NEW YORK 3 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, July 9.

Batting stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his eighth and ninth) and four RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-2 with a three-run homer (his fifteenth) and two walks, scoring twice.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a double and two runs.

Pitching star:  Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on six hits and two walks with eight strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Roger Repoz was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk.  Elston Howard was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fourth.  Phil Linz was 2-for-4.

The game:  In the first inning Killebrew hit a three-run homer and Mincher followed with a solo blast to give the Twins a 4-0 lead.  Howard homered in the fourth and Repoz hit an inside-the-park home run in the fifth to cut the lead to 4-2.  The Twins got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth as Sandy Valdespino delivered a two-out RBI single.  Mincher hit a three-run homer in the seventh to put the game out of reach.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-3 with a walk, a stolen base (his tenth) and a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4 with a run.  Earl Battey was 1-for-4.

Record:  The victory was the Twins' eighth in a row.  It raised their record to 51-28 and put them in first by 3.5 games, as Cleveland lost a doubleheader to California.

Notes:  Hall's average dropped to .321...Battey fell to .314...Repoz was playing center in place of Mickey Mantle, who appeared later as a pinch-hitter.