MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 3 IN CALIFORNIA
Date: Saturday, September 5.
Batting stars: Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a double and two stolen bases, his twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth. Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a walk. Tony Oliva was 1-for-2 with a home run (his twentieth), three walks, and three RBIs.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk and striking out three. Stan Williams struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.
Opposition stars: Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4. Jim Spencer was 2-for-4. Andy Messersmith struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.
The game: Tovar led off the game with a double-plus-error, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead. In the third Tovar singled and Oliva hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.
The Angels came back in the bottom of the third. Joe Azcue led off with a single and was still on first base with two out. But then came singles by Jim Fregosi, Gonzalez, and Alex Johnson, plating two runs and cutting the lead to 3-2. In the fourth, Roger Repoz led off with a single-plus-error, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a Jay Johnstone single to tie the score 3-3.
The Twins took the lead back in the fifth. With one out Tovar singled, stole second, and scored on a Danny Thompson single to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.
The Twins' pitching took it from there. California never had more than one man on base and never advanced a man past second, giving the Twins the victory.
WP: Perry (21-11).
LP: Tom Murphy (13-11).
S: Williams (11).
Notes: Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew. Jim Holt went to center field in the sixth inning, with Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea coming out. Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Perry in the seventh and Steve Brye pinch-ran for Ratliff.
Oliva raised his average to .317. Perry had an ERA of 3.00. Williams had an ERA of 2.10.
Messersmith had been a starter most of the season, but was sent to the bullpen in early August after some less-than-stellar starts. He would make only one more appearance in 1970.
Tom Murphy started for the Angels. He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks and struck out none.
The Twins had now won the first two games in what was a series the Angels really needed to win. They would go for the sweep in the next game.
Record: The Twins were 80-55, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.