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Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Nine

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OAKLAND 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, August 9.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run, his thirty-fourth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with two home runs (his nineteenth and twentieth), three runs, and four RBIs.  Felipe Alou was 2-for-4.  Jim Roland pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up a walk and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins opened the first with two singles, but a strikeout and a double play ended the inning.  The Athletics started the scoring in the fourth.  With two out, Tommy Davis singled and stole second.  Sal Bando was intentionally walked, but the strategy backfired when Mincher hit a three-run homer.

The Twins came back.  Killebrew hit a two-out home run in the fourth to make it 3-1.  In the fifth, Leo Cardenas and George Mitterwald singled and Tovar delivered a two-out two-run triple to tie the score at 3-3.

But that was as good as it got for the Twins.  Mincher homered again in the seventh to give Oakland a 4-3 lead.  In the ninth Mincher drew a two-out walk, followed by an Alou single and a two-run single-plus-error by Frank Fernandez, giving the Athletics a 6-3 lead.

The Twins did try to comeback in the ninth.  Rick Renick hit a one-out double.  With two out, Mitterwald walked, bringing the tying run to the plate.  But Charlie Manuel grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Roland (2-2).

LP:  Jim Kaat (10-8).

S:  Mudcat Grant (19).

Notes:  Jim Holt was again in center field, with Tovar moving to left.  Danny Thompson was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the seventh and went to left field, with Tovar moving to center.  Brant Alyea pinch-hit for Kaat in the seventh.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the ninth.  Manuel pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .323.  Williams gave up two runs (one earned) in two innings and had an ERA of 1.75.

Kaat pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on four hits and a walk and striking out five.  Oakland starter Blue Moon Odom pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out one.

As you can see, ex-Twins came back to haunt them in this game.  In addition to Mincher's two homers and Roland's 2.1 scoreless innings, Grant pitched 1.1 scoreless innings.

While the Twins had only one .300 hitter at this point, they had three .290 hitters:  Killebrew (.297), Tovar (.297), and Thompson (.292).

Record:  The Twins were 69-40, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Seven

Note:  I thought I had published this, but apparently I didn't.  Sorry about that.

MINNESOTA 3, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 8.

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 2-for-4.  Rich Reese was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer, his ninth.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched 6.2 innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks and striking out four.  Stan Williams pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Bert Campaneris was 2-for-4.  Sal Bando was 1-for-4 with a home run, his nineteenth.  Bob Locker pitched three perfect innings.  Mudcat Grant struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Bando hit a one-out homer in the second inning to give the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  A pair of walks followed, but Oakland did nothing further.  The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the second when Killebrew led off with a walk and Reese followed with a two-run homer.  The Twins added a run in the third when Tiant led off with a double, went to third on a Cesar Tovar single, and scored on a Thompson single.

And that was it.  The Athletics got two on in the fourth with an error and a walk.  They had two on with two out in the seventh on a single and a walk.  But those were the only times they got a man past first base, and the Twins took a 3-1 win.

WP:  Tiant (7-1).

LP:  Rollie Fingers (5-9).

S:  Williams (9).

Notes:  Thompson was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Tom Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Frank Quilici came in to play second base in the ninth inning, with Thompson moving to third and Killebrew going to the bench.

Tiant was 1-for-2 and was batting .423.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .329.  Tiant had an ERA of 2.86.  Williams had an ERA of 1.67.

Rollie Fingers started for Oakland and pitched just two innings, allowing three runs on five hits and a walk and striking out three.  Fingers had been in the starting rotation since late May, but would start only two more games in 1970 and only twelve more in his career.

Record:  The Twins were 69-38, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of California.  This was the Twins largest lead of the season to this point.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Eight

OAKLAND 3, MINNESOTA 0 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1)

Date:  Sunday, August 9.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a walk.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out seven in five shutout innings of relief, giving up only a walk.  Ron Perranoski struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Chuck Dobson pitched a complete game shutout, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out six.  Don Mincher was 3-for-4 with a double, a stolen base (his fourth) and two RBIs.

