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.

MINNESOTA 3, NEW YORK 2 IN NEW YORK (GAME 2 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, May 25.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 3-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Charlie Manuel was 2-for-3 with a home run (his second) and a walk.  Rod Carew was 2-for-3 with a double, two walks, and a stolen base (his ninth).

Pitching star:  Dick Woodson struck out nine in eight innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Opposition stars:  Stan Bahnsen struck out six in 5.2 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and five walks.  Johnny Ellis was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.

The game:  The Yankees put men on first and second in the third but did not score.  In the fourth, the Twins loaded the bases with one out as Carew walked, Killebrew doubled, and Manuel was intentionally walked.  They only scored one, as Leo Cardenas hit a fielders' choice and Cesar Tovar grounded out.  Still, it was a 1-0 Minnesota lead.

The Twins again loaded the bases in the fifth, this time with two out.  Woodson hit a one-out single, Carew had a two-out double, and Tony Oliva was intentionally walked.  Killebrew flied out, however, and the Twins did not score.

The Twins got another run in the sixth, but again missed a bigger chance.  Manuel led off with a home run.  Tovar doubled, Johnny Roseboro was intentionally walked, and the two pulled off a double steal of second and third with one out.  It went for naught, however, as Woodson struck out and Ted Uhlaender lined to center.  Still, the score was now 2-0.

The Twins added a run in the seventh.  Carew led off with a single and Oliva bunted him to second.  New York elected to pitch to Killebrew, and he delivered an RBI single to make the score 3-0.

The Yankees got back into it in the ninth.  Jerry Kenney led off with a walk, which resulted in Woodson being pulled in favor of Ron Perranoski.  He walked Bobby Murcer, and a ground out put men on second and third.  Ellis pinch-hit for Jimmie Hall and brought them both home with a single to make it 3-2.  Perranoski came back to strike out Frank Fernandez and get Tom Tresh on a grounder to end the game.

WP:  Woodson (2-1).  LP:  Bahnsen (1-7).  S:  Perranoski (9).

Notes:  Tovar again played third base.  He moved to left in the seventh, replacing Manuel, with Frank Quilici coming in to play third.

Woodson made only ten starts in 1969, coming out of the bullpen thirty-four times.  By game scores, this was his best so far and would be his second-best of the season. It was topped only by a complete game he would pitch on June 19 against California.  His fifth-inning single was one of only two hits (in twenty-seven at-bats) that he would have in 1969.

Carew was now batting .391.  Manuel was now hitting .347.  Woodson's ERA was now 2.85.

Killebrew had been in something of a batting slump.  From an average of .316 on May 4, he was down to .259 prior to this game.  He did not take a prolonged 0-for, but this was only his second multi-hit game since May 7.  Killer's calling card was power, of course, not batting average, but he had not hit for much power, either.  He had hit only one home run since May 9 and his double here was only his third in that span.

The Twins won three of four from the Yankees despite scoring just eight runs.  They out-scored New York by eight to seven in the series.  They had scored just eighteen runs in their last ten games but managed to win four of them.

Record:  The Twins were 23-16, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of Oakland.

MINNESOTA 2, NEW YORK 1 IN NEW YORK (GAME 1 OF DOUBLEHEADER)

Date:  Sunday, May 25.

Batting stars:  George Mitterwald was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Dave Boswell pitched a complete game, giving up one run on three hits and eight walks (!) and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Fritz Peterson pitched seven innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and a walk and striking out two.  Ex-Twin Jimmie Hall was 1-for-2 with two walks.

The game:  There was no score, and really not much of a threat to score, until the bottom of the fifth.  Tom Tresh led off with a walk, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on Horace Clarke's sacrifice fly to put the Yankees up 1-0.

The lead didn't last long.  In the sixth, Boswell helped his own cause (one of the sad things about the DH is that in the American League we no longer get to say a pitcher "helped his own cause") with a one-out double.  Cesar Tovar brought him home with a single-plus-error to tie the score.  Leo Cardenas' bunt single put men on first and third, and Harmon Killebrew brought home the lead run with a sacrifice fly.  The Twins led 2-1.

