Tag Archives: Minnesota Twins

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-six

CALIFORNIA 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Friday, April 22.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4.  Rick Renick was 1-for-4 with a home run, his second.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched 6.1 innings, giving up three runs on five hits and two walks and striking out three.  Stan Williams struck out three in two shutout innings, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Ken McMullen was 1-for-3 with a home run (his fourth) and a walk.  Jim Spencer was 1-for-4 with a home run, his third.  Clyde Wright pitched 7.1 innings, giving up one run on seven hits and two walks and striking out three.

The game:   The Twins missed a chance in the first.  Cesar Tovar led off with an infield hit and went to third with none out on a pickoff error.  Unfortunately for the Twins, he was then thrown out trying to score on a grounder to second, so the game remained scoreless.

McMullen changed that in the second, hitting a home run to put the Angels up 1-0.  The Twins got one-out singles in the fifth from Leo Cardenas and George Mitterwald and Perry bunted to move the runners to second and third, but Tovar grounded out to end the inning.  The Twins did tie it in the sixth, however, on consecutive one-out singles by Harmon Killebrew, Oliva, and Brant Alyea.  They missed a chance for more, however, as Oliva was thrown out trying to go to third on Alyea's single.

California went ahead to stay in the seventh.  Spencer led off with a home run to put them ahead 2-1.  With one out, the Angels got consecutive singles from Bill Voss, Joe Azcue, and pitcher Wright to make it 3-1.  Renick homered in the ninth to cut the lead to 3-2, but the Twins could not get the tying run on base.

WP:  Wright (6-2).

LP:  Perry (6-3).

S:  Ken Tatum (7).

Notes:  Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh.  Rich Reese pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the ninth.

Carew was 0-for-3 and was batting .418.  Oliva was batting .324.  Killebrew was 1-for-3 and was batting .315.  Renick was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.  Perry had an ERA of 2.70.  Williams had an ERA of 1.64.

Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .185.

It was a battle of the top two teams in the division.  There will, of course, be two more games in the series.  it's early to talk about a "big series", but I'm sure there was a lot of interest in this one.

Angels closer Tatum had an ERA of 0.86 at this point in the season and had given up just twelve hits in twenty-one innings.

Williams had not pitched since May 16.

Record:  The Twins were 25-11, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-five

MINNESOTA 10, KANSAS CITY 5 IN KANSAS CITY

Date: Wednesday, May 20.

Batting stars: Rod Carew was 4-for-5 with a home run (his third), a triple, a double, a stolen base (his third), two runs, and two RBIs. Jim Holt was 3-for-5 with a double and two runs. Paul Ratliff was 1-for-2 with a two-run homer (his second) and two walks. Leo Cardenas was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his fifth. Rich Reese was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer (his second), a walk, and two runs.

Pitching star: Tom Hall struck out five in three innings, giving up one run on four hits and two walks.

Opposition stars: Joe Keough was 2-for-3 with a home run (his third), a walk, and two runs. Eliseo Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a triple, a double, and two runs. Pat Kelly was 2-for-4 with a stolen base, his sixteenth. Amos Otis was 2-for-5 with a home run (his fifth) and a double. Mike Fiore was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.

The game: Otis homered in the first to give the Royals a 1-0 lead. Carew, who had singled in the first, homered in the third to tie it 1-1. Kansas City regained the lead in the fourth when Rodriguez doubled, Kelly walked, and Fiore hit a two-run double to make it 3-1. Holt singled and Ratliff homered in the sixth to tie it 3-3, but Keough homered in the home half of the sixth to once again give the Royals the lead at 4-3.

The Twins took control from there. With two out in the seventh Reese walked, Holt singled, and Cardenas hit a three-run homer to give the Twins their first lead at 6-4. With one out in the eighth Tovar walked and scored on a triple by Carew, who had doubled in the sixth inning. With two out, Killebrew hit an RBI single and Reese followed with a two-run homer, giving the Twins a 10-4 advantage. Kansas City added one in the ninth when Rodriguez tripled and scored on a sacrifice fly, but the Twins' lead was never in jeopardy.

