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.