The game:  With two out in the first Tommy Davis singled and scored on Mincher's double.  Sal Bando followed with a single to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.  The Twins drew a pair of walks in the bottom of the first but did not score.  In the third, Bert Campaneris doubled and scored on Mincher's single to make it 3-0.

And that was it for the scoring.  The Twins did not get a hit until the fifth.  The first inning was the only time they had more than one man on base.  The only other time they got a man past first was in the ninth.  Killebrew led off with a single, and pinch-runner Frank Quilici got to third on a pair of ground outs.  But a third ground out ended the game.

WP:  Dobson (14-10).

LP:  Bert Blyleven (3-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was back in center, with Cesar Tovar moving to left.  Danny Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Blyleven in the third.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth.  Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .326.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.99.  Hall had an ERA of 2.49.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.19.

In their last four games, the Twins had scored seven runs and given up six.

Blyleven pitched just three innings, giving up three runs on five hits and no walks and striking out three.  It seems like a really quick hook.  The Twins did have a rested bullpen, though.

The Twins had only four hits, all singles.

Record:  The Twins were 69-40, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Six

MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jim Holt was 2-for-5 with a home run, his third.  Rich Reese was 1-for-1 with a home run (his eighth) and three walks.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched an eleven-inning complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Reggie Jackson was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Bert Campaneris was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixteenth.  Catfish Hunter pitched seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out one.  Mudcat Grant pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Campaneris led off the game with a home run, giving the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  Reese led off the second inning with a home run, tying the score 1-1.

And there was no more scoring until the eleventh.  The Twins got a one-out double from Oliva in the fourth, a leadoff double from George Mitterwald in the fifth, and started the sixth with a single and a walk.  Jackson hit a two-out double in the seventh.  The Athletics got a man to second in the eighth and in the ninth.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the tenth when Cesar Tovar walked, Danny Thompson reached on a sacrifice bunt/error, and Oliva was intentionally walked, but Harmon Killebrew hit into a 5-2-3 double play and Rick Renick grounded out.

Came the eleventh.  Oakland went down in order.  Holt led off the bottom of the inning with a home run and the Twins were victorious.

WP:  Perry (17-9).

LP:  Marcel Lachemann (2-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in center, with Tovar in left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Thompson was at shortstop, with Frank Quilici at second and Leo Cardenas on the bench.  Killebrew pinch-hit for Reese in the tenth and stayed in the game at first base.

Oliva was .329.  Perry was 1-for-4 and was batting .303.

I don't know when the last time is that someone pitched eleven innings in a game, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened in the last few years.

The Twins had played twenty-five innings in the last two games and used four pitchers.  There were a total of six runs scored in those innings, four by the Twins and two by the opposition.  Each game was decided by a walkoff home run.

It's not every game you have Catfish start and he gets replaced by Mudcat.

Record:  The Twins were 68-38, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Five

MINNESOTA 2, CALIFORNIA 1 IN MINNESOTA (14 INNINGS)

Date:  Thursday, August 6.

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 3-for-5 with a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-6.  George Mitterwald was 1-for-6 with a home run, his tenth.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp struck out nine in eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and three walks.  Tom Hall struck out four in four shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Bill Voss was 2-for-6 with a home run, his second.  Andy Messersmith pitched seven shutout innings, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out four.  Eddie Fisher struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins had two on with one out in the first but did not score.  That was the only time a team had two men on base until the seventh, when the Angels loaded the bases with one out.  A popup and a strikeout ended the inning.

There was no score until the eighth, when Voss homered to give California a 1-0 lead.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the eighth but missed a chance for more.  Charlie Manuel led off the inning with a pinch-hit walk and Tovar singled.  A bunt moved men to second and third and Tony Oliva was intentionally walked to bring up Harmon Killebrew.  Killebrew was then hit by a pitch to force home a run.  That was it, though, as a pair of strikeouts ended the inning.

