With Bert Blyleven pitching a three-hitter, the Twins opened their home season by defeating the Athletics, 8-4, before a crowd of 17,876. The Twins' 13 hits included six for extra bases, among them Bobby Darwin's fourth homer of the season. Reggie Jackson hit his first of the year for the A's. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 8, Oakland Athletics 4
Game Played on Sunday, April     23, 1972 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium
A's          1  0  0    0  0  0    0  3  0  -   4  3  1
Twins        0  3  0    3  0  2    0  0  x  -   8 13  0


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Campaneris ss         4   0   0   0     0   1   .091      Tovar rf              5   0   1   1     0   0   .286
Rudi lf               4   0   0   0     0   0   .240      Thompson ss           4   0   3   1     0   0   .300
Jackson rf            4   1   1   1     0   1   .190      Carew 2b              3   0   0   0     0   1   .238
Bando 3b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .318      Killebrew 1b          4   1   1   0     0   2   .176
Epstein 1b            2   1   0   0     1   1   .267        Reese 1b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Brooks cf             3   1   1   0     0   0   .167      Darwin cf             4   1   2   2     0   0   .500
Duncan c              3   0   0   0     0   0   .214      Brye lf               4   1   1   0     0   0   .091
Green 2b              2   1   1   2     0   0   .471      Soderholm 3b          4   2   2   0     0   0   .133
Holtzman p            1   0   0   0     0   0   .167      Roof c                4   2   2   2     0   0   .182
  Segui p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Blyleven p            2   1   1   1     0   0   .333
  Hegan ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Roland p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Blefary ph          0   0   0   1     0   0   .000
  Horlen p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               28   4   3   4     1   3             Totals               34   8  13   7     0   3

Time of Game: 2:02   Attendance: 17,876
Left on Base: A's 0, Twins 5
DP: A's 1, Twins 1
Errors: Roland
Doubles: Soderholm (1), Thompson (2), Roof 2 (2)
Triples: Green (1), Brye (1)
Home Runs: Jackson (1), Darwin (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Carew (1), Blyleven 2 (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Blefary (1)
GIDP: Holtzman (2)
Hit by Pitch: Green (1,by Blyleven)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Holtzman L(1-1)         3     8   6   6   0   2   1  17   3.60
Segui                   2     1   0   0   0   1   0   7   0.00
Roland                  2     4   2   1   0   0   0  10   4.50
Horlen                  1     0   0   0   0   0   0   3   0.00
Totals                  8    13   8   7   0   3   1  37

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven W(2-0)         9     3   4   4   1   3   1  31   3.92
Totals                  9     3   4   4   1   3   1  31

Hit by Pitch: Blyleven (1)

Umpires: HP - Red Flaherty, 1B - Jerry Neudecker, 2B - Bill Haller, 3B - Bill Kunkel


ATHLETICS 1ST: Campaneris flied out to left; Rudi flied out to
right; Jackson homered; Bando flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Tovar grounded out (third to first); Thompson
grounded out (pitcher to first); Carew struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Epstein grounded out (second to first); Brooks
flied out to right; Duncan flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Killebrew singled; Darwin homered [Killebrew scored];
Brye grounded out (third to first); Soderholm doubled to left;
Roof flied out to right; Blyleven singled to right [Soderholm
scored]; Tovar flied out to center; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Twins 3.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Green was hit by a pitch; Holtzman grounded into
a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Green out at
second]; Campaneris struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
1, Twins 3.

TWINS 3RD: Thompson doubled to left; Carew out on a sacrifice
bunt (pitcher to first) [Thompson to third]; Killebrew was
called out on strikes; 22 minute rain delay; Darwin flied
out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 3.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Rudi grounded out (third to first); Jackson flied
out to left; Bando flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Twins 3.

TWINS 4TH: Brye tripled; Soderholm singled [Brye stayed at
third]; Roof doubled to left [Brye scored, Soderholm scored];
SEGUI REPLACED HOLTZMAN (PITCHING); Blyleven out on a sacrifice
bunt (third to first) [Roof to third]; Tovar made an out to
second; Thompson singled to right [Roof scored]; Carew flied out
to left; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 6.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Epstein struck out; Brooks grounded out
(shortstop to first); Duncan flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 6.

TWINS 5TH: Killebrew struck out; Darwin flied out to left; Brye
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
1, Twins 6.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Green grounded out (third to first); HEGAN BATTED
FOR SEGUI; Hegan flied out to left; Campaneris grounded out
(shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins
6.

TWINS 6TH: ROLAND REPLACED HEGAN (PITCHING); Soderholm grounded
out (shortstop to first); Roof doubled to left; Blyleven reached
on an error by Roland on a sacrifice bunt [Roof scored (no RBI),
Blyleven to second]; Tovar singled to left [Blyleven scored
(unearned)]; Thompson singled to center [Tovar to second]; Carew
lined into a double play (shortstop to second) [Tovar out at
second]; 2 R (1 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 8.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Rudi grounded out (third to first); Jackson made
an out to third; Bando popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 8.

TWINS 7TH: Killebrew flied out to left; Darwin singled; Brye
flied out to right; Soderholm popped to first in foul territory;
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 8.

ATHLETICS 8TH: REESE REPLACED KILLEBREW (PLAYING 1B); Epstein
walked; Brooks singled to left [Epstein to second]; Duncan made
an out to shortstop; Green tripled to center [Epstein scored,
Brooks scored]; BLEFARY BATTED FOR ROLAND; Blefary hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Green scored]; Campaneris flied out to
center; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins 8.

TWINS 8TH: HORLEN REPLACED BLEFARY (PITCHING); Roof grounded out
(third to first); Blyleven popped to catcher in foul territory;
Tovar lined to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins
8.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Rudi flied out to right; Jackson was called out
on strikes; Bando flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 4, Twins 8.