CALIFORNIA 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Saturday, April 12.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 2-for-3 with a home run, his second.  Bob Allison was 1-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bob Miller retired all five men he faced.  Ron Perranoski pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jay Johnstone was 2-for-4.  Eddie Fisher pitched two shutout innings, giving up on hit.

The game:  The Twins again scored first, as Mitterwald led off the second inning with a home run to give them a 1-0 lead.  It went to 2-0 in the third, as Allison had a two-out walk, was balked to second, and scored on a Tony Oliva single.  The Angels tied it in the bottom of the third on a two-run triple by Bill Voss.

California took the lead in the fifth, as Jim Fregosi doubled and scored on a two-out single by Roger Repoz.  Allison led off the sixth with a home run to tie it 3-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, the Angels went into the lead to stay.  They led off the inning with a pair of walks, which led to the removal of starter Dave Boswell.  A bunt moved the runners to second and third, and a fielder's choice brought home the lead run.  The Twins did not get a man past first base after Allison's home run.

WP:  Rudy May (1-0).  LP:  Dave Boswell (1-0).  S:  Hoyt Wilhelm.

Notes:  Neither starting pitcher had a stellar game, although neither was awful, either.  May pitched six innings, giving up three runs on four hits and three walks and striking out four.  Boswell pitched five innings, giving up four runs on six hits and six walks and striking out five.

The Twins scored exactly three runs for their fourth consecutive game.  They lost all four, and lost them by a total of five runs.

I don't know if Billy Martin pulled the lineup out of a hat or what, but it was a strange one.  Here it is:

1.  Allison, LF
2. Oliva, RF
3. Killebrew, 1B
4. Mitterwald, C
5. Cardenas, SS
6. Clark 3B
7. Tovar, CF
8. Quilici, 2B
9. Boswell, P

You have Killebrew, Oliva, and Allison in the lineup, and you bat Mitterwald cleanup?  You have Cesar Tovar in the lineup, and you lead off with Allison?

Tovar was in center in place of Ted Uhlaender.  Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew, who was out for his second consecutive game.  Carew may have had a minor injury, as he did not play again until April 15.

Perranoski, the closer, had pitched eight innings in the first four games.  He did not give up a run.

The Twins again got a runner caught stealing, as Oliva was thrown out trying to steal second in the third inning with two out and Harmon Killebrew up to bat.  They were 2-for-7 in stolen base attempts.

I wonder, given the Twins record and some of the questionable managerial decisions, if anyone was saying that the Twins' first-year manager was just not up to the job?  Maybe not--the world was different in 1969, of course--but I'm curious.  I'm pretty sure, in this situation, that people would be saying it now.

The Twins had hit six home runs, five in the last two games.  All were solo home runs.

Record:  The Twins were 0-for-4, sixth in the AL West, three games behind California, Kansas City, and Seattle.