Tag Archives: 1970 rewind

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-nine

MINNESOTA 12, DETROIT 4 IN DETROIT (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Saturday, August 1.

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 4-for-6 with a double, a walk, and two RBIs.  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with five RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Dick Woodson pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and two walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Don Wert was 2-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.  Al Kaline was 2-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and a walk.  Ike Brown was 2-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Mickey Lolich pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out five.

The game:  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the first but did not score.  Brown homered in the bottom of the first to put the Tigers on the board, but they also could not take advantage of a pair of one-out singles.  The Twins tied it in the second.  Rich Reese led off with a walk and one-out singles by Tom Tischinski and Kaat loaded the bases.  All the Twins could get, though, was a sacrifice fly, as they again stranded two men.

Detroit put two on in the third and again could not score.  In the fourth, Kaat drew a two-out walk, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Tovar single to put the Twins up 2-1.  The Twins added a run in the fifth when Brant Alyea hit a two-out double and scored on a Reese single.  The Twins again missed a chance for more, as they loaded the bases with two out, but the score stayed 3-1.

The Tigers tied it in the seventh.  Wert led off the inning with a home run.  With one out Jim Price walked, Cesar Gutierrez singled him to third, and a ground out brought home the tying run.  The Twins went back in front in the eighth when Tischinski reached on an error, went to third on a Charlie Manuel single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  Once again, however, the Twins loaded the bases with two out and could not make it pay.  It cost them, as Kaline homered in the bottom of the eighth to tie it 4-4.

The Twins finally broke through in the tenth.  With one out, Tovar singled and scored on a Thompson double.  Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked, but Tony Oliva delivered an RBI double and Rick Renick hit a two-run double, making the score 8-4.  Reese was intentionally walked, a ground out put men on second and third, and Paul Ratliff was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Bob Allison walked to force in a run, Tovar singled in two, and Thompson finished the scoring with an RBI single.  An eight-run tenth gave the Twins a 12-4 lead.  Detroit tried to rally in the bottom of the inning, loading the bases, but Norm Cash flied out to end the game.

WP:  Ron Perranoski (7-2).

LP:  Fred Scherman (3-3).

S:  Dick Woodson (1).

Notes:  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Tischinski was again behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in left field in the seventh.  Manuel pinch-hit for pitcher Stan Williams in the eighth.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Tischinski in the eighth, with Ratliff going behind the plate.  Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the ninth and went to left field.  Allison pinch-hit for Perranoski in the tenth.

Oliva was 1-for-6 and was batting .323.  Killebrew was 1-for-5 and was batting .306.  Tovar was batting .303.  Williams retired both men he faced and had an ERA of 1.57.  Perranoski gave up a run in two innings and had an ERA of 1.91.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .170.

The Twins stranded fifteen men, but were still 7-for-15 with men in scoring position.  The Tigers stranded eight and were 0-for-6 with men in scoring position.

The Twins received three intentional walks in the tenth inning.  I don't know what the record for intentional walks in an extra inning, or in any inning, is, but it seems like it can't be much more than three.  They received a total of ten walks in the game.

Record:  The Twins were 63-36, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of Oakland, who had moved into second place ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-eight

DETROIT 10, MINNESOTA 9 IN DETROIT

Date:  Friday, July 31.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventeenth.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-4.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-5.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-5.  Charlie Manuel was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit homer.  Bob Allison was 1-for-1 with a pinch-hit two-run homer.

Pitching star:  Tom Hall struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jim Northrup was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twentieth), two runs, and four RBIs.  Dick McAuliffe was 1-for-3 with two walks and two RBIs.

The game:  Cesar Gutierrez led off the third with a single, Mickey Stanley drew a two-out walk, and Northrup hit a three-run homer to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.  It stayed 3-0 until the sixth, when the Twins got six runs.  Thompson singled and Oliva homered to cut the lead to 3-2.  Harmon Killebrew then walked, Reese singled, Alyea hit a two-run single-plus-error, and Cardenas singled to give the Twins a 5-3 lead.  The next two batters went out, but singles by Cesar Tovar and Thompson produced another run, making it 6-3 Twins.

