CHICAGO 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN CHICAGO
Date: Friday, April 25.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-4. Leo Cardenas was 3-for-5 with a triple and two RBIs. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5. Graig Nettles hit a pinch-hit three-run homer, his second.
Pitching stars: Dick Woodson pitched five shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and no walks and striking out one.
Opposition star: Buddy Bradford was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourth.
The game: The Twins scored two batters into the game, as Tovar singled and Cardenas tripled. But despite Harmon Killebrew, Oliva, and Bob Allison coming up next, the Twins could not do any more damage, so the score stayed 1-0.
It would come back to haunt them, as the White Sox scored four in the bottom of the first. A walk, a single, and a wild pitch put men on second and third with one out. Don Pavletich hit a two-run single, and with two out Bradford homered to put Chicago up 4-1.
The Twins got another run in the fifth when Woodson walked, Tovar singled, and Cardenas had an RBI single, but they ran themselves out of the inning when Cardenas was thrown out at second. They came back to take the lead in the eighth, however. Oliva led off with a single and Allison followed with a double. Bob Locker came in to replace starter Tommy John and Nettles, pinch-hitting for George Mitterwald, hit a three-run homer to make it 5-4 Minnesota.
The Twins couldn't hold the lead. With a man on first and one out in the ninth, Ron Perranoski came in once again, and this time the overuse finally caught up to him. He gave up singles to Walt Williams and Ron Hansen to tie it 5-5. A passed ball put men on second and third and led to an intentional walk to Woodie Held. Carlos May then singled to left to bring home the deciding run.
WP: Locker (1-0). LP: Perranoski (3-1). S: None.
Notes: Tovar made only his fifth start of the season, replacing Ted Uhlaender in center. Tovar would get more playing time as the season went on, both in the infield and the outfield.
Allison made only his fourth start of the season, playing left field. He would be a part-time player most of the season, although he would play more down the stretch.
Frank Quilici made his fourth start of the season, his second at second base. He was used as a defensive replacement for much of the season, generally replacing Killebrew at third base.
Ron Clark made his second start of the season, playing third base. This would be his last appearance as a Twin. He was sent to AAA Denver and was sold to Seattle in mid-July.
Rod Carew was used as a pinch-hitter and went 1-for-1, raising his average to .389. Oliva went up to .388. Cardenas raised his average to .345. Nettles went up to .300.
From April 11-18, Hall made three appearances and pitched sixteen shutout innings, including a complete game shutout on the 18th. Since then, he has made two starts and pitched just 3.2 innings, allowing nine runs on seven hits and two walks. His ERA went from 0.42 to 3.55.
Perranoski had now appeared in ten of the Twins' fifteen games. These were the first earned runs he had allowed on the season.
White Sox starter Tommy John pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on ten hits and two walks with two strikeouts.
Record: The Twins were 8-7, tied for third with Kansas City, one game behind the White Sox.