MINNESOTA 6, SEATTLE 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, April 30.
Batting stars: Tom Hall was 2-for-3 with a double and two runs. Rod Carew was 2-for-5 with a stolen base (his fourth--and his third steal of home), scoring twice and driving in two.
PItching star: Ron Perranoski pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Gus Gil was 2-for-4. Jim Bouton pitched two shutout innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.
The game: It was scoreless until the fourth, when Carew singled, took second on a ground out, and scored on a Harmon Killebrew double.
The Twins took control in the fifth. Leo Cardenas singled, Johnny Roseboro walked, and Hall singled to load the bases with none out. Ted Uhlaender delivered a two-run single to make it 3-0. A forceout-plus-error scored one and put Carew on second. Walks to Tony Oliva and Killebrew filled the bases. With Graig Nettles batting, the Twins pulled off a triple steal, with Carew stealing home, Oliva third, and Killebrew second, increasing the Twins lead to 5-0.
The Pilots got on the board in the sixth. Three two-out singles plated one run and a passed ball brought home another, making the score 5-2. In the bottom of the sixth, Hall doubled and Carew produced a two-out RBI single to make it 6-2.
Seattle wasn't done. They opened the seventh with three more singles, cutting the lead to 6-3 and chasing Hall from the game. Bob Miller came in to get one out and Ron Perranoski shut Seattle down the rest of the way, allowing just a sacrifice fly to ex-Twin Don Mincher. The Pilots got a leadoff single in the ninth to bring the tying run up to bat, but Tommy Harper hit into a double play.
WP: Hall (2-1). LP: Gene Brabender (0-2). S: Perranoski (3).
Notes: Carew was batting .413. Oliva was 0-for-2 with two walks and was batting .341. Roseboro was 0-for-3 with a walk and was also batting .341. Uhlaender was 1-for-5 with two RBIs and was batting .320. Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk, a double, and a stolen base and was batting .309. Cardenas was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .308.
Hall had allowed just two hits in 5.2 innings before singles got the best of him. All eight hits he allowed were singles. One wonders how many of those singles might have been outs today, with all the shifts going on.
Two ex-Twins played for Seattle in this game, Mincher and Rich Rollins.
The triple steal came off Pilots reliever Darrell Brandon. I remember Bouton writing about this in "Ball Four". As I recall the way Bouton told the story, Brandon was unsure whether he should go from the stretch or from the windup. Pitching coach Sal Maglie hollered from the dugout "Go from the windup. He's not going anywhere." Then, of course, Carew stole home, with Oliva and Killebrew also advancing. After the inning, Maglie went up to Brandon and said, "Darn it, you know you have to go from the stretch in that situation."
Record: The Twins were 13-7, in first place, 1.5 games ahead of Oakland.