Tag Archives: big series

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-two

MINNESOTA 7, OAKLAND 2 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Thursday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs.  Frank Quilci was 2-for-4.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twenty-second) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched seven innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and no walks and striking out five.  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.  Sal Bando was 2-for-4.

The game:  Oliva homered with two out in the first to give the Twins an early 1-0 lead.  In the second Rich Reese and Paul Ratliff were each hit by a pitch (not the same pitch, of course) and Kaat delivered an RBI single to make it 2-0 Twins.  The Athletics got on the board in the third when Blue Moon Odom singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Rudi's single.

Oakland had two on with one out in the fourth but did not score.  The Twins broke it open in the fifth.  Cesar Tovar led off with a walk, was bunted to second, and went to third on a wild pitch.  He was still on third with two out, but walks to Harmon Killebrew and Reese loaded the bases.  Another wild pitch brought home a run, Alyea delivered a two-run single and went to second on the throw to the plate, and Ratliff added an RBi single, giving the Twins a 6-1 lead.

The Athletics got one run in the seventh on singles by Dick Green, Bert Campaneris, and Rudi.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the seventh when Tovar tripled and scored on a Cotton Nash ground out.  That made the score 7-2, and that's how it ended.

WP:  Kaat (12-10).

LP:  Odom (8-6).

S:  Williams (13).

Notes:  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt went to center field in the sixth inning, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out of the game.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the seventh, with Herman Hill going to center field in the eighth.  Cotton Nash pinch-hit for Ratliff in the seventh, with Mitterwald going behind the plate in the eighth.  Danny Thompson went to third base in the eighth, with Killebrew coming out of the game.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .318.  Alyea was batting .305.  Williams had an ERA of 2.05.

Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .100.  Nash was 0-for-1 and was batting .000.  It was the first appearance in the majors for Nash in 1970.  He had appeared in three games in 1967 and six in 1969.

The Twins swept the series between the first and second place teams.  They had won eight of nine and ten of twelve.  This series essentially wrapped up the division for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 86-56, in first place in the American League West, 8.5 games ahead of Oakland.  Their magic number was twelve.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-one

MINNESOTA 6, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Thursday, September 10.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a double, a stolen base (his twenty-ninth), and three runs.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-2 with a walk and a stolen base, his third.  Charlie Manuel was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Tom Hall struck out eleven in a complete game, giving up one run on seven hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 3-for-4 with a double.  Bob Locker pitched three innings, giving up an unearned run on two hits and two walks and striking out one.

The game:  Each team put two on with one out in the first and did not score.  In the third Tovar led off with a single, stole second, was bunted to third, and scored on a Tony Oliva double.  Harmon Killebrew walked, a force out put men on first and third, Alyea delivered an RBI single, George Mitterwald walked to load the bases, and Manuel delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to give the Twins a 4-0 lead.

The Athletics got one back in the fourth when Sal Bando doubled and scored on a two-out single by Dick Green.  But there the score stayed until the sixth, when Tovar doubled and scored on an error.  The Twins scored one more in the eighth when Tovar singled and scored on a Leo Cardenas double.  Oakland only once got a man as far as second base after the fourth inning.

WP:  Hall (8-6).

LP:  Catfish Hunter (16-13).

S:  None.

Notes:  Frank Quilici started at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici in the third inning, with Danny Thompson taking over at second base.  Jim Holt went to center field in the seventh, with Tovar moving to left and Alyea coming out of the game.

Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .318.  Alyea raised his average to .300 for the first time since May 17.  Hall had an ERA of 2.53.

This has been referenced, but I just want to point out the move of Bill Rigney in the third inning.  With the Twins lead 2-0 and the bases loaded, Manuel was sent up to pinch-hit for Quilici.  You  would not expect a pinch-hitter for the eighth-place batter that early in the game.  I suspect Rigney sensed a chance to put the game away early and decided to go for it.  It worked, as Manuel delivered a two-run single to put the Twins up 4-0.

This was Hall's only complete game in eleven starts in 1970.  He'd had five in 1969.  He would have only one more in his career, with Cincinnati in 1972.  But then, he would make only thirty-four more starts after 1970, and never more than eleven in a season.  He spent most of the rest of his career in the bullpen.

The Twins had won seven of eight and nine of eleven.

Hunter lasted just 2.2 innings, allowing four runs on four hits and four walks and striking out two.

