MINNESOTA 4, NEW YORK 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, June 4.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base, his tenth.  Leo Cardenas was 3-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall pitched 7.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Horace Clarke was 3-for-3 with a walk.  Bill Robinson was 1-for-4 with a home run.  Mel Stottlemyre pitched seven innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

The game:  Rod Carew got an infield hit in the first and advanced to third base, but no farther.  The two teams combined for just one more hit until the fifth.  With one out in the fifth, Johnny Roseboro doubled and scored on a Cardenas single.  Cesar Tovar was hit by a pitch, and with two out Ted Uhlaender singled to make the score 2-0.

The Yankees got on the board in the sixth when Gene Michael doubled and scored on a two-out single by Clarke.  The Twins got the run back in the bottom of the sixth when Carew doubled, went to third on a ground out, and scored on a Graig Nettles sacrifice fly, making the score 3-1 Twins.

The Twins missed a chance to add to their lead in the seventh when Cardenas and Tovar led off the inning with singles.  They went to second and third on a ground out, but Cardenas was caught trying to steal home.  Bill Robinson led off the eighth with a home run, cutting the margin to 3-2.  Michael drew a one-out walk and Clarke hit a two-out single, resulting in Perranoski replacing Hall.  Bobby Cox got an infield single to load the bases, but Roy White hit into a forceout to end the inning.

The Twins got an insurance run in the ninth.  Carew led off with a single and went to second on a ground out.  Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked.  Carew went to third on a fly out.  With men on first and third and one out, Killebrew stole second (!).  Roseboro walked to load the bases.  The Twins then pulled off a triple steal, with Carew stealing home to make the score 4-2.  The Yankees went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Hall (3-3).  LP:  Stottlemyre (8-4).  S:  Perranoski (12).

Notes:  Nettles was in left field, with Tovar at third base.  Quilici again came in to play third in the eighth, with Tovar moving to left.

Carew raised his average to .399.  Cardenas raised his average to .306.  Roseboro was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .305.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 with a walk and was batting .301.  Perranoski lowered his ERA to 1.70.

I don't know how many times Killebrew stole two bases in a game, much less in the same inning, but it can't be very many.  And his steal of second was actually a straight steal, not the back end of anything.  He had nineteen stolen bases in his career, with eight of them coming in 1969.  For his career he was 19-for-37, obviously not a good percentage, but in 1969 he was 8-for-10.

Hall had not pitched since May 27.  He would make three more appearances, all in relief, then would miss a month.

After giving up runs in back-to-back appearances, Perranoski had now made four consecutive scoreless appearances.

Record:  The Twins were 28-20, in first place in the American League West, 3.5 games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 4, NEW YORK 0 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, June 3.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a home run (his seventh), a triple, and two RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his tenth) and a walk, scoring twice.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell pitched seven shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out five.  Ron Perranoski pitched two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  John Ellis was 2-for-3 with a double.  Jerry Kenney was 2-for-4.

The game:  With one out in the bottom of the first, Leo Cardenas singled and Killebrew hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a 2-0 lead.  In the fourth, Killebrew walked and Tony Oliva followed with an RBI triple to make the score 3-0.

The Yankees did not get a baserunner until two out in the fifth, when Ellis singled.  They did not mount a threat, however.  Oliva homered in the sixth to increase the Twins' lead to 4-0.  Kenney got the second Yankees hit with a leadoff single in the seventh, but did not advance past first base.

The Yankees' only threat came in the eighth.  Ellis led off the inning with a double and Jim Lyttle walked.  That led to Boswell being replaced by Perranoski.  He immediately got Gene Michael to hit into a double play and retired Bobby Murcer on a ground out to get out of the inning.  Kenney had a harmless single in the ninth.

WP:  Boswell (6-6).  LP:  Fritz Peterson (7-6).  S:  Perranoski (11).

Notes:  Cesar Tovar replaced Rod Carew at second base.  Carew would be back in the lineup in the next game.  Rick Renick was at third base, with Bob Allison in left field.

Killebrew was at first base, but Rich Reese came in as a defensive replacement in the ninth inning.  Nothing odd about that, except that up to this point, when Reese had started games at first base and Killebrew started at third, Billy Martin would put Frank Quilici at third as a defensive replacement and move Killebrew to first, taking Reese out of the game.  Perhaps Martin just wanted to give Killebrew an inning off or something.