That lead lasted until the seventh, when Detroit got a touchdown of its own.  Don Wert singled and Russ Nagelson walked.  Elliot Maddox had an RBI double and McAuliffe delivered a two-run single to tie it 6-6.  Stanley and Northrup each singled to give the Tigers a 7-6 lead.  Al Kaline drew a walk to load the bases.  Bill Freehan was hit by a pitch to force in a run and Nagelson walked again to force home another run.  Detroit led 9-6 through seven.

The Twins came back again.  Manuel hit a pinch-hit homer in the eighth to cut the margin to 9-7.  In the ninth Oliva led off with a walk, but Killebrew lined into a double play.  Reese then singled, however, and Allison hit a two-run pinch-hit homer to tie it 9-9.

But it was all for naught.  Kaline led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk.  The next two batters grounded out, making two out with a man on second.  Wert was intentionally walked.  Pinch-hitter Ike Brown walked to load the bases, and Maddox walked to force in the deciding run.

WP:  Tom Timmerman (4-3).

LP:  Pete Hamm (0-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Tom Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt went to left field in the seventh in place of Alyea.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Tischinski in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff going behind the plate.  Manuel pinch-hit for Hall in the eighth.  Allison pinch-hit for Holt in the in the ninth and stayed in the game in left field.

Oliva was batting .326.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .307.  Tovar slipped under .300 at .299.  Bert Blyleven allowed five runs in six innings and had an ERA of 2.87.  Ron Perranoski allowed four runs without retiring anyone and had an ERA of 1.84.  Hall had an ERA of 2.75.

Allison raised his average to .173.  Hamm allowed one run in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 10.80.

Denny McLain started for Detroit.  He allowed four runs in five innings.

Russ Nagelson presumably tied a record by drawing two walks in an inning.  He drew those walks as a pinch-hitter, which puts into more select company.  I don't know how many guys walked twice in the same inning as a pinch-hitter--I'm sure there are some, but I doubt that it's all that common.

What a frustrating way to lose a game.  Not only do you force in two runs in the seventh with a bases-loaded hit batsman and a bases-loaded walk, but you force in the deciding run with a bases-loaded walk.  And not only that, but the Tigers did not get a hit in the bottom of the ninth--they scored on four walks.

Not that it excuses anything else, but I don't understand the intentional walk to Don Wert.  For his career, he batted .242/.314/.343.  At this point in 1970 he was batting .234/.315/.339.  Yes, it brought up the pitcher's spot, but Bill Rigney had to figure the Tigers would pinch-hit.  The pinch-hitter, Ike Brown, was batting .279/.392/.512.  They did not gain a platoon advantage with this--both Wert and Twins pitcher Hamm were right-handed, as was Brown.  It does not make much sense to me.

The Twins had lost three in a row and five out of seven.

Record:  The Twins were 62-36, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-seven

CLEVELAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Thursday, July 30.

Batting star:  Brant Alyea was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry struck out seven in seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk.  Tom Hall struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Roy Foster was 2-for-4.  Vada Pinson was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh.  Steve Hargan pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  There were no baserunners until the bottom of the third.  Eddie Leon and Larry Brown led off the inning with singles and an error brought home a run.  Foster singled home a run later in the inning and it was 2-0 Indians.

The Twins got their first baserunner in the fourth when Cesar Tovar reached on an error, but he was quickly erased by a double play.  Pinson homered in the seventh to make it 3-0, and Hargan still had a no-hitter going at that point.

Finally, with two out in the eighth, George Mitterwald singled for the Twins' first hit.  Leo Cardenas followed with a single, and a wild pitch moved runners to first and second.  Charlie Manuel drew a pinch-hit walk, loading the bases, and Alyea delivered a two-run pinch-hit single to cut the margin to 3-2.

But that was as good as it got.  Tovar grounded out to end the inning.  Harmon Killebrew drew a two-out walk in the ninth, putting the tying run on base, but Jim Holt popped up to end the game.

WP:  Hargan (5-2).

LP:  Perry (15-9).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left in place of Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew.  Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici and Alyea pinch-hit for Perry.  Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Manuel, and Danny Thompson then went to second base.  Dave Boswell pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth.  It would be Boswell's last appearance in a major league game in 1970, as he missed the rest of the season due to injury.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .324.  Perry was 0-for-2 and was batting .317.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .307.  Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .301.  Hall had an ERA of 2.79.

This was Hargan's sixth start of the season.  He started the season in the bullpen, made two starts, was injured, went back to AAA, and finally came back in mid-July.  This was his second consecutive complete game.  He would throw one more, then go 7.1 in his next start.  He would finish the season with four complete games in his last five starts.  So, out of nineteen starts, he had eight complete games.

