1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-one

MINNESOTA 4, MILWAUKEE 0 IN MILWAUKEE (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Tuesday, September 1.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his second.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-5 with a double.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his thirty-ninth.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry struck out nine in a complete game shutout, giving up five hits and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Roberto Pena was 2-for-3.  John Gelnar pitched two perfect innings.

The game:  With one out in the first, Thompson singled, Oliva doubled, and Killebrew hit a three-run homer to give the Twins a 3-0 lead.  Rich Reese led off the fourth with a double and scored on a Leo Cardenas single to make it 4-0.

And that was it.  Perry was in complete control.  The Brewers only twice got a man as far as second base:  in the first, when Dave May singled and went to second on an error, and in the sixth, when Russ Snyder hit a two-out double.

WP:  Perry (20-11).

LP:  Lew Krausse (12-15).

S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar remained in left, with Jim Holt in center and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Frank Quilici went to second in the seventh inning, with Thompson moving to third and Killebrew going to the bench.

Oliva raised his average to .317.  Perry had an ERA of 3.00.

August had been the Twins' worst month of the season.  It was the only month in which they had been below .500, at 14-18.  They got September off to a good start, though.

This was Perry's second-best game, by game scores, to date.  This was an 86--he'd had an 87 in August 6, when he gave up one run in eleven innings.  He would have one game in September that was better.

Record:  The Twins were 77-54, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.