MINNESOTA 6, WASHINGTON 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, August 26.
Batting stars: Ted Uhlaender was 1-for-1 with two walks and two RBIs. Dave Boswell was 1-for-2 with a home run, his second.
Pitching stars: Boswell pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out five.
Opposition stars: Del Unser was 2-for-4 with a triple. Lee Maye was 2-for-5 and scored twice. Dave Baldwin pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
The game: Unser led off the game with a triple and scored on Maye's single. Frank Howard singled to put men on first and third with none out. Ex-Twin Bernie Allen grounded out to score Maye, but Boswell was able to limit the damage. In the bottom of the first, Rick Renick singled, Harmon Killebrew walked, a wild pitch advanced the runners, and Oliva's run-scoring ground out made it 2-1 Senators.
The Twins took the lead in the third. Boswell led off the inning with a home run, tying the score 2-2. Renick walked, Cesar Tovar singled, and Killebrew walked, loading the bases with none out. Oliva had a sacrifice fly to put the Twins in front. Rich Reese, pinch-hitting for Bob Allison, was hit by a pitch, re-loading the bases. Leo Cardenas hit another sacrifice fly, making the score 4-2. George Mitterwald walked, loading the bases one more time, and Ted Uhlaender, pinch-hitting for Frank Quilici, delivered an infield single, leaving the Twins ahead 5-2.
Washington got one back in the fifth. With a man on first and two-out, second baseman Tovar made an error that allowed the runner to score and cut the margin to 5-3. The Senators threatened in the sixth, putting two on with two out, but did not score. The Twins got the run back in the seventh. One-out walks to Oliva and Reese put men on first and second, a ground out moved them to second and third, an intentional walk to Mitterwald loaded the bases, and a walk to Uhlaender forced in a run, leaving the score 6-3.
Washington closed out the scoring in the eighth. With one out, future Twin Brant Alyea doubled and ex-Twin Zoilo Versalles singled. The next two batters struck out, ending the inning. The Senators got a leadoff single from Unser in the ninth, but he never advanced past first base.
WP: Boswell (14-9). LP: Barry Moore (8-6). S: Ron Perranoski (24).
Notes: Tovar was back in center field at the start of this game, with Frank Quilici at second base. Renick was at third base, with Killebrew on first. Mitterwald was behind the plate. When Allison, who had started in left field, and Quilici came out for pinch-hitters, lots of defensive changes resulted. Reese, one of the pinch-hitters, stayed in the game at first base, Killebrew moved to third, and Renick went to left. Uhlaender, the other pinch-hitter, went to center, with Tovar moving to second.
Reese was 0-for-1 with a walk and was batting .331. Oliva was 0-for-2 with a walk and was batting .318. Perranoski saw his ERA go up to 2.16.
The Twins drew nine walks in the game. Three came from Washington starter Barry Moore, who lasted just two innings and allowed five runs on three hits and three walks and struck out one. Five came from Jim Shellenback, who allowed a run on no hits and five walks in 2.2 innings.
Record: The Twins were 76-51, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Oakland. It's remarkable how long the Twins lead stayed from about a game and a half to about three and a half games. The could never quite shake Oakland, but Oakland could never quite catch up, either.