MINNESOTA 9, BOSTON 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifteenth) a stolen base (his fifteenth) and two runs.  Jimmie Hall was 2-for-4 with a triple, scoring twice and driving in one.  Jerry Kindall was 2-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Mudcat Grant pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on nine hits and four walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Frank Malzone was 3-for-4 with a double and a run.  Felix Mantilla was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.  Lee Thomas was 2-for-3 with a walk and a run.

The game:  Each team scored once in the first, with the Twins run coming on a Versalles homer.  It stayed 1-1 until the fourth, when Don Mincher's two-run homer capped a three-run inning that put the Twins up 4-1.  Hall hit an RBI triple and later scored in a three-run fifth that made it 7-1.  Solo homers by Carl Yastrzemski in the sixth and Mantilla in the eighth cut the lead to 7-3, but that Twins scored two more in the bottom of the eighth to put to bed any thoughts of a Red Sox comeback.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 0-for-2 with a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with two RBIs.

Record:  The win made the Twins 71-39.  Baltimore once again lost to last-place Kansas City, this time 7-4, so the Twins lead increased to 7.5 games.

Notes:  Hall's average went up to .306, while Oliva fell to .301...Harmon Killebrew sat out a second consecutive game, with Mincher again at first and Rich Rollins at third.  He would not return until September 21...Jerry Zimmerman started the game, but was removed for Earl Battey in the third inning.  If he was injured it was nothing serious, as he played again a few days later.