Eight games under .500 is nothing to be thrilled about, but the Twins certainly could make a modest move up in the division if they take care of business against the next two teams they face.
They happen to be some of the weakest teams in the American League: The Oakland/West Sacramento/Las Vegas A’s (or whatever you want to call them) and the Chicago White Sox. Both teams are dead last in their respective divisions.
The A’s are 6-4 in their last 10 games, but they also have allowed an AL-leading 661 runs. However, they have scored 566 runs this season, which is 49 more runs than the Twins have scored. Still, the Twins own a 3-1 record against the A’s this season, and with Joe Ryan starting on Tuesday, it seems like the perfect launching pad to sweep the California club.
From there, the Twins head to the South Side to play the still-terrible White Sox who are 45-80 and 3-7 in their last 10 games as of this writing. The Twins are 4-2 against the Pale Hose this season.
Win all six games and the Twins will be 64-66 before they head to Toronto to play the Blue Jays.
Extra innings…
-More about former Twins pitcher Jim Perry who was in Minnesota over the weekend and who won 215 games over a 17-year career, 10 of those years spent with the Twins.
The club pulled off a heck of a trade to get Perry, sending pitcher Jack Kralick to Cleveland in a one-for-one player swap in early May 1963.
Perry lost his first two games for the Twins, then faced off against the Tribe in Cleveland and picked up his first win, allowing four runs across six-plus innings in an 11-4 victory on May 17, 1963.
Perry got a huge hand from outfielder Bob Allison, who clubbed three home runs in the win.
The Minneapolis Morning Tribune was there:
The Twins used their home-run trademark —three by Bob Allison and one each by Harmon Killebrew and Zoilo Versalles — to bludgeon Cleveland 11-4 Friday night. Allison became the first player in the history of the Twins to hit three homers in a single game.
Swinging one of the biggest bats in the majors at 36 inches and 36 ounces,
Allison hit a three run homer 370 feet over the left-field fence in the fifth inning off Jim Grant. The powerful righthanded swinger slammed a solo homer off Jerry Walker in the seventh inning. This one carried 450 feet to left center.
Then Bob smashed a two-run homer in the eighth inning off Ron Nischwitz. This one traveled 350 feet down the foul line for a grand total of 1,170 feet on homers for the night.
The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer caught up with Perry for a story with the headline: ‘Ex-Indian Perry whips old pals.’
How does a pitcher feel facing his old teammates the first time? Jim Perry was asked the question as he viewed the stadium last night for the first time from the third base dugout and exchanged friendly insults with the Indians taking batting practice.
“I just hope I have good stuff,” replied the right-hander, looking slightly embarrassed in the gray flannels of the visiting Minnesota Twins. “Sure, I have a few ideas about the Cleveland hitters. They won’t do me any good, though, if I can’t get the ball where I want it.”
As it turned out, Jim, swapped to the Twins earlier this month for left-hander Jack Kralick, wasn’t particularly sharp. And he didn’t have to be.
The Twins, who came in labeled as a punchless team, blasted five home runs to make Perry’s task easy.
And Perry got into the act, too. In addition to tossing six-plus innings, he had two hits in three trips to the plate, scored a run and walked.
Source: Newspapers.com