CLEVELAND 3, MINNESOTA 2 IN CLEVELAND
Date: Thursday, July 30.
Batting star: Brant Alyea was 1-for-1 with two RBIs.
Pitching stars: Jim Perry struck out seven in seven innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on eight hits and a walk. Tom Hall struck out two in a perfect inning.
Opposition stars: Roy Foster was 2-for-4. Vada Pinson was 1-for-4 with a home run, his eleventh. Steve Hargan pitched a complete game, giving up two runs on three hits and two walks and striking out five.
The game: There were no baserunners until the bottom of the third. Eddie Leon and Larry Brown led off the inning with singles and an error brought home a run. Foster singled home a run later in the inning and it was 2-0 Indians.
The Twins got their first baserunner in the fourth when Cesar Tovar reached on an error, but he was quickly erased by a double play. Pinson homered in the seventh to make it 3-0, and Hargan still had a no-hitter going at that point.
Finally, with two out in the eighth, George Mitterwald singled for the Twins' first hit. Leo Cardenas followed with a single, and a wild pitch moved runners to first and second. Charlie Manuel drew a pinch-hit walk, loading the bases, and Alyea delivered a two-run pinch-hit single to cut the margin to 3-2.
But that was as good as it got. Tovar grounded out to end the inning. Harmon Killebrew drew a two-out walk in the ninth, putting the tying run on base, but Jim Holt popped up to end the game.
WP: Hargan (5-2).
LP: Perry (15-9).
S: None.
Notes: Holt was in left in place of Alyea. Frank Quilici was at second in place of Rod Carew. Manuel pinch-hit for Quilici and Alyea pinch-hit for Perry. Jim Kaat pinch-ran for Manuel, and Danny Thompson then went to second base. Dave Boswell pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth. It would be Boswell's last appearance in a major league game in 1970, as he missed the rest of the season due to injury.
Tony Oliva was 0-for-4 and was batting .324. Perry was 0-for-2 and was batting .317. Killebrew was 0-for-3 and was batting .307. Tovar was 0-for-4 and was batting .301. Hall had an ERA of 2.79.
This was Hargan's sixth start of the season. He started the season in the bullpen, made two starts, was injured, went back to AAA, and finally came back in mid-July. This was his second consecutive complete game. He would throw one more, then go 7.1 in his next start. He would finish the season with four complete games in his last five starts. So, out of nineteen starts, he had eight complete games.
Record: The Twins were 62-35, in first place in the American League West, 6.5 games ahead of California.