MINNESOTA 4, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, August 3 (Game 1 of doubleheader).
Batting stars: Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourteenth) and a walk. Sandy Valdespino was 2-for-3 with a double and a run. Mudcat Grant was 1-for-3 with a double, scoring once and driving in one.
Pitching stars: Grant pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on eleven hits and two walks with five strikeouts. Al Worthington pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Don Blasingame was 3-for-5 with a run. Frank Howard was 1-for-4 with a home run, his seventeenth. Mike Brumley was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.
The game: Ken Hamlin started the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the third, but Tony Oliva delivered a run-scoring single in the bottom of the third to tie it 1-1. Mincher led off the fourth with a home run and Grant had an RBI double later in the inning to give the Twins a 3-1 lead. Willie Kirkland singled in a run in the fifth and the Senators had men on first and second with none out, but a strikeout and a double play left the score 3-2. A pair of errors gave the Twins an insurance run in the seventh and they needed it, as Howard homered in the eighth to make it 4-3. After that, however, Washington could get only a two-out single in the ninth.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-4. Oliva was 1-for-4 with an RBI. Bob Allison was 0-for-4. Earl Battey was 0-for-3 with a walk.
Record: The win made the Twins 67-38. Baltimore won and Cleveland lost, so the Orioles regained sole possession of second place, six games back.
Notes: Jimmie Hall again sat out, with Oliva moving over to center and Valdespino playing right. Harmon Killebrew also did not play, with Mincher at first and Rich Rollins at third...Oliva's average was now .304 and Battey dropped to .301...The starting pitcher for Washington was Bennie Daniels, who I don't believe I've ever heard of. He was with Pittsburgh from 1957-60, but only saw significant time on the mound in 1959, when he pitched 100.2 innings. He was traded to Washington and spent the rest of his career with them. His best year was 1961, when he went 12-11, 3.44, 1,25 WHIP. He was mostly a starter, but spent substantial time in the bullpen each season. 1965 would be his last year in the majors. For his career he was 45-76, 4.44, 1.39 WHIP. He made his major league debut in the last game played at Ebbets Field, started the last game played at Griffith Stadium, and won the first game played at RFK Stadium (then D. C. Stadium).