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This Date in Twins History: July 4

1961 At Metropolitan Stadium, on the first Fourth of July in Minnesota with major league baseball, the Twins swept a pair from the White Sox, winning the opener 6-4 when Julio Becquer hit a ninth-inning grand slam as a pinch hitter. Cal McLish shut out the Twins in Game 2 until the eighth inning when the Twins scored four runs, two on Harmon Killebrew's only career inside-the-park home run. It was the Met's first inside-the-park home run. The Twins won 4-2 behind Jack Kralick.
1965 In a 5-2 victory over the A's, Camilo Pascual was forced to leave in the third inning with an injury. Pascual, who was 8-2 with a 3.06 ERA at the time, struggled the remainder of the season, making just nine starts and earning just one more victory. Tony Oliva gave the Twins a 3-2 lead with a two-out, three-run home run in the sixth and Harmon Killebrew added a two-run shot in the ninth. Johnny Klippstein earned the win with four perfect innings in relief. The victory kept the Twins tied for first place in the American League with the Indians (!).
1967 In Minnesota, the Twins swept a doubleheader from the Yankees. In Game 1, Mudcat Grant stopped the Yankees to give the Twins an 8-3 victory. Mickey Mantle drove in all three New York runs with two homers. Cesar Tovar had three doubles and three RBIs. In the second game, Al Worthington blew a two-run lead in the top of the ninth inning, but Tony Oliva singled in Tovar with the winning run in the bottom of the ninth for a 7-6 win.
1969 The Twins' Bob Miller was one out away from a shutout of the first-place A's before allowing three straight hits, including a three-run home run. Miller still got the final out for a 10-4 victory over Catfish Hunter that tied the Twins with the A's for first place.
1970 The Twins rallied to tie the game with two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning, but the White Sox took the lead in the 12th when the runner scored all the way from first base on a wild throw to second base by pitcher Dick Woodson attempting to start an inning-ending double play. The batter went all the way to third base and scored on a sacrifice fly as the White Sox won 5-3. Despite the loss, the Twins still maintained a four-game lead over the Angels.
1973 Before 45,890 Twins fans, Eddie Bane, the top collegiate pitcher that year and Minnesota's top draft pick, made his major league debut against the Royals. Bane pitched well for seven innings, but the Royals emerged with a 5-4 win, beating reliever Ray Corbin. Bane finished the season at 0-5.
1974 Toby Harrah's third-inning homer was the only hit for Texas, as Bert Blyleven and the Twins won 3-1. Rod Carew went 0-for-4 to drop his batting average to .386.
1977 Paul Thormodsgard pitched a five-hitter and Mike Cubbage hit a grand slam in a 5-0 victory over the Brewers. Rod Carew went 0-for-3 with a walk to drop his batting average to .403.
1980 In the final Fourth of July game played at the Met (due to the strike the next season), the Twins blew a 3-0 lead and lost the game in the 12th when pitcher John Verhoeven threw away a pickoff throw which allowed the runner to advance to third base to set up the go-ahead sacrifice fly.
1982 In the first Fourth of July game at the Metrodome, the Twins' Gary Gaetti hit a walkoff home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth inning against the Blue Jays' Dave Stieb for a 4-3 victory. A meager 6,532 fans showed up to watch the last-place Twins (23-57), who were 23 games out of first place.
1984 Tippy Martinez saved the game for Dennis Martinez as the visiting Orioles beat the Twins 6-4. Despite the loss, the surprising Twins (40-40) remained in second place, just two games back of the first-place Angels. Rookie Kirby Puckett went 2-for-5 to improve his batting average to .337.
1987 Les Straker went seven strong innings, Kirby Puckett went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Kent Hrbek hit a two-run homer as the Twins beat the Orioles 4-1 to remain tied with the Royals for first place.
1988 Kent Hrbek hit two home runs including the go-ahead solo home run in the top of the ninth inning as the Twins beat the Brewers 3-1. Alan Anderson went eight innings and allowed no earned runs to improve his ERA to 2.83.
1991 The Twins' David West and two relievers combined on a three-hitter in a 1-0 victory over Jimmy Key and the Blue Jays. The lone run scored on a forceout in the second inning by backup catcher Junior Ortiz. The victory put the Twins in first place, one game ahead of the Angels.
1992 After allowing a run in the top of the 15th inning, the Twins won 3-2 on Chili Davis' two-out, two-run single in the bottom of the 15th. The winning rally began with two outs and no one on base. The victory put the Twins in first place, one game ahead of the rival A's.
2002 John Olerud's RBI double in the bottom of the eighth inning gave the Mariners a 2-1 victory over the Twins. Despite the loss, the Twins remained in first place, 6.5 games ahead of the White Sox.
2003 Rick Reed pitched seven strong innings and Corey Koskie and Justin Morneau both homered as the Twins beat the Indians 9-2. It would be the Twins lone victory in a 13-game stretch that ended at the All-Star break that would see the Twins fall from a tie for first to 7.5 games back.
2006 The Royals stopped the Twins' 11-game winning streak emphatically, beating the Twins 7-2. It was just the Twins' second loss in 22 games. Despite the hot streak the Twins remained in third place, nine games behind the first-place Tigers.
2008 The Twins got a home run and four RBIs from both Nick Punto and Delmon Young in a 12-4 victory over the Indians. The victory got the Twins to within a half-game of the first place White Sox.
This entry was posted by socaltwinsfan on Saturday, July 4th, 2009 at 2:20 am and is filed under MLB, Minnesota Twins, This Day in History. It is one of 142 entries by the author. We are no longer accepting Letters to the Editor on this post.

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