The Yankees had just four hits, two by Ellis and two by Kenney.

For some reason I remember Jerry Kenney, even though his career was not particularly memorable.  He got a September call-up in 1967, but did not reach the majors to stay until 1969.  He got the most playing time of his career that season, playing both infield and outfield, and wasn't terrible but wasn't all that good, either, batting .257 with an OPS of .639.  He slumped to .193 in 1970, but bounced back to bat .262 with an OPS of .679 in 1971.  That was as good as it would get for him.  He batted .210 in 1972 and the Yankees had seen enough.  He probably made his biggest contribution to the Yankees when he got traded, because he was a part of the trade that sent Graig Nettles from Cleveland to New York.  The Indians kept Kinney for all of a month, releasing him on May 4, 1973.  He signed back with the Yankees and was in AAA for them through 1975, but never got back to the big leagues.  His career numbers are .237/.326/.299 in 1369 at-bats.  Still, he appeared in 465 major league games, which is more than I'll ever play in.

Record:  The Twins were 27-20, in first place in the American League West, 2.5 games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 3, NEW YORK 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Monday, June 2.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a three-run homer, his eleventh, and a walk.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on six hits and three walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Gene Michael was 3-for-4 with a double.  Horace Clarke was 2-for-4.  Bobby Cox was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer and two walks.  Lindy McDaniel struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

The game:  Clarke singled and Cox walked to start the game, but they did not advance past first and second.  The Twins put men on first and second with two out in the second, but also couldn't score.  Clarke led off the third with a single and this time Cox followed with a two-run homer, putting the Yankees up 2-0.

The Twins opened the fourth with walks to Killebrew and Tony Oliva, but could do nothing with them.  In the fifth, however, Ted Uhlaender walked and Kaat singled.  That brought in Stan Bahnsen to replace starter Mike Kekich.  Bahnsen retired the first two Twins he faced, but Killebrew then hit a three-run homer to put the Twins ahead 3-2.

And that was pretty much it.  The Twins missed a chance to add to their lead in the seventh when they put two men on base with one out.  The only other Yankee threat was in the eighth, when Cox led off with a walk and Joe Pepitone was hit by a pitch with one out.  The next two batters went out, however, and the threat went by the boards.  I'm not sure where the boards were, but the threat definitely went by them.

WP:  Kaat (5-3).  LP:  Bahnsen (1-8).  S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew started the game at second base, but was replaced by Frank Quilici after the first inning.  He had batted and tried to beat out a bunt--one assumes he may have been injured running to first.  He would miss the next game but then be back in the lineup.  Charlie Manuel would later pinch-hit for Quilici, at which point Cesar Tovar, who had started at third, moved over to second, with Graig Nettles coming into the game to play third.

Carew went 0-for-1 to drop his average to .389.  Kaat's ERA came own to 2.62.  This was Kaat's third consecutive complete game.  The game prior to that three-game streak was the one in which he pitched twelve innings, so it could very easily have been four consecutive complete games.

Stan Bahnsen was normally a starter, but he had some periods of struggle in 1969 and so was sent to the bullpen a couple of times.  He had been Rookie of the Year in 1968, when he went 17-12, 2.05, 1.06 WHIP.  He would get things turned around in 1969, finishing 9-16, 3.83.  He had a couple more solid years with the Yankees, then was traded to the White Sox before the 1972 season.  He won twenty games in 1972 for the only time in his career, going 21-16, 3.60.  He lost twenty-one the next year, going 18-21 (thirty-nine decisions--that's pretty amazing, too), 3.57.  He was with the White Sox into 1975, then played for Oakland, Montreal, California, and Philadelphia before hanging it up after the 1982 season.  His won-lost record is skewed by playing for a lot of bad teams:  146-149, 3.60, 1.33 WHIP.  I'm sure it's not what people hoped for when he won Rookie of the Year, but he was a solid rotation starter for seven seasons, pitching over two hundred innings every season and posting an ERA under four, usually well under four.  That's a pretty valuable pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 26-20, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of Oakland.

BOSTON 5, MINNESOTA 2 IN BOSTON

Date:  Sunday, June 1.

Batting star:  Leo Cardenas was 3-for-3 with a home run (his third) and a double.

Pitching star:  Jerry Crider struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Tony Conigliaro was 4-for-4 with a home run (his tenth) and two doubles, driving in two.  Dalton Jones was 2-for-4 with two doubles.  Rico Petrocelli was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fifteenth) and a walk.  Ray Culp struck out seven in seven innings, giving up two runs on five hits and a walk.  Sparky Lyle pitched two shutout innings, giving up two walks and striking out one.

