SEATTLE 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN SEATTLE (GAME TWO OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-5.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-4.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fourth) and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell pitched five innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk and striking out three.  Al Worthington pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Fred Talbot pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on ten hits and three walks and striking out four.  Tommy Davis was 2-for-3.  Steve Hovley was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his second) and a walk.

The game:  The Twins opened the game with singled by Uhlaender and Carew.  A one-out walk to Harmon Killebrew loaded the bases, but the Twins could only score one, on a ground out by Charlie Manuel.  In the second, Tovar led off with a double, but was caught trying to steal third.  The missed opportunities cost the Twins.  In the third inning, Gordy Lund singled and Hovley hit a two-run homer to give the Pilots a 2-1 lead.

In the fourth, singles by Roseboro and Tovar put runners on first and third with two out, but the Twins did not score.  In the fifth, singles by Carew and Rich Reese put runners on first and third with two out, but the Twins did not score.  In the sixth, Roseboro hit a one-out single and Tovar walked, putting men on first and second with one out, but the Twins did not score.  In the bottom of the sixth Seattle scored again, as Talbot singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Davis' single, putting the Pilots up 3-1.

The Twins finally scored again in the seventh, when Uhlaender led off the inning with a home run.  That was the last hit the Twins got, however, as the score remained 3-2 the rest of the way.

WP:  Talbot (5-3).  LP:  Boswell (11-9).  S:  John O'Donoghue (4).

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .367.  Reese was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.

Worthington, whose ERA had been at 9.00 in his first eight appearances, get his ERA down to 2.79.  That was as low as it would get, however, as it would start climbing with his next appearance.  He would end the year with an ERA of 4.57.

Tovar was again in right field in place of Tony Oliva.  Manuel was in left.

The Twins stranded nine runners and were 0-for-9 with men in scoring position.

John O'Donoghue had been a starter early in his career.  He came up for one start with Kansas City in 1963 and joined their rotation the next year.  He led the league in losses in 1965 with eighteen, despite which he made the all-star team as the Athletics' representative.  His ERA was 3.95, so you can argue that he wasn't that bad, but his WHIP was 1.40, and a 3.95 ERA in 1965 was not nearly as good as it is today.  He was traded to Cleveland just before the 1966 season for a fading Ralph Terry and had a couple of good seasons for the Indians as a long reliever/spot starter.  Traded to Baltimore for 1968, one assumes he struggled with injuries, as his usage is inconsistent at best.  He was traded to Seattle early in the 1969 season and turned in a fine season, going 2-2, 2.96 with 6 saves.  It was the last good season he would have.  He went to Milwaukee with the team in 1970 but pitched poorly and was traded to Montreal in June.  He remained with the Expos through June of 1971, not getting much accomplished, and then was released.  His career numbers are 39-55, 10 saves, 4.07 ERA.  His son, also named John O'Donoghue, pitched in eleven games for Baltimore in 1993.

Record:  The Twins were 57-37, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.

SEATTLE 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN SEATTLE (GAME ONE OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Friday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Bob Miller pitched 7.2 innings, giving up one run on six hits and four walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Diego Segui pitched a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out seven.  Wayne Comer was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Tommy Davis was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his thirteenth.

The game:  The Twins had men on first and third with two out in the first, but Graig Nettles struck out to end the inning.  Seattle got on the board in the second when ex-Twin Don Mincher walked, went to second on a Comer single, and scored on a pair of ground outs.

The Twins got only one man on base from the second through the seventh.  In the eighth, however, Killebrew led off with a walk, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Johnny Roseboro single to tie it 1-1.

The Twins missed a chance in the ninth.  With one out, Killebrew singled and Nettles doubled, putting men on second and third with one out.  Roseboro was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Cesar Tovar hit into a forceout at the plate and Leo Cardenas popped up, ending the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, Comer singled off Ron Perranoski, who had come in with two out and a man on first in the eighth.  He was bunted to second.  Ex-Twin Ron Clark was intentionally walked.  Gordy Lund flied out, but Tommy Harper drew a walk to load the bases.  Steve Hovley then walked to bring home the deciding run.

