WASHINGTON 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN WASHINGTON
Date: Tuesday, May 27.
Batting stars: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4. Rick Renick was 1-for-4 with a home run.
Pitching star: Jerry Crider pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Future Twin Brant Alyea was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and three RBIs. Barry Moore pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out three. Paul Casanova was 2-for-4.
The game: With two out in the bottom of the first, Frank Howard reached on an error and Alyea made the Twins pay with a two-run homer, putting the Senators up 2-0. The Twins wasted a two-out double from George Mitterwald in the second and also did not score in the third after getting a pair of singles.
Washington added to its lead in the fourth. With one out, Tim Cullen and Casanova singled. Moore bunted them up, and Ed Brinkman delivered a two-run single to make the score 4-0 Senators.
Renick got the Twins on the board in the fifth with a leadoff home run. With two out in the inning Cardenas singled and Harmon Killebrew walked, but Tony Oliva flied out to end the inning with the score still 4-1. The Senators added one more run in the seventh, and it was Alyea again doing the damage. With one out, Hank Allen singled and stole second. Howard was intentionally walked, but Alyea singled the run home to put Washington ahead 5-1. The Twins did not threaten again.
WP: Moore (3-1). LP: Tom Hall (2-3). S: None.
Notes: It was kind of a B lineup, with many regulars rested. Cesar Tovar was in center instead of Ted Uhlaender. Bob Allison was in left, which was not that unusual but Charlie Manuel had been getting the starts there recently. George Mitterwald caught in place of Johnny Roseboro. Frank Quilici was at second instead of Rod Carew. Renick was at third.
Hall apparently had some sort of injury. He was awesome in his first four appearances of the season (two starts, two in relief), then struggled in his next three starts. He did not pitch from April 30 to May 23. He struggled in two more starts, would do well in his next one, then go back to the bullpen, then miss another month. In this game, he lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out one.
Cardenas raised his average to .301.
This was Crider's second major league appearance. He had not given up a run in three innings.
Dean Chance, who had not pitched since May 17, pitched two innings of mop-up relief in this game. He would make one more appearance on May 30, then miss the next two months, coming back on August 1. His ERA was 2.43 at this point.
So who is this Barry Moore that threw a complete game at the Twins? It turns out he was a fairly decent pitcher for a couple of years, anyway. He made eleven starts for Washington in 1966 and was 3-3, 3.75, although with a WHIP of 1.51. He did fairly well in 1967 and then had his best season in 1968, going just 4-6 but with an ERA of 3.37 and a WHIP of 1.34. He made 18 starts and 14 relief appearances that season. It looks like he always had control trouble--he only had one season in which his walks per nine innings were less than 4.3. That was, as one might assume, that best season of 1968, when his walk rate went all the way down to 3.2. 1969 was the only year he had a winning record, at 9-8, but his ERA was up to 4.30 and his WHIP was up to 1.42. The Senators apparently saw that his effectiveness was at an end and traded him to Cleveland after the season. He split 1970 between the Indians and the White Sox, pitched in AAA for three seasons, and then was done. For his career he was 26-37, 4.16, 1.46 WHIP. He walked 4.5 batters per nine innings and struck out just 4.2. From 1966-1968, though, he posted an ERA of 3.61 in 323.2 innings. This was one of eight complete games in his career, four of them coming in 1969. His only shutout came in 1967 and was also against the Twins.
Record: The Twins were 24-17, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Oakland.