OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, April 24.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-5.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a double.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4.  Charlie Manuel was 2-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his fourth.

Pitching stars:  Charley Walters pitched a perfect inning, striking out one.  Bob Miller struck out three in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Jim Perry pitched a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Rick Monday was 3-for-4 with three doubles and two RBIs.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-2 with two home runs (his third and fourth) and three RBIs.  Danny Cater was 2-for-4.  Sal Bando was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.

The game:  Oakland jumped on Twins starter Dave Boswell for three runs in the first inning.  Jackson hit a two-run homer and Bando made it back-to-back with a solo shot.  The Twins put two on with two out in the bottom of the first, but Nettles grounded out to end the inning.  The Twins again threatened in the second, putting men on second and third with none out, but Johnny Roseboro fanned, Boswell popped up, and Ted Uhlaender struck out.

Oakland scored two more in the third.  Jackson hit his second home run, followed by a Cater single.  He then scored from first on Monday's double to make it 5-0.  Monday had another RBI double in the fifth to increase the lead to 6-0.

The Twins finally got on the board in the fifth, when Carew's two-out single was followed by an Oliva home run.  The Twins opened the sixth with consecutive singles by Nettles, Manuel, and Cardenas to cut the lead to 6-3, but Paul Lindblad came in to replace Blue Moon Odom and retired the side on a fly out and a double play.

The Twins opened the seventh with singles by Uhlaender and Carew.  With Oliva and Killebrew coming up, it looked like they would get back into the game, but Oliva lined to left and Killebrew was caught looking.  Nettles delivered a single to make the score 6-4, but that was as good as it would get.  The Twins did not get another hit the rest of the game.

WP:  Odom (3-1).  LP:  Boswell (1-2).  S:  Lew Krausse (2).

Notes:  Carew took over the team batting lead, raising his average to .377.  Oliva fell to .365.  Cardenas went up to .321.  Uhlaender went 1-for-5 and dropped to .316.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a walk and was batting .308.

Nettles started at third base for only the second time of the season.  Killebrew was at first.  Manuel made only his second start of the season, playing left field.  It was his rookie season.

Twins starting pitching was definitely running hot-and-cold.  In this game, Boswell lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits and no walks.  He struck out one.

Ron Perranoski made another appearance, although this time it was just for one batter.  He came in with two on and two out in the eighth, with the Twins trailing 6-4, and got Jim Pagliaroni to ground out, ending the inning.  He had appeared in nine of the Twins' fourteen games and had still not allowed an earned run.

Jackson hit two home runs, but apparently was still bothered by something, as he came out of the game after four innings.  Mike Hershberger again replaced him in right.

Odom pitched five innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and one walk with six strikeouts.  The Twins stranded nine runners and went 2-for-11 with men in scoring position.

Record:  The Twins were 8-6, tied for first place with the White Sox and Kansas City.

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 6 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, April 23.

Batting stars:  Ted Uhlaender was 4-for-5 with a double.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a home run and four RBIs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a double and scored twice.  Johnny Roseboro hit a two-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Danny Cater was 3-for-5 with a double.  Mike Hershberger was 2-for-3 with a stolen base.  Bert Campaneris was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his third), scoring twice.  Rick  Monday was 2-for-5.

The game:  Oakland again jumped out early, scoring two in the first on a run-scoring ground out and an RBI double by Cater.  The Twins got both runs back before a man was retired, with Uhlaender leading off with a single and Carew following with a two-run homer.  The Twins went up 3-2 in the second, with Carew laying down a squeeze bunt to score Jim Kaat, who'd reached base with an infield single.

Oakland took the lead back in the third, as two singles and an error, all with two out, plated two runs.  The Athletics put together another two-out rally in the fourth, getting singles from Campaneris, Hershberger, and Tommie Reynolds to go ahead 5-3.  The Twins cut the margin to 5-4 in the bottom of the fourth, when Cardenas doubled and scored on a pair of fly outs.

It remained 5-4 until the sixth, when Cardenas hit a one-out single and scored on a two-run homer by Roseboro.  The Twins put together a two-out rally of their own in the eighth, as they got consecutive singles by Perranoski, Uhlaender, and Carew for an insurance run to make the score 7-5.

