MINNESOTA 6, CHICAGO 3 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Wednesday, July 16.

Batting stars:  Ted Uhlaender was 3-for-4 with three RBIs.  Rick Renick was 2-for-2 with a double and a walk, scoring twice.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched 8.2 innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Bobby Knoop was 3-for-4.

The game:  The Twins got a pair of walks in the first, but a double play ended the inning.  In the sixth, Leo Cardenas led off with another walk, followed by a George Mitterwald single.  RBI singles by Renick and Uhlaender made it 2-0, and a run-scoring ground out by Cesar Tovar made it 3-0.

The White Sox opened the third with singles by Knoop and Gary Peters, but could only advance them to second and third.  The Twins added to their lead in the fourth when Renick doubled and scored on a Uhlaender single.  They got one more in the fifth when Tovar led off with a triple and scored on a Frank Quilici sacrifice fly.

Trailing 5-0, Chicago finally got on the board in the seventh.  Ron Hansesn doubled and Buddy Bradford scored him with a single.  They got men to first and third with one out, but could do no more.  The Twins had men on second and third with one out in the bottom of the seventh, but also could not score.  The Twins did add a run in the eighth, as Cardenas singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Uhlaender's single, making the score 6-1.

The White Sox did not go quietly in the ninth.  Their first two men went out, but Bradford walked, Knoop singled, and Bill Melton delivered a two-run double to make the score 6-3.  Ron Perranoski then came in and retired Don Pavletich on a ground out.

WP:  Perry (9-4).  LP:  Peters (6-10).  S:  Perranoski (18).

Notes:  Tony Oliva was apparently battling an injury.  He did not play in either game of the doubleheader, and would not play again until July 24.  Tovar was again in right field.

Carew was again out of the lineup as well, with Frank Quilici playing second.  Carew came in for defense in the eighth, with Quilici moving to third to replace Renick.  It seems odd that Carew was able to play defense, and was able to pinch-hit (as he did in a couple of previous games), but could not start.

Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-2 with two walks.  In his last six games, he was 3-for-15, but had walked ten times.

Bob Allison was again in left field.  Mitterwald was behind the plate in place of Johnny Roseboro.

Knoop was 7-for-9 in the doubleheader, raising his average from .185 to .205.  He was in the early stages of a fourteen-game hitting streak which would see his average eventually rise to .229.  He was the starting second baseman for the Angels from 1964 through May of 1969, when he was traded to the White Sox for Sandy Alomar and Bob Priddy.  He was the starting second baseman for the White Sox through 1970, then spent 1971-1972 as a reserve for Kansas City.  His best offensive season was 1965, when he batted .269 with an OPS of .696, numbers which are better when considered in the context of the 1960s.  He made the all-star team in 1966, when he batted .232/.282/.386.  If you're thinking maybe he made the team due to a hot first half, you're wrong--he actually batted worse in the first half, .224/.261/.391.  He did lead the league in triples that year with eleven.  He won three Gold Gloves, so he was clearly considered an excellent defender.  After his playing career, he spent many years as a coach for the Angels and also coached for the White Sox, Toronto, and Colorado.

Record:  The Twins were 56-35, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of Oakland.  They had won eight in a row, thirteen out of fourteen, and seventeen out of nineteen.

MINNESOTA 9, CHICAGO 8 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Wednesday, July 16.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his ninth and tenth) and a hit-by-pitch, driving in five.  Rod Carew was 3-for-5 with two stolen bases (his fourteenth and fifteenth), scoring three times.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Al Worthington struck out six in four innings, giving up one run on five hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Bobby Knoop was 4-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Don Pavletich was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Ron Hansen was 3-for-5 with a home run, his second.  Gail Hopkins was 2-for-4.  Carlos May was 1-for-4 with a home run (his eighteenth) and two walks, scoring twice.