The game:  The Red Sox threatened in the second, when with one out Petrocelli walked, Conigliaro doubled, and George Scott was intentionally walked.  Russ Gibson popped to the catcher and Culp struck out to end the threat.  Boston again loaded the bases with one out in the third, but this time it paid off.  Dick Schofield was hit by a pitch, Jones doubled, and Reggie Smith drew a walk.  Petrocelli's force out started the scoring and Conigliaro doubled in a run, putting the Red Sox up 2-0.

There was no more scoring until the fifth, when Conigliaro homered to make the score 3-0.  Cardenas answered with a home run of his own in the sixth to cut the margin to 3-1.  With two out in the seventh, Smith singled and Petrocelli homered to boost the Boston lead to 5-1.

The Twins made on last attempt to get back into it in the eighth.  Graig Nettles led off with a walk, and singles by Cardenas and Johnny Roseboro made the score 5-2 with men on first and third and brought Lyle in to pitch.  A wild pitch moved Roseboro to second.  Rich Reese pinch-hit and struck out, but Bob Allison drew a pinch-hit walk, loading the bases and bringing the go-ahead run to the plate in Rod Carew.  Unfortunately, Carew hit into a double play to end the inning.  The Twins got nothing more than a one-out walk in the ninth.

WP:  Culp (9-2).  LP:  Jim Perry (4-2).  S:  Lyle (5).

Notes:  Manuel was again in left and Nettles at third.  As the Twins trailed, there were no defensive substitutions made, but Quilici was used as a pinch-hitter for Nettles in the ninth inning.  I understand that Nettles wasn't a star then, and that it gained a platoon advantage, but Quilici was never a strong batter.  That seems at best a questionable move.

Carew was 0-for-4, dropping his average to .392.  Oliva was 0-for-4 and went down to .305.  Roseboro was 1-for-3 and was batting .303.

Perry started and pitched five innings, giving up three runs on six hits and four walks and striking out three.  His ERA went up to 2.95.  Crider still had not given up a run in three major league appearances (four innings).

I don't really remember Petrocelli as a home run hitter, but he hit 210 of them in a thirteen-year career.  He had three big home run seasons:  1969 (40), 1970 (29), and 1971 (28).  He never topped twenty in any other season.

Ray Culp was another pretty good pitcher for a while.  He was a rookie for Philadelphia in 1963 and had one of the best two seasons of his career at age twenty-one, going 14-11, 2.97, making the all-star team and finishing third in Rookie of the Year voting (behind Pete Rose and Ron Hunt).  He was up and down with the Phillies, having good season in 1963 and 1965 but poor ones in 1964 and 1966.  He was with the Cubs in 1967, then was traded to Boston for Bill Schlesinger, Al Montreuil, and cash.  I hope the Cubs got a lot of cash, because Boston definitely got the best of that deal.  Culp was a solid rotation starter for the Red Sox from 1968-1971, going 64-44, 3.35, never missing a start and pitching between 216 and 252 innings every season.  He made one all-star team, in 1969.  He was with Boston through 1973, but his last two seasons were not good ones.  After baseball, he had a successful career in real estate.  His career numbers were 122-101, 3.58 in eleven seasons (1898.1 innings).

Record:  The Twins were 25-20, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 10, BOSTON 4 IN BOSTON

Date:  Saturday, May 31.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5.  Johnny Roseboro was 3-for-5.  Charlie Manuel was 2-for-3 with a walk and two runs.

Pitching stars:  Dick Woodson pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and four walks and striking out five.  Ron Perranoski struck out two in a perfect inning.

Opposition stars:  Ex-Twin Garry Roggenburk struck out three in three shutout innings, giving up two hits.  Tony Conigliaro was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his ninth.  Carl Yastrzemski was 1-for-4 with a home run (his eleventh) and a walk.

The game:  The Red Sox threatened in the bottom of the first.  Dick Schofield led off the game with a single, and with two out Rico Petrocelli singled and Dalton Jones walked, loading the bases.  Conigliaro struck out to end the threat.