WP: Dave Boswell (2-5).

LP: Bob Johnson (1-2).

S: Hall (1).

Notes: Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald. Mitterwald came in to catch in the seventh as part of a double switch. Frank Quilici pinch-ran for Killebrew in the eighth and stayed in the game at third base.

Carew's average reached a season high of .432. Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .319. Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .315. Tovar was 1-for-4 and was batting .300.

Mitterwald was 0-for-2 and was batting .179.  Boswell pitched six innings and gave up four runs, giving him an ERA of 6.31.

As you may have noticed, Carew hit for the cycle in this game:  a single in the first, a home run in the third, a double in the sixth, and a triple in the eighth.  He grounded out in his other at-bat.  This was the seventh time in eight games that he had more than one hit, the fifth time he had more than two, and the second time he had four.  Over that span he was 22-for-37 and raised his average more than a hundred points, from an already-high .328 to .432.

Neither starter pitched particularly well.  Boswell, as noted above, pitched six innings, giving up four runs on six hits and a walk and striking out four.  Johnson struck out seven in seven innings, but gave up six runs on ten hits and four walks.

When I was a kid, I loved the name "Eliseo Rodriguez".

This was Hall's eleventh relief appearance.  It was the sixth time he'd gone more than one inning, the fourth time he'd gone more than two, and the third time he'd gone three or more.  It was his first career save.

I can't hear the name "Amos Otis" without thinking of the Jerry Reed song "Amos Moses".

The Twins had won seven in a row, ten of twelve, and thirteen of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 25-10, in first place in the American League West, 1.5 games ahead of California.  They had the best record in the American League, but not in all of baseball--that honor went to Cincinnati, who was 28-11.

Keeping Track

Happy Birthday–November 9

George Wood (1858)
Harvey Hendrick (1897)
Johnny Gooch (1897)
Jerry Priddy (1919)
Bob Wren (1920)
Bill Bruton (1925)
Whitey Herzog (1931)
Bob Gibson (1935)
Jim Riggleman (1952)
Teddy Higuera (1958)
Dion James (1962)
Chad Ogea (1970)
Adam Dunn (1979)
Chuck James (1981)
Joel Zumaya (1984)
Alex Kirilloff (1997)

Bob Wren was the head coach of Ohio University from 1949-1972.

Jim Riggleman has managed San Diego, the Cubs, Seattle, and Washington.

Continue reading Happy Birthday–November 9 →

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-four

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MINNESOTA 5, KANSAS CITY 4 IN KANSAS CITY (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Tuesday, May 19.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski pitched two shutout innings, giving up two hits and a walk.

Opposition stars:  Jackie Hernandez was 2-for-3.  Joe Keough was 2-for-4.  Bob Oliver was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh) and four RBIs.  Dave Morehead pitched nine innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and five walks and striking out three.

The game:  With one out in the first, Mike Fiore and Amos Otis singled and Oliver followed with a three-run homer, putting the Royals up 3-0.  The Twins got on the board in the second when Harmon Killebrew walked, went to second on a Reese single, took third on a ground out, and scored on another ground out.  The Twins tied it in the third.  Tovar led off with a single and Rod Carew walked.  A double play followed, but Killebrew had an RBI double and scored on Reese's single to make it 3-3.

That's where it stayed until the eighth.  Fiore walked with one out, went to second on a ground out, and scored on Oliver's single to put Kansas City ahead 4-3.  The Twins tied it in the ninth when Leo Cardenas singled, went to second on a wild pitch, took third on a ground out, and scored on Tovar's single.

