MINNESOTA TWINS 2, CALIFORNIA ANGELS 1 IN CALIFORNIA
Date: Sunday, August 8, 1971.
Batting star: Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fourteenth) and two runs.
Pitching star: Bert Blyleven pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and striking out five.
Opposition star: Ken McMullen was 2-for-4 with a double. Tom Murphy pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks and striking out one.
The game: The Twins got on the board in the second inning, when Leo Cardenas hit a two-out single, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Jim Holt single. The Angels tied it in the fourth when Ken McMullen hit a two-out double and scored on a Jim Spencer single.
Steve Braun hit a leadoff double in the seventh but was stranded on second. Meanwhile, California was not getting anyone past first base. With two out in the ninth, Leo Cardenas hit a home run to give the Twins a 2-1 lead. California did not get a man on base after a Mickey Rivers one-out single in the sixth.
WP: Bert Blyleven (9-13).
LP: Tom Murphy (6-13).
S: None.
Notes: Phil Roof was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.
Tony Oliva was batting .370. He would finish at a league-leading .337. Cesar Tovar was batting .303. He would finish at .311.
This was one of seventeen complete games for Bert Blyleven in 1971. He had 242 in his career. This was one of seven complete games for Tom Murphy. He had twenty-two in his career. I wonder when the last time is that both pitchers pitched a complete game in the same game.
Tony Oliva won the last of his three batting titles in 1971.
I don’t remember Leo Cardenas as a home run hitter, and he wasn’t, really, but he hit eighteen in 1971 and hit twenty in 1969. He hit 118 home runs in his career. So while he wasn’t a home run hitter, he could go deep when the situation called for it.
Record: California was 54-62, in fourth place in the AL West, 18.5 games behind Oakland. They would finish 76-86, in fourth place, 25.5 games behind Oakland.
The Twins were 51-61, in fifth place in the AL West, 19.5 games behind Oakland. They would finish 74-86, in fifth place, 26.5 games behind Oakland.
Random Record: The Random Twins are 55-53 (.509).