Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Eighty-five

MINNESOTA 6, BALTIMORE 3 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Saturday, July 18.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a home run (his thirteenth) and three runs.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his twenty-ninth.  Frank Quilici was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out four.  Ron Perranoski pitched 2.1 innings, giving up three hits and a walk and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Frank Robinson was 4-for-5.  Don Buford was 3-for-5 with a home run (his eleventh), a double, and two runs.  Paul Blair was 2-for-5.

The game:  Oliva led off the second with a single and went to third on a Brant Alyea double.  He was then picked off third base, but a throwing error allowed him to score and give the Twins a 1-0 lead.  The Orioles got the run back in the bottom of the second when Brooks Robinson singled, went to second on Dave Johnson's walk, and scored on a Mark Belanger single.  Baltimore took a 2-1 lead in the third on Buford's leadoff home run.

It stayed 2-1 until the sixth.  Reese led of the inning with a single and Killebrew hit a two-run homer to put the Twins up 3-2.  Oliva followed with a single.  The next two batters went out, but Quilici hit a two-run homer to give the Twins a 5-2 lead.

The Orioles scored in the seventh when Buford doubled and scored on Frank Robinson's single.  Oliva got the run back for the Twins in the eighth when he led off the inning with a home run, making it 6-3.

Baltimore did not quit.  Buford led off with a bunt single, but was erased on a double play.  Still, Boog Powell and Frank Robinson singled, bringing Brooks Robinson up to bat as the tying run.  He flied out to right field, however, and the game went to the Twins.

WP:  Perry (14-7).

LP:  Dave McNally (12-7).

S:  Perranoski (22).

Notes:  Quilici was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Tom Tischinski was at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.  Brant Alyea was back in the lineup, his first start since July 4.  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in left in the sixth inning.  Danny Thompson replaced Killebrew at third in the seventh.

Tischinski was 1-for-4 and was batting .333.  Killebrew was batting .325.  Oliva was batting .324.  Cesar Tovar was 0-for-5 and was batting .309.  Perry was 1-for-3 and was batting .309.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.50.

Quilici was batting .191.  This game featured the fourth of his five career home runs.  His season high was two.

Killebrew had hit a home run in five consecutive games.

Perranoski had pitched three innings in the previous game and pitched 2.1 innings in this game.  When men were men.

Record:  The Twins were 56-29, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.  They still had the best record in the American League, but were still well behind the Big Red Machine (64-27).

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Eighty-four

MINNESOTA 6, BALTIMORE 5 IN BALTIMORE (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, July 17.

Batting stars:  Tom Tischinski was 2-for-2 with three walks and two runs.  Jim Holt was 2-for-3.  Rich Reese was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer, his seventh.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with a home run (his twenty-eighth) and two runs.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched a scoreless inning, walking one and striking out one.  Ron Perranoski pitched three shutout innings, walking one and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mark Belanger was 3-for-5.  Elrod Hendricks was 2-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.  Paul Blair was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Dave Johnson was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his seventh), two walks, two runs, and two RBIs.  Mike Cuellar pitched 6.2 innings, giving up three runs on six hits and three walks and striking out three.

The game:  The Orioles opened the first with a Don Buford single and a Blair double, putting men on second and third with none out, but only scored once on a ground out.  Each team threatened in the second but did not score.  The Twins loaded the bases in the fourth, the second time they had done so, but again did not score.  Baltimore loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth on a walk to Johnson and singles by Hendricks and Belanger, but again only scored once on a ground out, leaving them up 2-0.  It went to 3-0 in the sixth when Hendricks homered.

The Twins came back in the seventh.  Tischinski and Tovar singled and Reese hit a two-out three-run homer to tie it 3-3.  The Orioles grabbed the lead right back in the bottom of the seventh when Frank Robinson was hit by a pitch and Johnson hit a two-run homer, making it 5-3.

Killebrew homered in the eighth to cut the lead to 5-4.  In the ninth, Tischinski walked, went to second on a passed ball, and scored on a Tovar single, tying the score 5-5.