In the matchup between the first and second place teams, and in a series Oakland desperately needed to win to stay in the race, the Twins had taken the first two games.  The Athletics would try to salvage at least one game of the series in game two of the doubleheader.

Record:  The Twins were 85-56, in first place in the American League West, 7.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty

MINNESOTA 3, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, September 9.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Brant Alyea was 2-for-3 with a double.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up one run on five hits and four walks and striking out five.  Stan Williams struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Don Mincher was 2-for-3 with a home run, his twenty-sixth.  Chuck Dobson pitched 7.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  Mincher homered with two out in the fourth to open the scoring.  It stayed 1-0 through six innings, with the Twins getting just three singles in those first six innings.

The Twins finally got it going in the seventh.  Killebrew led off with a double and scored when Alyea hit a one-out double.  George Mitterwald walked, a force out put men on first and third, and Perry delivered an RBI single to put the Twins ahead 2-1.

The Athletics had men on second and third with one out in the eighth, but a strikeout and a fly out ended the inning.  The Twins got an insurance run in the bottom of the eighth when Oliva doubled and scored on a Rich Reese single.

Sal Bando doubled with one out in the ninth, bringing the tying run to the plate.  But Reggie Jackson and Gene Tenace each struck out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (22-10).

LP:  Dobson (15-13).

S:  Williams (12).

Notes:  Frank Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici in the seventh.  Danny Thompson then pinch-ran for Manuel and stayed in the game at second base.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the seventh and stayed in the game at center field, with Cesar Tovar moving to left.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the eighth.  Herman Hill then pinch-ran for Renick and stayed in the game in center field.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .318.  Perry had an ERA of 2.93.  Williams had an ERA of 2.11.

Oakland started the series five and a half games behind.  Realistically, they had to sweep the series to have much chance.  Obviously, they failed to do that, and could only hope to win two out of three now.

The Twins had won six out of seven and eight out of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 84-56, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-six

MINNESOTA 3, CALIFORNIA 1 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Sunday, September 6.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  George Mitterwald was 2-for-3 with a double.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a home run (his tenth), a double, and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall pitched eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and one walk and striking out six.  Ron Perranoski pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition star:  Clyde Wright pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out six.

The game:  Neither team had a baserunner for the first two innings.  That changed in the third when Rich Reese walked and Tovar hit a two-out two-run homer to make it 2-0 Twins.

The Angels got their first hit in the third, when Joe Azcue singled.  They had their first threat in the fourth when, with one out, Jim Fregosi singled and Alex Johnson doubled, sending Fregosi to third.  But Ken McMullen fanned and Tommie Reynolds bounced back to the pitcher.  It would be their only threat until the ninth inning.

The Twins picked up a run in the seventh on doubles by Mitterwald and Tovar.  California did not have a baserunner in innings five through eight.  In the ninth Sandy Alomar walked and Jarvis Tatum singled, putting men on first and second with none out, bringing the tying run up to bat.  A pair of ground outs scored a run and left a man on third.  McMullen walked, putting the tying run on base, but Billy Cowan flied to center to end the game.

WP:  Hall (7-6).

LP:  Wright (19-10).

S:  Perranoski (27).

Notes:  Danny Thompson was again at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Steve Brye pinch-ran for Mitterwald in the seventh, with Tom Tischinski going in to catch.  Jim Holt went to center field in the seventh, with Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea going to the bench.  Frank Quilici went to second base in the ninth, with Thompson going to third and Harmon Killebrew coming out of the game.

Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .317.  Hall had an ERA of 2.65.  Perranoski had an ERA of 2.15.

The Twins swept the series between the first and second place teams.  It would be overstating it to say the pennant race was over at this point--the two teams still had four-game series coming up, plus they had to deal with Oakland--but this series obviously went a long way toward clinching the division.

As we've seen, Hall both started and relieved in 1970.  He was excellent in both roles, going 7-1, 2.12, 1.01 WHIP in eleven starts (76.1 innings) and 4-5, 2.96, 4 saves, 1.06 WHIP in 41 relief appearances (79 innings).

This was the best season of Clyde Wright's career.  He went 22-10, 2.83, 1.21 WHIP, made the all-star team, and finished sixth in Cy Young voting.  He was also excellent in 1971 and 1972 and pretty good in 1973.  It fell apart for him after that, but for those four years, he was really good.