The Royals had men on first and second with none out in the bottom of the ninth, but did not score.  In the tenth, Carew led off with a single and Tony Oliva followed with a bunt single.  Killebrew struck out, Reese flied out to center with Carew taking third, and a wild pitch brought home the go-ahead run.  The first two Kansas City batters in the bottom of the tenth went out.  Keough then singled to center, but was thrown out trying to stretch it to a double.  The out went 8-5--my guess is that it was a bloop single to short center, that both Carew and Cardenas went out to try to catch it, and it was a heads-up play by third baseman Frank Quilici covering second that ended the game.

WP:  Perranoski (3-1).

LP:  Future Twin Tom Burgmeier (0-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Jim Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.

Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Bill Zepp in the ninth.  Rick Renick pinch-hit for Holt in the tenth.  Frank Quilici then entered the game at third base, with Bob Allison going to left and replacing Killebrew in the batting order.

Carew was 1-for-4 and was batting .411.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and is batting .324.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .317.  Tovar was batting .301.  Zepp retired the only man he faced and had an ERA of 1.98.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.47.

Holt was 1-for-4 and was batting .158.

Luis Tiant started and pitched 7.2 innings, giving up four runs on eight hits and three walks and striking out three.

This was the best year of Bob Oliver's career.  He batted .260/.309/.451 with 27 home runs and got the lone MVP vote of his career.

The Twins had now won six in a row and nine of eleven.  The Angels were hot, too, so the Twins were not able to put any distance between them.

Record:  The Twins were 24-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-three

MINNESOTA 7, KANSAS CITY 5 IN KANSAS CITY

Date:  Monday, May 18.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-5 with a two-run homer, his second.  Cesar Tovar was 1-for-2 with three walks, a stolen base (his twelfth), and two runs.  Leo Cardenas was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer (his fourth) and a walk.  Harmon Killebrew was 1-for-4 with a home run (his twelfth) and a walk.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski struck out two in two shutout innings, giving up one hit.

Opposition stars:  Joe Keough was 3-for-4 with two runs.  Ex-Twin Jackie Hernandez was 2-for-3 with two RBIs.  Amos Otis was 2-for-5 with a two-run homer, his fourth.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the second when Rick Renick singled and Cardenas followed with a two-run homer.  The Royals came right back to tie it in the bottom of the second.  Keough singled and scored from first on a Rich Severson double.  Severson advanced to third on a pickoff error and scored on Hernandez' single, making it 2-2.

The Twins took the lead in the fifth when Tovar walked and Carew followed with a two-run homer.  Kansas City cut the lead to 4-3 in the sixth when Keough singled, went to second on a ground out, took third on a wild pitch, and scored on a Hernandez single.  The Twins went back up by two in the seventh when Tovar walked, Carew singled, and Tony Oliva had an RBI single.

The Royals again came back in the seventh.  Paul Schaal reached on an error and Otis hit a two-out two-run homer to tie it 5-5.  In the eighth, two walks and two wild pitches put men on second and third and Charlie Manuel had a pinch-hit sacrifice fly to put the Twins ahead.  Killebrew homered for an insurance run in the ninth.

WP:  Bill Zepp (1-0).

LP:  Mike Hedlund (2-3).

S:  Perranoski (10).

Notes:  Renick was at third base, with Killebrew at first and Rich Reese on the bench.  Reese pinch-hit for Renick in the eighth and went to first base, with Killebrew moving to third.  Frank Quilici took over for Killebrew at third in the ninth.

Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left field in the seventh.  Manuel pinch-hit for George MItterwald, who was making a return to the lineup, in the eight inning.  Paul Ratliff pinch-hit for pitcher Zepp in the eighth.  Ratliff stayed in the game to catch, with Perranoski coming in to pitch.

Carew raised his average to .419.  Oliva was 1-for-5 and was batting .326.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .319.  Renick was 1-for-2 and was batting .313.  Zepp struck out the only man he faced and had an ERA of 2.03.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.57.

Mitterwald was 0-for-3 and was batting .184.

Jim Kaat started and pitched 6.2 innings, giving up five runs (three earned) on nine hits and a walk and striking out three.  Bill Butler started for Kansas City and pitched six innings, giving up five runs on six hits and six walks and striking out one.

