OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, August 9.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run, his thirty-fourth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his nineteenth and twentieth), three runs, and four RBIs.  Felipe Alou was 2-for-4.  Jim Roland pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins opened the first with two singles, but a strikeout and a double play ended the inning.  The Athletics started the scoring in the fourth.  With two out, Tommy Davis singled and stole second.  Sal Bando was intentionally walked, but the strategy backfired when Mincher hit a three-run homer.

The Twins came back.  Killebrew hit a two-out home run in the fourth to make it 3-1.  In the fifth, Leo Cardenas and George Mitterwald singled and Tovar delivered a two-out two-run triple to tie the score at 3-3.

But that was as good as it got for the Twins.  Mincher homered again in the seventh to give Oakland a 4-3 lead.  In the ninth Mincher drew a two-out walk, followed by an Alou single and a two-run single-plus-error by Frank Fernandez, giving the Athletics a 6-3 lead.

The Twins did try to comeback in the ninth.  Rick Renick hit a one-out double.  With two out, Mitterwald walked, bringing the tying run to the plate.  But Charlie Manuel grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Roland (2-2).

LP:  Jim Kaat (10-8).

S:  Mudcat Grant (19).

Notes:  Jim Holt was again in center field, with Tovar moving to left.  Danny Thompson was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the seventh and went to left field, with Tovar moving to center.  Brant Alyea pinch-hit for Kaat in the seventh.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the ninth.  Manuel pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .323.  Williams gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings and had an ERA of 1.75.

Kaat pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk and striking out five.  Oakland starter Blue Moon Odom pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out one.

As you can see, ex-Twins came back to haunt them in this game.  In addition to Mincher's two homers and Roland's 2.1 scoreless innings, Grant pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

While the Twins had only one .300 hitter at this point, they had three .290 hitters:  Killebrew (.297), Tovar (.297), and Thompson (.292).

Record:  The Twins were 69-40, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.