MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Sunday, August 3.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4.  Rich Reese was 1-for-1 with a grand slam (his eleventh home run).

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched seven innings, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.

Opposition stars:  Andy Etchebarren was 2-for-3.  Paul Blair was 1-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-first.

The game:  Harmon Killebrew hit a two-out double in the first, but he was thrown out trying to score on Oliva's single.  He was the only man to get past first base until the fourth, when Merv Rettenmund and Boog Powell opened with singles to put men on first and third.  Brooks Robinson then hit into a double play to give the Orioles a 1-0 lead.  Baltimore then loaded the bases, as two walks sandwiched a single, but Dave McNally grounded out to end the inning.

It looked like the one run might be enough.  Through six innings, the Twins had just four hits and, again, had just one man get past first base.  Their first two men went out in the seventh as well.  Then, however, Cardenas and Frank Quilici singled and Rick Renick pinch-hit and walked, loading the bases.  Reese then pinch-hit for Kaat and hit a grand slam, giving the Twins a 4-1 lead.

Paul Blair led off the eighth with a home run to cut the lead to 4-2, but that was as close as the Orioles would come.  The Twins added a run in the eighth when Rod Carew singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on an Oliva single.

WP:  Kaat (11-7).  LP:  McNally (15-1).  S:  Al Worthington (2).

Notes:  This was a rather historic game at the time.  As you can see, it was the first loss of the season for McNally.  Had he won, he would've set an American League record with sixteen consecutive wins to start the season and eighteen consecutive wins including the previous season.  Your author remembers being sick this Sunday afternoon, listening to the game on the radio, and feeling much better after the Reese grand slam.

Bob Allison was again in left.  Frank Quilici was at third base, with Killebrew at first and Reese again on the bench.  Tom Tischinski was behind the plate--apparently George Mitterwald was gone for two weeks to fulfill a military reserve obligation, leaving Tischinski as the backup to Johnny Roseboro.  Renick pinch-hit for Tischinski in the seventh, with Roseboro coming in to catch in the eighth.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .368.  Oliva raised his average to .328.  Reese was batting .320.  Kaat had his ERA drop to 2.86.

While McNally was obviously a fine pitcher, he had not always blown the opposition away during his streak.  He had five starts of four innings or fewer.  He also gave up four runs or more in five of the starts.  His teammates scored more than five runs in nine of his starts.  Again, McNally was a fine pitcher, but a streak like this always involves some luck, too.

Record:  The Twins were 66-41, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Oakland.

BALTIMORE 6, MINNESOTA 5 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Saturday, August 2.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk, scoring twice.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his thirty-first) and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson retired all four batters he faced.

Opposition stars:  Paul Blair was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Clay Dalrymple was 2-for-4 with a home run (his second) and two runs.  Dave Johnson was 2-for-4.  Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his twenty-ninth.  Don Buford was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his ninth.

The game:  Each team put a man on second with one out in the first; none scored.  The Orioles had men on first and second with one out in the second; they did not score.  Baltimore finally broke through in the third when Buford singled, stole second, went to third on an error, and scored on a double play, giving the Orioles a 1-0 lead.

Baltimore increased their lead in the third.  Mark Belanger and Dalrymple singled, Mike Cuellar hit a sacrifice fly, and Buford had an RBI single, putting the Orioles up 3-0.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth when Oliva tripled and scored on a Leo Cardenas sacrifice fly.  They went into the lead in the fifth inning.  Frank Quilici singled, Cesar Tovar reached on an error by Belanger, and a Rod Carew bunt put men on second and third.  Killebrew reached on Belanger's second error of the inning to bring home a run, Oliva hit into a force out, but a run scored and Oliva went to second on Belanger's third error of the inning, and Bob Allison delivered an RBI single, giving the Twins a 4-3 advantage.

The lead didn't last long, though.  Dalrymple homered with two out in the sixth to tie it 4-4.  In the seventh, Blair singled and Powell hit a two-run homer to put Baltimore ahead 6-4.  Killebrew homered in the bottom of the seventh to make it 6-5.

But that was it.  The Twins had only one hit after that and did not advance a man past first base.

WP:  Mike Cuellar (13-9).  LP:  Al Worthington (4-1).  S:  Pete Richert.