The Twins then broke through for seven runs in the second, taking control of the game right there.  Harmon Killebrew walked, Manuel singled, and Graig Nettles singled home the first run.  An error made it 2-0 and Roseboro singled to make it 3-0.  Following a force out, Ted Uhlaender singled home the fourth run of the inning.  An error loaded the bases, a ground out brought home the fifth run, and Killebrew delivered a two-run double for a 7-0 lead.

Yastrzemski homered in the third to get Boston on the board, but they stranded two runners in the inning.  The Twins got the run back plus another in the fifth, as Manuel walked, Leo Cardenas doubled, and a wild pitch-plus-error brought them both home and made the score 9-1.  In the bottom of the fifth, two walks preceded Conigliaro's three-run homer, cutting the margin to 9-4.

The Twins remained in control, though.  In the sixth, singles by Carew and Oliva and a walk to Killebrew loaded the bases with none out.  Manuel then singled to increase the lead to 10-4.  A strikeout and a double play ended the inning, but it didn't matter, as the Red Sox did not threaten the rest of the game.

WP:  Woodson (3-1).  LP:  Sonny Siebert (4-5).  S:  Perranoski (10).

Notes:  Graig Nettles was at third base in this game, with Manuel in left field.  The standard defensive change of Frank Quilici at third and Cesar Tovar in left was made in the seventh inning.

Woodson was shuttled between the rotation and the bullpen frequently in the first half of 1969.  He made on appearance as a reliever, one as a starter, relieved five times, started twice, made a bullpen appearance, a start, two relief appearances, two starts, a relief appearance, a start, two relief appearances, and three starts.  Finally, on the first of July, he went to the bullpen for the rest of the season.  He did much better as a reliever, going 4-3, 4.61, 1.48 WHIP as a starter and 3-2, 2.75, 1.20 WHIP as a reliever.  From our persepctive It seems like a tough thing to do to a rookie, keep moving him back and forth like that, but it wasn't considered all that important for a pitcher to have a defined role back then.

Carew went 1-for-4 and was batting .403.  Oliva was batting .312.  Manuel was at .311.  Roseboro was batting .303.

The Red Sox used two ex-Twins in relief, Roggenburk and Lee Stange.

Sonny Siebert (given name:  Wilfred Charles Siebert) pitched in the majors for twelve years, almost entirely as a starter.  He came up with Cleveland in 1964 and stayed there until early 1969, when he was traded to Boston.  He had an ERA of under three and a WHIP of under 1.14 each season from 1965-1968.  Even granting that it was "the year of the pitcher", the Indians had a pretty awesome rotation in 1968:  Luis Tiant (21-9, 1.60), Sam McDowell, 15-14, 1.81, Stan Williams, (13-11, 2.50) and Siebert (12-10, 2.97).  Siebert had the highest WHIP of the group at 1.13.  He was not quite as good with the Red Sox, but was still an effective pitcher for them through 1972.  He was traded to Texas early in 1973 and continued to be a solid starter.  He was with St. Louis in 1974 and while his ERA was still decent at 3.84, he had a WHIP of 1.50.  He struggled through a 1975 season with San Diego and Oakland, then was finished.  He made two all-star teams and his final numbers are 140-114, 3.21, 1.21 WHIP.  He also is the last American League pitcher to hit two home runs in a game--he hit twelve in his career, six of them in 1971.  He was a minor league pitching coach for several years.  I'm not nominating him for the Hall of Fame, but he had a pretty solid major league career.  It's kind of sad that hardly anybody remembers him now.

Record:  Minnesota was 25-19, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by two games.

BOSTON 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN BOSTON

Date:  Friday, May 30.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-5 with a double.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and a hit-by-pitch.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his tenth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Dave Boswell struck out eight in five innings, giving up two runs on four hits and no walks.  Bob Miller pitched a perfect inning and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Reggie Smith was 2-for-3.  Jim Lonborg struck out seven in 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on six hits and four walks.

The game:  With one out in the first, Carew singled and Oliva doubled, putting men on second and third.  It went for naught, as Killebrew and Charlie Manuel both fanned.  Boston took advantage of the failure, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first.  Mike Andrews was hit by a pitch, Smith hit a two-out single, and Rico Petrocelli followed with a double to give the Red Sox a 2-0 lead.

Boston missed a chance to add to their lead in the third, as two singles put men on first and third with none out.  A strikeout, a popup, and a strikeout ended the inning.  The Twins got a pair of walks in the fourth that were similarly fruitless.

