MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, September 1.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with two doubles, scoring once and driving in one. Jimmie Hall was 1-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base (his seventh), scoring twice. Don Mincher was 0-for-1 with three walks and a run.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on ten hits and two walks with three strikeouts. Al Worthington pitched a perfect inning with one strikeout.
Opposition stars: Ray Oyler was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fifth. Don Wert was 3-for-5 with a double. Norm Cash was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.
The game: Oliva made a successful return to the starting lineup, delivering an RBI double in a three-run first inning. Earl Battey also singled in a run in that inning. Oyler's two-run homer in the second made it 3-2, but a run-scoring double play gave the Twins an insurance run in the third. The Tigers threatened in the third and fourth, putting two men on in both innings, but Perry settled down after that, allowing only three hits in innings five through eight. The Twins made it 5-2 with a sacrifice fly in the sixth. Mickey Stanley doubled to lead off the ninth, but Worthington came in to retire the next three batters.
Of note: Zoilo Versalles was 1-for-4 with a double and a walk. Bob Allison was 0-for-3 with a walk and a run.
Record: The Twins went to 85-50. Chicago did not play, so the Twins lead went to eight games.
Notes: Oliva hit like he had never left the lineup, raising his average to .314...In a low-hitting era, Ray Oyler was the ultimate good field-no hit shortstop. In six major league seasons, he hit over .200 only once (.207 in 1967). His career high in OPS was .559 in 1965, which he achieved by hitting five home runs in 194 at-bats. In 1968 he hit just .135, prompting the Tigers to move Mickey Stanley from the outfield to shortstop for the World Series. 1967 was the only year in which he was truly a regular, but he appeared in over half of his team's games in four of his six seasons and in 71 games in a fifth season. He was with the Tigers from 1965-68, went to Seattle in the expansion draft in 1969, and finished his major league career with California in 1970, although he played in AAA for two more seasons. His career numbers are ,175/.258/.251 in 1,265 at-bats. His .175 average is the lowest of any player with over 1000 at-bats since the dead ball era. He was, however, considered an excellent defender.