The Twins would now have a thirteen-game homestand, hosting Milwaukee, Oakland, and the White Sox for three each before taking on California for four.

Record:  The Twins were  81-55, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of California and Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-Five

MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 3 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Saturday, September 5.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a double and two stolen bases, his twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-2 with a home run (his twentieth), three walks, and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and one walk and striking out three.  Stan Williams struck out four in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Tony Gonzalez was 2-for-4.  Jim Spencer was 2-for-4.  Andy Messersmith struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

The game:  Tovar led off the game with a double-plus-error, and scored on a sacrifice fly to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  In the third Tovar singled and Oliva hit a two-run homer to make it 3-0.

The Angels came back in the bottom of the third.  Joe Azcue led off with a single and was still on first base with two out.  But then came singles  by Jim Fregosi, Gonzalez, and Alex Johnson, plating two runs and cutting the lead to 3-2.  In the fourth, Roger Repoz led off with a single-plus-error, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a Jay Johnstone single to tie the score 3-3.

The Twins took the lead back in the fifth.  With one out Tovar singled, stole second, and scored on a Danny Thompson single to give the Twins a 4-3 lead.

The Twins' pitching took it from there.  California never had more than one man on base and never advanced a man past second, giving the Twins the victory.

WP:  Perry (21-11).

LP:  Tom Murphy (13-11).

S:   Williams (11).

Notes:  Thompson remained at second in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt went to center field in the sixth inning, with Tovar moving to left and Brant Alyea coming out.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Perry in the seventh and Steve Brye pinch-ran for Ratliff.

Oliva raised his average to .317.  Perry had an ERA of 3.00.  Williams had an ERA of 2.10.

Messersmith had been a starter most of the season, but was sent to the bullpen in early August after some less-than-stellar starts.  He would make only one more appearance in 1970.

Tom Murphy started for the Angels.  He pitched 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and no walks and struck out none.

The Twins had now won the first two games in what was a series the Angels really needed to win.  They would go for the sweep in the next game.

Record:  The Twins were 80-55, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Thirty-four

MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 0 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Friday, September 4.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 4-for-4.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with two stolen bases, his twenty-fifth and twenty-sixth.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, his thirteenth.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, giving up four hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 3.2 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-3 with a triple and a walk.  Alex Johnson was 2-for-4.  Eddie Fisher pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

The game:  In a matchup of the first and second place teams, the Twins jumped out early.  With two out and none on in the first, Harmon Killebrew walked, Oliva singled, and Alyea hit a three-run homer, putting Minnesota ahead 3-0.

The Twins put two men on in the third and the fourth but did not score.  The Angels, who did not have a baserunner in the first three innings, got a pair of two-out singles in the fourth but did not score.

With one out in the sixth, Tony Gonzalez singled, Fregosi walked, and Johnson got an infield single, loading the bases.  Bill Rigney brought in Perranoski, who struck out Billy Cowan and retired Tommie Reynolds on a grounder to end the inning.

California got only one hit after that, a two-out triple by Fregosi in the eighth.  The Twins added a run in the eighth.  A walk to Killebrew and a single by Oliva put men on first and third with none out, and a sacrifice fly brought the final score to 4-0.

WP:  Blyleven (9-6).

LP:  Rudy May (6-12).

S:  Perranoski (26).

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in the sixth and went to center, with Tovar moving to left.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth and stayed in the game at second base, with Thompson going to third.

Oliva raised his average to .316.  Perranoski lowered his ERA to 2.18.

May pitched five innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out five.

Oliva broke out of his slump in a big way.  The four hits were as many as he'd had in the previous eight games.

With just a three-game difference going in, this three-game series was obviously an important one for both teams.  The two teams would play again, in a four-game series, in mid-September, so it's not like the Angels had to sweep.  I'm sure, though, that they felt they at least needed to win two of the three.  Taking the first one was a big advantage for the Twins.

Showing the importance of this game is pulling Blyleven in the sixth with a shutout going and bringing in the closer, Perranoski.  You can't always tell from a written play-by-play, but it does not appear that Blyleven was being hit hard.  Still, it was an important game.  Bringing your closer in that early was unusual back then, although certainly not unheard of.  But, as we've chronicled in this series, Perranoski was sometimes asked to pitch three or more innings, and he generally got the job done when he did.

