Tag Archives: walkoff homers

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Sixty-one

MINNESOTA 6, KANSAS CITY 4 IN MINNESOTA

Date:  Wednesday, September 30.

Batting stars:  Cesar Tovar was 2-for-4 with a double and two RBIs.  Paul Ratliff was 1-for-1 with a three-run homer, his fifth.

Pitching stars:  Bert Blyleven pitched eight innings, giving up four runs (one eanred) on five hits and four walks and striking out three.  Hal Haydel struck out two in a scoreless inning.

Opposition stars:  Bob Oliver was 2-for-4 with a triple.  Lou Piniella was 2-for-4 with a double.  Wally Bunker pitched eight innings, giving up four runs on six hits and no walks and striking out six.

The game:  Each team put a man in scoring position in the first but did not score.  In the second Oliver led off with a triple.  Bobby Floyd walked and went to second on a wild pitch.  With two out, they both scored on an error, putting the Royals up 2-0.

There were no more runs, and in fact no more hits, until the fifth.  George Mitterwald and Blyleven singled, putting men on first and second with two out.  Tovar then hit a two-run double, with Blyleven scoring from first, to tie it up 2-2.

Kansas City got the lead back in the sixth without getting a hit.  A walk, a two-base error, and an intentional walk loaded the bases with one out and Floyd hit a sacrifice fly.  The Royals added an insurance run in the seventh when Rojas hit a two-out double and scored on Piniella's single.

It stayed 4-2 until the bottom of the ninth.  Singles by Tony Oliva and Harmon Killebrew were followed by a passed ball, putting the tying run in scoring position.  Jim Holt hit a sacrifice fly to make it 4-3.  Brant Alyea walked and Ratliff delivered a pinch-hit three-run homer to give the Twins the victory.

WP:  Haydel (2-0).

LP:  Jim York (1-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Rod Carew was at first base, with Danny Thompson at second and Rich Reese out of the lineup.  Holt replaced Carew at first in the sixth.  Reese pinch-hit for Blyleven in the eighth.  Herman Hill pinch-ran for Killebrew in the ninth.  Jim Nettles pinch-ran for Alyea in the ninth.  Ratliff pinch-hit for Mitterwald in the ninth.

Carew was 0-for-2 and was batting .366.  Oliva was 1-for-4 an was batting .323.  Haydel had an ERA of 3.00.

This was the first time Carew played first base in the major leagues.  He would not play there again until 1975.  In 1976, he became a full-time first baseman.

Even when you're just marking time until the playoffs, a walkoff home run is still fun.

Record:  The Twins were 97-64, in first place in the American League West, nine games ahead of Oakland.

Keeping Track

1970 Rewind: Game One Hundred Six

MINNESOTA 2, OAKLAND 1 IN MINNESOTA (11 INNINGS)

Date:  Friday, August 7.

Batting stars:  Tony Oliva was 2-for-4 with a double and a walk.  Jim Holt was 2-for-5 with a home run, his third.  Rich Reese was 1-for-1 with a home run (his eighth) and three walks.

Pitching star:  Jim Perry pitched an eleven-inning complete game, giving up one run on five hits and three walks and striking out seven.

Opposition stars:  Reggie Jackson was 1-for-2 with a double and two walks.  Bert Campaneris was 1-for-5 with a home run, his sixteenth.  Catfish Hunter pitched seven innings, giving up one run on six hits and two walks and striking out one.  Mudcat Grant pitched two shutout innings, giving up a hit and a walk.

The game:  Campaneris led off the game with a home run, giving the Athletics a 1-0 lead.  Reese led off the second inning with a home run, tying the score 1-1.

And there was no more scoring until the eleventh.  The Twins got a one-out double from Oliva in the fourth, a leadoff double from George Mitterwald in the fifth, and started the sixth with a single and a walk.  Jackson hit a two-out double in the seventh.  The Athletics got a man to second in the eighth and in the ninth.  The Twins loaded the bases with none out in the tenth when Cesar Tovar walked, Danny Thompson reached on a sacrifice bunt/error, and Oliva was intentionally walked, but Harmon Killebrew hit into a 5-2-3 double play and Rick Renick grounded out.

Came the eleventh.  Oakland went down in order.  Holt led off the bottom of the inning with a home run and the Twins were victorious.

WP:  Perry (17-9).

LP:  Marcel Lachemann (2-1).

S:  None.

Notes:  Holt was again in center, with Tovar in left and Brant Alyea on the bench.  Thompson was at shortstop, with Frank Quilici at second and Leo Cardenas on the bench.  Killebrew pinch-hit for Reese in the tenth and stayed in the game at first base.

Oliva was .329.  Perry was 1-for-4 and was batting .303.

I don't know when the last time is that someone pitched eleven innings in a game, but I'm pretty sure it hasn't happened in the last few years.

The Twins had played twenty-five innings in the last two games and used four pitchers.  There were a total of six runs scored in those innings, four by the Twins and two by the opposition.  Each game was decided by a walkoff home run.

It's not every game you have Catfish start and he gets replaced by Mudcat.

Record:  The Twins were 68-38, in first place in the American League West, eight games ahead of California.