MINNESOTA 3, BALTIMORE 2 IN BALTIMORE
Date: Wednesday, September 29.
Batting stars: Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his twenty-second) and a triple, scoring twice. Andy Kosco was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Cesar Tovar was 1-for-4 with a double and a run.
Pitching star: Mudcat Grant pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts.
Opposition stars: Steve Barber pitched a complete game, allowing three runs on eight hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. Boog Powell was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run. Curt Blefary was 1-for-3 with a walk and a run.
The game: Baltimore took a 1-0 lead in the first as Powell scored from first on a double by Brooks Robinson. The Twins tied it in the fourth when an Allison triple was followed by Kosco's RBI single. Paul Blair singled home a run in the seventh to give the Orioles a 2-1 advantage, but Allison struck again in the eighth, hitting a two-run homer to give the Twins their first lead of the game at 3-2. Baltimore opened the ninth with a walk, a single, and an error, loading the bases with none out. Jim Merritt came into that situation and got pinch-hitter Bob Johnson to hit a fly to right. Joe Nossek caught the fly and threw out Curt Blefary at the plate. Johnny Klippstein then came in to retire Norm Siebern on a fly ball to end the game.
Of note: Nossek was 0-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4.
Record: The victory gave the Twins one hundred wins on the season, improving their record to 100-59. Baltimore remained second, seven games back.
Notes: It was a B lineup for this game. Tovar started a game for only the fourth time in his career, playing center in place of Jimmie Hall. Nossek was in right rather than Tony Oliva. Kosco played first instead of Don Mincher. Frank Quilici started at shortstop in place of Zoilo Versalles, only the fourth time in his major league career that he had played short. Jerry Zimmerman was the catcher, rather than Earl Battey...The win was Grant's twenty-first on the season. There was only one Cy Young Award given for both leagues in 1965, and the unanimous winner was Sandy Koufax. Grant did, however, finish sixth in MVP voting that year and was the highest-ranked pitcher on the list. One has to think that if there had been a separate American League Cy Young Award, he would've been the favorite to win it.