Notes:  Rick Renick again started at third base, with Killebrew at first and Rich Reese on the bench.  I really don't know why you'd want to do that.  It's possible that Reese had some minor injury, although he continued to be used as a pinch-hitter and defensive replacement.  There might, possibly, be a defensive advantage to be gained, although I don't recall Renick as a whiz at third.  Renick went 0-for-3 in this game to make his average .206 and his OPS of .585.  If anyone knows why Renick was playing so much instead of Reese, please let me know in an LTE.

Tom Tischinski was given a rare start behind the plate.  Johnny Roseboro came in late in the game after Graig Nettles was used as a pinch-hitter.

Twins starter Jim Perry lasted 3.1 innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out two.  His ERA was 2.99.  Ron Perranoski faced one batter and got two outs, as he got Powell to hit into a double play.  His ERA was 1.72.

Baltimore's starter, Cuellar, pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs (two earned) on eight hits and three walks and struck out three.

Mark Belanger was well-known as an excellent fielder.  He won eight Gold Gloves in his career.  Here, he made three errors in the same inning.  I have to think that didn't happen to him very often in his career.

The unsung hero for the Orioles was reliever Al Severinsen.  He came in with a man on first, one out in the seventh, and Baltimore leading 6-5.  He then retired the next seven batters before giving up a two-out walk to Killebrew in the ninth.  Severinsen had a rather strange career.  He was in his first season in 1969 and at this point had an ERA of 2.76 with a WHIP of 1.22 in 16.1 innings.  He would make one more appearance, throwing a scoreless inning, then would get sent back down, coming up for just one September appearance, when he pitched 2.1 scoreless innings.  For the season, he had an ERA of 2.29 and a WHIP of 1.22 in 19.2 innings.  He was back in AAA Rochester in 1970, and despite pitching very well there did not get another chance with the Orioles.  Now, I know Baltimore had a really good pitching staff back then, but it seems like they could've made some use of him.  Instead, they traded him to San Diego.  He was with the Padres all of 1971, his only full year in the majors, and posted an ERA of 3.47, although with a WHIP of 1.53.  He started 1972 back in AAA, coming up for most of the second half of the season.  In seventeen big league games in 1972, he had an ERA of 2.53 and a WHIP of 0.94.  He was twenty-seven at that point, and seemed like a reliever you could do something with.  Instead, they traded him to the Mets for a reserve outfielder named Dave Marshall.  Severinsen did not pitch in 1973, and in fact did not pitch at all after that.  In 88 major league games (111 innings). he had a 3.08 ERA and his playing career was over.  None of my usual biographical sources have any real information about him.  His obituary indicates that he did not sour on baseball, and continued to coach youth, high school, and college players.  He also was involved in baseball clinics sponsored by the MLBPA.  Al Severinsen passed away on January 27, 2015.

Record:  The Twins were 65-41, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 4, BALTIMORE 3 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, August 1.

Batting stars:  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4 with a triple and a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 with a double and a stolen base, his twenty-fifth.  Bob Allison was 1-for-2 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched four shutout innings, giving up three hits and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Paul Blair was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his twentieth.  Brooks Robinson was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixteenth.  Ed Watt struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  The Twins got a hit batsman and three walks in the first inning but failed to score, partly because Rod Carew was caught stealing and partly because they did not get any hits.  The Twins again loaded the bases in the second on a single, an error, and a walk, but again did not score.  They finally broke through in the third when Killebrew doubled, went to third on a fly to right, and scored on a Johnny Roseboro sacrifice fly to take a 1-0 lead.  Even so, the Twins managed to leave the bases loaded for the third consecutive inning, as Tovar doubled, Cardenas and Dean Chance walked, but none of them crossed home plate.

Robinson's homer in the fifth tied it 1-1.  The Twins got the lead back in the bottom of the fifth when Reese hit a leadoff triple and scored on another sacrifice fly by Roseboro.  The Orioles got the lead for the first time in the sixth when Marcelino Lopez walked and scored on Blair's two-run homer.  The Twins tied it again in the bottom of the sixth when Allison led off with a pinch-hit home run, making the score 3-3.

