MINNESOTA 3, DETROIT 1 IN DETROIT
Date: Wednesday, August 6.
Batting stars: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a double. Cesar Tovar was 1-for-3 with two walks and three stolen bases ( his twenty-seventh, twenty-eighth, and twenty-ninth), scoring twice.
Pitching star: Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and a walk and striking out two.
Opposition star: Mickey Lolich pitched eight innings, giving up three runs on six hits and seven walks and striking out four.
The game: In the first, Tovar singled, stole second, and scored on a Tony Oliva double to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. In the second the Twins loaded the bases with none out, as Cardenas singled, Rick Renick was hit by a pitch, and Tom Tischinski walked, but only scored once as Perry hit into a double play. Still, the Twins led 2-0.
The lead was cut in half in the bottom of the second. Willie Horton doubled and Tom Matchick singled, making the score 2-1. But the Tigers got only one more baserunner the rest of the game, a one-out single by Tom Tresh in the sixth, and he did not advance beyond first.
The Twins had a man on second with one out in the fourth and with none out in the sixth, but did not score either time. They did get an insurance run in the seventh. Tovar walked, was bunted to second, stole third, and scored on Oliva's sacrifice fly.
WP: Perry (13-4). LP: Lolich (14-5). S: None.
Notes: Bob Allison was back in left field and Renick was at third base. Tischinski was behind the plate. The Twins made two defensive replacements in the eighth, with Ted Uhlaender going to left and Frank Quilici to third. They made one more in the ninth, with Rich Reese playing first in place of Harmon Killebrew.
Rod Carew was 0-for-4 and was batting .359. Oliva was 1-for-4 with two RBIs and was batting .333.
Gates Brown was again in left for the Tigers. Of his fourteen starts in the field, at least three of them came against the Twins.
Game scores say this was tied for Perry's best start of the season so far, even with his complete game shutout against Kansas City in April.
Record: The Twins were 68-42, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Oakland.