The two pitchers who got the decisions combined to pitch one-third of an inning and face three batters.  Zepp, as noted above, struck out the only man he faced.  Hedlund faced two batters in the eighth and walked both of them, with the first coming around to score the go-ahead run.

Perranoski had appeared in fifteen of the Twins' thirty-three games, pitching 28.2 innings.

Hernandez had ten RBIs in 1970.  Twenty percent of them came in this game.

Infielder Rich Severson was in his rookie year.  He appeared in nearly half of the team's games, getting 240 at-bats and batting .250/.300/.317.  He was back in AAA for most of 1971, getting just 33 at-bats with the big club.  He was in AAA in 1972 and 1973, then he was done.  He did not hit a lot in AAA either, batting .254 with an OPS of .637 over four seasons.  He passed away in 2016 at the relatively young age of seventy-one.

Carew had six consecutive multi-hit games.  He was 17-for-28 over that span, raising his average from .328 to .419.  The .419 would be his high point for the season.

The Twins had won five in a row and eight of ten.

Record:  The Twins were 23-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-two

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MINNESOTA 6, MILWAUKEE 1 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Sunday, May 17.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Paul Ratliff was 1-for-3 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Jim Perry pitched a complete game, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Phil Roof was 2-for-3 with a walk.  Bobby Bolin struck out two in two perfect innings.

The game:  Steve Hovley led off the second with a single.  The next two batters went out, but Roof singled and pitcher Lew Krausse delivered an RBI single to put the Brewers up 1-0.

It looked like the 1-0 lead might hold up.  The Twins got a man to third in the third inning, but did not otherwise threaten through five.  In the sixth, however, Perry led off with a single.  Cesar Tovar hit into a force out, but Carew singled and Tony Oliva hit an RBI double to tie the score.  Harmon Killebrew was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Rich Reese hit into a force out to give the Twins the lead, and error scored two runs, and Leo Cardenas singled home one more running, putting the Twins up 5-1.  In the seventh, Tovar reached on an error and scored on a Carew single to make it 6-1.

Perry remained in control, allowing no hits in innings three through eight.  He allowed a pair of two-out singles in the ninth, but Ted Savage flied out to end the game.

WP:  Perry (6-2).

LP:  Krausse (3-7).

S:  None.

Notes:  Paul Ratliff remained at catcher in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt pinch-ran for Alyea in the sixth and remained in the game in left field.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third base in the ninth.

Carew's 2-for-5 lowered his average to .407.  Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .331.  Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .321.  Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .303.  Perry had an ERA of 2.54.

Holt was 0-for-1 and was batting .147.

Carew was 14-for-23 over his last five games and 18-for-38 over his last nine games.  He had two or more hits in five games in a row and seven of the nine.  In one of the games in which he did not get two hits, he was a pinch-hitter and only batted once.

Bobby Bolin had been a fine pitcher for the Giants throughout the '60s.  He struggled in 1970 and 1971, but had a couple of fine seasons working out of the Boston bullpen before retiring after the 1963 campaign.  He both started and relieved throughout his career, which kept his counting numbers down.  In thirteen seasons he was 88-75, 3.40, 1.24 WHIP in 1576 innings (495 games, 164 starts).  He never led the league in anything and he never got any Cy Young support, but he was someone you'd be very happy to have on your pitching staff for several years.

The Twins had won their fourth consecutive game and twelve out of sixteen.

Record:  The Twins were 22-10, in first place in the American League West, a half game ahead of California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty-one

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MINNESOTA 11, MILWAUKEE 7 IN MILWAUKEE

Date:  Saturday, May 16.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-4 with a home run, a hit-by-pitch, three runs, and three RBIs.  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-3 with two doubles, two walks, a stolen base (his eleventh), and four runs.  Tony Oliva was 2-for-5 with a home run (his seventh), two runs, and four RBIs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-5 with a home run, his eleventh.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his seventh.

