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.