Record:  The Twins were 62-35, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-six

CLEVELAND 9, MINNESOTA 8 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Wednesday, July 29.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixteenth) and four RBIs.  Rich Reese was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a home run, his thirty-second.

Pitching star:  Stan Williams struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit and one walk.

Opposition stars:  Dean Chance was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.  Graig Nettles was 1-for-3 with a home run (his sixteenth), a walk, and two runs.  Vada Pinson was 1-for-5 with a grand slam, his tenth homer.

The game:  Killebrew homered leading off the second to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  With one out in the bottom of the second, Larry Brown walked, Eddie Leon singled, and Chance delivered an RBI single.  With two out, Lou Klimchock walked to load the bases and Duke Sims walked to force in a run, putting the Indians up 2-1.

Cleveland appeared to take control of the game in the third.  Nettles led off the inning with a walk.  With one out walks to Brown and Leon filled the bases.  Chance then delivered another RBI single, followed by Pinson's grand slam.  The Indians led 7-1 after three.

The Twins got a couple of hits in the fourth, but did nothing with them.  Nettles homered in the fourth to make it 8-1.  In the fifth Leon walked, was bunted to second, and scored on Buddy Bradford's double, making it 9-1.

Then the Twins came back.  In the sixth Reese singled and Oliva homered to make it 9-3.  They wasted a one-out double in the seventh.  In the eighth, however, Cesar Tovar walked, Reese singled, and Oliva singled home a run.  A pickoff error brought home another run and it was 9-5.

Come the ninth.  Singles by Thompson, Brant Alyea, Charlie Manuel, and Tovar cut the lead to 9-7 and put the tying run on base with none out.  Reese bunted to move the tying run to scoring position.  Oliva hit a sacrifice fly to make it 9-8, but Rick Renick grounded out to end the game.

WP:  Chance (6-5).

LP:  Dave Boswell (3-7).

S:  Phil Hennigan (3).

Notes:  Jim Holt started in left in place of Alyea.  Thompson was at shortstop in place of Leo Cardenas.  Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew.

Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for the pitcher in the fifth.  Renick went to third in the sixth in place of Killebrew.  Manuel pinch-hit for the pitcher in the seventh.  He stayed in the game in left field, with Holt moving to center, Tovar moving to second, and Quilici coming out of the game.  Alyea pinch-hit for the pitcher in the ninth.

Oliva was batting .327.  Killebrew was batting .310.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .304.  Williams had an ERA of 1.58.

Manuel was 1-for-2 and was batting .182.  Boswell allowed five runs in 2.1 innings and had an ERA of 6.42.  Pete Hamm made his major league debut and allowed three runs in 1.2 innings, giving him an ERA of 16.20.

Killebrew was pulled in the sixth with the Twins down 9-3.  I have no problem with that move.  I suspect, though, that Bill Rigney regretted the move when Renick came up in the eighth with the score 9-5 and a man on second and struck out.  He probably regretted it further in the ninth, when Renick came up with the tying run on second and two out and grounded out to end the game.  Again, I don't mean to imply Rigney did anything wrong--he was trying to get the big guy off his feet in what was then a blowout game.  But that's baseball.

If you know anything about Dean Chance, you know he was a terrible batter.  His career line is .066/.113/.069.  He had sixteen RBIs in his career.  I haven't checked, but it wouldn't surprise me if this was the only two-hit game or two-RBI game in his career.  He had three hits and three RBIs in all of 1970.  But that's baseball.

There were several ex-Twins in this game.  Nettles and Chance, of course.  Also Ted Uhlaender, who was 0-for-4, and Fred Lasher, who allowed three runs in one inning of work.

Hamm was twenty-two when he made his major league debut.  He would make ten appearances for the Twins in 1970 and thirteen in 1971.  He didn't do well in the majors, but he had a very good year in AAA Portland, and at age twenty-three, one would've thought this was a promising young pitcher.  Instead, the Twins sold him to Chicago after the 1971 season and they sent him to AA.  He dominated the Eastern League, as you'd expect, but he never got promoted and his playing career was done after the 1972 season.  I've always thought there has to be some sort of story there, but I've never been able to find out what it is.