That's where the score stayed.  Only once did a team advance a man as far as second base the rest of the game.  That came in the seventh, when Yankee catcher Frank Fernandez doubled with two out.  Tresh walked, but Jim Lyttle struck out to end the inning.

WP:  Boswell (5-5).  LP:  Peterson (6-5).  S:  None.

The game:  Tovar started this game in center field, with Bob Allison in left.  Ted Uhlaender came in for defense in the seventh, with Tovar moving to left.  Frank Quilici started at second base, with Rick Renick at third.  Rod Carew came in for defense in the seventh, with Quilici moving to third.  Mitterwald caught, with Johnny Roseboro given the day off.

I hadn't really thought about it much, but another thing deep bullpens and short benches has done is make late-inning defensive changes much less common.  They still happen, but not nearly with the frequency that they used to.  So far, at least, in 1969, Billy Martin routinely put Quilici at third and Tovar in left in the late innings when the Twins were ahead, usually replacing Graig Nettles in left and Rich Reese in the infield (Killebrew would move from third to first).  I wonder if Martin thought Killebrew was a superior defensive first baseman or if he just was reluctant to take his bat out of the lineup, no matter what the score was.

Boswell was never known for great control--his career record is 4.1 walks per nine innings.  Eight was a little extreme, obviously.  Interestingly, he only once walked more than one in an inning in this game, and that was they fifth when the Yankees scored their lone run.  1969 was actually his best year for walks per nine, at 3.5.

The Twins had now scored fifteen runs in their last nine games.  They won three of them.

This was Hall's lone season with the Yankees, and it wasn't even a full season--he was traded to the Cubs in September.  He would struggle through the 1970 season, then he was done.

Fritz Peterson's given name is Fred Ingles Peterson.  Just in case you were wondering.

Record:  The Twins were 22-16, one game ahead of Oakland in the American League West, pending the playing of the second game of the doubleheader.

NEW YORK 3, MINNESOTA 1 IN NEW YORK

Date:  Friday, May 23.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-4 with a double.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his sixth.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bob Miller pitched 1.2 scoreless innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Mel Stottlemyre pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bobby Murcer was 2-for-4.

The game:  Another game of missed opportunities for the Twins.  Uhlaender and Charlie Manuel got one-out singles in the second, but a double play ended the threat.  An error and a Rod Carew single put men on first and third with two out in the third, but a ground out ended the inning.

The Yankees had their first scoring threat in the fourth, and they cashed it in.  Joe Pepitone delivered a two-out single, driving home Murcer with the first run of the game.   The Twins tied it in the sixth, but it really was yet another missed opportunity.  Carew led off with a double and Tony Oliva singled, putting men on first and third with none out.  Harmon Killebrew hit into a double play, scoring the run but killing the rally.

The Yankees went into the lead to stay in the seventh.  Billy Cowan led off with a single and Frank Fernandez drew a one-out walk.  Bill Robinson then had an RBI double, ending Hall's day and bringing in Miller.  He intentionally walked Bobby Cox, but Stottlemyre foiled the plan with a sacrifice fly, making it 3-1.  The Twins did not get a man past first after that.

WP:  Stottlemyre (7-3).  LP:  Hall (2-2).  S:  None.

Notes:  Cesar Tovar was at third base, with Killebrew at first.  Manuel was in left field.

Carew raised his average to .393.  Manuel was 1-for-4 and raised his average to .326.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.

Miller's ERA fell to 1.80.

The Twins had nine hits and a walk, but scored only one run.  They had eight singles and one double.  They hit into three double plays and were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position.  The one hit was Oliva's sixth-inning single, which did not produce a run.

The Twins had lost seven out of eight games.  They had scored nineteen runs in those eight games, eight of them in one game.

