KANSAS CITY 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, July 9.
Batting stars: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a walk. Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a walk. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a home run (his twenty-fourth) and a walk, driving in two.
Pitching star: Al Worthington pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.
Opposition stars: Roger Nelson pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on nine hits and five walks and striking out two. Joe Foy was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fifth) and a walk, scoring tiwce. Mike Fiore was 2-for-4 with two doubles. Bob Oliver was 2-for-4.
The game: It looked good for the Twins early. With one out in the first, Rod Carew and Oliva got back-to-back singles and an RBI ground out put them up 1-0. In the second, Jim Perry hit a two-out double that scored Johnny Roseboro to make it 2-0. Killebrew hit a two-out home run in the third to make it 3-0.
It would not hold up, though. With two out and none on in the fifth, Pat Kelly walked and Foy hit a two-run homer to make the score 3-2. It did not kill the rally, as Fiore doubled and Lou Piniella hit an RBI single to tie it 3-3.
The Twins missed chances in the fifth and sixth. In the fifth, Oliva had a two-out single and Killebrew walked, but Rich Reese grounded out to end the inning. In the sixth, Cardenas singled and went to second and third on two wild pitches, but was caught trying to steal home. The missed chances cost the Twins, as the Royals tooke the lead in the seventh. Foy walked with one out, Fiore doubled, and Piniella hit into a fielder's choice that brought home the go-ahead run. The Twins did not get a hit after the sixth inning, nor did they get a man past first base.
WP: Nelson (6-7). LP: Dick Woodson (6-4). S: None.
Notes: Carew was 1-for-4, dropping his average to .354. He was batting .382 on June 28, but had gone 10-for-47 since. Oliva raised his average to .332. Reese went 0-for-4 and was batting .306.
Twins starter Perry pitched five innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out three.
Cesar Tovar was once again in center field with Uhlaender in left.
In addition to leading the league in home runs and RBIs in 1969, Killebrew also led the league in walks and on-base percentage. It was the third time he led the league in walks. I wonder if any of the writers ever criticized him for taking too many pitches and not being aggressive enough at the plate.
This was Roger Nelson's only full season as a rotation starter. He did pretty well, going 7-13, 3.31, 1.22 WHIP. He had gotten a September call-up with the White Sox in 1967 and had done well in about half a season with Baltimore in 1968 before being taken by the Royals with the first pick in the expansion draft after the sesaon. He missed much of the next two seasons with injuries, but came back strong in 1972. He started that season in the bullpen, possibly because of the injury concerns, but was in the Royals rotation by the end of June and stayed there the rest of the season. He went 11-6, 2.08 in 173.1 innings, with ten complete games and six shutouts. He led the league in WHIP with 0.87 and in K/W ration at 3.87. He was traded to Cincinnati after the season and injuries struck again. He did all right for the Reds when he could pitch, but in two seasons he could work only 140 innings (28 games, 20 starts), going 7-6, 3.42, 1.25 WHIP. He had a poor year in AAA for Oakland in 1975 and then tried to come back as a reliever, but could make only three more big league appearances, for Kansas City in 1976. He stayed in the minors through 1979, then was done. His career numbers are 29-32, 3.06, 1.11 WHIP in 636.1 innings. He appeared in 135 games, 77 of them starts. If he'd been able to stay healthy, he might have had a heck of a career. It seems like you never hear of kids being named "Roger" any more.
Record: The Twins were 48-35, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.