Record:  The Twins were 62-34, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-five

MINNESOTA 5, CLEVELAND 2 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Tuesday, July 28.

Batting stars:  Danny Thompson was 3-for-4 with a double.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer, his thirty-first.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk and striking out two.  Tom Hall struck out four in three perfect innings.

Opposition star:  Tony Horton was 2-for-4.

The game:  The Indians scored in the first, as Graig Nettles singled, Roy Foster walked, and Horton delivered an RBI single.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the third, but a force out and two popups kept them off the board.  In the fourth, however, Alyea homered to tie it 1-1.

It stayed 1-1 until the sixth.  With one out, Foster, Ray Fosse, and Horton all singled, loading the bases.  All Cleveland could get was a Buddy Bradford sacrifice fly, but it was enough to put the Indians up 2-1.

But in the bottom of the sixth the Twins went into the lead to stay.  Thompson led off with a single.  With two out Rick Renick hit an RBI double and Killebrew hit a two-run homer, putting the Twins up 4-2.  They added an insurance run in the eighth when Rich Reese singled, went to third on a Thompson double, and scored on a ground out.

Cleveland did not get a hit after the sixth inning.

WP:  Kaat (10-7).

LP:  Sam McDowell (15-5).

S:  Hall (2).

Notes:  The Twins won with a B lineup.  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Rick Renick was at third, with Killebrew moving to first and Reese on the bench.  Bob Allison was in right field, with Oliva moving to center and Cesar Tovar on the bench.  Danny Thompson was at shortstop, with Leo Cardenas on the bench.

Tovar pinch-hit for Kaat in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field.  Jim Holt went to right field and Reese went to first base in the seventh, with Killebrew moving to third and Allison and Renick coming out of the game.

Oliva was batting .323.  Killebrew was batting .310.  Tovar was 0-for-1 and was batting .304.  Hall had an ERA of 2.83.

Allison was 0-for-3 and was batting .157.

Alyea made his first start since July 18.  He had pinch-hit twice in that time.

Hall bounced back nicely from three sub-par outings.

McDowell pitched seven innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and two walks and striking out four.  It was his only loss to the Twins in 1970:  he went 3-1, 2.70 against them in four starts.  For his career against the Twins, he was 11-11, 3.70 in 38 games (30 starts).

In consecutive games, the Twins had faced Dave McNally, Jim Palmer, and Sudden Sam McDowell.

Ex-Twins in this game were Nettles and Rich Rollins.  Nettles was 1-for-3.  Rollins pinch-hit and was 0-for-1.

Record:  The Twins were 62-33, in first place in the American League West, seven games ahead of California.  The seven game lead was their largest to date.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-four

MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, July 27.

Batting stars:  Frank Quilici was 3-for-4.  Jim Holt was 2-for-3 with a home run, his second.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4 with a home run, his ninth.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a triple and two RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched three shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Dave Johnson was 2-for-4 with a double.  Don Buford was 1-for-4 with a home run, his thirteenth.  Moe Drabowsky struck out four in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Holt started the scoring with a home run in the second inning.  In the third Quilici singled and Blyleven reached on an error.  With one out Reese hit a two-run triple and Tony Oliva followed with an RBI double, giving the Twins a 4-0 lead.

The Orioles got on the board in the sixth when Buford homered.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Mitterwald homered.  The Twins left the bases full in that inning, and Baltimore got a run closer in the seventh when Brooks Robinson singled, was balked to second, and scored on Johnson's double.

But that was it.  The Orioles got only one hit after that, a single by Andy Etchebarren in the ninth.

WP:  Blyleven (5-3).

LP:  Jim Palmer (14-7).

S:  Perranoski (25).

Notes:  Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Quilici was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Danny Thompson replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the eighth.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .322.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .312.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .305.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.49.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.35.

Blyleven was given what, for that era, were quick hooks, usually pulled after about six innings.  While one would like to think that the Twins were interested in protecting a young arm, what I suspect is that Bill Rigney was simply reluctant to trust the young rookie and so would pull him at the first sign of trouble.

Palmer lasted just five innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on seven hits and three walks and striking out one.  It was a rare bad game for Palmer, who would win twenty games and finish fifth in Cy Young voting.  His game score of thirty-three was tied for his worst of the season.  He had trouble with the Twins in 1970, going 0-2, 4.66 in three starts.  For his career, he was much better:  21-12, 2.78 in 45 games (39 starts).

