BOSTON 8, MINNESOTA 1 IN BOSTON
Date: Friday, August 14.
Batting stars: Brant Alyea was 2-for-4 with a home run, his ninth. Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his twenty-second.
Pitching star: Bill Zepp pitched six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and five walks and striking out three.
Opposition stars: Mike Andrews was 3-for-4 with a double, a walk, and three runs. Carl Yastrzemski was 2-for-2 with a home run (his thirty-second), three walks, and three RBIs. Rico Petrocelli was 2-for-3 with a home run (his nineteenth), two walks, and two runs. Reggie Smith was 2-for-4 with two doubles, a walk, and two RBIs. Jerry Moses was 2-for-4. Ray Culp pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and three walks and striking out eight.
The game: The Twins had two on with one out in the first but did not score. In the bottom of the first Andrews led off with a walk and Smith doubled him home to get the Red Sox on the board. The Twins had two on with none out in the second but did not score. In the bottom of the second two-out singles by Moses, Culp, and Andrews made it 2-0 Boston.
Alyea homered leading off the fourth to make it 2-1. The Twins had two on with two out in the fifth but did not score. Petrocelli got the run back for the Red Sox with a homer leading off the sixth.
The Twins loaded the bases in the seventh but did not score. In the bottom of the seventh, Boston took control of the game. Andrews singled and Yastrzemski hit a two-run homer to make the score 5-1. Later in the inning, a walk and two errors made it 6-1. The Red Sox added two more in the eighth on back-to-back doubles by Andrews and Smith and an RBI single by Yastrzemski.
WP: Culp (13-10).
LP: Zepp (6-2).
S: None.
Notes: Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew. Tom Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Tovar was back in center, with Alyea in left.
Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh. Jim Kaat then pinch-ran for Manuel. Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Tischinski in the eighth and stayed in the game at catcher. Rick Renick pinch-hit for Pete Hamm in the ninth.
Tony Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .316. Zepp had an ERA of 2.97. Tom Hall allowed five runs (four earned) in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.78.
This was the Twins' seventh consecutive loss, and their offensive drought continued. They had scored just twelve runs in the seven losses, being outscored 32-12. In their last ten games, the Twins had scored just nineteen runs.
Record: The Twins were 69-45, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of Oakland. This was the smallest the Twins' lead had been since July 21.