The next threat came in the twelfth, when Tommie Reynolds doubled with one out.  Joe Azcue was intentionally walked and Chico Ruiz got an infield single, loading the bases.  But a pair of forceouts ended the inning with no scoring.  Each team missed a chance in the thirteenth.  The Angels had two on with two out and a ground out ended the inning.  The Twins also had two on with two out and a strikeout ended the inning.

The Twins finally put it away in the fourteenth.  Mitterwald led off with a home run and the Twins won 2-1.

WP:  Williams (7-0).

LP:  Paul Doyle (3-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was again in center field, with Tovar in left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Manuel pinch-hit for Zepp and Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Manuel.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt and stayed in the game in left field, with Tovar moving to center.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .328.  Killebrew was 0-for-4 and feel below .300 at .297.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.80.  Hall had an ERA of 2.65.  Williams had an ERA of 1.73.

This was the first time all season Killebrew had been below .300.  He would not get back above it the rest of the season.

The Twins went through fourteen innings with just three pitchers.  The Angels used five.

The fourteen inning game took just three hours, forty-seven minutes.

This was one of three home runs Bill Voss hit in 1970.  He hit nineteen for his career.  Ten of those home runs came in 1971 with Milwaukee.  He had a career high slugging percentage (.375) and OPS (.687) in 1971 and played only one more year after that.

The Twins were 3-2 on their current ten-game homestand.  The remaining five would all be with Oakland.

Record:  The Twins were 67-38, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of California and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Four

CALIFORNIA 7, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, August 5.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a double.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-5.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched six innings, giving up three runs on nine hits and one walk and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Jim Spencer was 3-for-4 with two home runs (his ninth and tenth) and four RBIs.  Tommie Reynolds was 3-for-4 with three runs.  Jarvis Tatum was 2-for-5 with a stolen base.  Mel Queen pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out two.

The game:  The Angels had two men on in each of the first two innings but did not score.  In the bottom of the second Rich Reese walked and scored when Jim Holt reached third on a single-plus-error.  A ground out scored Holt.  Mitterwald then doubled and scored on a Kaat single.  Kaat went to second on a ground out and scored on a Thompson single to make it 4-0 Twins.

The Angels got on the board in the fourth when Reynolds singled, went to third on Spencer's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  In the sixth Reynolds singled and Spencer followed with a two-run homer, cutting the lead to 4-3.

The Twins got an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth when Reese singled and scored on a Mitterwald triple.  It wasn't enough.  Ray Oyler led off the eighth with a single and Ken McMullen walked.  A double play gave the Twins hope of getting out of the jam, but Reynolds hit an RBI single and Spencer followed with another two-run homer, putting California up 6-5.  They added a run in the ninth when Sandy Alomar walked, went to third on Tatum's single, and scored on a squeeze bunt.

The Twins tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth.  With one out Rick Renick and Cesar Tovar had consecutive singles, bringing the deciding run up to bat.  But Thompson and Oliva flied out and the game was over.

WP:  Queen (2-3).

LP:  Ron Perranoski (7-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in center field, with Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Kaat in the seventh.  Renick came in to play left in the ninth as part of a double switch, with Tovar moving to center and Holt coming out of the game.

Oliva was batting .329.  Killebrew was 0-for-4 and was batting .301.  Tovar was 1-for-5 and slipped back below .300 at .299.  Tom Hall gave up a run in one inning and had an ERA of 2.80.  Perranoski gave up three runs in 1.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.20.  Stan Williams retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 1.77.

Angels starter Tom Murphy lasted just 1.2 innings, allowing four runs on five hits and a walk and striking out none.

I find it odd that Bill Rigney would suddenly decide to put Holt in center and Tovar in left after having done it the opposite way all season.  He presumably had a reason, but I have no idea what it might have been.

