BALTIMORE 11, MINNESOTA 1 IN MINNESOTA
Date: Sunday, July 26.
Batting star: Jim Perry was 1-for-1 with a home run and a walk.
Pitching star: Perry pitched six innings, giving up three runs on twelve hits and no walks and striking out one.
Opposition stars: Merv Rettenmund was 3-for-5 with a walk and a stolen base, his fifth. Dave Johnson was 2-for-4 with a walk and two runs. Brooks Robinson was 2-for-4 with a hit-by-pitch and two runs. Boog Powell was 2-for-5 with a grand slam (his twenty-fifth homer) and six RBIs. Mark Belanger was 2-for-5 with two RBIs. Elrod Hendricks was 2-for-5. Dave McNally pitched a complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out five.
The game: It was close for a while. In fact, there was no score through four innings. In the fifth, singles by McNally, Don Buford, and Rettenmund loaded the bases and Powell delivered a two-run single to give the Orioles a 2-0 lead. Perry homered in the bottom of the fifth to make it 2-1. Baltimore got the run back in the sixth on singles by Hendricks, Johnson, and Belanger, increasing the lead to 3-1.
The Orioles put it away in the eighth. Singles by Robinson and Johnson and a walk to McNally loaded the bases with two out. Buford walked to force in a run. Dick Woodson then came in to replace Tom Hall. He walked Rettenmund, forcing in another run, and the Powell hit a grand slam, giving Baltimore a 9-1 lead.
The Orioles tacked on two more in the ninth when Robinson was hit by a pitch, Johnson walked, Belanger had an RBI single, and Buford hit a sacrifice fly.
WP: McNally (13-7).
LP: Perry (15-8).
S: None.
Notes: Rick Renick was again in left field in place of Brant Alyea. Frank Quilici was again at second base in place of Rod Carew. Bob Allison was used as a pinch-hitter for the pitcher. Danny Thompson replaced Harmon Killebrew at third base in the ninth.
Tony Oliva was 1-for-4 and was batting .322. Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .314. Cesar Tovar was 0-for-3 and was batting .309. Hall had an ERA of 2.96.
Allison was 0-for-1 and was batting .167. Dave Boswell retired the only man he faced and had an ERA of 5.97.
In his last three games (one of them a start), Hall had pitched 9.1 innings and allowed ten runs (nine earned) on nine hits and nine walks while striking out ten. His ERA went from 2.03 to 2.96.
In his last five games, Steve Barber had pitched 6.2 innings and allowed seven runs on eleven hits and five walks while striking out four. His ERA went from 2.70 to 4.63. After this game, he would not pitch for the Twins again until late September.
I don't remember ever doing a game recap before where the same player was the only batting star and the only pitching star.
Record: The Twins were 60-33, in first place in the American League West, five games ahead of California.