Pitching star:  Ron Perranoski struck out two in a scoreless inning, giving up a walk.

Opposition stars:  Future Twin Phil Roof was 3-for-4 with a home run (his second), a walk, and two runs.  John Kennedy was 2-for-3 with a home run, his second.  Steve Hovley was 2-for-4 with a double.  Mike Hegan was 2-for-5 with a triple and a double.  Ted Kubiak was 2-for-5.  Russ Snyder was 1-for-5 with a three-run homer.

The game:  Cesar Tovar walked to open the game, stole second, and scored on a pair of ground outs to put the Twins up 1-0.  They took control of the game in the third when Tovar again started a rally.  He doubled and scored on a Rod Carew single.  Oliva and Killebrew then hit back-to-back home runs to give the Twins a 5-0 lead.

Kennedy homered in the bottom of the third to put the Brewers on the board.  The Twins came back in the bottom of the third as Tovar again stated a rally.  He walked and Carew followed with a two-run homer, making it 7-1.

Tovar started one more rally in the sixth.  He doubled and Carew was hit by a pitch.  Oliva had an RBI single, Rich Reese hit a sacrifice fly, and Alyea hit a two-run homer, bringing the score to 11-1.

Milwaukee tried to make a game of it.  In the sixth Hovley doubled and Max Alvis singled him in to make it 11-2.  In the seventh, Roof singled, Kubiak moved him to third, and Snyder hit a three-run homer to cut the lead to 11-5.  It did not kill the rally--Hegan doubled and future Twin Danny Walton singled, bringing the score to 11-6.  Roof homered in the eighth to cut the lead to 11-7, but that was all the Brewers could do.

WP:  Dave Boswell (1-5).

LP:  Gene Brabender (1-5).

S:  Ron Perranoski (9).

Notes:  Paul Ratliff remained behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Jim Holt replaced Alyea in left in the sixth inning.  Frank Quilici replaced Killebrew at third in the eighth.

Carew was batting .408, the first time all year (and maybe in his career) that he was over .400.  Oliva was batting .333.  Killebrew was batting .330.  Alyea was batting .302.  Stan Williams gave up two runs in 1.2 innings and had an ERA of 1.80.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.69.

Boswell pitched 6.1 innings, giving up five runs on ten hits and a walk and striking out three.  His ERA was 6.37.

Brabender started for Milwaukee.  He pitched just two innings, giving up five runs on five hits and two walks and striking out two.

Carew was 12-for-18 over his last four games, raising his average from .328 to .408.  He was 16-for-33 over his last eight games,

Bill Rigney must have considered Alyea to be an awful outfielder.  He has frequently done what he did here, replacing him with Holt in the sixth inning when he knew that spot in the batting order would have to come up at least one more time.

The Brewers used five pinch-hitters:  Hank Allen, Greg Goossen, Mike Hershberger, Jerry McNertney, and Ted Savage.  These days, of course, teams don't even have five substitutes available.

Record:  The Twins were 21-10, in first place in the American League West by winning percentage, but tied with California in games.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Thirty

MINNESOTA 5, KANSAS CITY 2 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Thursday, May 14.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.  Leo Cardenas was 2-for-3.  Paul Ratliff was 2-for-4 with a double.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4.

Pitching stars:  Luis Tiant pitched four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and three walks and striking out three.  Tom Hall struck out seven in five shutout innings, giving up one hit and no walks.

Opposition stars:  Joe Keough was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Pat Kelly was 2-for-4.  Jim Rooker pitched five shutout innings of relief, giving up five hits and a walk and striking out three.

The game:  The Twins took the lead in the bottom of the first.  Cesar Tovar singled, stole second, and scored on a Tony Oliva single.  Harmon Killebrew walked, moving Oliva to second, and Reese had an RBI single to make it 2-0 Twins.