The Twins got a pair of singles in the seventh and Baltimore got a pair of singles in the tenth, but they led to nothing.  In the bottom of the tenth, Cardenas hit a one-out triple.  Intentional walks to Allison and Charlie Manuel followed.  Rod Carew then hit an infield single to win the game for the Twins.

WP:  Perranoski (7-5).  LP:  Dave Leonhard (6-4).  S:  None.

Notes:  Ted Uhlaender started the game in left, but came out of the game in the seventh as part of a double switch, with Allison staying in the game in left.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .371.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .324.  Reese raised his average to .319.

Chance started and pitched 5.1 innings, giving up three runs on two hits and four walks and striking out two.  His ERA was 2.72.  Perranoski lowered his ERA to 1.73.

Elrod Hendricks was the starting catcher, but was replaced five batters into the bottom of the first by Clay Dalrymple.  One assumes he either was injured or was not feeling well.

Baltimore starter Jim Hardin pitched 2.2 innings, giving up one run on three hits and six walks and striking out none.

The Twins stranded the maximum, nine, in the first three innings.  It's got to be rare to leave the bases loaded in three consecutive innings, especially the first three innings of the game.

Hardin came out of the game after walking Chance in the third to load the bases.  Chance was well-known as a terrible batter--he had only one hit in twenty-four at-bats in 1969.  This was one of two walks he drew on the season.  Presumably Earl Weaver thought that if you can't throw strikes to Chance, you have no business remaining in the game.

Chance also walked his opposite number, Marcelino Lopez.  It hurt him, as Blair followed with the home run that gave the Orioles the temporary lead.

The decision to give intentional walks to Allison and Manuel to bring up Carew is interesting.  I don't mean to imply it was wrong, just that it's interesting.  There aren't a lot of good options when you have the deciding run on third with one out.  Walking Allison to set up the double play makes perfect sense.  I'm not sure I'd have walked Manuel to get to Carew, though.  Both Manuel and Carew were left-handed batters, so there was no platoon advantage gained.  It sets up a force play at any base, but you've still got to either get the force at home or get a double play, and Manuel would seem a much easier batter to double up than Carew.  Add in the fact that Manuel was batting .250, over one hundred points lower than Carew.  Again, there were not really good options at this point, but I think I'd have taken my chances with Manuel.

Record:  The Twins were 65-40, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 3 IN  MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, July 31.

Batting stars:  Rick Renick was 2-for-2 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with a home run (his fifth) and a walk, scoring twice.

Pitching star:  Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up three runs on five hits and a walk and striking out eight.

Opposition stars:  Norm Cash was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fifteenth.  Ex-Twin Fred Lasher struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

The game:  Tovar homered leading off the bottom of the first to give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  Cash tied it when he led off the second with a home run.  Renick homered leading off the bottom of the third to give the Twins a 2-1 lead.

The Twins took control in the sixth.  They opened the inning with consecutive singles by Tovar, Rod Carew, Harmon Killebrew, and Tony Oliva, making the score 4-1 with men on first and second.  Lasher relieved Tigers starter Mike Kilkenny and gave up another single, this one to Bob Allison, loading the bases.  The Twins could only score one more, on a Leo Cardenas sacrifice fly, but it put them up 5-1.

Detroit threatened to get back into it in the eighth.  Jim Price and Don Wert singled, and with one out Ike Brown walked to load the bases.  Tommy Matchick struck out, but Mickey Stanley delivered a two-run single, making the score 5-3 and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in the form of Al Kaline.  Kaline grounded out to end the inning.  The Tigers went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Boswell (12-9).  LP:  Mike Kilkenny (1-1).  S:  None.

Notes:  Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .373.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.

Renick was playing third, with Killebrew at first and Rich Reese, who was batting .316, on the bench.  Frank Quilici came in to play third in the eighth inning and Reese came in to play first in the ninth.  The interesting thing about that is that earlier in the season, Billy Martin would routinely move Killebrew from third to first for defense and pull Reese out of the game.

Allison was in left field.  Ted Uhlaender came in to play defense in the eighth.

George Mitterwald was again behind the plate instead of Johnny Roseboro.

Kilkenny had done well for five innings, but his final line is five innings pitched, five runs, seven hits, two walks, and one strikeout.