Minnesota threatened in both the fifth and the sixth.  Carew hit a one-out double in the fifth and Oliva walked, but Killebrew hit into a forceout and Manuel flied to center.  In the sixth, a walk and a hit batsman put men on first and second with two out, but Ted Uhlaender grounded out to end the inning.

The Red Sox got an insurance run in the sixth, as Smith reached second on a single-plus-error and Tony Conigliaro singled him home.  They needed it, because with one out in the seventh, Oliva singled and Killebrew hit a two-run homer, cutting the margin to 3-2.

The Twins had their chances to tie the score.  In the eighth pinch-hitter Rick Renick drew a one-out walk, Carew hit a two-out single, and a wild pitch moved them to second and third.  Oliva struck out to end the inning.  In the ninth, Killebrew drew a leadoff walk and was replaced on the basepath by Jim Perry.  A passed ball moved him to second and a line out to right advanced him to third with one out.  Cesar Tovar grounded to second and pinch-hitter Rich Reese struck out to end the game.

WP:  Lonborg (4-0).  LP:  Boswell (5-6).  S:  Vicente Romo (9).

Notes:  Manuel was back in left field.  Tovar was at third base.

Reese made his first appearance since May 22 when he pinch-hit with two out in the ninth.  Quite a spot to make your return in.

Carew raised his average to .407.  Oliva raised his average to .303.

Dean Chance pitched an inning and a third and allowed an unearned run, lowering his ERA to 2.32.  He would not pitch again until August 1.

Perranoski faced one batter, Dalton Jones, and got him to line into a double play.  His ERA fell to 1.93.

Joe Grzenda had a box score line of 0-0-0-0-0-0.  He faced two batters:  the first reached on an error and the second was hit by a pitch.  Miller came in to retire the side with no damage done.

Miller pitched really well in the month of May.  In 9.1 innings, he gave up no runs on four hits and four walks and struck out four.  His ERA dropped from 4.05 to 1.69 in May.

This was the Twins' third straight loss.  They were 5-10 in their last fifteen games.  They had scored thirty-nine runs in those games.  Fifteen of them came in two games, which means they scored twenty-four runs in the other thirteen games.

Eleven of the fifteen games were on the road.  The Twins would play two more games on the road, then come home for a sixteen-game homestand.  Maybe that's how they did things back then.   That homestand would be followed by a sixteen-game road trip, then a fifteen-game homestand.  They would go on the road for eight, be home for seven, then be back on the road for fifteen.  I don't know if that would be better or worse than they way they do things now.  A sixteen-game road trip would be really long, but a sixteen-game homestand would give you a chance to really get settled in.  It might be better than being on the road for a short time but also being at home for a short time.  I don't know.

Record:  The Twins were 24-19, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by one game.

WASHINGTON 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Wednesday, May 28.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-3 with a double and two walks.  Bob Allison was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.

Pitching star:  Jim Kaat pitched a complete game, giving up four runs on ten hits and four walks and striking out six.

Opposition stars:  Frank Howard was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Hank Allen was 2-for-5 with a double.  Dennis Higgins struck out four in three shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks.

The game:  In the first a single by Ed Brinkman and a walk to Howard put men on first and third with one out.  Future Twin Brant Alyea doubled home one run and a sacrifice fly by Ken McMullen made it 2-0.  In the third, Allen doubled and a pickoff throw from George Mitterwald went into center field, allowing Allen to score and put the Senators up 3-0.

The Twins got on the board in the fourth.  Singles by Carew and Harmon Killebrew were followed by a double by Tony Oliva, making the score 3-1.  With men on second and third and none out, however, the Twins could not score more.  Mitterwald struck out, Cesar Tovar lined to third, and Allison grounded out.  The Twins got a pair of two-out walks in the fifth, but again could do nothing with them.

The Twins tied the score in the sixth.  With one out, MItterwald singled, Tovar doubled, and Allison drove in two with a double.  That was all they got, though, leaving the score tied 3-3.  The Twins had a chance to take the lead in the eighth as well.  With two out, Allison and Ted Uhlaender singled and a wild pitch put them on second and third.  Manager Billy Martin elected not to pinch-hit for Jim Kaat, and the strategy backfired as Kaat struck out to end the inning.

The Twins had yet another chance in the ninth.  Carew hit a one-out double and advanced to third on Killebrew's ground out.  Oliva was intentionally walked, and Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Mitterwald.  But he lined to center, and the game remained tied.

