MINNESOTA 9, NEW YORK 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Thursday, August 26.
Batting stars: Bob Allison was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer (his twentieth) and two doubles, scoring three times. Jimmie Hall was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk, scoring once and driving in one. Zoilo Versalles was 2-for-4 with a walk, scoring twice and driving in one.
Pitching star: Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and no walks with two strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Clete Boyer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his fifteenth. Tom Tresh was 3-for-4. Bobby Richardson was 2-for-4.
The game: Jerry Kindall singled in a run in the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. Boyer homered leading off the third to tie it 1-1, but the Twins scored single runs in the third, fourth, and fifth to go ahead 4-1. Allison hit a two-run homer in the seventh and the Twins scored three in the eighth to put the game out of reach.
Of note: Sandy Valdespino was 0-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and a run. Earl Battey was 1-for-3 with an RBI.
Record: The Twins clinched a winning record, going to 82-47. Chicago lost to Baltimore, so the Twins' lead went up to 8.5 games.
Notes: No Killebrew, no Oliva, no problem. Valdespino took Tony O's place in right, Hall batted third, Battey fourth, and Don Mincher fifth...Battey's average went to .304...In addition to pitching a complete game, Kaat went 2-for-4 to raise his average to .240...The Yankees' starting pitcher was Jack Cullen, whom I'd never heard of. He had made two appearances for them as a September call-up in 1962, but did not get back to the majors until late July of 1965, when he was placed in the Yankees' rotation. This was the sixth of nine starts he would make. Four of the first five were very good. In fact, in the start before this one he threw a three-hit shutout in Baltimore. This day, though, he would give up three runs on eight hits and two walks in just 3.1 innings. He bounced back with a complete game 2-1 win over California on August 30, but that would be his last good major league start. He made two poor starts in September and finished the season in the bullpen. He started in 1966 in the Yankee bullpen and didn't do badly, but was shipped out in early May, never to return to the big leagues. He pitched in AAA for the Dodgers and Braves before ending his playing career after the 1970 season. He went to the same high school as umpire Phil Cuzzi.