Killebrew led off the tenth with a single.  With one out, Perranoski bunted and was safe on a fielder's choice, putting men on first and second.  With two out Tischinski delivered an RBI single to give the Twins their first lead of the game.  It was the only lead they needed, as Baltimore went down in order in the bottom of the tenth.

WP:  Perranoski (6-2).

LP:  Ed Watt (2-6).

S:  None.

Notes:  Charlie Manuel was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Jim Holt was in center, with Tovar moving to second base.  Tischinski was at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.

Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Kaat in the seventh.  Danny Thompson pinch-hit for Manuel in the eighth and stayed in the game at second base, with Tovar moving to center field.  Alyea pinch-hit for Holt in the eighth.  Bob Allison went to left.  Frank Quilici went to second base in the tenth, with Thompson moving to third and Killebrew coming out of the game.

Tischinski was batting .375.  Killebrew was batting .326.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-5 and was batting .319.  Tovar was batting .314.  Bill Zepp gave up three runs in five innings and had an ERA of 2.80.  Stan Williams allowed two runs in an inning and had an ERA of 1.64.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.55.

Manuel was 0-for-2 and was batting .150.  Allison was 0-for-2 and was batting .174.

Kaat was once again used in relief.  Someone in the starting rotation being used in relief on consecutive days is certainly not something you see very often.  He would go back to starting three days later and would not appear in relief again until September.

This was Tischinski's only multi-hit game of the season.  He raised his average from .167 to .375.

Oddly, Bill Rigney did not pinch-run for either Tischinski in the ninth, when he represented the tying run, or for Killebrew in the tenth, when he represented the go-ahead run.  Not pinch-running for Killebrew is understandable--it was a tie game, and you might need Harmon's bat if the game continued.  But not running for Tischinski in the ninth, when you needed to pull out all the stops to tie the game, seems strange.  Quilici was still on the bench, available for use, but he was not used.  Rigney got away with it, but it's hard to think it was the right thing to do.

Record:  The Twins were 55-29, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

 

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Eighty-three

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 1 IN BALTIMORE

Date:  Thursday, July 15.

Batting stars:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a home run, his twenty-seventh.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Stan Williams pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

Opposition stars:  Mike Cuellar pitched a complete game, giving up one run on nine hits and three walks and striking out four.  Boog Powell was 1-for-2 with a home run (his twenty-fourth), a walk, and two RBIs.

The game:  The Twins had men on second and third with one out in the first, but Cesar Tovar was thrown out at the plate on a grounder to third to end the inning.  The Orioles then scored the game's first run in the bottom of the first when Don Buford singled, went to second on Paul Blair's bunt single, took third on a ground out, and scored on a passed ball.

The Twins had two on with none out in the second, but a double play took them out of the inning.  Baltimore took it to 2-0 in the third when Blair singled, went to third on Frank Robinson's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.

The Twins got on the board in the sixth when Killebrew homered, but the Orioles came back with three in the bottom of the sixth.  Powell led off the inning with a home run.  Brooks Robinson walked, Dave Johnson reached on an error, and Andy Etchebarren hit a two-run double, making it 5-1 Baltimore.

The Twins did not get a man past first base after that.

WP:  Cuellar (12-5).

LP:  Tom Hall (5-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Bob Allison was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Alyea and Rick Renick pinch-hit for pitchers.  Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Alyea.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Renick.

Killebrew was batting .325.  Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .324.  Tovar was 1-for-5 and was batting .313.  Hall gave up four runs (three earned) in five innings and had an ERA of 2.30.  Dick Woodson gave up an unearned run in a third of an inning and had an ERA of 2.63.  Williams had an ERA of 1.39.

Jim Kaat was again used in relief, giving up no runs in two-thirds of an inning.  It's hard to understand why, with a rested bullpen, it was necessary to use Kaat, but there it is.  In fact, I really don't understand why Hall started the first game off the all-star game ahead of Kaat, although I will admit he had a much better ERA.