Record:  The Twins were 66-38, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Three

MINNESOTA 5, MILWAUKEE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, August 4.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven struck out twelve in a complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Tommy Harper was 2-for-4.  Bob Humphreys struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  It was scoreless until the third, when singles by Ted Kubiak, Harper, and Russ Snyder put the Brewers ahead 1-0.  The Twins took the lead in the fourth.  Back-to-back one-out doubles by Harmon Killebrew and Reese brought home the first run.  With two out, Leo Cardenas doubled and Blyleven contributed an RBI single to give the Twins a 3-1 advantage.

The Twins added two more in the fifth.  With one out, Oliva singled and Killebrew was hit by a pitch.  Reese singled home a run, leaving men on first and third, and a sacrifice fly made the score 5-1.

Blyleven took it from there.  He gave up a run in the seventh when Dave May singled and scored on a Roberto Pena double, but Milwaukee did not get the tying run up to bat in that or any other inning as the Twins won 5-2.

WP:  Blyleven (6-3).

LP:  Bobby Bolin (3-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in center in place of Cesar Tovar.  Danny Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Charlie Manuel made a rare start in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Tovar went to left in the seventh, replacing Manuel.  Frank Quilici went to second in the ninth, with Thompson moving to third and Killebrew coming out of the game.

Oliva was batting .328.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .304.  Tovar was 1-for-1 and was back up to .300.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.78.

This was the third complete game for Blyleven.  He would have five for the season.

This was only the second time Tovar did not start, and each time he came in for defense late in the game.  He would not get a full game off until late September.

Bolin pitched 4.1 innings, allowing five runs on eight hits and a walk and striking out none.  He did not have a good season in 1970, but he struggled with the Twins more than most:  0-3, 5.91, 1.69 WHIP.  For the season he was 7-11, 4.63, 1.46 WHIP.

Record:  The Twins were 66-37, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of California and Oakland.  This was the largest lead the Twins had up to this point in the season.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Two

MILWAUKEE 4, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 2-for-4.  Jim Holt was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched five innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks and striking out two.  Pete Hamm pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Bob Burda was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his third) and a walk.  Lew Krausse pitched 8.2 innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out four.

The game:  With two out in the first Mike Hegan and Burda walked and Dave May delivered an RBI single, putting the Brewers up 1-0.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the third but did not score.  Milwaukee got a pair of leadoff singles in the fifth but did not score.  So, it was still 1-0 going to the sixth.

With one out in the sixth Hegan walked and Burda followed with a two-run homer, making it 3-0.  Neither team threatened again until the ninth, when Roberto Pena and future Twin Phil Roof hit one-out singles and Krausse delivered a two-out single, increasing the Brewers' lead to 4-0.

The Twins finally got something going in the ninth.  Danny Thompson led off with a single and Tony Oliva bunted him to second (presumably bunting for a hit).  Harmon Killebrew doubled home the first Twins run.  After a ground out, Holt singled home Killebrew (who was not pinch-run for) to make the score 4-2.  But that was all there was, as Leo Cardenas grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Krausse (11-11).

LP:  Tiant (6-1).

S:  Ken Sanders (3).

Notes:  Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Holt was again in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Alyea pinch-hit for Stan Williams in the sixth.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff going behind the plate.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Hamm in the eighth.

Tiant was 0-for-1 and was batting  .417  Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .326.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and slipped below .300 at .298.  Williams allowed two runs in one inning and had an ERA of 1.79.

Hamm lowered his ERA to 6.75.

Thompson now had six multi-hit games in his last seven starts.  He was 16-for-32 in those seven starts and raised his average from .200 to ,290,

This was Tiant's first appearance since May 28.  He would remain in the Twins' rotation through the month of August.

Bob Burda had thirteen home runs in his career, one of them obviously in this game.  A first baseman/right fielder, he was traded to Milwaukee in early June and got the only semi-regular playing time of his career.  He wasn't up to it, batting .248/.303/.342 with four home runs in 222 at-bats.  He had a very good year as a pinch-hitter for St. Louis in 1971, batting .296 in 71 at-bats.  Traded to the Red Sox for 1972, he could not repeat his success and was out of baseball after that year.