Quilici was 7-for-14 in his last four games, raising his average from .195 to .242.  That was the highest his average had been since the end of April, and would be the highest it would be the rest of the season.

The Twins ended their homestand 5-4.  They would not go on a six-game road trip to Cleveland and Detroit.

Record:  The Twins were 61-33, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-three

BALTIMORE 11, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, July 26.

Batting star:  Jim Perry was 1-for-1 with a home run and a walk.

Pitching star:  Perry pitched six innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and no walks and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Merv Rettenmund was 3-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base, his fifth.  Dave Johnson was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs.  Brooks Robinson was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs.  Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a grand slam (his twenty-fifth homer) and six RBIs.  Mark Belanger was 2-for-5 with two RBIs.  Elrod Hendricks was 2-for-5.  Dave McNally pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.

The game:  It was close for a while.  In fact, there was no score through four innings.  In the fifth, singles by McNally, Don Buford, and Rettenmund loaded the bases and Powell delivered a two-run single to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead.  Perry homered in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-1.  Baltimore got the run back in the sixth on singles by Hendricks, Johnson, and Belanger, increasing the lead to 3-1.

The Orioles put it away in the eighth.  Singles by Robinson and Johnson and a walk to McNally loaded the bases with two out.  Buford walked to force in a run.  Dick Woodson then came in to replace Tom Hall.  He walked Rettenmund, forcing in another run, and the Powell hit a grand slam, giving Baltimore a 9-1 lead.

The Orioles tacked on two more in the ninth when Robinson was hit by a pitch, Johnson walked, Belanger had an RBI single, and Buford hit a sacrifice fly.

WP:  McNally (13-7).

LP:  Perry (15-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rick Renick was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Bob Allison was used as a pinch-hitter for the pitcher.  Danny Thompson replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .322.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .314.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-3 and was batting .309.  Hall had an ERA of 2.96.

Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Dave Boswell retired the only man he faced and had an ERA of 5.97.

In his last three games (one of them a start), Hall had pitched 9.1 innings and allowed ten runs (nine earned) on nine hits and nine walks while striking out ten.  His ERA went from 2.03 to 2.96.

In his last five games, Steve Barber had pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs on eleven hits and five walks while striking out four.  His ERA went from 2.70 to 4.63.  After this game, he would not pitch for the Twins again until late September.

I don't remember ever doing a game recap before where the same player was the only batting star and the only pitching star.

Record:  The Twins were 60-33, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-two

BALTIMORE 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, July 25.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fifteenth) and two runs.  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched a scoreless inning, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Dave Johnson was 3-for-5 with a double.  Brooks Robinson was 3-for-5.  Boog Powell was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Don Buford was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his twelfth), a walk, and two runs.  Dick Hall pitched four innings, giving up one run on four hits and striking out one.

The game:  The Twins got off to a poor start.  In the top of the first Buford was hit by a pitch, went to second on a wild pitch, and scored on an error.  The error put Paul Blair on third base, and he scored on Powell's double to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead out of the gate.

The Twins did not get a baserunner until two out in the third, when starting pitcher Bill Zepp singled.  Baltimore loaded the bases in the fourth but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth, the Twins scored four runs to take the lead.  Rich Reese and Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with an RBI double.  With one out, George Mitterwald was intentionally walked to load the bases.  Leo Cardenas followed with a two-run single and Quilici had an RBi single, giving the Twins a 4-2 lead.

It lasted until the sixth.  Frank Robinson singled, Brooks Robinson reached on an error, and Elrod Hendricks singled to load the bases with none out.  Johnson singled in a run to make it 4-3, and with one out Terry Crowley delivered a pinch-hit single to tie it 4-4.  Baltimore took the lead in the eighth when Dick Hall singled and Buford hit a two-run homer.

The Twins got one back in the bottom of the eighth when Oliva led off with a home run.  Killebrew followed with a single, but did not get past first base (and oddly, was not pinch-run for).  Jim Holt singled in the ninth but was erased on a double play to end the game.

WP:  Dick Hall (8-3).

LP:  Tom Hall (5-4).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rick Renick was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Holt went to left in the ninth as part of a double switch, with Renick coming out of the game.  Alyea pinch-hit for Quilici in the ninth.

