NEW YORK 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)
Date: Friday, August 28.
Batting star: Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.
Pitching star: Luis Tiant pitched seven innings, giving up one run on four hits and five walks and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Mike Kekich pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out seven. Jim Lyttle was 0-for-0 with three walks.
The game: There were no hits on either side until the third, when Horace Clark singled. He stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and score on Frank Baker's single to put the Yankees up 1-0.
The Twins got their first hit in the fifth, when Rich Reese singled. He went to second on a ground out and scored on a George Mitterwald single, tying the score at 1-1.
It stayed 1-1 through eight. Killebrew led off the ninth with a double. Tony Oliva was intentionally walked and the strategy worked, as the next three batters went out. In the bottom of the ninth Bobby Murcer reached on an error and was bunted to second. Danny Cater was intentionally walked. A ground out moved Murcer to third and he scored on a wild pitch to end the game.
WP: Kekich (4-3).
LP: Ron Perranoski (7-6).
S: None.
Notes: Oliva was again in center with Cesar Tovar in left and Brant Alyea in right. Jim Holt went to center in the seventh, with Oliva going to right and Alyea leaving the game. There's no obvious reason for the move. Alyea popped up to third in the top of the inning--he may have injured himself, or Bill Rigney may have decided to substitute for him because he wouldn't be batting again for a couple of innings.
Bob Allison pinch-hit for Tiant in the eighth. I'm not really questioning the move, but I can't help pointing out that Tiant was 1-for-2 in the game and was batting .419 for the season, while Allison was batting .200.
Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth and stayed in the game at second base. Danny Thompson, who was still at second base in place of Rod Carew, moved to third.
Tiant as stated above, was 1-for-2 and was batting .419. Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .320. Perranoski gave up an unearned run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.34.
In the two games of the doubleheader, the Twins scored one run and had just eight hits.
This was easily Kekich's best start of the season. He had a game score of seventy-seven. His next highest was sixty-three on September 12. This was his only complete game of the season and one of eight in his career.
The Twins had lost five of their last seven games.
Record: The Twins were 75-53, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of California. This was their smallest lead since June 29.