The Twins stranded nine and were 0-for-5 with men in scoring position.

Record:  The Twins were 54-29, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: All-star Game

NATIONAL LEAGUE 5, AMERICAN LEAGUE 4 IN CINCINNATI (12 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, July 14.

Twins:  Harmon Killebrew started at third base and went 1-for-2 with a walk.  Tony Oliva was a reserve outfielder and went 1-for-2 with a double and a walk.  Jim Perry struck out three in two innings, giving up one run on one hit and one walk.

The game:  Neither team got a man to third base for five innings.  In the sixth, Ray Fosse led off with a single, was bunted to second, and scored on a Carl Yastrzemski single to give the Americans a 1-0 lead.  It went to 2-0 in the seventh, as Brooks Robinson hit a one-out single, Oliva walked, Dave Johnson got an infield single, and Fosse hit a sacrifice fly.

The Nationals got on the board in the bottom of the seventh.  Bud Harrelson singled, Cito Gaston walked, and Denis Menke was hit by a pitch, loading the bases with none out.  Willie McCovey hit into a double play, but a run scored to make it 2-1.

The Americans took what looked like a commanding lead in the eighth.  Yastrzemski and Willie Horton singled, and Robinson hit a two-out triple, scoring them both and making the score 4-1.  In the bottom of the ninth, however, Dick Dietz led off with a home run.  Harrelson singled, Joe Morgan hit a one-out single, McCovey had an RBI single, and Roberto Clemente hit a sacrifice fly, tying it 4-4.

It stayed 4-4 until the twelfth.  With two out, Pete Rose and Billy Grabarkewitz singled, putting men on first and second.  Jim Hickman then delivered an RBI single to win the game for the Nationals.

WP:  Claude Osteen,

LP:  Clyde Wright

S:  None.

Notes:  As you probably know, the game ended on the famous (or infamous) play in which Rose ran over Fosse.  It's not really accurate to say the play ended Fosse's career--he was a starter for two more seasons and a part-time catcher for five seasons after that.  It clearly affected his career, of course.  People have debated endlessly whether what Rose did was a hard-nosed play or a cheap shot.  To a large extent, it depends on what you think of Pete Rose.

There were four pitchers who pitched three innings in this game and four more who pitched two innings.  Someone pitching two innings in the all-star game is rare these days.  Three is unheard of.  We could debate whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.  Subjectively, though, I think the game was more fun when the starting pitcher threw three innings.

Rod Carew clearly would have been an all-star had he not been injured.

Two players for the Americans played the entire game:  Luis Aparicio and Yastrzemski.  Dave Johnson played ten innings, coming out as part of a double switch.

As these rewinds are for the Twins, we usually have just American League players.  I thought it might be fun to do the all-star game, to hear some great National League names again, too. I hope you enjoyed it.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Eighty-two

CALIFORNIA 6, MINNESOTA 2 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Sunday, July 12.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 3-for-4 with a walk.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-5.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his twenty-sixth) and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched 1.2 perfect innings and struck out one.  Stan Williams retired all five men he faced and struck out one.

Opposition stars:  Alex Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-4 with a triple, two runs, and two RBIs.  Tom Bradley pitched four shutout innings, giving up five hits and two walks and striking out two.

The game:  It started well.  With two out in the top of the first, Oliva walked and Killebrew hit a home run, putting the Twins up 2-0.  Unfortunately, as you can tell by the final score above, those are the only runs the Twins would get.

It held up for a while.  In the fourth, however, Roger Repoz led off with a triple and scored on Fregosi's single.  Johnson walked and Jim Spencer's RBI single tied the score.  Ken McMullen then hit a two-run double, giving the Angels a 4-2 lead.  They scored two more in the fifth when Sandy Alomar walked, Fregosi hit an RBI triple, and Johnson followed with a run-scoring single, making it 6-2 California.

The Twins got two on with two out in the third, but did not get two men on again until there were two out in the eighth.  They had two men on with none out in the ninth, but two of the next three batters fanned and the third lined to short, and the game was over.

