CALIFORNIA 6, MINNESOTA 4 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Monday, September 8.

Batting stars:  Bob Allison was 2-for-3 with a home run (his sixth), a double, and three RBIs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Dick Woodson struck out two in 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Al Worthingon pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jay Johnstone was 2-for-2 with two walks.  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Jim Spencer was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Sandy Alomar was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his twelfth) and two runs.

The game:  Bob Allison led off the second with a double.  He was caught stealing third, but was safe on an error on third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez.  He was still on third with two out, so Billy Martin had him try to steal home.  He was thrown out.

Cardenas led off the third with a double and did not try to steal any bases, but the result was the same--the Twins did not score.  In the bottom of the third, the Angels got on the board.  Singles by Alomar and Spencer were followed by a passed ball, putting men on second and third.  Fregosi hit a sacrifice fly and Johnstone singled, giving California a 2-0 lead.

California followed with a four-run fifth.  Again it opened with singles by Alomar and Spencer.  An error scored one run, and an intentional walk to Johnstone was followed by RBI singles by Rick Reichardt, Bill Voss, and Rodriguez.  The Angels were up 6-0.

The Twins cut the lead in half in the sixth.  Cesar Tovar led off with a single, Harmon Killebrew drew a one-out walk, and Allison followed with a three-run homer.  The Twins got closer in the eighth.  Killebrew again drew a one-out walk.  Graig Nettles hit a two-out double, putting men on second and third.  A wild pitch made it 6-4 and Charlie Manuel walked, bringing the go-ahead run up to bat.  Ted Uhlaender flied to left, however, and the chance was gone.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Rudy May (8-11).  LP:  Jim Perry (17-6).  S:  Ken Tatum (18).

Notes:  Rod Carew was still out of the starting lineup, although he did pinch-hit.  Tovar was at second base and Uhlaender in center field.  Rick Renick played third base, with Killebrew moving to first and Rich Reese out of the lineup.  Allison was in left field.

Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .317.

Twins starter Perry pitched 4.1 innings, allowing six runs (four earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out three.  Angels starter May pitched 7.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and four walks and striking out five.

Getting caught stealing twice in the same inning, as Allison did, is an unusual feat.  For it to be third and home is even more unusual.  It would, of course, be interesting to know just how unusual it is.

Aurelio Rodriguez has an unusual feat, too--he has all the vowels in his first name.  What would be really cool is if some day there was a player named Aurelio Figueroa.

Each of the top four men in the Angels lineup had exactly two hits.  They went a combined 8-for-15 with three walks.  Each of the next four men in the Angels lineup had exactly one hit.  They were a combined 4-for-15 with a walk.  The ninth spot in the Angels lineup had no hits, going 0-for-4.

This was Rudy May's first full season.  He would go on to have a long and successful career.  His best years really came in his mid-thirties, for Montreal in 1979 and the Yankees in 1980.  In that 1980 season he led the league in ERA, ERA+, FIP, WHIP, and SO/W ratio.  For his career he was 152-156, but with an ERA of 3.46 and a WHIP of 1.25.  He had 87 complete games, 24 shutouts, and 12 saves.

Record:  The Twins were 85-54, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.