The Royals had two on with one out in the second, and the Twins had two on with one out in the third, but it stayed 2-0 until the fourth.  Bob Oliver singled and scored on Keough's triple.  Paul Schaal followed with a sacrifice fly, and that quickly the game was tied 2-2.  But the Twins came right back in the bottom of the fourth.  Jim Holt and Cardenas led off with singles and Ratliff hit an RBI double to give Minnesota the lead.  The next two batters went out, but Carew came through with a two-run single to put the Twins in front 5-2.

And that's where it stayed.  The Twins put two on with one out in the fifth and again in the eighth, but could not add to their lead.  The Royals only had two baserunners after the fourth and only got one to second base.

WP:  Hall (1-1).

LP:  Dave Morehead (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.  Alyea and Mitterwald may have had minor injuries or illnesses, as they each missed a few consecutive games.

Charlie Manuel was going to pinch-hit for Tiant, but when Kansas City changed pitchers Rick Renick replaced him.

Carew was batting .389.  Oliva was 1-for-3 and was batting .331.  Killebrew was 0-for-2 and was batting .327.  Tiant had an ERA of 2.96.

Holt was 1-for-4 and was batting .152.

Morehead started for the Royals and pitched three innings, giving up five runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out three.

Hall, who had pitched only twice between April 25 and May 9, had now pitched in three of four games, pitching a total of nine innings.  He had pitched 2.2 innings just two days earlier.

I wonder when the last time is each team had a relief pitcher pitch five shutout innings.  For that matter, I wonder when the last time is each team had a relief pitcher pitch five innings.

Carew was now 9-for-14 over the last three games.  Reese was 6-for-15 over the last four games.  Since April 22 he had raised his average from .148 to .239.

This was a makeup game from April 13, which had been snowed out.  The attendance was 2121.

Record:  The Twins were 20-10, in second place in the American League West, a half game behind California.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-nine

MINNESOTA 5, BALTIMORE 4 IN MINNESOTA (10 INNINGS)

Date:  Wednesday, May 13.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 4-for-5 with two runs.  Harmon Killebrew was 2-for-4 with a two-run homer and a walk.  Rich Reese was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.

Pitching stars:  Bill Zepp pitched three perfect innings.  Ron Perranoski pitched three shutout innings, giving up three hits and walking four.

Opposition stars:  Dou Buford was 2-for-4 with a walk and a stolen base.  Boog Powell was 2-for-4 with a walk.  Paul Blair was 2-for-5 with a double and two RBIs.  Brooks Robinson was 2-for-5 with two doubles.  Frank Robinson was 2-for-5.

The game:  Each team scored two in the first.  For the Orioles, Mark Belanger walked, Frank Robinson singled, and Paul Blair hit a two-out two-run double.  For the Twins, Carew singled and Killebrew hit a two-out two-run homer.

Baltimore had a man on second in the third and again in the fourth but did not score.  They broke through in the fifth, though.  Buford and Belanger opened the inning with singles.  Frank Robinson followed with a single-plus-error, bringing home one run, and Powell had an RBI single to make it 4-2 Orioles.  The Twins came back in the sixth.  Singles by Carew and Killebrew and a walk to Rich Reese loaded the bases with one out.  A force out scored one run and Leo Cardenas had an RBI single to tie it.  The Twins missed a chance to take the lead when Jim Holt was thrown out trying to go from first to third on the hit.

Baltimore opened the eighth with two singles, but a line drive double play ended the threat.  They had a pair of two-out walks in the ninth and did not score.  In the tenth Powell walked, Brooks Robinson hit a one-out double, and Dave Johnson was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Andy Etchebarren hit into a double play to end the inning.

The Twins had not gotten a man past first base since the sixth.  In the tenth, however, Cesar Tovar walked, Tony Oliva hit a one-out double, and Killebrew was intentionally walked, loading the bases.  Up to then, the Twins' tenth went exactly like the Orioles tenth.  The difference was that instead of hitting into a double play, Reese hit a double, bringing in the deciding run.