WP:  Dave LaRoche (2-0).

LP:  Jim Perry (13-7).

S:   Andy Messersmith (2).

Notes:  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Tom Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Tischinski in the seventh.  Herman Hill and Rick Renick pinch-hit for pitchers.  Tom Hall pinch-ran for Renick.

Oliva was batting .327.  Killebrew was batting .322.  Tovar was batting .314.  Perry was 0-for-2 and was batting .308.  Williams had an ERA of 1.44.

Tischinski was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .105.  Dave Boswell pitched a third of an inning without giving up a run and had an ERA of 6.19.

Twins starter Perry pitched just three innings, allowing four runs on six hits and a walk and striking out two.  Angels starter Tom Murphy pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out none.

This was the last game before the all-star break, which apparently led Bill Rigney to decide he could use a couple of starters in relief.  Why he didn't instead decide he could use more of his relief pitchers in relief, I don't know.  I especially wonder why he thought it was a good idea to use Boswell in relief, when he'd been dealing with an injury all season.  This was the first time he had pitched since July 4 and he would not pitch again until July 21.  He would make only three more appearances before being shut down for the season.

Hill would be sent back to AAA after this game and would not return until September.

I've said this before, but I still think, in these days of short benches, it would be good to train a couple of pitchers to be pinch-runners.

Messersmith had pitched a complete game two days earlier, on July 10, and then was used as the closer in this game.  He was having a good season as a starter, but he would be sent to the bullpen in mid-August anyway, and continue to pitch well.

The Twins split the series with the Angels.  They missed a chance to really put California away, but there's nothing wrong with a split on the road, and the Twins still went into the all-star break with a solid lead.

Record:  The Twins were 54-28, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Eighty

CALIFORNIA 2, MINNESOTA 1 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Friday, July 10.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-2 with a double and two walks.

Pitching stars:  Jim Kaat pitched six innings, giving up two runs on seven hits and two walks and striking out two.  Stan Williams struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up two hits.

Opposition stars:  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer. his fifteenth.  Jarvis Tatum was 2-for-4.  Andy Messersmith struck out thirteen in a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and three walks.

The game:  All the scoring came in the first inning.  For the Twins, Jim Holt hit a one-out single and scored on Killebrew's two-out double.  For the Angels, Tatum hit a one-out single followed by Fregosi's two-run homer.

And that was it.  California opened the fourth with a pair of singles, but a fly out and a double play ended the inning.  In the fifth Cesar Tovar drew a one-out walk and went to second on a wild pitch, but there he stayed.  The Angels loaded the bases with one out in the sixth, but again a double play took them out of the inning.  They got two on in the seventh with one out but did not cash it in.  The Twins got a man on in the eighth and again in the ninth, but did not advance him past first base.

WP:  Messersmith (8-8).

LP:  Kaat (7-7).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Danny Thompson remained at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Herman HIll and Rick Renick were used as pinch-hitters for pitchers.

Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .326.  Killebrew was batting .321.  Tovar was 0-for-3 and was batting .311.  Williams had an ERA of 1.48.

Hill was 0-for-1 and was batting .111.

It's not exactly rare, but it is unusual to have a game in which all the runs are scored in the first inning.  I'm sure this is nowhere near the record for most runs scored in a game like that, but I do wonder what the record is.

Neither team got a hit with a man in scoring position.  The Twins were 0-for-3 and California was 0-for-6.

I don't remember Fregosi as a power hitter, but he hit double-digit home runs six times.  His high was 22, set in 1970.  He hit 151 homers in his career.

1970 was the one year Jarvis Tatum got some decent playing time.  He got 181 at-bats in 75 games, batting .238/.302/.276.  An outfielder, he started 44 of those 75 games.  He stole 99 bases in the minors, so he presumably had some speed and was considered a good defender.  He hit for a decent average in AAA and hit some home runs in the Pacific Coast League, but it didn't translate to major league success.  He is one of two major league players with the first name "Jarvis", the other being ex-Twin Jarvis Brown.