In their defense, the Twins continued to face some good pitchers.  Mel Stottlemyre pitched mostly in the Horace Clarke Era of Yankee baseball, so he only got into the post-season once, in 1964, which was his rookie season.  Despite playing for some bad Yankee teams (it feels so good to write the phrase "bad Yankee teams"), he won 21 games in 1968 and 20 in 1969.  He also lost 20 games in 1966 and led the league in losses in 1972 with 18 despite posting an ERA of 3.22.  He led the league in complete games twice, with 18 in 1965 and 24 in 1969.  He made the all-star team five times.  His career won-lost record is 164-139, but his career ERA is 2.97.  He pitched for eleven seasons and does not appear to have lost anything in his last season, 1974, but he tore his rotator cuff and in 1974 there was not a lot that could be done about that.  It's hard to feel sorry for a Yankee, and obviously it's not like he's had a tragic life or anything.  But still, had Stottlemyre not torn his rotator cuff, or had he come up to the Yankees in just about any other era, he might well be in the Hall of Fame.

Record:  The Twins were 20-16, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.

BALTIMORE 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Thursday, May 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Rod Carew was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Ted Uhlaender was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched six innings, giving up two runs on five hits and one walk and striking out five.  Bob Miller retired all four men he faced.

Opposition stars:  Frank Robinson was 3-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth), scoring twice and driving in two.  Marcelino Lopez pitched five shutout innings of relief, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out three.  Dick Hall pitched two shutout innings, giving up three hits and a walk.  Ed Watt pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.

The game:  It was another game of missed opportunities for the Twins.  It started well, as their first five batters reached base.  Uhlaender singled, Carew walked, Oliva and Harmon Killebrew delivered RBI singles, and Charlie Manuel walked.  Five batters into the game, the Twins led 2-0 and had the bases loaded with none out.  And that was all the runs they would get for the game.  Baltimore starter Jim Hardin was removed after the first four batters.  Lopez came in and walked Manuel, but Graig Nettles was caught looking and Leo Cardenas hit into a double play.

For a while it looked like that might be enough.  The Orioles put two on with two out in the second but did not score.  The Twins put men on first and third with none out in the third but did not score.  Baltimore had the bases loaded with two out in the fourth but did not score.  So the score was still 2-0 through five.

Robinson put the Orioles on the board in the sixth, leading off the inning with a home run.  Boog Powell followed with a double but was stranded, so the Twins still led 2-1.  The Twins missed another chance to add to the lead in the seventh.  They started the inning with two singles and a walk but lost a runner on the base paths and a Killebrew double play ended the inning.

It all fell apart in the bottom of the seventh.  After Mark Belanger led off with a double, Perry was replaced by Ron Perranoski, and for the first time all season Perranoski simply didn't have it.  They didn't pound the ball, but Don Buford, Paul Blair, and Robinson all singled, giving Baltimore a 3-2 lead.  A run scored on a ground out, Elrod Hendricks and Brooks Robinson each walked, and Dave Johnson hit a two-run single that made the score 6-2.  Miller came in to retire Belanger on a ground out to end the inning, but the damage had been done.  The Twins did not get a man past first base after that.

WP:  Hall (3-1).  LP:  Perranoski (3-2).  S:  Watt (4).

Notes:  Carew raised his average to .381.  Manuel was 1-for-3 with a walk and was batting .333.  Oliva raised his average to .301.  Johnny Roseboro was 1-for-2 and was batting .300.

Perranoski's ERA jumped from 0.59 to a still good 1.74.  Miller's ERA fell to 2.04.

In the fourth, Roseboro beat out a bunt single and was forced at second.  He was replaced by George Mitterwald in the bottom of the inning, so one assumes he was injured, or at least shaken up a little.  He would be back in the lineup the next day.

The Twins had eleven hits and three walks, but only scored two runs.  Ten of the hits were singles, with the other being a double.  They stranded ten and were 2-for-9 with men in scoring position.  They hit into two double plays.

Nettles started at third base but was pinch-hit for in the third inning by Cesar Tovar.  It gained a platoon advantage, but it seems very early in the game to use a pinch-hitter.  Men were on first and third with one out--perhaps Billy Martin was getting frustrated with the missed opportunities.  It didn't work, as Tovar struck out.

With one out and a man on third in the seventh, Hall intentionally walked Oliva to bring up Killebrew.  It makes some sense, but I suspect there weren't too many times in Killebrew's career that the batter in front of him was intentionally walked.  It worked, as Harmon hit into a 5-4-3 double play.

