BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, May 12.
Batting stars: Rod Carew was 2-for-5. Brant Alyea was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.
Pitching star: Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Elrod Hendricks was 4-for-4 with a double. Don Buford was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs. Boog Powell was 3-for-5 with two doubles. Dave Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk.
The game: Cesar Tovar led off the first with a triple and scored on a foul out to the first baseman, putting the Twins up 1-0. Each team got a pair of two-out singles in the second and did not take advantage of them, but the Twins' singles were preceded by an Alyea homer which put the Twins ahead 2-0.
The Orioles got on the board in the fourth when Powell doubled, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on Johnson's single. They took the lead in the fifth when Mike Cuellar and Buford opened the inning with singles and both scored on Frank Robinson's double. They increased the lead to 5-2 in the sixth as Johnson drew a one-out walk, Hendricks followed with a single, and Buford hit a two-run triple.
The Twins came back in the seventh. Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit a single with one out. Tovar walked, and Carew and Harmon Killebrew hit back-to-back RBI singles to cut the lead to 5-4. Unfortunately, Carew was then caught stealing home to take the Twins out of the inning. Jim Holt got a pinch-hit walk in the ninth and got as far as third base with one out, but a double play ended the game.
WP: Mike Cuellar (4-2).
LP: Jim Perry (5-2).
S: Pete Richert (6).
Notes: Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh. Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff coming in to catch. Holt pinch-hit for Williams in the ninth.
Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .336. Carew was batting .333. Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .327. Alyea was 1-for-4 and was batting .305. Tovar was 1-for-3 and was batting .301. Perry gave up three runs in 4.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.80. Williams had an ERA of 0.98.
Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .167. Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .192.
Cuellar pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out five.
Hall had made two appearances from April 25--May 9, and now had appeared in back-to-back games, pitching four innings.
This was the only four-hit game Hendricks had in 1970. He was 1-for-11 in the three games prior to this and went 1-for-12 in the three game after it.
Record: The Twins were 18-10, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.