MINNESOTA 1, CLEVELAND 0 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Wednesday, April 29.
Batting star: Frank Quilici was 2-for-3.
Pitching star: Jim Kaat pitched 8.2 scoreless innings, giving up six hits and a walk and striking out five.
Opposition stars: Ray Fosse was 2-for-3 with a double. Rich Hand pitched seven innings, giving up an unearned run on six hits and a walk and striking out none.
The game: The Twins put two on with two out in the second but did not score. They broke through in the third. Leo Cardenas singled, but Tony Oliva hit into a force out for the second out. Harmon Killebrew singled, sending Oliva to second, and Rich Reese reached on an error which scored Oliva for a 1-0 Twins lead.
And that was it for the scoring. The Indians had a chance in the fifth when Fosse singled and then tried to score from first on an Eddie Leon single (perhaps it was a hit-and-run or something). The next batter Jack Heidemann, also singled, but pitcher Hand grounded out to end the inning. They threatened in the ninth when Tony Horton hit a two-out double and Roy Foster walked, but Stan Williams came in and picked Horton off second base to end the game.
WP: Kaat (3-1).
LP: Hand (0-3).
S: Williams (1).
Notes: Quilici remained at second base in place of Rod Carew. Cardenas continued to bat second. Paul Ratliff was behind the plate in place of George Mitterwald.
Jim Holt replaced Brant Alyea in left field in the seventh. Minnie Mendoza replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the eighth.
Alyea was 1-for-3 and was batting .408. Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .319. Cesar Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .311. Killebrew was 1-for-4 and was batting .304. Ratliff was 0-for-1 and was batting .300.
Hand pitched seven innings without striking anyone out. That had to be unusual even back then. Today, of course, just pitching seven innings is unusual.
Williams got a save without retiring a batter. I know it's not unheard of, but that has to be unusual, too. Vada Pinson was the batter--he was a .286 hitter, so he certainly would have had a chance to deliver a game-tying single. But he never got that chance.
It's interesting that Bill Rigney brought in Williams rather than Ron Perranoski. My guess is that Perranoski was hurting--after appearing in five of six games and pitching 9.2 innings, he then had five days off before he would appear again.
Record: The Twins were 11-6, in second place in the American League West, one game behind California.