The Twins would pay for their missed opportunities.  In the bottom of the ninth, Mike Epstein drew a one-out walk and Allen hit a two-out single.  Kaat remained in the game to face Howard, and Howard singled home the deciding run.

WP:  Higgins (4-5).  LP:  Kaat (4-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  Uhlaender and Tovar were both in the lineup, and had done the vast majority of the leadoff batting, but in this game Leo Cardenas batted first.  It didn't work, as he went 0-for-4.

Johnny Roseboro must have had some minor injury, as he was again out of the lineup.  Further, when Mitterwald was pinch-hit for, it was Tom Tischinski who went behind the plate.  Roseboro would return to the lineup May 30.

Tovar was again at third base.

Carew was batting .400.  Kaat's ERA is 2.69.

Maybe it's just the difference between 1960s baseball and today's game, but the decision to allow Kaat to bat in the eighth, and leaving him in through the ninth, seems strange.  As we've already discussed, Kaat had a reputation as a good hitter, but he was a good hitter for a pitcher, not an actual good hitter.  And while he was not pitching terribly, he was not exactly dominating the game, either.  Martin had certainly shown no hesitancy to bring Ron Perranoski into games like this in the past, and Perranoski had not pitched since May 25.

Dennis Higgins was a major league reliever from 1966-1972.  His best season was his first one, when as a twenty-six year old rookie he went 1-0, 2.52, 5 saves, 1.07 WHIP for the White Sox.  He was apparently injured much of 1967, and when 1968 came around he had been traded to Washington.  He had a solid year for them, going 4-4, 3.25, 13 saves, 1.27 WHIP.  After that, however, wildness caught up to him.  He continued to post decent ERAs for a couple more years, but his WHIP was over 1.5, leading one to think he may have let in a lot of inherited runners.  In 1969, he went 10-9 (19 decisions out of the bullpen), 3.48, 1.58 WHIP.  He was with Cleveland for 1970 and with St. Louis in 1971-72, although he spent most of his Cardinals years in the minors.  Interestingly (to me, anyway), he is a cousin of ex-Twin Joe Crede.  His major league numbers are 22-23, 3.42, 1.39 WHIP in 410.1 innings (241 games).

Record:  The Twins were 24-18, in first place in the American League West, leading Oakland by one game.

WASHINGTON 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Tuesday, May 27.

Batting stars:  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4.  Rick Renick was 1-for-4 with a home run.

Pitching star:  Jerry Crider pitched 2.1 scoreless innings of relief, giving up one hit and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Brant Alyea was 3-for-4 with a home run (his fifth) and three RBIs.  Barry Moore pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out three.  Paul Casanova was 2-for-4.

The game:  With two out in the bottom of the first, Frank Howard reached on an error and Alyea made the Twins pay with a two-run homer, putting the Senators up 2-0.  The Twins wasted a two-out double from George Mitterwald in the second and also did not score in the third after getting a pair of singles.

Washington added to its lead in the fourth.  With one out, Tim Cullen and Casanova singled.  Moore bunted them up, and Ed Brinkman delivered a two-run single to make the score 4-0 Senators.

Renick got the Twins on the board in the fifth with a leadoff home run.  With two out in the inning Cardenas singled and Harmon Killebrew walked, but Tony Oliva flied out to end the inning with the score still 4-1.  The Senators added one more run in the seventh, and it was Alyea again doing the damage.  With one out, Hank Allen singled and stole second.  Howard was intentionally walked, but Alyea singled the run home to put Washington ahead 5-1.  The Twins did not threaten again.

WP:  Moore (3-1).  LP:  Tom Hall (2-3).  S:  None.

Notes:  It was kind of a B lineup, with many regulars rested.  Cesar Tovar was in center instead of Ted Uhlaender.  Bob Allison was in left, which was not that unusual but Charlie Manuel had been getting the starts there recently.  George Mitterwald caught in place of Johnny Roseboro.  Frank Quilici was at second instead of Rod Carew.  Renick was at third.

Hall apparently had some sort of injury.  He was awesome in his first four appearances of the season (two starts, two in relief), then struggled in his next three starts.  He did not pitch from April 30 to May 23.  He struggled in two more starts, would do well in his next one, then go back to the bullpen, then miss another month.  In this game, he lasted just 3.2 innings, allowing four runs (two earned) on six hits and two walks and striking out one.

Cardenas raised his average to .301.

