KANSAS CITY 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 15 (Game 2 of doubleheader)

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with two runs and a stolen base, his eleventh.  Jim Perry was 2-for-3 with a triple.

Pitching star:  Perry pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Rollie Sheldon pitched seven innings, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk with four strikeouts.  Ken Harrelson was 1-for-3 with a home run (his tenth) and a walk, scoring twice.  Tommie Reynolds was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

The game:  Harrelson led off the second with a home run to put the Athletics up 1-0.  Oliva doubled home Versalles in the third and singled him home in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-1 advantage.  The lead held up until the ninth.  Al Worthington had come on to get the last out of the eighth inning, but in the ninth he walked Harrelson and gave up a single to Johnny Blanchard.  A bunt moved the runners up.  Nelson Matthews struck out, but Reynolds delivered a two-run double that put Kansas City ahead 3-2.  The Twins got pinch-hit singles from Rich Rollins and Joe Nossek to put men on first and second with two out in the ninth, but Versalles struck out to end the game.

Of note:  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Earl Battey was 0-for-4.

Record:  The doubleheader split made the Twins 54-30 and put them five games ahead of Cleveland, which defeated Boston.  Baltimore lost to Detroit in extra innings and fell to a third place tie with Chicago, 5.5 games back.

Notes:  Hall dropped his average to.317...Battey dropped his average to .314...Bob Allison remained out of the lineup, with Sandy Valdespino playing left.