MINNESOTA 8, KANSAS CITY 5 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, June 30.
Batting stars: Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-first) and two runs. Jim Holt was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5. Rick Renick was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit grand slam, his fifth homer.
Pitching stars: Bill Zepp pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit. Dick Woodson pitched a perfect inning. Stan Williams pitched three shutout innings, giving up a walk and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Bob Oliver was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and three RBIs. Paul Schaal was 2-for-4 with a home run, his second. Amos Otis was 2-for-4 with a stolen base (his sixteenth) and three runs.
The game: In the first Schaal singled and Oliver hit a two-run homer, giving the Royals an early 2-0 lead. The Twins got one back in the second when Rich Reese reached on a two-base error and scored on a Leo Cardenas single. The lead went back to two in the third when Otis reached on a single-plus-error and scored on Oliver's double. The score went to 5-1 in the fifth when Schaal led off with a homer, Otis and Lou Piniella singled, and a double play brought home a run.
The Twins came back in the sixth. Killebrew led off the inning with a home run, cutting the lead to 5-2. With one out Holt singled and Cardenas and George Mitterwald walked, loading the bases. Bob Johnson came in to face pinch-hitter Renick, who hit a grand slam and put the Twins up 6-5. They added two more in the seventh when Killebrew and Reese singled and both scored on a Holt triple.
Kansas City did not get a hit after the fifth inning.
WP: Woodson (1-1).
LP: Johnson (1-5).
S: Williams (5).
Notes: Herman Hill was again in center, with Tovar moving to second base in place of Rod Carew. Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea. Danny Thompson went to third in the eighth inning in place of Killebrew. Paul Ratliff and Renick were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.
Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .327. Killebrew was batting .313. Tovar was batting .303. Zepp had an ERA of 2.74. Williams had an ERA of 1.70.
Hill was 0-for-5 and was batting .143.
This was the second time Jim Kaat had pitched in relief and then started two days later as if nothing had happened. Neither time did it go well. In this game, he pitched four innings and allowed five runs on seven hits and a walk, striking out one. In the two starts combined, he had an ERA of 7.20 and a WHIP of 2.20. I'm sure Kaat was more than willing to take the ball both times, but the fact that someone is willing to do something does not necessarily mean it's a good idea to let them do it.
The Royals' starter was Don O'Riley. He pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs (three earned) on six hits and two walks and struck out none. This was his first major league start. He would start again on July 4, which would be his last major league start. For his career he pitched in 27 games, 18 in 1969 and 9 in 1970. He pitched 46.2 innings, pitching 23.1 in each of his two seasons. He was 1-1, 6.17, 1.76 WHIP. I suspect that makes him not unusual for a pitcher on an expansion team.
Record: The Twins were 45-25, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.