Oliva was batting .323.  Killebrew was batting .317.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .311.  Dick Woodson did not give up a run in a third of an inning and had an ERA of 2.25.  Tom Hall gave up two runs in 2.2 innings and had an ERA of 2.48.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.41.

Bill Zepp started for the Twins and pitched five innings, giving up four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out two.  Jim Hardin started for the Orioles and pitched 3.1 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.

The pitcher's spot came up for the Orioles with one out in the top of the eighth in a tie game.  The pitcher, Dick Hall, had already pitched two innings.  He was allowed to hit, and he got a single, eventually scoring the go-ahead run.

It's probably not that uncommon that the winning and losing pitcher had the same last name.  I wonder if it's ever happened before that the name was "Hall".  Not that Hall is that uncommon, but it's not Smith, either.

Record:  The Twins were 60-32, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety-one

2 Comments

MINNESOTA 8, BALTIMORE 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, July 24.

Batting stars:  Frank Quilici was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Rick Renick was 2-for-4 with a home run, his seventh.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a triple and a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a home run (his thirtieth), a walk, and two runs.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer (his fourteenth) and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game shutout, giving up seven hits and a walk and striking out five.

Opposition star:  Andy Etchebarren was 2-for-4.

The game:  Tovar led off the bottom of the first with a double and scored on a Reese single to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Renick led off the second with a homer to make it 2-0.

Neither team threatened again until the fifth, when Quilici singled, was bunted to second, and scored on a Tovar single.  Killebrew walked and Oliva followed with a three-run homer to make the score 6-0 Twins.  The Twins added two more in the seventh.  Killebrew led off with a home run.  Oliva reached on an error, Renick singled, and George Mitterwald singled to bring the score to 8-0.

Despite getting seven hits and a walk, the Orioles only once had a man in scoring position.  That was in the eighth, when Don Buford hit a one-out single and Paul Blair followed with a walk.  But the next two batters went out and it remained 8-0.

WP:  Kaat (9-7).

LP:  Mike Cuellar (13-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Renick was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Renick in the seventh and stayed in the game in left field.  Danny Thompson replaced Killebrew at third base in the eighth.

Oliva was batting .319.  Tovar was batting .316.  Killebrew was batting .315.

The Twins continued to have success against Cuellar.  He had pitched a complete game victory against them eight days earlier.  Other than that game, though, he had posted game scores of fifty-one and forty-five, and in this game his score was twenty-seven.  For the season against the Twins he was 2-2, 4.88, 1.41 WHIP.  Against the entire league, Cuellar was 24-8, 3.48, 1.15 WHIP.

This was the only shutout for Kaat in 1970.

The Twins scored more runs in this game than they had in their previous three.

Record:  The Twins were 60-31, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of California.  That's the biggest lead the Twins have had so far--they were also six games up on July 11.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Ninety

MINNESOTA 2, DETROIT 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 23.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 3-for-3 with a home run, his eighth.  Rich Reese was 3-for-4.

Pitching star:  Bert Blyleven pitched a complete game, giving up one run on four hits and three walks and striking out eight.

Opposition stars:  Jim Northrup was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighteenth.  Joe Niekro pitched six innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and no walks and striking out one.

The game:  In the second the Tigers got a pair of one-out walks and a two-out single, loading the bases, but did not score.  The Twins got a pair of one-out singles in the fifth but did not score.  So, it was 0-0 until the sixth, when Northrup homered with one out.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the sixth.  With one out Reese reached third on a single-plus-error and scored on a grounder to first.

Detroit again loaded the bases in the seventh but did not score.  Mitterwald led off the bottom of the eighth in a home run to put the Twins up 2-1.  The Tigers did not get a baserunner in the eighth or ninth, and the Twins' lead held up.

WP:  Blyleven (4-3).

LP:  Niekro (10-8).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh, with Danny Thompson going to second base.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .319.  Harmon Killebrew was 0-for-4 and was batting .315.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .314.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.44.

Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .195.

The Twins once again did not score much for Blyleven, but he managed to make two runs be enough.  The Tigers stranded eight men, six of them in two innings when they left the bases full.

Niekro had not yet become a knuckleball pitcher in 1970, relying mostly on fastballs and sliders at this point in his career.

The Twins had scored exactly two runs in each of their last three games, winning two of them 2-1.  They were now 3-2 on their nine-game homestand, with four against Baltimore coming up.

Record:  The Twins were 59-31, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.