CLEVELAND 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN CLEVELAND
Date: Sunday, May 10.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double. Bob Allison was 2-for-4. Leo Cardenas was 1-for-4 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs.
Pitching stars: Tom Hall struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and two walks.
Opposition stars: Duke Sims was 2-for-4 with two home runs and three RBIs. Sam McDowell pitched 8.1 innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and two walks and striking out eight. He also hit a home run.
The game: In the bottom of the first, Larry Brown reached on an error and scored on a double by Ted Uhlaender, giving the Indians a 1-0 lead. McDowell homered leading off the third and Sims homered with one out in the fourth to make it 3-0. Meanwhile, the Twins had only two singles through five innings and only advanced one man as far as second base.
The changed in the sixth when Cardenas got the Twins on the board with a home run. The Twins' joy was short-lived, however, as with two out in the sixth Vada Pinson walked and Sims followed with a two-run homer, putting Cleveland up 5-1.
The Twins did try to come back. In the eighth Cardenas walked, Killebrew singled, and Tony Oliva had an RBI single to cut the lead to 5-2. In the ninth Allison singled, Rick Renick had a pinch-hit double, and Minnie Mendoza hit a two-run single, cutting the lead to 5-4 and putting the tying run on base with one out. The Twins could do no more, however, and the game ended with a 5-4 score.
WP: McDowell (4-3).
LP: Dave Boswell (0-5).
S: Rich Hand (2).
Notes: Allison was at first base in place of Rich Reese. Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew. Mendoza went to second base in the seventh inning as part of a double switch. Renick pinch-hit for Hall in the ninth. Carew pinch-hit for Cesar Tovar in the ninth. Jim Holt pinch-ran for Mendoza in the ninth.
Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .345. Killebrew was batting .330. Carew was 0-for-1 and was batting .328. Renick was 1-for-1 and was batting .308. Brant Alyea was 0-for-4 and was batting .308. Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .300.
Mendoza was 1-for-2 and was batting .154. Quilici was 0-for-3 and was batting .167. Mitterwald was 0-for-4 and was batting .186. Boswell allowed five runs (four earned) in 5.2 innings and had an ERA of 6.17.
This was only Hall's seventh game of the season. Prior to this game, he had pitched just 1.1 innings since April 24. I don't know if he was battling an injury, but it doesn't appear that way. He just was not being used for some reason.
This was the second and last home run of Sam McDowell's career. The other came in 1967. He also had seven doubles and two triples. His lifetime batting numbers are .154/.171/.176.
I find it odd that, with Rod Carew on the bench, Bill Rigney chose to use him in place of Tovar, rather than the light-hitting Mendoza. Mendoza got a two-run single, so either Rigney knew something I don't or he just got lucky.
The Twins went 6-3 on their nine-game East Division road trip, taking two of three in each series.
Record: The Twins were 18-9, in first place in the American League West, a half-game ahead of California.