Oakland wasn't done, as Monday delivered a two-out single in the ninth to cut the lead to 7-6.  Perranoski then struck out Dave Duncan to end the game.

WP:  Perry (1-1).  LP:  Catfish Hunter (1-2).  S:  Perranoski (2).

Notes:  Oliva was 1-for-3 with two walks to make his average .379.  Carew raised his average to .354.  Uhlaender raised his average to .327.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .313.  Roseboro was 1-for-4 and was batting .308.  Cardenas raised his average to .306.

As you can see above, six of the Twins' eight starters had batting averages over .300.

Twins' starter Kaat pitched just 3.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on eight hits and a walk and striking out two.  He would not pitch again until May 7.  It appears that Perry took his spot in the rotation until then.

Perranoski had now pitched 17.1 innings without allowing an earned run.

I had speculated that Reggie Jackson was just given a day off yesterday, but Hershberger started in his place again in this game.  Jackson again pinch-hit.  Perhaps Jackson had a minor injury.

This would be the next-to-last major league appearance for Oakland pitcher John Wyatt.  He had a nine-year big league career, playing for the Kansas City Athletics, Boston, the Yankees, and Detroit before finishing his career in 1969 with Oakland.  He played from 1961-1969 and was almost exclusively a relief pitcher, making the only nine starts of his career in 1962.  He made the all-star team in 1964, when he led the league in appearances with eighty-one.  He also set the record for most home runs allowed by a relief pitcher that season, twenty-three.  For his career, he was 42-44, 3.47, 1.38 WHIP in 435 games (687.1 innings).

Record:  The Twins were 8-5, in first place, leading the White Sox and Kansas City by a half game.

OAKLAND 7, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, April 22.

Batting star:  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3.

Pitching stars:  Charley Walters pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.  Jim Perry struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and three walks.

Opposition stars:  Bert Campaneris was 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his second) and three runs.  Danny Cater was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Rollie Fingers pitched a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and one walk and striking out two.

The game:  The Athletics got in going in the first inning.  With two out and a man on second, Sal Bando tripled and Cater singled to give Oakland a 2-0 lead.  They struck again with two out in the third inning.  With men on first and second, Cater again singled home a run, making it 3-0 and chasing Twins' starter Tom Hall.  Dick Woodson came in and could not get anything accomplished, allowing RBI singles to Dick Green and Rick Monday and a run-scoring double to future Twin Phil Roof.  It was 6-0 after three and would never be a game again.

The Twins threatened in the fourth, putting men on second and third with one out.  Graig Nettles popped up and Rich Reese grounded out to end the inning.  Nettles had a one-out triple in the seventh, but Reese and Johnny Roseboro each grounded out to end the threat.

Oakland's final run came in the ninth, when Campaneris walked and scored from first on a double by Reggie Jackson.

WP:  Fingers (1-0).  LP:  Hall (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .382.  Carew was 0-for-3 with a walk, dropping to .341.  Roseboro was 0-for-3 and was batting .318.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a double and was batting .311.

Hall, who had thrown a complete game shutout on April 18, could not get out of the third inning, although just looking at the play-by-play it seems like a pretty quick hook.  His line was 2.2 innings, five runs, five hits, one walk, one strikeout.  It was made worse, of course, by the fact that Woodson couldn't get anybody out.

Jackson did not start the game.  He was used as a pinch-hitter for Mike Hershberger, who started in right field.  Presumably, Jackson was just being given the day off.

The Athletics' starting left fielder and number three batter was Tommie Reynolds, of whom I have no recollection.  He played in parts of eight seasons from 1963-1972.  He was with the Kansas City Athletics, the Mets, Oakland, California, and Milwaukee.  This was his only season with the Oakland A's, but he appeared in 107 games for them, mostly in left.  It would also be his best season, but he still only batted .257/.343/.308.  He played in AAA with the Brewers from 1973-1978 and did very well, batting over .300 four times and hitting twenty or more home runs three times, but did not get another chance in the majors.

The Twins' loss put an end to their seven-game winning streak.

Record:  Minnesota was 7-5, in first place, a half game ahead of Kansas City and Oakland.