The loss snapped a five-game winning streak for the Twins.

Record:  The Twins were 53-27, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-nine

MINNESOTA 4, CALIFORNIA 2 IN CALIFORNIA

Date:  Thursday, July 9.

Batting stars:  Rick Renick was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his seventh). and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched six innings, giving up two runs on six hits and a walk and striking out five.  Tom Hall struck out five in three perfect innings.

Opposition stars:  Jim Spencer was 2-for-3.  Jim Fregosi was 2-for-4.  Rudy May pitched 6.1 innings, giving up two runs on five hits and three walks and striking out four.

The game:  The Angels scored two in the first inning.  Sandy Alomar singled, stole second, and scored on a one-out single by Fregosi.  Singles by Alex Johnson and Spencer brought home another run, making it 2-0 California.

The Twins got on the board in the second.  Tony Oliva singled and scored from first on Renick's double, cutting the lead to 2-1.  The Angels opened the fourth with a pair of singles but did not score, so it was still 2-1 until the seventh.  Renick led off with a single and went to second on a ground out, leading to an intentional walk to Cardenas.  Rich Reese then delivered a pinch-hit single, tying the score at two.

It stayed 2-2 until the ninth.  With two out Hall singled and Cardenas followed with a two-run homer, putting the Twins up 4-2.  California did not get a hit after the inning-opening singles in the fourth.

WP:  Hall (5-2).

LP:  Eddie Fisher (3-3).

S:  None.

Notes:  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .330.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .316.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .316.  Blyleven had an ERA of 2.45.  Hall had an ERA of 2.11.

The Twins started the game with Jim Perry batting third in the lineup and listed as the left fielder, with Bob Allison at first base.  As the Twins were on the road, Perry was scheduled to be the third batter of the game.  He wasn't, of course--Killebrew pinch-hit for him and stayed in the game at first base, with Allison moving to left.  There must be a story behind that, but I have no idea what it is.

Reese pinch-hit for George Mitterwald and Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for Blyleven in the seventh.  Both stayed in the game, with Reese going to first (moving Killebrew to third, Renick to left field, and Allison leaving the game) and Ratliff going behind the plate.  Herman Hill came in to play center field in the ninth, with Tovar moving to left and Renick leaving the game.

It's interesting that Hall was allowed to bat in the ninth inning of a tie game.  He had pitched two perfect innings, and there were two out and none on, both of which probably affected the decision.  Also, the Twins didn't have a lot of bench players left at this point.  What's even more remarkable is that it paid off, as Hall got a hit in front of Cardenas' home run.  Hall was not a good batter--.161/.191/.172 in 192 career at-bats.  But he came through here.

It's also interesting that Bill Rigney seems to have stopped pulling Killebrew for defense late in games.  Frank Quilici, his usual defensive replacement, was still on the team, and Danny Thompson had taken over second base, so Quilici was still available.  But Killebrew was being allowed to stay in the games.

This was the first of a four-game series with the Angels going into the all-star break.  A sweep would put a lot of space between the Twins and California.  The Twins had won five in a row, ten of eleven, and twelve of fourteen.

Record:  The Twins were 53-26, in first place in the American League West, six games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-eight

MINNESOTA 8, OAKLAND 6 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Wednesday, July 8.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 4-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 3-for-4 with two doubles and two runs.  Danny Thompson was 2-for-5 with two runs.  Rich Reese was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixth.

Pitching stars:  None.

Opposition stars:  Sal Bando was 4-for-4 with a double and three runs.  Don Mincher was 2-for-4.  Reggie Jackson was 2-for-4.  Dave Duncan was 1-for-4 with a three-run homer, his eighth.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the first when Tovar singled and Oliva hit a two-run homer.  The Athletics got on the board in the second when Bando singled, went to third on Jackson's single, and scored on a sacrifice fly.  They tied it in the fourth when Bando doubled and scored on Mincher's single.