Lasher was a favorite of Tigers broadcaster Ernie Harwell.  He came up with a rhyme to introduce him:  "Sound the siren, flash the flasher, here's our fireman, big Fred Lasher."

This was the first big league start for Mike Kilkenny, and his first major league loss.  1969 was his rookie year, and he stayed with Detroit through May of 1972.  He was pretty good in 1969--8-6, 2 saves, 3.37, 1.26 WHIP in 128.1 innings (39 games, 15 starts).  He was not good in 1970-1971, posting ERAs around five and WHIPs around 1.50.  He had an interesting 1972--he started with Detroit, was traded to Oakland in May, traded to San Diego eight days later, and traded to Cleveland in June.  He made five appearances for Cleveland in 1973.  They wanted to send him to the minors at that point, but he refused and eventually retired from baseball.  He apparently pitched in the Intercounty Baseball League, which is in Canada, in 1975 and 1983 (he's a native of Bradford, Canada).  He apparently had a fairly successful business career.

Record:  The Twins were 64-40, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.  I didn't go back and check, but it seems like the Twins have had about that same lead for at least two weeks now.  That had to be kind of frustrating for them, but even more so for the Athletics.

MINNESOTA 11, DETROIT 5 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Tuesday, July 29.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Rich Reese was 3-for-5 with a double.  Rod Carew was 3-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a home run (his thirtieth), a double, and a walk, scoring three times and driving in two.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5 with a triple, scoring twice and driving in two.  Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his fourteenth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Norm Cash was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer, his fourteenth.  Gates Brown was 2-for-4 and scored twice.  Tommy Matchick was 2-for-5 with a double.  Mickey Stanley was 2-for-5.  Don Wert was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eighth.

The game:  The Tigers got a pair of one out singles in the first but did not score.  The Twins scored twice in the bottom of the first.  Uhlaender led off with a single-plus error and was on third with two out.  Killebrew delivered an RBI double and Reese hit a run-scoring single to make it 2-0 Minnesota.

Detroit got on the board in the third as Stanley singled and scored from first on Matchick's double.  The Twins got the run back in the fourth when Johnny Roseboro doubled and Tovar singled, making he score 3-1.

The Twins broke it open with seven in the fifth.  Carew led off with a single and Oliva followed with a two-run homer.  Killebrew walked and went to third on Reese's double.  With one out, Tovar was intentionally walked.  It didn't work,as Cardenas came through with a two-run single.  With two-out, Uhlaender hit a two-run triple and scored on Carew's single.  The score was 10-1 Twins.

The Tigers put together three singles with one out in the fifth, loading the bases, but could only score one on a force out.  The Twins got the run back in the sixth when Killebrew homered, making the score 11-2.

The Tigers scored three in the eighth off starter Bob Miller.  Brown led off with a walk and Cash hit a two-run homer.  With two out, Wert homered to bring the final score to 11-5.

WP:  Miller (3-4).  LP:  Denny McLain (15-6).  S:  Ron Perranoski (20).

Notes:  Uhlaender was in left in this game.  Killebrew was back at third, with Rich Reese at first.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third in the seventh inning.

Carew raised his average to .375.  Oliva was batting .326.  Reese raised his average to. 320.  Perranoski's ERA went to 1.82.

Miller made his first start since July 18, when he was also pitching in a doubleheader.  He made only two relief appearances in the interim, pitching a total of three innings.

The Twins beat two very good pitchers in this doubleheader, Mickey Lolich and Denny McLain.

Gates Brown started in left field for the Tigers.  This was one of fourteen games which Brown started in 1969, all in left field.

Don Wert was probably a better batter than it looks like, simply because he played during the 1960s.  A third baseman, he batted between .257 and .268 each year from 1963-1967 with an OPS close to .700 and around ten home runs a year.  In the 1960s offensive context, that's fairly good.  He finished tenth in MVP voting in 1965, when he batted .261/.341/.363 with twelve homers.  Oddly enough, he made his one all-star appearance in 1968, which was his worst year at bat--he batted .200/.258/.299 that year.  His first half numbers that year were better, but not a lot--.220/.279/.340.  He really did very little at the plate after the 1967 campaign, although he did continue to average double digit home runs.  He remained the Tigers starting third baseman through 1971, when he was traded to Washington in the kind of deal we never see any more--It was Wert, Elliot Maddox, Denny McLain, and Norm McRae to Washington for Ed Brinkman, Joe Coleman, Jim Hannan, and Aurelio Rodriguez.  He batted just forty times for the Senators, going 2-for-40, and was released in June, ending his playing career.  At last report, Don Wert was living in eastern Pennsylvania.

