KANSAS CITY 1, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Saturday, September 13.
Batting stars: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4. Graig Nettles was 0-for-1 with three walks.
Pitching star: Dean Chance pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and a walk and striking out four.
Opposition stars: Mike Hedlund struck out eight in six shutout innings of relief, giving up two hits and four walks. Moe Drabowsky pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks and striking out one. Ed Kirkpatrick was 2-for-4.
The game: I'd say this was an old-fashioned pitchers' duel, but it was played fifty years ago, so it probably wasn't old-fashioned at the time. Neither team got a man past first base until the third. Cardenas led off with a single, was bunted to second, and went to third on a ground out. Rod Carew walked, but Tony Oliva fouled out to end the inning. Cardenas also led off the fifth inning with a single and was again bunted to second (both bunts were by Chance), but went no further.
The Royals had put two men on in the fourth, as Kirkpatrick got a one-out single and Lou Piniella was hit by a pitch with two down, but Luis Alcaraz hit into a forceout.
The two teams combined for one baserunner in innings six through eight, a one-out walk to Harmon Killebrew. With one out in the ninth, Mike Fiore tripled and scored on Kirkpatrick's single for the lone run of the game. In the bottom of the ninth, Rich Reese and Graig Nettles drew consecutive one-out walks, but Johnny Roseboro fouled out and Cardenas struck out to end the game.
WP: Drabowsky (9-9). LP: Chance (5-3). S: None.
Notes: Ted Uhlaender was in center field, with Cesar Tovar on the bench. Nettles was in left field.
Carew was 0-for-2 with two walks and was batting .338. Reese was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .324. Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .311. Chance lowered his ERA to 2.81.
Since his return to the lineup September 8, Carew was 3-for-20. Oliva was slumping over that same span, going 4-for-26.
Cardenas' two singles were the only two hits the Twins had.
Roger Nelson started for Kansas City. He pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk, then was removed from the game. No reason is apparent from the play-by-play--one assumes injury or illness.
Hedlund had been in and out of the rotation a couple of times during the season. He had started and pitched seven innings on Sept. 3 and pitched an inning of relief on Sept. 8, so pitching six innings probably wasn't a big deal to him. He did okay as a starter, but was excellent as a reliever--0-0, but with two saves, an ERA of 1.69, and a WHIP of 1.03. He began 1970 in the Royals' bullpen, but did poorly and spent most of the season in AAA Omaha. He came back to have an excellent year as a starter with Kansas City in 1971 but struggled in 1972 and then was in AAA in 1973-1974.
Record: The Twins were 87-57, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.