NEW YORK 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Wednesday, August 11.

Batting stars:  Earl Battey was 2-for-2 with a double and two RBIs.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a run.

Pitching stars:  Garry Roggenburk pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit with one strikeout.  Dick Stigman struck out four in two perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, allowing four unearned runs on eight hits and two walks with six strikeouts.  Ray Barker was 1-for-3 with a double.  Clete Boyer was 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI.

The game:  The Twins jumped out to an early lead.  A single, an error, and a two-out intentional walk to Mincher were followed by a two-run single by Battey and an RBI single by Rich Rollins to make it 3-0.  The lead held until the fifth, when the Yankees scored all five of their runs.  A double, five singles, and an error did the damage.  The Twins cut it to 5-4 in the sixth when Jerry Zimmerman's single-plus-error brought home a run.  The Twins had the tying run on second, but a line drive double play ended the threat and the Twins did not get a man past first after that.

Of note:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a run.  Jimmie Hall was 0-for-4.  Bob Allison was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Mudcat Grant pitched four innings, giving up five runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks with two strikeouts.

Record:  The win snapped the Twins' six-game winning streak and made their record 73-40.  Baltimore lost to Boston, so the Twins' lead remained 8.5 games.

Notes:  Battey was replaced by Zimmerman in the sixth inning following an RBI single by Joe Pepitone.  One suspects Battey may have been shaken up on a play at the plate.  Battey would be back in the lineup the next day...Oliva and Battey were now each batting .306, with Hall dropping to .303.