MILWAUKEE 8, MINNESOTA 3 IN MILWAUKEE
Date: Thursday, September 3.
Batting stars: Cesar Tovar was 3-for-4 with a triple. Brant Alyea was 1-for-1 with a two-run homer, his twelfth.
Pitching stars: None.
Opposition stars: Roberto Pena was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his third), a double, and two runs. Mike Hegan was 2-for-2 with a double, a stolen base (his eighth), two walks, and three runs. Dave May was 2-for-4. Phil Roof was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer (his tenth) and two walks.
The game: The Brewers started the scoring in the second. With one out, Hegan singled, Pena doubled, and Roof walked, loading the bases. All they could get out of it was one run, on a Ted Kubiak single, but it gave Milwaukee a 1-0 lead.
The Brewers took control of the game in the fifth. Tommy Harper led off with a walk and was bunted to second. May singled him home and took second on the throw to the plate. Following a ground out Hegan was intentionally walked, Pena hit an RBI single, and Roof hit a three-run homer, putting Milwaukee up 6-0.
The Twins did try to come back. In the sixth Tovar tripled and scored on a ground out to get them on the board. In the seventh, Rich Reese hit a one-out single and, with two out, Alyea hit a pinch-hit two-run homer to cut the lead to 6-3.
But that was as good as it got. In the bottom of the seventh Hegan hit a two-out double and Pena followed with a two-run homer, making it 8-3. The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the eighth, but that was it.
WP: Marty Pattin (11-11).
LP: Bill Zepp (7-4).
S: Ken Sanders (7).
Notes: Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew. Steve Brye was in left field in place of Alyea. Jim Holt went to center in fifth as part of a double switch, with Tovar moving to left and Brye coming out of the game. Alyea pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the seventh. Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Jim Kaat in the ninth.
Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .311. Williams gave up one run in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.16.
It was the major league debut for Brye. He'd batted .308 with an OPS of .849 in AA Charlotte. He was, of course, a September call-up. He was often mixed up with Steve Braun, who was with the Twins for most of the time Brye was.
Oliva was in a 2-for-26 slump over his last seven games. His average fell from .323 to .311.
Zepp started for the Twins and pitched 4.2 innings, giving up five runs on five hits and five walks and striking out two.
Following three sub-par starts, the last of which was August 28, Kaat was sent to the bullpen. He would both start and relieve the rest of the season. Here, he pitched two innings, giving up two runs on three hits and a walk and striking out two.
Marty Pattin was one of the stars of "Ball Four", pitching in the Seattle Pilots rotation for most of the 1969 season. He wasn't very good then, but he a solid rotation starter from 1970-1973 for Milwaukee and Boston. He both started and relieved the rest of his career, a career that lasted until 1980. He was 114-109 for his career, with a 3.62 ERA and a 1.44 WHIP. He made one all-star team, with the Brewers in 1971. He appeared in 475 games, starting 224 of them, and pitched 2038.2 innings. He clearly isn't worth of the Hall of Fame or anything, but for most of his thirteen year career he was a guy you were happy to have on your team.
Record: The Twins were 78-55, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California.