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Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-five

MINNESOTA 10, KANSAS CITY 5 IN KANSAS CITY

Date: Wednesday, May 20.

Batting stars: Rod Carew was 4-for-5 with a home run (his third), a triple, a double, a stolen base (his third), two runs, and two RBIs. Jim Holt was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs. Paul Ratliff was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his second) and two walks. Leo Cardenas was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his fifth. Rich Reese was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star: Tom Hall struck out five in three innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Opposition stars: Joe Keough was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs. Eliseo Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs. Pat Kelly was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his sixteenth. Amos Otis was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) and a double. Mike Fiore was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

The game: Otis homered in the first to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Carew, who had singled in the first, homered in the third to tie it 1-1. Kansas City regained the lead in the fourth when Rodriguez doubled, Kelly walked, and Fiore hit a two-run double to make it 3-1. Holt singled and Ratliff homered in the sixth to tie it 3-3, but Keough homered in the home half of the sixth to once again give the Royals the lead at 4-3.

The Twins took control from there. With two out in the seventh Reese walked, Holt singled, and Cardenas hit a three-run homer to give the Twins their first lead at 6-4. With one out in the eighth Tovar walked and scored on a triple by Carew, who had doubled in the sixth inning. With two out, Killebrew hit an RBI single and Reese followed with a two-run homer, giving the Twins a 10-4 advantage. Kansas City added one in the ninth when Rodriguez tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, but the Twins' lead was never in jeopardy.

WP: Dave Boswell (2-5).

LP: Bob Johnson (1-2).

S: Hall (1).

Notes: Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Mitterwald came in to catch in the seventh as part of a double switch. Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew's average reached a season high of .432. Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .319. Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .315. Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.

Mitterwald was 0-for-2 and was batting .179.  Boswell pitched six innings and gave up four runs, giving him an ERA of 6.31.

As you may have noticed, Carew hit for the cycle in this game:  a single in the first, a home run in the third, a double in the sixth, and a triple in the eighth.  He grounded out in his other at-bat.  This was the seventh time in eight games that he had more than one hit, the fifth time he had more than two, and the second time he had four.  Over that span he was 22-for-37 and raised his average more than a hundred points, from an already-high .328 to .432.

Neither starter pitched particularly well.  Boswell, as noted above, pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk and striking out four.  Johnson struck out seven in seven innings, but gave up six runs on ten hits and four walks.

When I was a kid, I loved the name "Eliseo Rodriguez".

This was Hall's eleventh relief appearance.  It was the sixth time he'd gone more than one inning, the fourth time he'd gone more than two, and the third time he'd gone three or more.  It was his first career save.

I can't hear the name "Amos Otis" without thinking of the Jerry Reed song "Amos Moses".

The Twins had won seven in a row, ten of twelve, and thirteen of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 25-10, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.  They had the best record in the American League, but not in all of baseball--that honor went to Cincinnati, who was 28-11.

2019 Twins Game Recaps

2019 Recap: Game Six

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PHILADELPHIA 10, MINNESOTA 4 IN PHILADELPHIA

Date:  Friday, April 5.

Batting stars:  Jorge Polanco was 5-for-5 with a home run, a triple, and a double.  Jonathan Schoop was 2-for-4.  Max Kepler was 1-for-5 with a two-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Ryne Harper struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.  Trevor Hildenberger struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits.  Trevor May pitched a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Rhys Hoskins was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Odubel Herrera was 3-for-5.  Jean Segura was 2-for-5 with a double and two runs.

The game:  The Twins got a one-out triple from Polanco in the first but wasted it.  The Phillies then took control early, scoring five runs in the bottom of the first.  Andrew McCutchen walked and scored on Segura's double-plus-error.  With one out, Hoskins singled in the second run, J. T. Realmuto walked, and Cesar Hernandez drew a two-out walk to load the bases.  That brought a quick end to Jake Odorizzi's night, as Harper came in and gave up a bloop double-plus-error to Maikel Franco that cleared the bases.

The Twins tried to get back into it.  In the third Ehire Adrianza had a pinch-hit single and Kepler hit a two-run homer to cut the margin to 5-2.  Philadelphia got one of the runs back in the bottom of the third on a walk, an error, a single, and a sacrifice fly.  But the Twins kept fighting.  Polanco led off the fifth with a home run.  Eddie Rosario singled.  Martin Perez bunted into a force out, but an error put Perez on second base.  A ground out and Jake Cave's infield single cut the margin to 6-4.

That was as good as it would get.  The Phillies scored once in the bottom of the fifth, as Hernandez and Franco drew two-out walks and Aaron Altherr followed with a double.  They put it out of reach in the seventh with another two-out rally.  McCutchen walked, Segura singled, and Harper walked, loading the bases.  Hoskins then hit a three-run single, with Harper scoring all the way from first when Rosario took his time getting the ball back into the infield.  The score went to 10-4, and that was how it ended.

WP:  Nick Pivetta (0-1).  LP:  Jake Odorizzi (0-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Byron Buxton was again out of the lineup.  He said he could have played; perhaps Baldelli was just being cautious, especially on a wet field.  We hope he'll be back today.

Cory Provus mentioned that Odorizzi was upset when he was taken out.  I don't know if he was upset with the manager or with himself.  I hope it was the latter.  Yes, he had given up just two runs, and you could argue that it was somewhat of a quick hook.  But he wasn't getting much accomplished out there.  I'm not holding it against him--it's one game, and most pitchers will have a stink bomb or two over the course of a season.  It's only when it becomes a trend that it's worrisome.

The Twins just had an overall sloppy game.  I wonder if they expected the game to get rained out and just weren't mentally ready to play.  That's pure speculation, but they issued nine walks, made three errors, and had other mistakes as well.  Again, it happens to everybody once in a while.  It just better not happen very often.

The Twins had brought Harper in to pitch in the first and pulled him for a pinch-hitter in the top of the third, meaning he pitched just 1.1 innings.  I said at the time that I would not have done it that way, and the fact that pinch-hitter Adrianza got a hit and Kepler followed with a two-run homer doesn't change my mind.  I understand why you do it.  He was leading off the inning, and you're trying to score some runs and get back into the game.  The downside of it, though, is what ultimately happened--the Twins went through five relief pitchers in a game they wouldn't win anyway.  Baldelli didn't know that they wouldn't win it, of course, and you don't want to give up on a game in the third inning.  But when you're down 5-0 you know the odds are against you, and I'd argue that letting Harper bat would not have been giving up on the game.  It would just have been giving up one out in the third inning.  Don't get me wrong--I'm not arguing that pinch-hitting was a blatantly stupid move.  I just wouldn't have done it that way.

As it happens, the Twins don't have a long reliever to use today if Michael Pineda falters early.  It's true that, other than Perez, nobody pitched more than 1.1 innings, and so (again other than Perez) they could probably all pitch again today.  But you're not going to use any of them for three or four innings, so if you do get a short start you're going to have to run through them all again.  That would really put the pressure on Jose Berrios to go seven or so on Sunday.  Not that he can't do it, but it's still not an ideal situation.

Record:  The Twins are 4-2, in first place in the American League Central, leading Detroit by percentage points.

Projected record:  We'll just have to settle for 160-2!