Although staggered in the ninth inning, Bert Blyleven recovered and gained his first victory since June 15 when the Twins defeated the Yankees, 5-4. The Twins, after sending nine men to the plate and scoring three runs in the first inning, added an unearned marker in the fifth and took a 5-1 lead when Leo Cardenas homered in the eighth.

The Yankees rallied in the ninth when Danny Cater hit for the circut with two men on base and one out, but Blyleven got Horace Clarke and Gene Michael on grounders to save his victory. [The Sporting News]

Minnesota Twins 5, New York Yankees 4

Game Played on Saturday, July 31, 1971 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium

Yankees 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3 - 4 8 1 Twins 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 1 x - 5 11 0 Yankees AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Twins AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Kenney 3b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .255 Tovar lf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .301 Gibbs c 4 0 0 0 0 1 .209 Carew 2b 4 1 2 0 0 0 .278 Murcer cf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .331 Killebrew 3b 3 0 1 1 0 1 .255 White lf 4 1 0 0 0 3 .278 Oliva rf 4 2 2 0 0 0 .359 Blomberg rf 4 1 3 0 0 0 .357 Reese 1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .210 Cater 1b 4 1 1 3 0 0 .260 Cardenas ss 3 1 2 2 1 0 .286 Clarke 2b 4 1 1 0 0 0 .233 Nettles cf 3 0 0 1 1 2 .253 Michael ss 4 0 1 0 0 1 .247 Roof c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .195 Kline p 1 0 0 0 0 1 .167 Blyleven p 3 0 0 0 0 0 .088 Lyttle ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .203 Closter p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Alou ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .267 Kekich p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .200 Totals 34 4 8 4 1 8 Totals 31 5 11 4 3 5 Time of Game: 2:15 Attendance: 25,650 Left on Base: Yankees 4, Twins 7 DP: Yankees 3, Twins 1 Errors: Cater Doubles: Tovar (18), Oliva (19) Home Runs: Cater (3), Cardenas (13) Stolen Bases: Kenney (8), Reese (4) Caught Stealing: Reese (3) Sacrifice Hits: Blyleven (3) Sacrifice Flies: Killebrew (6) GIDP: Cater (13), Oliva (9), Cardenas (10) Yankees IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Kline L(8-10) 5 9 4 3 3 2 0 25 3.16 Closter 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 7 1.59 Kekich 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 4 4.01 Totals 8 11 5 4 3 5 1 36 Twins IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Blyleven W(8-12) 9 8 4 4 1 8 1 35 3.34 Totals 9 8 4 4 1 8 1 35 Umpires: HP - Frank Umont, 1B - Lou DiMuro, 2B - Bill Haller, 3B - Jake O'Donnell YANKEES 1ST: Kenney singled to left; Gibbs flied out to right; Murcer flied out to left; Kenney stole second; White struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 0. TWINS 1ST: Tovar doubled to center; On a bunt Carew singled to first [Tovar to third]; Killebrew hit a sacrifice fly to center [Tovar scored]; Oliva singled to center [Carew to second]; Reese walked [Carew to third, Oliva to second]; Cardenas singled to left [Carew scored, Oliva to third, Reese to second]; Nettles walked [Oliva scored, Reese to third, Cardenas to second]; Roof made an out to shortstop; Blyleven flied out to right; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. YANKEES 2ND: Blomberg singled to right; Cater grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Blomberg out at second]; Clarke grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. TWINS 2ND: Tovar singled to center; Carew forced Tovar (second to shortstop); Killebrew singled to left [Carew to second]; Oliva grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Killebrew out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. YANKEES 3RD: Michael struck out; Kline struck out; Kenney struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. TWINS 3RD: Reese singled to left; Cardenas grounded into a double play (second to first) [Reese out at second]; Nettles struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. YANKEES 4TH: Gibbs grounded out (pitcher to first); Murcer grounded out (second to first); White was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. TWINS 4TH: Roof singled; Blyleven out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Roof to second]; Tovar lined to center; Carew flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. YANKEES 5TH: Blomberg singled to right; Cater flied out to right; Clarke forced Blomberg (first to shortstop); Michael grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 3. TWINS 5TH: Killebrew flied out to center; Oliva doubled to center; Reese reached on an error by Cater [Oliva scored (unearned) (no RBI), Reese to first]; Reese stole second; Cardenas walked; Nettles struck out while Reese was caught stealing third (catcher to third); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 4. YANKEES 6TH: LYTTLE BATTED FOR KLINE; Lyttle lined to third; Kenney grounded out (shortstop to first); Gibbs struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 4. TWINS 6TH: CLOSTER REPLACED LYTTLE (PITCHING); Roof grounded out (pitcher to first); Blyleven lined to second; Tovar grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 4. YANKEES 7TH: Murcer lined to center; White struck out; Blomberg flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 4. TWINS 7TH: Carew singled to center; Killebrew struck out; Oliva forced Carew (third to second); Reese struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Yankees 0, Twins 4. YANKEES 8TH: Cater grounded out (third to first); On a bunt Clarke singled to second; On a bunt Michael singled to third [Clarke to second]; ALOU BATTED FOR CLOSTER; Alou singled to left [Clarke scored, Michael to second]; Kenney was called out on strikes; Gibbs flied out to left; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Yankees 1, Twins 4. TWINS 8TH: KEKICH REPLACED ALOU (PITCHING); Cardenas homered; Nettles popped to third in foul territory; Roof struck out; Blyleven grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 1, Twins 5. YANKEES 9TH: Murcer walked; White forced Murcer (second to shortstop); Blomberg singled to first [White to second]; Cater homered [White scored, Blomberg scored]; Clarke grounded out (pitcher to first); Michael grounded out (second to pitcher); 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Yankees 4, Twins 5.

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