MINNESOTA 5, CALIFORNIA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 18 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a double, scoring once and driving in two.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-2 with two walks and a stolen base (his ninth), scoring once.  Don Mincher was 1-for-3 with a home run (his eleventh) and a hit-by-pitch.

Pitching stars:  Mudcat Grant pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and a walk with five strikeouts.  Al Worthington pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Tom Satriano was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer.  Willie Smith was 4-for-5 with a stolen base, his sixth.  Merritt Ranew was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

The game:  Three consecutive singles, the last an RBI base hit by Ranew, put the Angels up 1-0 in the top of the first.  Allison hit a two-run double in the bottom of the first to put the Twins ahead 2-1.  The Angels put two on in the second, third, fifth, and seventh, but could not score.  Two walks and a two-out RBI single by Jimmie Hall gave the Twins a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh.  In the eighth, however, Satriano hit a two-run homer to tie it.  Later in the inning, a walk, a bunt, a wild pitch, and a ground out brought home the go-ahead run for California.  Mincher led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to tie it 4-4.  Allison followed with a single-plus-error, taking second.  He was bunted to third and Sandy Valdespino was intentionally walked.  He tried to steal second on a two-strike pitch to pinch-hitter Joe Nossek.  Nossek fanned and Valdespino was caught in a rundown, but before he was tagged out Allison crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.  The Angels went down in order in the bottom of the ninth.

Of note:  Frank Quilici was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, scoring once.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4 with an RBI.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-3 with a walk.  Earl Battey was 1-for-2 with a walk.  Mudcat Grant was 2-for-3.

Record:  The win snapped a four-game losing streak and raised the Twins' record to 55-33.  Baltimore, Chicago, and Cleveland were all in a tie for second, 3.5 games back.

Notes:  This was the first major league start for Quilici, who had made his major league debut as a reserve in game one of the doubleheader.  He played second base...Satriano's home run was his first of the season.  He would hit twenty-one in a ten year career, with a high of eight in 1968.  He was a rare combination, a catcher/utility infielder.  He played 321 career games at catcher, 168 at third base, 83 at first base, 58 at second base, and 3 at shortstop.  He played second base in today's game...Hall's average fell to .321...Battey dropped to .306.