MINNESOTA 5, CALIFORNIA 3 IN CALIFORNIA
Date: Tuesday, June 24.
Batting stars: Rich Reese was 4-for-4 with a double. Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs. Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a triple. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a hit-by-pitch. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5. Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his ninth.
Pitching star: Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out six.
Opposition stars: Eddie Fisher struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up three hits. Bob Priddy pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.
The game: The Twins started the scoring in the second on Reese's RBI double. They made it 3-0 in the third when Uhlaender singled and Oliva hit a two-run homer.
The Angels tied it with a three-run fourth. Jim Fregosi led off with a triple and scored on a Rick Reichardt single. Roger Repoz walked, and with one out Jim Spencer and Joe Azcue each hit an RBI single to make the score 3-3.
The Twins went into the lead to stay in the fifth. Uhlaender doubled, went to third on Tovar's single, and scored on an infield hit by Killebrew. They got an insurance run in the sixth when Reese led off with a single, went from first to third on a wild pitch, and scored on a squeeze bunt by Cardenas, making the score 5-3.
Aurelio Rodriguez hit a one-out double in the sixth, but he was erased on a line drive double play. California did not get a hit after that.
WP: Boswell (9-7). LP: Tom Murphy (4-5). S: None.
Notes: Rod Carew was again not in the starting lineup, but he came in to play defense in the sixth inning. Tovar had started the game at second and moved to center field, with Uhlaender coming out of the game. Carew went 1-for-2 and was batting .379.
Oliva dropped his average to an even .300. Boswell's ERA dropped to 2.88.
Charlie Manuel was the starting left fielder in this game, going 0-for-4.
Reese raised his average to .307. It was the second consecutive game in which a Twin went 4-for-4.
Over his last three starts, Boswell had pitched 26.1 innings. He had two complete games and went 8.1 innings in the middle game of the three.
Murphy was the California starter. He pitched 5.1 innings and allowed all five runs on ten hits. He did not walk anyone and struck out one. He had faced the Twins on June 16 and had only lasted four innings. In between, he made a start against the White Sox and allowed just one run in ten innings.
Record: The Twins were 37-30, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by a half game.