MINNESOTA 6, BALTIMORE 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring once and driving in one.  Jimmie Hall hit a pinch-hit home run, his eighteenth.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 8.2 innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on eight hits and one walk with six strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Don Larsen struck out four in 3.1 scoreless innings, allowing only two walks.  Dick Brown was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  Versalles brought home a run with a double-plus-error and Rich Rollins followed with a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 2-0 lead in the third.  The lead held until the sixth, when Aparicio homered and Brooks Robinson later had an RBI single to tie it 2-2.  In the eighth, Versalles led off with a double, Rollins had an RBI single, Oliva followed with a run-scoring triple, and Bob Allison delivered a one-out single to put the Twins up 5-2.  It seemed safe enough, but in the ninth Brown came through with a two-out three-run homer to tie it 5-5.  No worries, though, because Hall led off the ninth with a home run off Jim Palmer to win the game.

Of note:  Rollins was 1-for-3 with a run and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was removed from the game in the sixth inning.  Earl Battey was 0-for-2 with a walk.

Record:  The win made the Twins 66-38.  Cleveland did not play, so the Orioles and Indians were once again tied for second place, six games back.

Notes:  Oliva and Battey were now at .305.  Hall, who batted only once as a pinch-hitter, was at .304...Joe Nossek once again started in center field...Three of Dick Brown's four home runs in 1965 to date have come against the Twins.  He would hit five for the season...The Orioles had quite a bullpen in 1965.  In addition to Larsen and Palmer, Harvey Haddix also pitched in relief in this game.