MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Monday, July 25.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Mike Cubbage was 1-for-4 with a home run (his third) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Dave Goltz pitched a complete game, striking out fourteen.  He gave up one run on eight hits and a walk for a game score of 90.  I don't know what his pitch count was.

Opposition stars:  Rick Langford also pitched a complete game, although he only had to go ten innings.  He gave up two runs on seven hits and five walks and struck out eight.  Jeff Newman was 2-for-4.  Tony Armas was 2-for-4.  Sheldon Mallory was 2-for-5 with a double.

The game:  The Twins loaded the bases with one out in the first, but a pair of strikeouts ended the inning.  Cubbage led off the third with a home run, getting the Twins on the board with a 1-0 lead.  It stayed 1-0 until the fifth, when Newman singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Mallory's double.

It stayed 1-1 for quite a while.  The Twins put two on with one out in the sixth and got a man to second with one out in the seventh.  The Athletics put a man on second with two out in the eighth and with one out in the tenth.

Carew led off the eleventh with a single.  Lyman Bostock followed with a single, moving Carew to third.  Glenn Adams was walked, loading the bases.  Larry Hisle then singled to bring home the deciding run.

WP:  Goltz (12-6).  LP:  Langford (7-11).  S:  None.

Notes:  Hisle was in center field, with Bostock in left.  Hisle played 71 games in center and 63 in left.  Bostock played 90 games in center and 60 in left.  I'm sure Gene Mauch had some reason for deciding who would play where--the pitcher, the ballpark, how much the other team run, who knows?  But knowing Mauch, it was not just random.

Rich Chiles batted for Bobby Randall in the tenth.  Jerry Terrell went in to play second.

Carew was batting .386.  He would finish at .388.  Glenn Adams was batting .357.  He would finish at .338.  Bostock was batting .338.  He would finish at .336.  Hisle was batting .302.  He would finish at .302.  The Twins led the league in batting  at .282.

Hisle led the team with 28 home runs.  Carew and Bostock each hit 14.  Craig Kusick hit 12 homers, Dan Ford 11, and Butch Wynegar 10.  The Twins hit 123 home runs, eleventh in the league.  Boston led with 213.

Goltz was 20-11, 3.36.  It was the best year of his career.  He was the only starter who the Twins could rely on.  The others were Paul Thormodsgard (11-15, 4.62), Geoff Zahn, (12-14, 4.68), and Pete Redfern (6-9, 5.18).  The bullpen was nothing to shout about, either.  Closer Tom Johnson did well--16-7, 3.13.  The next lowest ERA was Ron Schueler at 4.41.  The Twins were twelfth in ERA at 4.36.  Kansas City led at 3.52.  They were eleventh in WHIP at 1.42.  Texas led there at 1.28.

This was one of 19 complete games for Goltz.  He pitched 303 innings.  He led the league in wins and starts and was sixth in Cy Young voting.

Record:  The Twins were 55-43, in third place in the American League West, five games behind Chicago.  They would finish 84-77, in fourth place, 17.5 games behind Kansas City.

The Athletics were 40-56, in seventh (last) place in the American League West, 19 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 63-98, in seventh place, 38.5 games behind Kansas City.

Random record:  The Twins are 56-52 in Random Rewind games.