MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 30.

Batting stars:  Tom Hall was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his fourth--and his third steal of home), scoring twice and driving in two.

PItching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Gus Gil was 2-for-4.  Jim Bouton pitched two shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.

The game:  It was scoreless until the fourth, when Carew singled, took second on a ground out, and scored on a Harmon Killebrew double.

The Twins took control in the fifth.  Leo Cardenas singled, Johnny Roseboro walked, and Hall singled to load the bases with none out.  Ted Uhlaender delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0.  A forceout-plus-error scored one and put Carew on second.  Walks to Tony Oliva and Killebrew filled the bases.  With Graig Nettles batting, the Twins pulled off a triple steal, with Carew stealing home, Oliva third, and Killebrew second, increasing the Twins lead to 5-0.

The Pilots got on the board in the sixth.  Three two-out singles plated one run and a passed ball brought home another, making the score 5-2.  In the bottom of the sixth, Hall doubled and Carew produced a two-out RBI single to make it 6-2.

Seattle wasn't done.  They opened the seventh with three more singles, cutting the lead to 6-3 and chasing Hall from the game.  Bob Miller came in to get one out and Ron Perranoski shut Seattle down the rest of the way, allowing just a sacrifice fly to ex-Twin Don Mincher.  The Pilots got a leadoff single in the ninth to bring the tying run up to bat, but Tommy Harper hit into a double play.

WP:  Hall (2-1).  LP:  Gene Brabender (0-2).  S:  Perranoski (3).

Notes:  Carew was batting .413.  Oliva was 0-for-2 with two walks and was batting .341.  Roseboro was 0-for-3 with a walk and was also batting .341.  Uhlaender was 1-for-5 with two RBIs and was batting .320.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a stolen base and was batting .309.  Cardenas was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .308.

Hall had allowed just two hits in 5.2 innings before singles got the best of him.  All eight hits he allowed were singles.  One wonders how many of those singles might have been outs today, with all the shifts going on.

Two ex-Twins played for Seattle in this game, Mincher and Rich Rollins.

The triple steal came off Pilots reliever Darrell Brandon.  I remember Bouton writing about this in "Ball Four".  As I recall the way Bouton told the story, Brandon was unsure whether he should go from the stretch or from the windup.  Pitching coach Sal Maglie hollered from the dugout "Go from the windup.  He's not going anywhere."  Then, of course, Carew stole home, with Oliva and Killebrew also advancing.  After the inning, Maglie went up to Brandon and said, "Darn it, you know you have to go from the stretch in that situation."

Record:  The Twins were 13-7, in first place, 1.5 games ahead of Oakland.

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.

MINNESOTA 4, KANSAS CITY 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, April 28.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his second.  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-0 with three walks.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game shutout, giving up seven hits and one walk and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Mike Fiore was 2-for-4 with a double.  Future Twin Tom Burgmeier pitched three shutout innings, giving up two hits and three walks and striking out one.

The game:  An error, a walk, and a single loaded the bases for the Twins with none out in the first inning.  Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly, but it was the only run the Twins got in the inning.  It did not come back to haunt them.  Killebrew and Graig Nettles started the fourth with walks and Reese delivered a three-run homer to make it 4-0.

The Royals threatened in the fifth.  Ellie Rodriguez doubled and Juan Rios had a bunt single, putting men on first and third with one out.  Ed Kirkpatrick struck out, however, and Pat Kelly flied out to end the inning.  The Twins had men on first and second in both the fifth and the sixth, but were turned aside each time.  No more runs were needed, however, as Perry did not allow more than one baserunner in any inning after the fifth.

WP:  Perry (2-1).  LP:  Mike Hedlund (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew was 1-for-3 with a walk to "drop" his batting average to .409.  Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .351.  Cardenas was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .329.  Uhlaender was 0-for-4 and was batting .318.

Frank Quilici and Cesar Tovar were again used as defensive replacements for Killebrew and Graig Nettles, respectively.

Perry was making just his second start of the season.  He had started the third game of the season, then made five appearances out of the bullpen, the last one an outing of 2.1 innings just three days earlier on April 25.  He would make one more start on May 3, then go back to the bullpen.

Reese was caught stealing for the third time this season.  For the year he would go 1-for-6 in stolen bases, indicating that Billy Martin eventually figured out that having him try to steal bases might not be a good idea.

Hedlund, the Royals starter, was in his first full season in the majors, having gotten cups of coffee with Cleveland in 1965 and 1968.  He started 16 games and relieved in 18, and really did pretty well--only 3-6, but with an ERA of 3.24 and a WHIP of 1.30.  He wasn't bad as a starter, but was excellent as a reliever, posting an ERA of 1.69 and a WHIP of 1.03 out of the pen.  His best year in the majors was 1971, when he was in the Kansas City rotation all season.  He went 15-8, 2.71, 1.17 WHIP that year.  The next year, however, he went 5-7, 4.78 and was through as a big-leaguer.  He played in AAA two more seasons, but was done after 1974.  Just looking at his record, one suspects he may have had injury problems.  His career numbers are 25-24, 3.56, 1.30 WHIP.  He pitched 465.2 innings in 113 games, 62 of them starts.

Record:  The Twins had won three in a row and were 11-7, in first place, leading Oakland by one game.