MINNESOTA 9, KANSAS CITY 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, April 29.
Batting stars: Johnny Roseboro was 4-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a grand slam (his fourth homer) and a walk. Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-4 with a walk and three runs. Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a walk. Rich Reese was 2-for-5.
Pitching star: Dick Woodson pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and two walks and striking out five.
Opposition stars: Bob Oliver was 2-for-4 with a home run. Pat Kelly was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his third.
The game: The Royals got on the board first, as Oliver homered with two out in the second inning. The lead lasted until the third. Uhlaender and Carew opened the inning with singles, and Tony Oliva was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Killebrew unloaded them with a grand slam to put the Twins ahead 4-1.
The Twins added a run in the fourth on an error. They scored two more in the sixth on singles by Roseboro, Uhlaender, Carew, and Tony Oliva. They scored two more in the seventh on one hit, helped by two walks, two errors, and two wild pitches.
One can accurately say that Woodson scattered nine hits, because there was only one time when Kansas City had more than one man on base. That came in the eighth, when singles by Lou Piniella and Jerry Adair put men on first and second with one out. Ellie Rodriguez hit into a double play to end the inning.
WP: Woodson (1-0). LP: Roger Nelson (1-2). S: None.
Notes: Carew raised his average to .414. Roseboro was up to .366. Oliva was 1-for-3 with a walk and a hit-by-pitch and was batting .350. Uhlaender went up to .329. Killebrew was back up to .308. Leo Cardenas was 0-for-5 and fell to .307.
Roseboro had a bunt single to lead off the fourth.
This was the first career complete game for Woodson and was only his second major league start. As you may recall, his first start on April 13 had lasted just one inning, an inning in which he gave up three runs on three hits and two walks. He would have fifteen complete games in his career, nine of them in 1972. He actually had a really good year in '72, going 14-14 but with an ERA of 2.72 and a WHIP of 1.17. He threw 251.2 innings that season and one suspects the workload was too much for him, as he never had another year that came anywhere close to that.
It was the third consecutive game in which the Twins starter had thrown a complete game, and in the game before that only one relief pitcher had been used. Billy Martin apparently was not too concerned about keeping his relievers sharp, as a blowout game like this one would've been a perfect time to get somebody an inning. One assumes Ron Perranoski, for one, was happy to get a break.
Royals starter Nelson pitched 5.1 innings, but allowed seven runs (six earned) on twelve hits and two walks and struck out four.
Record: The Twins were 12-7, in first place, leading Oakland by 1.5 games.