BALTIMORE 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Friday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifteenth), a walk, and two RBIs.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.  Graig Nettles was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Tom Hall pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Paul Blair was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-third), a stolen base (his fifteenth), and a walk, scoring twice.  Dave Johnson was 3-for-4 with a double.  Frank Robinson was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs.  Brooks Robinson was 1-for-4 with a home run (his nineteenth) and a walk.

The game:  Blair hit an inside-the-park home run in the first to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  They had a chance to increase the lead in the second, as a pair of singles put men on first and third with two out, but could not cash it in.  The Twins tied it in the third when Uhlaender singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Oliva's single.

Some missed chances followed.  Baltimore put men on first and second with one out in the third and did not score.  The Twins had men on first and second with none out in the fourth and did not score.  Johnson hit a leadoff double for the Orioles in the fourth and did not score.

The Twins took the lead in the sixth.  Cesar Tovar walked and went to third on Killebrew's one-out single.  Reese followed with an RBI single to put the Twins up 2-1.  Nettles later delivered a two-out single to make it 3-1.  The Twins added another run in the eighth on Oliva's home run to take a 4-1 lead.

Brooks Robinson homered in the eighth to cut the Twins' lead to 4-2, but the Twins got the run back in the ninth when Uhlaender drew a two-out walk and scored on Tovar's double.  It looked good for the Twins, as they led 5-2 going to the bottom of the ninth.

Al Worthington had come in with two out in the eighth and had retired everyone he faced other than giving up the Robinson homer.  In the ninth, however, Andy Etchebarren led off with a single.  Elrod Hendricks flied out, but Don Buford singled and Paul Blair walked, loading the bases.  Ron Perranoski came in and gave up singles to Frank Robinson and Boog Powell, tying the score and putting men on first and third.  Powell took second, which led to an intentional walk Brooks Robinson.  Johnson then hit a sacrifice fly to win the game for Baltimore.

WP:  Marcelino Lopez (4-2).  LP:  Perranoski (7-6).  S:  None.

Notes:  We mentioned yesterday that Rod Carew had left the game in the sixth inning.  It may have been due to a military commitment, but it seems more likely to have been an injury of some sort.  He would not play again until August 12.  He would play again on the 13th, but then was out until September 1.

With Carew on the shelf, Tovar moved to second base, with Uhlaender going to center and Nettles making his first start since July 18 in left field.  Reese was at first and Killebrew at third.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth and stayed in the game at third base.  Bob Allison was inserted as a defensive replacement for Reese in the eighth.  It would come as a surprise to me to learn that Allison was a better first baseman than Reese, but it's certainly possible.

Bob Miller started for the Twins, but pitched only 2.1 innings.  He gave up one run on four hits and a walk and struck out two.  He presumably came out due to injury, as he would not pitch again until September 6.

Hall, who went from July 27 through August 6 without pitching, pitched 4.1 innings in this game after pitching three innings the day before.

Today, of course, Perranoski would've been brought in to start the inning, rather than with the bases loaded and one out.  That's not intended as a criticism of Billy Martin.  Games were simply managed differently back then.

Tom Phoebus started for Baltimore.  He pitched 5.2 innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out one.

In the ninth, with the score tied 5-5, the Orioles had Frank Robinson on third and Boog Powell on first with one out.  Powell went to second, leading to the intentional walk to Brooks Robinson.  It would seem like Powell's advance was defensive indifference, but he was credited with a stolen base, his first of the season.  In fact, it was his only of the season.  Powell stole twenty bases in his career, going 20-for-41.  He was 7-for-8 in 1968 and 4-for-4 in 1972.  Of course, that means he was 9-for-29 the rest of his career.

Record:  The Twins were 68-44, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of Oakland.

DETROIT 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN DETROIT

Date:  Thursday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 4-for-4 with a three-run homer (his twelfth) and two runs.  Johnny Roseboro was 3-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Bill Freehan was 3-for-4.  Al Kaline was 2-for-3 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a walk.  Don Wert was 2-for-4 with a double.  Willie Horton was 2-for-4.  Ike Brown was 1-for-3 with a home run, his second.  Tom Timmermann pitched 4.2 innings of relief, giving up one run on five hits and striking out two.

The game:  In the bottom of the first, the Tigers got consecutive two-out singles from Kaline, Horton, and Freehan to take a 1-0 lead.  The Twins put runners on first and third with none out in the second but did not score.  Brown homered in the bottom of the second to make it 2-0.  In the third, Kaline homered to make it 3-0.  That was followed by singles by Horton and Freehan and a passed ball, putting men on second and third with one out.  Norm Cash singled in a run, but Freehan was thrown out at the plate to keep the score 4-0.  Starter Jim Perry was then replaced by Jerry Crider, who gave up a double to Wert to make the score 5-0.

The Twins got back into the game in the fourth.  Tony Oliva led off with a single, Harmon Killebrew walked, and Reese hit a three-run homer to cut the margin to 5-3.  The Twins got a pair of infield singles with one out in the sixth but did not score.  With two out in the eighth, Reese, Roseboro, and Cesar Tovar all singled, cutting the margin to 5-4.  A walk to Leo Cardenas loaded the bases, but pinch-hitter Charlie Manuel struck out to end the inning.

Detroit got the run back in the bottom of the eighth, as Wert singled, was bunted to second, and scored on Mickey Stanley's single.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Timmermann (1-1).  LP:  Jim Kaat (11-8).  S:  Don McMahon (11).

Notes:  Ted Uhlaender was in left field and Reese was at first base.  Rod Carew started, but was replaced by Frank Quilici in the sixth for no obvious reason.

Carew was 0-for-3 and was batting .356.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .331.  Reese raised his average to .330.

The Twins' five and six batters, Reese and Roseboro, were 7-for-7 with a home run and a walk.  The rest of the team was 3-for-28 with no extra-base hits.

Kaat lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out two.  Tigers starter Earl Wilson pitched three innings, allowing three runs on five hits and two walks.

This was Hall's first appearance since July 27, when he pitched 3.1 scoreless innings.  Before that, he had not pitched since July 16.

Ron Perranoski came in to start the eighth and gave up a run on two hits.  His ERA went up to 1.73.

This was the first major league win of Tom Timmermann's career.  He was twenty-nine years old, but had come up in mid-June after dominating the International League in eleven starts.  He was in the Tigers' bullpen through 1971 and was okay, not great, not awful.  They made him a starter in 1972 and he did quite well, going 8-10, 3.00, 1.09 WHIP in 25 starts.  He went back to the bullpen in 1973 and was doing fairly well there, too, but was traded to Cleveland in mid-June.  His career fell apart at that point.  The Indians put him in the bullpen, where he didn't do very well, and then moved him to the rotation, where he was no better.  He made four appearances with Cleveland in 1974, was in the minors the rest of the year, then was done.  He started late, but he still played in 228 games (44 starts) and pitched 548 major league innings.  He was 35-35, 3.78, 1.31 WHIP.  He's the father-in-law of Phil Leftwich, who made 34 starts for the Angels from 1993-1996.

Record:  The Twins were 68-43, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Oakland.

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.