WP:  Perranoski (2-1).

LP:  Ed Watt (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was in left field in place of Brant Alyea.  Paul Ratliff caught in place of George Mitterwald.

Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for Zepp in the seventh, with Dave Boswell pinch-running for Manuel.

Carew was batting .368.  Killebrew was batting .333.  Oliva was batting .331.  Zepp had an ERA of 2.08.  Perranoski had an ERA of 1.75.

Holt was 0-for-4 and was batting .138.

Jim Kaat started and pitched four innings, giving up four runs on nine hits and a walk and striking out two.  Baltimore starter Jim Palmer pitched 5.1 innings, giving up four runs on six hits and two walks and striking out four.

Each team turned three double plays.  For each team, one of them was a line drive double play.

Carew was 6-for-10.  Spoiler alert:  he would go on a tear for the next week or so.  We'll keep track of it.

Reese was 7-for-18, raising his average from .182 to .226.

I mentioned this once before, but Zepp was a key pitcher for the 1970 Twins.  He's pretty much forgotten now, because the Twins traded him after the season and because this was the only good year he had, but this was one of several games in which he was instrumental in the victory.

This was Perranoski's thirteenth appearance.  He pitched more than one inning in ten of them; exactly two innings in six of them; and more than two innings in three of them.

Record:  The Twins were 19-10, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.

 

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game Twenty-eight

BALTIMORE 5, MINNESOTA 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Tuesday, May 12.

Batting stars:  Rod Carew was 2-for-5.  Brant Alyea was 1-for-4 with a home run, his sixth.

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

Opposition stars:  Elrod Hendricks was 4-for-4 with a double.  Don Buford was 3-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Boog Powell was 3-for-5 with two doubles.  Dave Johnson was 2-for-3 with a walk.

The game:  Cesar Tovar led off the first with a triple and scored on a foul out to the first baseman, putting the Twins up 1-0.  Each team got a pair of two-out singles in the second and did not take advantage of them, but the Twins' singles were preceded by an Alyea homer which put the Twins ahead 2-0.

The Orioles got on the board in the fourth when Powell doubled, went to third on a passed ball, and scored on Johnson's single.  They took the lead in the fifth when Mike Cuellar and Buford opened the inning with singles and both scored on Frank Robinson's double.  They increased the lead to 5-2 in the sixth as Johnson drew a one-out walk, Hendricks followed with a single, and Buford hit a two-run triple.

The Twins came back in the seventh.  Minnie Mendoza pinch-hit a single with one out.  Tovar walked, and Carew and Harmon Killebrew hit back-to-back RBI singles to cut the lead to 5-4.  Unfortunately, Carew was then caught stealing home to take the Twins out of the inning.  Jim Holt got a pinch-hit walk in the ninth and got as far as third base with one out, but a double play ended the game.

WP:  Mike Cuellar (4-2).

LP:  Jim Perry (5-2).

S:  Pete Richert (6).

Notes:  Mendoza pinch-hit for Tom Hall in the seventh.  Charlie Manuel pinch-hit for George Mitterwald in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff coming in to catch.  Holt pinch-hit for Williams in the ninth.

Tony Oliva was 0-for-3 and was batting .336.  Carew was batting .333.  Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .327.  Alyea was 1-for-4 and was batting .305.  Tovar was 1-for-3 and was batting .301.  Perry gave up three runs in 4.1 innings and had an ERA of 2.80.  Williams had an ERA of 0.98.

Manuel was 0-for-1 and was batting .167.  Mitterwald was 1-for-3 and was batting .192.

Cuellar pitched 6.1 innings, giving up four runs on seven hits and three walks and striking out five.

Hall had made two appearances from April 25--May 9, and now had appeared in back-to-back games, pitching four innings.

This was the only four-hit game Hendricks had in 1970.  He was 1-for-11 in the three games prior to this and went 1-for-12 in the three game after it.

Record:  The Twins were 18-10, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.