One wonders if Hardin had something wrong with him, only pitching to four batters, or if Earl Weaver just had that quick of a hook.  Hardin had struggled in April, but pitched quite well in three appearances (two starts) in May.  He would not pitch again until June 8, though, making one think there may have been a physical problem involved.

Record:  The Twins were 20-15, in second place in the American League West, one game behind Oakland.

BALTIMORE 4, MINNESOTA 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Wednesday, May 21.

Batting stars:  Johnny Roseboro was 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5 and scored twice.

Pitching stars:  Dick Woodson struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk.  Bob Miller pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Frank Robinson was 3-for-4 with a double.  Boog Powell was 2-for-4.  Don Buford was 1-for-2 with two walks and two RBIs.  Pete Richert struck out three in two perfect innings.

The game:  An error, a single, and a force out plated a run for the Twins in the top of the first.  The Twins had the bases loaded with one out in the second, but Cesar Tovar fouled out and Tony Oliva flied to left.  The Orioles also had the bases loaded with one out in the second, but after a Tom Phoebus strikeout, Buford delivered a two-run single to put the Orioles up 2-1.

The Twins wasted a leadoff double by Harmon Killebrew in the third.  It cost them again, because Baltimore added to its lead in the bottom of the third.  With one out Robinson doubled and scored on a Powell single to make the score 3-1.

The Twins cut into the lead in the fifth, but again missed a chance for more.  They had men on second and third with one out, but a Charlie Manuel sacrifice fly was all the damage they could do, making the score 3-2.  In the bottom of the fifth, Paul Blair doubled and scored on Robinson's single to put the Orioles up 4-2.

Ted Uhlaender had an RBI single in the sixth to cut the margin to 4-3, but they again missed a chance for more.  They had the bases loaded with one out again, but Oliva hit into a forceout at home and Killebrew struck out.

The Twins again threatened in the eighth, but again came up empty.  Johnny Roseboro walked and Rich Reese delivered a pinch-hit single, putting men on first and second with none out.  Uhlaender struck out, however, and Tovar hit into a double play to end the inning.  The Twins went down in order in the ninth.

WP:  Phoebus (5-0).  LP:  Dave Boswell (4-5).  S:  Richert (4).

Notes:  Tovar was at second base, replacing Rod Carew.  Carew was out of the lineup for the second straight game but again entered the game as a substitute, this time as a pinch-hitter.  He would be back in the lineup the next day.

Manuel was in left field, with Graig Nettles at third base and Harmon Killebrew at first.  Reese was used as a pinch-hitter, his first appearance since May 14.  He would pinch-hit again in the next game, but then would be out until May 30 and would not start again until June 9.

Boswell pitched just 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on six hits and three walks and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski faced just one man, Powell, and got him to hit into a double play, dropping his ERA to 0.59.  Miller had his ERA fall to 2.25.

Jerry Crider made his major league debut in this game.  He came in with the Twins trailing 4-2, men on first and second, and one out.  He struck out Andy Etchebarren and got Brooks Robinson out on a liner to left.  This would be his only season with the Twins.  He would go 1-0, 4.71 with one save in 21 games.  He would appear in 32 games for the White Sox in 1970, but that would be it for his major league career.  He was born and raised in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  As a youth, he pitched on three South Dakota state champion American Legion teams and also pitched Humboldt, South Dakota to its only state amateur baseball championship before signing with the Twins.

Tom Phoebus wasn't in the McNally/McLain/Lolich class, but he was still a fine pitcher for four seasons, 1967-1970.  Over those seasons, he was 48-36, 3.10 in 123 starts.  It looks like he must have been injured in 1970, however, as he made only 21 starts despite posting a 3.07 ERA.  I could not quickly find what the injury was, but it looks like a turning point in his career.  He never had a good year again.  He was traded to San Diego before the 1971 campaign and went 3-11, 4.46.  He was sold to the Cubs in early 1972 and had a good year out of the bullpen for them, but that was the end of his career.  For four years, though, he was a fine pitcher.

Record:  The Twins were 20-14, in second place, in the American League West, a half game behind Oakland.