The Twins got the lead back in the sixth.  Thompson reached third on a single-plus-error, scored on a sacrifice fly, and then Reese homered to make it 4-2.  They added two more in the seventh.  Cardenas led off with an infield single.  He had only gotten to second with two out, but then Jim Perry walked and Thompson and Oliva had run-scoring singles, making it 6-2.  The Twins got one more in the eighth when Cardenas doubled and scored on a Perry single, and one more in the ninth when Oliva singled, went to second on a ground out, and scored on a Frank Quilici double.

So it was 8-2 going to the bottom of the ninth, and Perry had given up just one hit since the fourth.  But with one out Bando, Jackson, and Mincher all singled, making it 8-3, and Duncan hit a three-run homer, making the Twins' lead just 8-6.  Ron Perranoski came in and walked Felipe Alou.  Frank Fernandez fanned, but Bert Campaneris singled, bringing the winning run to the plate in Joe Rudi.  But he grounded out and the Twins held on for the victory.

WP:  Perry (13-6).

LP:  Catfish Hunter (13-6).

S:  Perranoski (20).

Notes:  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Rick Renick was at third base in place of Harmon Killebrew, who got his first day off of the season.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Quilici replaced Renick in the eighth, with Quilici going to second and Thompson moving to third.

Oliva was batting .331.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .314.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.65.

Quilici was 1-for-1 and was batting .188.

Perry pitched very well for eight innings, but his like was 8.1 innings, six runs, eleven hits, one walk, and three strikeouts.

Hunter pitched 6.2 innings, giving up six runs on eight hits and one walk and striking out two.

I don't suppose it's all that rare, but it does seem somewhat unusual to have both starters give up six runs.

This was the third four-hit game for Oliva in 1970.

The Twins had won four in a row, nine of ten, and eleven of thirteen.

Record:  The Twins were 52-26, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-seven

MINNESOTA 4, OAKLAND 2 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Tuesday, July 7.

Batting star:  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-3 with a double, a walk, and three RBIs.

Pitching stars:  Tom Hall struck out six in four innings, giving up two runs on five hits and two walks and striking out six.  Stan Williams pitched five shutout innings, giving up two hits and two walks and striking out two.

Opposition stars:  Joe Rudi was 3-for-3 with a walk.  Sal Bando was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his seventeenth) and two walks.  Mudcat Grant pitched 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.

The game:  Neither team threatened until the fourth, when the Twins had two on with one out but did not score.  In the bottom of the fourth Rudi walked and Bando hit a two-run homer to give the Athletics a 2-0 lead.  Tommy Davis followed with a double and Don Mincher singled, putting men on first and third with one out, but they did not score.

The Twins came back in the fifth.  Leo Cardenas and Danny Thompson started the inning with singles.  Hall hit into a force out at third base.  Cesar Tovar was hit by a pitch, loading the bases, and Jim Holt hit a sacrifice fly to bring home the first Twins run.  Tony Oliva walked, loading the bases again, and Killebrew delivered a three-run double, putting the Twins up 4-2.

That was it for scoring.  Oakland loaded the bases with two out in the sixth but did not score.  They did not put a man past first after that.

WP:  Williams (6-0).

LP:  Chuck Dobson (7-10).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Alyea pinch-hit for Ratliff in the fifth, with Mitterwald going behind the plate in the next inning.

Oliva was 0-for-2 and was batting .322.  Killebrew was batting .317.  Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .315.  Hall had an ERA of 2.24.  Williams had an ERA of 1.53.

I suspect Hall must have had a slight injury or illness.  Not only was four innings a quick hook when he had given up just two runs, but Hall batted in the top of the fifth and then was replaced by Williams.  If he was injured or ill, it must have been minor, because he pitched in relief just two days later.

This was Rudi's first full season in the majors, and he took advantage of it, batting .309 with an OPS of .821.  He didn't really become a star until 1972, but he was already a good player.

