MINNESOTA 5, NEW YORK 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 25.

Batting stars:  Rich Rollins was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk, scoring once and driving in two.  Bob Allison was 1-for-4 with a home run, his nineteenth.  Joe Nossek was 1-for-3 with a double and an RBI.

Pitching star:  Jim Merritt pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts.

Opposition stars:  Elston Howard was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his sixth) and a walk, scoring twice.  Tom Tresh was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and two runs.  Bill Stafford struck out one in a perfect inning.

The game:  Allison homered in the fourth and Nossek delivered a two-out RBI double in the fifth to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  In the seventh, Tresh homered and Hector Lopez later hit a sacrifice fly to tie it 2-2.  In the bottom of the seventh, Rollins had a two-run triple and Earl Battey a run-scoring double to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.  They needed all those runs, as Howard hit a two-run homer with one out in the ninth to cut the margin to 5-4.  Merritt left and Al Worthington came in.  He gave up a two-out double to Clete Boyer but struck out Ray Barker to end the game.

Of note:  Zoilo Versalles was 0-for-2 with two walks and a run.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-1.  Battey was 1-for-4 with a double and an RBI.

Record:  The win made the Twins 81-47.  Chicago lost to Baltimore 2-1, once again giving the Twins a 7.5 game lead.

Notes:  Jimmie Hall did not start, with Andy Kosco playing right and Oliva moving to center.  Oliva left the game after the first inning, which he ended with a ground out.  Nossek then came in to play center.  Oliva would miss the next five games, a tough thing for a team already missing Harmon Killebrew...Oliva continued to lead the team in batting at .311.  Battey was at .304...Elston Howard had his worst year as a Yankee in 1965.  He made the all-star team for the ninth consecutive time, but he hit only .233 and had only nine homers with an OPS of .623.  He bounced back some in 1966 but had a terrible year in 1967, getting traded to Boston during the season.  He would play only one more season after that.  He had a pretty good career, though, winning the MVP in 1963 and reaching the top twenty in balloting four other times.  He also won two Gold Gloves.  He was primarily a catcher, but played 265 games in the outfield and 85 at first base.  He passed away in 1980 at the young age of fifty-one.