MINNESOTA 5, WASHINGTON 3 IN MINNESOTA
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 2-for-4. Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-2 with a three-run homer (his sixteenth), two walks, and two runs.
Pitching stars: Bill Zepp pitched 2.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk. Ron Perranoski struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.
Opposition stars: Ed Stroud was 2-for-4. Frank Howard was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his nineteenth) and two walks.
The game: The Senators took the early lead, as Stroud hit a one-out single in the first and Howard followed with a two-run homer. Rod Carew hit a one-out double in the bottom of the first but was stranded at third base. The Twins got on the board in the third, however, when Cesar Tovar hit a one-out triple and scored on Oliva's two-out single.
Washington got the run back in the fifth. Jim French led off the inning with a walk. Stroud drew a two-out walk, putting men on first and second. Howard was then intentionally walked, loading the bases, and Mike Epstein drew an accidental walk, forcing in a run. Rick Reichardt grounded out to end the inning, but the Senators led 3-1.
The Twins got one back in the sixth when Killebrew drew a one-out walk, went to third on a Rich Reese double, and scored on a ground out. They finally took the lead in the seventh. Tovar was hit by a pitch with one out. With two down, Oliva singled and Killebrew followed with a three-run homer, putting Minnesota ahead 5-3. That's where it stayed, as the Senators got only one hit in the last two innings.
WP: Zepp (3-0).
LP: Joe Coleman (5-4).
S: Perranoski (16).
Notes: Jim Holt was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh. Frank Quilici replaced him and went to third base as part of a double switch, with Perranoski replacing Killebrew in the lineup.
Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .370. Oliva was batting .336. Killebrew was batting .326. Tom Hall gave up no runs in two-thirds of an inning and had an ERA of 2.45. Zepp had an ERA of 2.97. Perranoski had an ERA of 1.91.
Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .188. Quilici was 0-for-1 and was batting .167. Dave Boswell allowed three runs in four innings and had an ERA of 7.09.
Coleman struck out nine in 7.1 innings, giving up five runs on nine hits and three walks.
This was Boswell's tenth start of the season, and he had yet to have a game score as high as fifty. He'd gone 20-12, 3.23 the year before. He clearly wasn't right, but Bill Rigney continued to run him out there. It would be another month and a half before Boswell finally left the rotation, and he never had a good season again.
Some interesting managerial decisions regarding the other team's big slugger in this game. In the fifth, Washington had men on first and second with two out, leading 2-1. Despite the fact that the only open base was third, Rigney ordered an intentional walk to Frank Howard, moving two men into scoring position. It backfired to an extent, as Epstein walked to force in a run, but that was the only run the Senators got and it was better than having Howard hit a three-run homer. In the seventh, the Twins also had men on first and second with two out, trailing 3-2. Washington manager Ted Williams had his pitcher pitch to Harmon Killebrew, who hit a three-run homer to provide the margin of victory. That's not to say Rigney was right and Williams was wrong--strategy is one thing, and how well you execute the strategy is another. It's just interesting that managers went opposite ways in a similar situation in the same game.
Record: The Twins were 37-18, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.