Record:  The Twins were 79-55, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-six

CALIFORNIA 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Rick Renick was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out three.  Stan Williams struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ken McMullen was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk.  Jim Spencer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Clyde Wright pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

The game:   The Twins missed a chance in the first.  Cesar Tovar led off with an infield hit and went to third with none out on a pickoff error.  Unfortunately for the Twins, he was then thrown out trying to score on a grounder to second, so the game remained scoreless.

McMullen changed that in the second, hitting a home run to put the Angels up 1-0.  The Twins got one-out singles in the fifth from Leo Cardenas and George Mitterwald and Perry bunted to move the runners to second and third, but Tovar grounded out to end the inning.  The Twins did tie it in the sixth, however, on consecutive one-out singles by Harmon Killebrew, Oliva, and Brant Alyea.  They missed a chance for more, however, as Oliva was thrown out trying to go to third on Alyea's single.

California went ahead to stay in the seventh.  Spencer led off with a home run to put them ahead 2-1.  With one out, the Angels got consecutive singles from Bill Voss, Joe Azcue, and pitcher Wright to make it 3-1.  Renick homered in the ninth to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Twins could not get the tying run on base.

WP:  Wright (6-2).

LP:  Perry (6-3).

S:  Ken Tatum (7).

Notes:  Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh.  Rich Reese pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the ninth.

Carew was 0-for-3 and was batting .418.  Oliva was batting .324.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .315.  Renick was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.  Perry had an ERA of 2.70.  Williams had an ERA of 1.64.

Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .185.

It was a battle of the top two teams in the division.  There will, of course, be two more games in the series.  it's early to talk about a "big series", but I'm sure there was a lot of interest in this one.

Angels closer Tatum had an ERA of 0.86 at this point in the season and had given up just twelve hits in twenty-one innings.

Williams had not pitched since May 16.

Record:  The Twins were 25-11, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

2003 Rewind: Game One Hundred Forty-three

CHICAGO 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN CHICAGO

Date:  Monday, September 8.

Batting stars:  Doug Mientkiewicz was 2-for-4.  Corey Koskie was 2-for-4.  Cristian Guzman was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  J. C. Romero pitched 1.2 perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Bartolo Colon pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on ten hits and one walk and striking out four.  Carlos Lee was 2-for-4 with a double.  Magglio Ordonez was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his ninth.

The game:  The White Sox ambushed Twins starter Kyle Lohse, scoring all five of their runs in the first inning.  With one out Lee doubled and Frank Thomas walked.  A line out made for two down, but Carl Everett singled home a run, Paul Konerko walked to load the bases, Jose Valentin hit a two-run single, Joe Crede singled to re-load the bases, and Miguel Olivo hit a two-run double.

Lohse did not allow a run after that, but the Twins were left playing catch-up the rest of the day and could not do it.  They scored twice in the second on a walk to Matthew LeCroy, a double by Torii Hunter (on which LeCroy somehow scored from first), a single by Koskie, and an RBI ground out.

But after that, it was a game of missed opportunities.  The Twins left men on second and third in the third, left a man on second in the fourth and fifth, and left a man on third in the seventh.  They would not score again, and lost the battle of co-division leaders 5-2.

WP:  Colon (13-12).  LP:  Loshe (12-11).  S:  None.

Notes:  Denny Hocking was again at second in the continued absence of Luis Rivas.  Shannon Stewart was in left and Jacque Jones in right.  The Twins made no in-game substitutions.

Stewart was 1-for-5 and was batting .313.  Jones was 0-for-4 and was batting .304.  Mientkiewicz raised his average to .303.  A. J. Pierzynski was 1-for-4 and was batting .301.

Lohse ended up pitching six innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and four walks and striking out none.  If he could've taken a mulligan for the first inning he'd have had a fine game, but of course the rules don't allow you to do that.

The Twins were 1-for-9 with men in scoring position.

This was Colon's seventh complete game.  He would lead the league in 2003 with nine.  He threw 117 pitches.  His high for a game that season was 132 in a game against Toronto in May.

This was the first of a four-game series between two teams who were tied for first in the division going into this game.  The loss obviously dropped the Twins into second.  Kansas City was idle.

Record:  The Twins were 76-67, in second place in the American League Central, one game behind Chicago.  They were 2.5 games ahead of third-place Kansas City.