MINNESOTA 12, CHICAGO 1 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Saturday, April 26.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 4-for-5 with a double.  Charlie Manuel was 3-for-3 with a three-run homer a double, and a walk, scoring twice and driving in four.  Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-5 with a home run, scoring twice and driving in two.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5 with a home run and a double, driving in three.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Dean Chance pitched six shutout innings, giving up three hits and no walks and striking out two.  Joe Grzenda pitched three innings, giving up one run on four hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Buddy Bradford was 3-for-4 with a double.  Luis Aparicio was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.

The game:  The Twins got on the board in the second inning as Manuel walked, took third on a single, and scored on a Cardenas ground out.  They made it 3-0 in the fourth, as Tony Oliva walked and scored from first on a Harmon Killebrew double.  Manuel then singled to score Killebrew.

The Twins took control of the game in the fifth.  Johnny Roseboro singled, stole second, and went to third on a wild pitch.  Uhlaender scored him on a bunt single and scored from first on Carew's double.  With two out, Killebrew was intentionally walked, but Manuel hit a three-run homer, making the score 8-0.

The Twins didn't stop there.  Cardenas led off the sixth with a home run.  In the seventh, consecutive doubles by Manuel, Reese, and Cardenas made it 11-0.  Uhlaender homered leading off the eighth.

The lone White Sox run came in the bottom of the eighth.  Aparicio drew a two-out walk and scored from first on a Pete Ward double.

WP:  Chance (2-0).  LP: Joel Horlen (2-2).  S:  Grzenda (1).

Notes:  Carew took over the team batting lead, raising his average to .424.  Oliva was 0-for-3 with two walks and was batting .371.  Manuel raised his average to .353.  Cardenas was up to .349.  Uhlaender went up to .339.

I said earlier that Billy Martin's pitching philosophy seemed to be to leave a pitcher in the game as long as he was getting people out, regardless of innings, pitch counts, or anything else.  Chance seems to have been the exception.  He came out of his previous start after seven innings, having given up just an unearned run.  Here he came out after six shutout innings.  It appears that he was battling an injury--he would not pitch again until May 9, made only four appearances in May (two in relief), and then did not pitch again until August.  He was very effective when he did pitch, though.

The stolen base by Roseboro wasn't as rare a thing as I had thought.  He twice had double-digit stolen bases, swiping eleven in 1958 and twelve in 1962.  1962 was the only year he had a good percentage, however, going 12-for-15.   He stole 67 bases in his career, but was caught 56 times.  He would go 5-for-10 in 1969.

The Twins remained a little under .500 in base-stealing, as Reese was caught stealing second in the fourth inning.

This was the first save of Grzenda's career.  He would get three in 1969.  He had fourteen in his career, with the remaining eleven coming for Washington in 1970-1971.  He might have had a fifteenth--he was on the mound for the last Senators game in Washington with two out in the ninth, trying to protect a 7-5 lead, when the crowd stormed the field, causing the game to be forfeited.  He kept the baseball and presented it to the Washington Nationals on their first opening day.

The White Sox starter, Horlen, pitched just 4.1 innings, allowing six runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.

Record:  The Twins were 9-7, tied for first with the White Sox.

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.