Record:  The Twins were 63-39, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by 3.5 games.

MINNESOTA 5, DETROIT 2 IN MINNESOTA (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Tuesday, July 29.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with two runs.  Rod Carew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched eight innings, giving up two runs on eight hits and no walks and striking out two.  Al Worthington pitched a scoreless inning, giving up a hit and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jim Price was 3-for-4.  Dick Tracewski was 2-for-3.

The game:  Each team put men on first and second with two out in the second and did not score.  The Twins got on the board in the third.  Perry and Tovar opened the inning with singles.  A ground out advanced them to second and third and Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked.  Tony Oliva made them pay with a two-run double and Bob Allison followed with an RBI ground out to put the Twins up 3-0.

It went to 5-0 in the fifth.  Tovar led off the inning with a single and Carew followed with a two-run homer.  The Tigers had gotten a two-out double in the third, but then did not get a man past first until the eighth, when Mickey Stanley and Tracewski each got a one-out single.

Detroit finally got on the board in the ninth.  Perry had thrown eight shutout innings, but apparently tired in the ninth.  Willie Horton, Tommy Matchick, and Price all singled, making the score 5-1.  Worthington then came in.  A fly out and a ground out made the score 5-2.  Stanley walked and Tracewski singled, bringing the potential winning run to the plate in the person of Al Kaline.  He grounded to third, however, ending the game.

WP:  Perry (12-4).  LP:  Mickey Lolich (14-3).  S:  Worthington (1).

Notes:  Bob Allison has been playing more in left field lately.  Rick Renick has been playing more third, with Killebrew at first.  It's a sacrifice of offense, not so much with the benching of Ted Uhlaender but with Rich Reese out of the lineup.  Reese was batting .314 with an OPS of .866.  Renick was batting .190 with an OPS of .511, lower than that of Perry.

Mitterwald was again behind the plate, with Johnny Roseboro on the bench.  Presumably this was simply because it was a doubleheader.

Carew was now batting .371.  Oliva was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk, driving in two, and was batting .327.

This was Tovar's fifth consecutive multi-hit game.  He was 11-for-21 with a home run in that span.  His average went up from .255 to .270.

The Twins seem to be going to Worthington more in late-game situations, rather than just using Ron Perranoski in that role.  I don't know why.  Not that Worthington was terrible, but Perranoski had not done anything to warrant losing the closer role.  Perhaps Perranoski was getting tired and it was felt that they needed to give him a break to get ready for the stretch.

MIckey Lolich was a fine pitcher, but the Twins got to him in this game.  He still went seven innings, giving up five runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.

Tracewski did not start the game, but came in to pinch-run for Jim Northrup after Northrup doubled in the third.  Tracewski had an eight-year major league career, but was never more than a part-time player.  He had two at-bats with the Dodgers in 1962 and then was a reserve infielder for them from 1963-1965.  He got the most playing time of his career in 1964, when he had 304 at-bats.  He batted .247/.315/.326.  That wasn't bad for 1964, but it was as good as it would get for him as a Dodger.  He was traded to the Tigers after the 1965 season for Phil Regan.  He was with Detroit through 1969, only once getting more than 125 at-bats.  His best year as a Tiger was 1967, when he batted .280/.325/.383 in 107 at-bats.  If he could have kept that up he'd have had a solid career, but it appears that was simply a small-sample size fluke.  He was with the Tigers for all of 1969 but was generally used as a defensive replacement at shortstop, as he got only 96 plate appearances.  Amazingly, he drew fifteen walks.  He had more walks than hits, as he went 11-for-79 for an odd slash line of .139/.277/.165.  He had eighteen percent of his hits for the season in this game.  If you believe in "count the rings", he has three World Championships, with the Dodgers in 1963 and 1965 and with Detroit in 1968.  He also got another ring as a Tigers coach in 1984.  He was a minor league manager for Detroit from 1971-1972 and then was a coach from them through 1995, when he retired.