The game:  Uhlaender and Carew started the bottom of the first with singles and Reese followed with a three-run homer, giving the Twins up 3-0 before a man was retired.  The White Sox came back with two in the second.  Pavletich singled, but was still on first with two out.  Then came an RBI double by Knoop, a Billy Wynne bunt single, and a Walt Williams single, making the score 3-2.

The Twins got another three in the second.  Cesar Tovar singled, stole second, and went to third on a Tom Hall single.  Uhlaender then singled to score Tovar.  The next two batters went out, but walks to Harmon Killebrew and Charlie Manuel forced in a run.  The Twins then pulled off a triple steal, with Carew stealing home, Killebrew third, and Manuel second.  The Twins were ahead 6-2.

Chicago came back again in the third inning.  The first two batters went out, but Hansen homered, Pavletich doubled, Buddy Bradford walked, Knoop singled to load the bases, Tom McCraw got an infield single to bring home a run, and Williams reached on an error to bring home one more run.  The Twins' lead had been cut to 6-5.

The Twins got one in the bottom of the third on walks to Leo Cardenas and Darrell Brandon and a two-out RBI single by Carew.  The White Sox got the run back in the fourth when May walked, went to third on a Hopkins single, and scored on a passed ball.  The Twins now led 7-6.

Chicago had a chance to tie it in the fifth, when they put men on second and third with one out, but a 5-3-4-2 double play ended the inning.  They did tie it in the sixth when May led off with a home run.  The Twins went back in front in the bottom of the sixth when Reese hit a home run to make the score 8-7.

The Twins got an insurance run in the eighth.  With two out and none on, Carew singled, stole second, and score on a Reese single.  They needed the insurance.  Knoop and Ed Herrmann led off the inning with singles, putting men on first and third.  A ground out cut the Twins' lead to 9-8 and put the tying run on second.  He moved to third on another ground out.  With two down, the Twins walked May, putting the deciding run on base, to face Rich Morales.  He struck out to end the game.

WP:  Worthington (4-0).  LP:  Don Secrist (0-1).

Notes:  These two teams played Monday, did not play Tuesday, and played a doubleheader Wednesday.  One assumes there was a game scheduled for Tuesday which was rained out.

The Twins first three batters, Uhlaender, Carew, and Reese, went 8-for-14 with two home runs, six runs scored, and seven RBIs.

Carew raised his average to .363.  Reese raised his average to .327.

Tovar was in right field, as Tony Oliva was given the game off.

Johnny Roseboro started the game behind the plate, but was replaced by George Mitterwald in the sixth inning.  One assumes he either had a minor injury or was not feeling well.  He would not catch in the second game of the doubleheader or the next day's game, but would come back to catch both ends of a doubleheader Friday.

Frank Quilici played third base in place of Killebrew in the ninth inning.

Shortstop Ron Hansen had more power than I remembered, at least when he was young.  He hit twenty-two home runs for Baltimore in 1960, when he won the Rookie of the Year award and finished fifth in MVP voting.  That would be his career high, but he would be in double digits every year through 1965 with the exception of 1962, when he was injured much of the year.  He reached twenty again in 1964 with the White Sox.  He was again injured much of 1966, and when he came back his power had deserted him.  He hit just twenty-seven home runs from 1966-1973, after which his career was over.  Despite his early power he was never a particularly good batter--the two years when he hit twenty homers were his only years with an OPS over .700.  He was considered an excellent glove man, however, and garnered MVP votes in 1964, 1965, and 1967.  In addition to the Orioles and White Sox he played for Washington, they Yankees, and Kansas City.  He coached for Milwaukee and Montreal in the 1980s and then became a scout until he retired after the 2010 season.  He is best remembered for turning an unassisted triple play on July 30, 1968.  At last report, he was living in Baldwin, Maryland.

Record:  The Twins were 55-35, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by 4.5 games.  They had won seven in a row, twelve out of thirteen, and sixteen out of eighteen.