CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Sunday, August 15 (Game 2 of doubleheader).

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one.  Rich Rollins was 2-for-4 with a double and a run.  Jerry Kindall was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

Pitching star:  Dick Stigman pitched seven innings, giving up one run an five hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Rocky Colavito was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-third) and a double.  Larry Brown was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.  Leon Wagner was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his twenty-second.

The game:  Had the pennant race been closer, this one would've really hurt.  Don Mincher singled in a run in the first and the Twins scored again in the second to go up 2-0.  Colavito homered in the bottom of the second to make it 2-1, which is where the score stayed through six.  Oliva singled in a run in the seventh to make it 3-1, which was the score going to the bottom of the ninth.  With two out in the ninth, Brown singled and Max Alvis hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to tie it at three and send the game to extra innings.  Kindall homered in the eleventh to make it 4-3 and it looked like all's well that ends well.  In the bottom of the eleventh, however, Chico Salmon singled and Brown doubled to put men on second and third with none out.  A balk was called on Bill Pleis to tie the score, and Wagner hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to win the game for Cleveland.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-5 with a double.  Sandy Valdespino was 1-for-5 with a double and a run.  Don Mincher was 1-for-5 with an RBI.  Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4.

Record:  The loss made the Twins 75-43.  Detroit won the second game of its doubleheader, so the Tigers and Indians were now tied for second, eight games back.

Notes:  Oliva took over the team batting lead at .310.  Earl Battey was used as a pinch-hitter and dropped to .309.  Hall fell to an even .300...In addition to Jerry Zimmerman playing in place of Battey, Valdespino started in left in place of Bob Allison.  Allison was also used as a pinch-hitter...The Indians used two former Twins as relief pitchers, Lee Stange and Jack Kralick...It has to be pretty unusual for a team to hit a two-run homer to tie the game in the ninth and then hit another two-run homer to win the game in extra innings.  It has to be even more unusual for both home run hitters to be pinch-hitters.