Record:  The Twins were 62-39, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 8, CLEVELAND 7 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Sunday, July 27.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-4 with a walk, a stolen base (his twenty-fourth), and two runs.  Rod Carew was 3-for-5 with a double.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his seventh.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out six in 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.  Al Worthington struck out three in a scoreless inning, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Tony Horton was 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, his second.  Eddie Leon was 2-for-4 and scored twice.  Jose Cardenal was 2-for-5 with a stolen base, his twenty-fourth.  Dave Nelson was 2-for-4 with a stolen base.  Chuck Hinton hit a pinch-hit two-run homer.

The game:  The Indians put men on second and third with none out in the first.  Starter Dave Boswell came back to strike out Ken Harrelson and Horton.  He walked Duke Sims, but retired Lou Klimchock on a grounder to end the threat.

With two out in the second, George Mitterwald reached on a two-base error and scored on a Rick Renick single.  The lead didn't last long, as Cleveland opened the bottom of the second with five consecutive singles, bringing in three runs.  A sacrifice fly brought home a fourth and yet another single made it 5-1 Indians.  The Twins got one back in the third on singles by Tovar and Carew and a sacrifice fly by Tony Oliva to cut the margin to 5-2.

Cleveland missed a chance to break it open in the fifth.  Singles by Harrelson and Horton put men on first and third with none out, but an attempted double steal was foiled when Harrelson was thrown out at the plate.  Two-out walks to Larry Brown and Richie Scheinblum loaded the bases, but Jerry Crider retired Leon on a fly ball to end the inning.

The Twins made them pay for the miss, as they came back with three in the sixth.  Harmon Killebrew and Bob Allison walked, and Cardenas delivered a three-run homer to tie the score at five.  In the seventh, the Twins took the lead.  Singles by Crider, Tovar, and Carew made it 6-5, and Killebrew's two-run double gave Minnesota an 8-5 lead.  The Twins had a chance for more, as a pair of hit batsmen loaded the bases with one out, but a strikeout and a ground out ended the inning.

The Indians weren't done, though.  In the eighth, Leon singled and Chuck Hinton hit a two-run homer to cut the Twins' lead to 8-7.  Cardenal then singled and stole second with one out.  Worthington then struck out Nelson and Harrelson to end the threat.  Cleveland got only a two-out walk by Frank Baker in the ninth.

WP:  Crider (1-0).  LP:  Ron Law (1-1).  S:  Ron Perranoski (19).

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .373.  Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .327.  Perranoski lowered his ERA to 1.85.

Tovar appears to have replaced Ted Uhlaender as the regular center fielder.  Tovar went to third in the seventh when Uhlaender pinch-ran for Killebrew and Rich Reese pinch-hit for third baseman Rick Renick.  He moved to left in the ninth, with Frank Quilici coming in to play third.

Mitterwald was behind the plate, replacing Johnny Roseboro.  Roseboro was used as a pinch-hitter in the seventh and remained in the game at catcher.

Boswell lasted just 1.1 innings, allowing five runs on seven hits and a walk and striking out two.  Cleveland starter Juan Pizarro pitched 5.1 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on four hits and four walks and striking out one.

Hall made his first appearance since July 16.  The rest apparently did him some good.

This was Crider's first major league win.  He would have five in his career, with the other four coming in 1970 with the White Sox.

Cardenal was 9-for-21 with a home run in this series.  He batted .310/.318/.452 against the Twins in 1969.  For the season he batted .257/.314/.373.

