MINNESOTA TWINS 13, DETROIT TIGERS 6 IN DETROIT

Date:  Friday, June 15, 1973.

Batting stars:  Bobby Darwin was 4-for-5 with two home runs (his ninth and tenth) and seven RBIs.  Jerry Terrell was 3-for-5.  Larry Hisle was 3-for-6 with a double and two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, two runs, and four RBIs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with a walk and two runs.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched 6.2 innings of relief, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars: Willie Horton was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eighth) and two RBIs.  Norm Cash was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Aurelio Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with a home run, his fifth.  Dick McAuliffe hit a two-run homer, his third.

The game:  The Twins’ first five batters reached base.  Rod Carew and Larry Hisle singled and Tony Oliva walked to load the bases.  Harmon Killebrew hit a two-run single and Bobby Darwin had an RBI single.  That chased Detroit starter Jim Perry from the game.  The Twins would get another run on an RBI ground out to take a 4-0 lead.

The Twins missed a chance to expand the lead in the second, when they got two singles and a double but failed to score because they lost two men on the bases.  It looked like it would hurt them, as Willie Horton led off the bottom of the second with a home run, Norm Cash singled, and Dick McAuliffe hit a one-out two-run homer to cut the lead to 4-3.

The Twins came back in the third, when Harmon Killebrew walked and Bobby Darwin hit a two-run homer to make it 6-3.  Detroit got one back in the bottom of the third on singles by Mickey Stanley, Al Kaline, and Willie Horton to cut the lead to 6-4.

The Twins once again expanded their lead in the fourth.  Rod Carew walked with one out and Larry Hisle followed with a single.  Harmon Killebrew walked to load the bases with two out and Bobby Darwin delivered a two-run single to make it 8-4.  The Tigers again got one back when Aurelio Rodriguez homered with two out in the bottom of the fourth, making the score 8-5.

Nobody scored in the fifth, but in the sixth, Tony Oliva singled with one out and Bobby Darwin hit a two-out two-run homer to make the score 10-5.  The Twins got a couple more in the seventh.  George Mitterwald reached on an error and Jerry Terrell singled.  With two out, Tony Oliva hit an RBI single and Harmon Killebrew had a two-run double to make the lead 13-5.

Detroit got one in the eighth when Willie Horton singled and scored on a Norm Cash double, but that was it.  The Twins won, 13-6.

WP:  Jim Kaat (7-4).

LP:  Jim Perry (7-5).

S:  None.

Notes:  Harmon Killebrew was at first base.  He was injured much of 1973, so that Joe Lis was the regular first baseman.  Jerry Terrell was at short.  Danny Thompson played the most games there, with 95 to Terrell’s 81.

Rod Carew was batting .340.  He would finish at a league-leading .350.

Jim Perry had pitched for the Twins from 1963-1972.  He was traded to Detroit shortly before the 1973 season start for Dan Fife, the father of college basketball coach Dane Fife.

Jim Kaat had started on June 11, but pitched only 3.2 innings.  He would start again on June 19.  He was thirty-four years old and was having a poor year, so the Twins, thinking he was about done, waived him on August 15.  He was claimed by the White Sox, but would only pitch for another ten seasons.

By game scores, this was not Jim Perry’s worst game of the season.  On July 20 he gave up six runs in a third of an inning.  Despite that, he went 14-13 for the season with a 4.03 ERA.  He had some games where he was really bad, but he also had seven complete games and one shutout.

Aurelio Rodriguez has all the vowels in his first name.

Record:  Detroit was 30-48, in fourth place in the AL East, one game behind Milwaukee.  They would finish 85-77, in third place, twelve games behind Baltimore.

The Twins were 31-25, in second place in the AL West, 1.5 games behind Chicago.  They would finish 81-81, in third place, thirteen games behind Oakland.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 51-51 (.500).

MINNESOTA TWINS 2, BALTIMORE ORIOLES 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, July 11, 1987.

Batting stars:  Randy Bush hit a home run, his sixth.  Gary Gaetti hit a home run, his sixteenth.

Pitching star:  Frank Viola pitched a complete game, giving up one run on eight hits and two walks and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Dave Van Gorder was 2-for-2 with a walk.  Ron Washington was 2-for-4.  Alan Wiggins was 2-for-4.  Mike Griffin pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.

The game:  With one out in the third Dave Van Gorder walked, Alan Wiggins singled, and Ron Washington delivered an RBI single to give Baltimore a 1-0 lead.  The Twins came right back in the fourth, as Randy Bush led off with a homer to tie it 1-1.

Each team had men on first and third with one out in the fifth, but did not score.  With one out in the sixth, Gary Gaetti homered to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

And that’s where it stayed.  The Twins loaded the bases with two out in the seventh but did not score.  The Orioles got a single in each of the last three innings, and moved a runner to third base with two out in the ninth, but a ground out ended the game.

WP:  Frank Viola (8-6).

LP:  Mike Griffin (1-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Al Newman was at shortstop in place of Greg Gagne.  Tom Brunansky, normally in right, was in left in place of Dan Gladden.  Mark Davidson was in center in place of Kirby Puckett.  Randy Bush was in Brunansky’s spot in right.

Roy Smalley was batting .314.  He would finish at .275.

Frank Viola had an ERA of 2.96.  He would finish at 2.90.

Ron Washington had played for the Twins from 1981-1986,

The only substitute in the game was Mike Young, who pinch-hit for Ken Gerhart with two out in the ninth.

Baltimore was 1-for-8 with men in scoring position.  The Twins were 0-for-4 with men in scoring position.

This was the only complete game of Mike Griffin’s career.  He made 24 starts and 43 relief appearances in parts of six seasons.

This was the last major league game for Dave Van Gorder.  At least he got to go out on a high note.

In the “things that would never happen today” file, it’s rare that anyone pitches a complete game at all.  But to do it when the score is 2-1, and to be allowed to stay in the game after giving up a leadoff single in the ninth, and to be allowed to stay in when the tying run moves to third, would simply not happen today.

Record:  Baltimore was 34-53, in sixth place in the AL East, 19.5 games behind New York.  They would finish 67-95, in sixth place, thirty-one games behind Detroit.

The Twins were 49-39, in first place in the AL West, two games ahead of Kansas City and Oakland.  They would finish 85-77, in first place, two games ahead of Kansas City.

Random Record:  The Random Twins are 50-51 (.495).