WP:  Segui (7-4).  LP:  Perranoski (5-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew was batting .363.  Rich Reese was 0-for-4 and was batting .329.

Miller's ERA was 2.89.  Perranoski gave up one run in one inning to raise his ERA to 2.18.

Nettles was in left field.  Tovar was again in right in place of Tony Oliva.

It's interesting that Billy Martin chose not to pinch-run for Killebrew with the Twins down a run in the eighth inning.  He was on first with one out, and then he was on third with one out.  I don't disagree with the decision, but Martin had pinch-run for Killebrew in a similar situation a few days ago.

Miller would not start again until July 29, when the Twins had another doubleheader.  He would make two relief appearances in-between.  For the season, as a starter he was 5-1, 3.21, 1.27 WHIP.  As a reliever, he was 0-4, 3 saves, 2.74, 1.24 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 47-36, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by four games.

MINNESOTA 8, CHICAGO 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 17.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-eighth.

Pitching star:  Jerry Crider pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and one walk and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Walt Williams was 2-for-5.  Luis Aparicio was 2-for-5.  Don Pavletich was 1-for-5 with a home run, his third.  Dan Osinski pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and striking out one.

The game:  With two out and none on in the first, Carlos May walked and Ron Hansen hit an RBI double.  That was as good as it got for the White Sox, as the Twins came back with six in the bottom of the first.  Cesar Tovar led off with a single and stole second.  Rod Carew walked.  Reese drove in a run with a single, tying the score.  Killebrew struck out, but Charlie Manuel walked, loading the bases.  Ted Uhlaender put the Twins in the lead with an RBI single, Leo Cardenas brought home one with a walk, and George Mitterwald delivered a two-run double.  That took Chicago starter Joel Horlen out of the game, replaced by Jerry Nyman.  He walked Jim Kaat to load the bases and then walked Tovar to force in the sixth run of the inning.  The next two batters went out, but the Twins led 6-1 after one inning.

The White Sox didn't give up.  Pavletich started the second with a home run, followed by singles from Bobby Knoop and Ken Berry.  With one out, Williams laid down a bunt single-plus-error to bring home a run and make the score 6-3.  The Twins got one of them back in the bottom of the second, when Killebrew led off the inning with a home run to put the Twins up 7-3.  They got the other one back in the fourth, when Carew got an infield single and scored on Reese's double.

Chicago rallied in the sixth.  Knoop reached on an error and Berry was hit by a pitch.  The next two batters went out, but Luis Aparicio got an infield single and May got a two-run single to cut the Twins' lead to 8-5.

That was as good as it got for the White Sox.  Crider came in right after May's single and slammed the door.  He gave up only one hit the rest of the way, a one-out single to Gail Hopkins in the ninth.

WP:  Kaat (10-6).  LP:  Horlen (6-11).  S:  Crider (1).

Notes:  Carew was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .361.  Reese raised his average to .335.

Tovar was again in right in the absence of Tony Oliva.  Mitterwald was again behind the plate in the absence of Johnny Roseboro.  Charlie Manuel was in left.

Kaat pitched 5.2 innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out four.  His ERA was 2.87,  Horlen lasted just two-thirds of an inning, allowing six runs on four hits and three walks and striking out one.

This was the only save of the season for Crider.  He would get four more with the White Sox in 1970.  It was his first appearance with the Twins since July 3.

Don Pavletich spent most of his career as the second catcher for the Cincinnati Reds, first backing up Johnny Edwards and then backing up Johnny Bench.  He was traded to the White Sox before the 1969 season, but found himself the second catcher again, behind Ed Herrmann.  He was then traded to Boston, where he spent 1970-1971 as a rarely-used reserve.  Before going to Boston he played quite a bit for a second catcher, as he was often used as a pinch-hitter.  His best season was 1965, when he batted .319/.394/.513 in 191 at-bats.  He also had a good year in 1966, when he batted .249/.344/.519 in 235 at-bats.  He hit a combined total of twenty homers in those years.  For his career, Pavletich batted .254/.328/.420.

Record:  The Twins were 57-35, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of Oakland.  They had won nine in a row, fourteen of fifteen, and eighteen of twenty.