Chuck Hinton was a regular major league outfielder for seven seasons and a reserve for four more.  He came up with Washington in 1961 and was a starting corner outfielder for them through 1964.  He made the all-star team in 1964, although his best season as a Senator was 1962 when he batted .310/.361/.472.  He was traded to Cleveland after the season for Bob Chance and Woodie Held and was a starter for the Indians from 1965-1967.  He was still primarily a corner outfielder but he also saw significant time in center for Cleveland.  In 1967 he had a poor year, batting .245/.304/.355.  Those numbers weren't terrible for 1967, but they weren't good enough for him to keep his job.  He was traded to California for Jose Cardenal, a deal which worked out well for the Indians.  He had a poor season for the Angels in 1968 and then was traded back to Cleveland for Lou Johnson.  He bounced back to have a couple of strong years as a reserve, batting .318/.392/.477 with nine home runs in 195 at-bats in 1970.  He could not sustain it in 1971 and was released after the season. He then became the baseball coach at Howard University, coaching them from 1972-1999.  He was one of the founders of the Major League Baseball Players Alumni Association in 1982.  He passed away from Parkinson's Disease in 2013.  His career numbers are .264/.332/.412, which for a player who did most of his batting in 1960s are very respectable numbers.  I'm not nominating him for the Hall of Fame, but Chuck Hinton was a very good major league ballplayer.

Record:  The Twins were 61-39, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Oakland.

CLEVELAND 6, MINNESOTA 3 IN CLEVELAND

Date:  Saturday, July 26.

Batting star:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a three-run homer, his fourth.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and five walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Jose Cardenal was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer (his seventh), a stolen base (his twenty-third) and three runs.  Eddie Leon was 2-for-4.  Tony Horton was 1-for-1 with a double and three walks.  Dick Ellsworth pitched seven innings, giving up three unearned runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out five.

The game:  Horton doubled home Cardenal, who had walked, in the first inning to give the Indians a 1-0 lead.  With the bases loaded and one out in the third, the Cleveland scored again on an odd play.  Cap Peterson hit a grounder to short.  It appears that the Twins tried to turn a double play but either the throw to second was late or the second baseman was off the base, so instead of a 6-4-3 double play it was a 6-4-3 ground out, with Cardenal again scoring.  The Twins still got a double play out of it, however, as Dave Nelson tried to score from second on the play and was thrown out.  Still, the score was 2-0.

The Twins took the lead in the fifth.  Rick Renick reached on an error and Kaat hit a two-out double.  Tovar followed with a three-run homer, putting Minnesota ahead 3-2.

The lead held until the seventh.  Eddie Leon led off with a single, but had only gotten to second with two out.  Bob Miller came on to face Cardenal and gave up a two-run homer, giving the Indians a 4-3 advantage.  Cleveland added one more run in the eighth when Horton walked, Larry Brown singled, and Leon delivered an RBI single.  The Twins got only one hit after the sixth inning.

WP:  Ellsworth(6-5).  LP:  Miller (2-4).  S:  Stan Williams (7).

Notes:  Harmon Killebrew was at first base in this game, with Renick at third.  Bob Allison was in left, with Tovar in center.  Rich Reese and Ted Uhlaender were on the bench, although Reese was used as a pinch-hitter.

Rod Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .369.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .331.  Kaat had his ERA go up to 2.92.

It's interesting that Kaat was removed from the game when he was not pitching badly.  He had not allowed a run since the third, and the leadoff hit by Leon in the seventh was only the second hit he had allowed in that span.  There were two out.  Kaat had been struggling to get Cardenal out in this game, however, and the Twins gained a platoon advantage by bringing in the right-handed Miller.  I'm not saying it was a bad decision, and the fact that it didn't work doesn't mean it was the wrong thing to do.  I just find it interesting.

Future Twin Stan Williams pitched the last two innings of the game and did not allow a baserunner.

This was Eddie Leon's rookie season.  He was the Indians' regular shortstop for the second half of 1969, then was their regular second baseman for 1970-1971.  A failure to hit moved him to a utility role in 1972, then he was traded to the White Sox, for whom he was the regular shortstop in 1973.  He played sporadically for the White Sox in 1974, appeared in one game for the Yankees in 1975, then finished his career in Mexico in 1975-1976.  He never hit--his best year was 1971, when he hit .261/.317/.326.  His career numbers are .236/.296/.313 in 1862 at-bats.  He was highly thought of before he became a pro--the Twins drafted him in the first round in 1965, the Cubs drafted him in the first round in 1966, and Cleveland, with whom he finally signed, drafted him in the second round in 1977.  It reminds me of a saying, "You can talk all you want about the five tools, but none of the others mean much if you can't hit."

Record:  The Twins were 60-39, in first place in the American League West, three games ahead of Oakland.