This was Crider's second major league appearance.  He had not given up a run in three innings.

Dean Chance, who had not pitched since May 17, pitched two innings of mop-up relief in this game.  He would make one more appearance on May 30, then miss the next two months, coming back on August 1.  His ERA was 2.43 at this point.

So who is this Barry Moore that threw a complete game at the Twins?  It turns out he was a fairly decent pitcher for a couple of years, anyway.  He made eleven starts for Washington in 1966 and was 3-3, 3.75, although with a WHIP of 1.51.  He did fairly well in 1967 and then had his best season in 1968, going just 4-6 but with an ERA of 3.37 and a WHIP of 1.34.  He made 18 starts and 14 relief appearances that season.  It looks like he always had control trouble--he only had one season in which his walks per nine innings were less than 4.3.  That was, as one might assume, that best season of 1968, when his walk rate went all the way down to 3.2.  1969 was the only year he had a winning record, at 9-8, but his ERA was up to 4.30 and his WHIP was up to 1.42.  The Senators apparently saw that his effectiveness was at an end and traded him to Cleveland after the season.  He split 1970 between the Indians and the White Sox, pitched in AAA for three seasons, and then was done.  For his career he was 26-37, 4.16, 1.46 WHIP.  He walked 4.5 batters per nine innings and struck out just 4.2.  From 1966-1968, though, he posted an ERA of 3.61 in 323.2 innings.  This was one of eight complete games in his career, four of them coming in 1969.  His only shutout came in 1967 and was also against the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 24-17, in first place in the American League West, one game ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 7, WASHINGTON 1 IN WASHINGTON

Date:  Monday, May 26.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a double.  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with two home runs (his fourth and fifth) and a walk, driving in four.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and no walks and striking out three.

Opposition stars:  Ken McMullen was 3-for-3.  Frank Howard was 2-for-4 with a home run, his fifteenth.  Del Unser was 2-for-4.  Casey Cox pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  The Twins got two walks and a single in the first but did not score due to a double play.  Would this be another game of missed opportunities for the Twins?

No.  In the third, Ted Uhlaender led off with a walk and Carew followed with a two-run homer to put the Twins up 2-0.  They then put together a big inning in the fourth.  Cardenas and Roseboro led off with singles and advanced on a wild pitch, putting them on second and third.  Cesar Tovar delivered a two-run single to make it 4-0.  With one out, Tovar stole second and scored on Uhlaender's single.  Carew then hit another two-run homer, leaving the Twins up 7-0 and in control of the game.

Howard led off the bottom of the fifth with a home run to put Washington on the board.  Their only other threat was in the eighth, when singles by McMullen and Ed Stroud put men on first and second with one out.  Unser and Ed Brinkman each grounded out to end the inning.

WP:  Perry (4-1).  LP:  Joe Coleman (2-5).  S:  None.

Notes:  Charlie Manuel was again in left and Tovar at third.  The defensive switch was made in the seventh, with Frank Quilici taking over at third and Tovar moving to left.

Carew would hit only eight home runs in 1969.  He had 92 in his career, with a season high of fourteen in 1975 and 1977.  I don't have time to look up how many two-homer games he had in his career, but it can't have been very many.

This was Perry's fifth start of the season and his second complete game.  He had joined the rotation on May 22 and would remain there the rest of the season.

Carew was batting .394.  Manuel was 0-for-4 and was batting .321.  Oliva raised his average to .305.  Perry lowered his ERA to 2.70.

Washington starter Joe Coleman lasted just three innings, allowing five runs on five hits and four walks and striking out three.  Coleman, who'd had a solid year in 1968, was struggling at this point in 1969, posting a 2-5 record and an ERA of 4.67.  He would get straightened out, however.  He would post a second-half ERA of 2.84, giving him a final season record of 12-13, 3.27.  His July was particularly impressive--4-2, 1.44, 1.00 WHIP, 51 strikeouts in 50 innings.  He would remain a good rotation starter through 1973, was a rotation starter for two years after that, and pitched out of the bullpen for major league teams through 1979.  His best year was either 1971, when he went 20-9, 3.15, or 1972, when he was 19-14, 2.80.  1972 was when he made his only all-star team.  His highest wins and innings pitched totals were in 1973, when he was 23-15, 3.53 in 288 innings.  His innings pitched total was in the 280s every year from 1971-1974.

Record:  The Twins were 24-16, in first place in the American League West, two games ahead of Oakland.