In addition to Grant, another ex-Twin who played in this game was Jim Roland.  He faced one man in the fifth, Rich Reese, and walked him.  Roland was still a fine reliever in 1970, going 3-3, 2.70, 2 saves, 1.18 WHIP.  He continued to pitch well the following season, but had a poor 1972 and then was done at age twenty-nine.

The Twins had now won three in a row and eight out of nine.

Record:  The Twins were 51-26, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.  They still had the best record in the American League, but were well behind the Big Red Machine, which was 59-23 in the National League.

 

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Seventy-six

MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN OAKLAND

Date:  Monday, July 6.

Batting star:  Cesar Tovar was 3-for-5 with a stolen base, his nineteenth.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched 6.1 innings, giving up one run on three hits and five walks and striking out one.  Ron Perranoski struck out five in 2.2 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Diego Segui pitched four innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and three walks and striking out three.  Bob Locker pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk and striking out one.   Mudcat Grant struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  The Twins got a man to third with one out in the first but did not score.  In the second, Sal Bando walked and Tommy Davis was hit by a pitch.  A double play moved Bando to third and Dave Duncan's RBI single put the Athletics ahead 1-0.

The Twins tied it in the third.  Tovar hit a one-out single, and two-out singles by Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew produced a run.  In the fourth Leo Cardenas walked and two-out singles by Zepp and Tovar produced a run, putting the Twins ahead 2-1.

And that was it for scoring.  Oakland had their chances.  They had men on first and third in the fifth.  They had a man on second with one out in the sixth.  They had men on first and second with two out in the seventh.  But none of them scored, and the Twins took a 2-1 victory.

WP:  Zepp (4-0).

LP:  Segui (3-5).

S:  Perranoski (19).

Notes:  Danny Thompson was at second base in place of Rod Carew.  Jim Holt was in left in place of Brant Alyea.  Oddly, in a one-run game, the Twins did not put in a defensive substitute for Killebrew.

Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .325.  Tovar was batting .316.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .313.  Zepp had an ERa of 2.53.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.67,

It was Zepp's first start since May 30.  He would stay in the rotation until almost the end of the season.  Bill Rigney was obviously not concerned about "stretching him out", as he pitched 6.1 innings.

John McNamara had a pretty quick hook on Segui, pulling him one batter into the fifth inning when he had given up just two runs.  He had allowed a lot of baserunners (nine), and maybe McNamara thought he'd pushed his luck as far as he could.  It was only Segui's fourth start of the season, as he'd been in the bullpen earlier.  He'd gone seven innings in each of his first two starts, so again, "stretching him out" doesn't seem to have been a concern.  He'd gone only 1.1 innings in his third start, and gave up four runs, so maybe the manager just didn't have much confidence in him.

Ex-Twin Mudcat Grant was having an excellent year out of the Oakland bullpen.  After this game his ERA was 0.87.  To no one's surprise, he couldn't do that over the whole season, but he ended up 8-3, 24 saves, 1.86 ERA, 1.06 WHIP.  He also ended up in Pittsburgh, as he was traded in mid-September.

Also playing for Oakland was ex-Twin Don Mincher.  He went 0-for-4 and was batting just .228.  He would raise that to .248 by season's end, and would hit 27 home runs.

The next-to-last batter of the game was a pinch-hitter named Tony LaRussa.  I suppose I've heard that LaRussa played in the majors, but I didn't know anything about his career.  As it turns out, there's not much to know.  He first came up to the Kansas City Athletics as an eighteen-year-old and was used mostly as a pinch-runner/defensive replacement, going 11-for-44 in 34 games.  He did not make it back to the majors until 1968.  1970 is when he got most of his big league playing time, batting .198/.301/.255 in 52 games (106 at-bats).  For his career he batted .199/.292/.250 in 132 games (176 at-bats).

The Twins had won seven of eight games.  This was the first of a ten-game road trip that would take them to Oakland, California, and Baltimore.  The Baltimore leg of the trip would come after the all-star break.

Record:  The Twins were 50-26, in first place in the American League West, four games ahead of California.