Record:  The Twins were 65-37, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred One

MINNESOTA 2, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Monday, August 3.

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 3-for-4 with a double.  Rich Reese was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and no walks and striking out six.  Tom Hall struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jerry McNertney was 2-for-3.  Marty Pattin pitched an eight inning complete game, giving up two runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out five.

The game:  There was no score until the fifth, when Roberto Pena singled, stole second, and scored on McNertney's single.  The Twins tied it in the sixth when Thompson hit a one-out single, Harmon Killebrew drew a two-out walk, and Reese followed with an RBI double.

The Twins wasted George Mitterwald's leadoff double in the seventh.  In the eighth, however, Thompson led off with a double and scored on a Reese two-out RBI single to give the Twins their first lead of the game.  Hall came in to retire the Brewers in the ninth and preserve the victory.

WP:  Perry (16-9).

LP:  Pattin (7-9).

S:  Hall (3).

Notes:  Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the seventh, with Tom Tischinski going in to catch in the eighth.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .326.  Perry was 0-for-2 and was batting .306.  Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was batting .304.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .301.  Hall had an ERA of 2.71.

Without going back through the box scores, I couldn't find out how many times Kaat was used as a pinch-runner.  It was more than a few times, however.

It's interesting that Bill Rigney went with Hall to close out a 2-1 game.  First, it's surprising to me that Perry didn't finish the game--he had given up just a single in the seventh and had retired the side in order in the eighth.  Having decided to go to the pen, the choice of Hall was probably influenced by the fact that Ron Perranoski and Stan Williams had each pitched in three consecutive games.  It certainly worked out.

Pattin threw eleven complete games in 1970.  That was only good for tenth in the league.  Mike Cuellar led the league with twenty-one.

Thompson had six multi-hit games in his last seven starts.  He went 14-for-27 in those starts and raised his average from .200 to .282.

Record:  The Twins were 65-36, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California, which had regained second place from Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred

MINNESOTA 4, DETROIT 3 IN DETROIT

Date:  Sunday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eighteenth), two runs, and two RBIs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his thirty-third) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched 8.1 innings, giving up three runs (one earned) on six hits and four walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Bill Freehan was 2-for-4.  Daryl Patterson struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up one hit and two walks.

The game:  Oliva homered in the first inning to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Tigers tied it in the second when Norm Cash walked, went to second on Bill Freehan's single, and scored on a double by Don Wert.  The Twins went back in front in the fourth when Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a two-run homer.  They added a run in the fifth on singles by Zepp, Tovar, and Oliva, making the score 4-1.

It stayed 4-1 until the ninth.  Cash led off the inning with a single and Wert drew a one-out walk, bringing the tying run to the plate.  Ron Perranoski came in and retired Elliot Maddox on a line out, but Ike Brown singled to load the bases and an error brought home two runs.  It was 4-3 with men on first and third and two out.  Stan Williams then came in to retire Mickey Stanley on a line out to end the game.

WP:  Zepp (6-1).

LP:  Joe Niekro (10-9).

S:  Williams (8).

Notes:  Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Charlie Manuel was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Manuel in the sixth and stayed in the game in left field.

Oliva was batting .327.  Killebrew was batting .306.  Tovar was batting .304.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.96.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.90.  Williams had an ERA of 1.56.

Niekro gave up four runs in 4.1 innings, allowing eight hits and no walks and striking out one.

Manuel was with the Twins for all but a month of the 1970 season, but started only six games.  This was the second of those six, and as you can see above, he played barely over half the game.  In his month in AAA, when he actually got to play, he batted .329 with an OPS of 1.027.  I understand that he probably wasn't a very good defender, but this was a team that was playing Brant Alyea, Holt, and Rick Renick in left field.  There should've been more than six starts for Manuel.

This was the longest start of Zepp's career to date.  He would make only one longer, a shutout of the White Sox on September 11.

The Twins finished their road trip 3-3.  They would now come home for ten games against Milwaukee, California, and Oakland.

Record:  The Twins were 64-36, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of California and Oakland.