MINNESOTA 8, NEW YORK 7 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Tuesday, August 18.
Batting stars: Tony Oliva was 3-for-5 with a double and three RBIs. Danny Thompson was 3-for-5 with two RBIs. Cesar Tovar was 1-for-3 with two walks, a stolen base (his twenty-third), and two runs.
Pitching stars: Pete Hamm retired all four men he faced. Stan Williams struck out two in 1.1 scoreless innings, giving up one hit. Tom Hall struck out three in three perfect innings.
Opposition stars: John Ellis was 3-for-4 with a home run (his sixth), a double, two runs, and two RBIs. Horace Clarke was 2-for-4 with a walk and two stolen bases, his fourteenth and fifteenth. Danny Cater was 1-for-4 with a two-run homer, his sixth. Ron Klimkowski pitched 3.1 scoreless innings, giving up two hits and striking out one.
The game: In the first Tovar singled, stole second, went to third on a wild pitch, and scored on an Oliva single to put the Twins up 1-0. The Yankees took the lead in the second: with one out Ellis singled, Ron Woods doubled, and Jake Gibbs hit a two-run single. The Twins got the lead back in the bottom of the second when, with two out, Tom Tischinski singled, Jim Kaat walked, and Tovar and Thompson hit RBI singles. New York got the lead back in the third when Gene Michael reached on an error and Cater and Ellis homered. You could say it was a see-saw game, with the Yankees leading 5-3 after three.
The Twins got the lead back in the fourth: Tischinski walked with one out, Tovar walked with two out, Thompson had an RBI single, Harmon Killebrew walked to load the bases, and Oliva delivered a two-run single. But New York took the lead right back in the fifth. Roy White singled, stole second, and scored on a two-out triple by Bobby Murcer. Ellis followed with a double, and it was 7-6 Yankees.
Then, suddenly, the scoring stopped. The Twins managed just two singles in innings five through eight. In the ninth, Thompson led off with a bunt single. Killebrew hit into a force out, but Oliva doubled to put men on second and third and Jim Holt delivered a pinch-hit two-run single to win it for the Twins.
WP: Hall (6-4).
LP: Lindy McDaniel (8-5).
S: None.
Notes: Rick Renick was at third base, with Killebrew on first and Rich Reese on the bench. Tischinski was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.
Frank Quilici pinch-hit for Hamm in the fourth. Reese pinch-hit for Williams in the sixth and stayed in the game at first base, with Killebrew moving to third, Renick to left, and Brant Alyea to the bench. Manuel pinch-hit for Tischinski in the eighth, with Paul Ratliff going in at catcher. Bob Allison pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth. Holt pinch-hit for Hall in the ninth.
Oliva was batting .323. Williams had an ERA of 2.13. Hall had an ERA of 2.89.
Tischinski was 1-for-2 and was batting .184. Hamm had an ERA of 5.23.
Neither starting pitcher did well. Mike Kekich of the Yankees pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five runs on four hits and four walks. He struck out five. Kaat pitched just 2.2 innings, allowing five runs (three earned) on six hits and a walk and struck out two.
There were seven lead-changes in the game.
It was the Twins' second consecutive win after nine straight losses.
Klimkowski had an excellent year for the Yankees, going 6-7, 2.65, 1.15 WHIP in 98.1 innings (45 games). He was traded to Oakland at the start of the 1971 season and was quite as good, but was still an effective pitcher. The Athletics released him after the season, though. He signed back with the Yankees for 1972 but had a poor season, spent 1973 in the minors, and then was done.
Record: The Twins were 71-47, in first place in the American League West, 4.5 games ahead of California.