Celebrating his 22nd birthday, Bert Blyleven pitched the Twins to an 8-3 victory over the defending world champion Athletics before an opening-night crowd of 38,207 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. Tony Oliva of the Twins went into the record books as the first designated hitter to smash a homer. Jim Holt and Larry Hisle also rapped round-trippers for the Twins.

Hisle, who made his A. L. debut with four hits, singled in the first inning and Rod Carew was safe on an error by Dick Green. Hisle and Carew worked a double steal as Bobby Darwin struck out and Hisle continued home on a wild throw by catcher Ray Fosse. Oliva then came to the plate and hit his homer. Oliva also drove in another run with a single in the fourth. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 8, Oakland Athletics 3
Game Played on Friday, April     6, 1973 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Twins        3  2  0    1  0  1    0  0  1  -   8 13  2
A's          0  0  0    3  0  0    0  0  0  -   3 10  3


Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Hisle cf              5   3   4   1     0   0   .800      North dh              5   0   2   0     0   0   .400
Carew 2b              5   2   2   0     0   0   .400      Maxvill ss            3   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Darwin rf             3   1   1   1     1   1   .333        Marquez ph          1   0   1   0     0   0  1.000
Oliva dh              4   1   2   3     1   0   .500        Kubiak ss           1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Braun 3b              5   0   1   1     0   1   .200      Rudi lf               4   0   0   0     1   2   .000
Lis 1b                4   0   2   0     1   1   .500      Jackson rf            4   1   1   0     1   2   .250
Thompson ss           5   0   0   0     0   2   .000      Bando 3b              4   1   1   1     0   0   .250
Mitterwald c          3   0   0   0     1   1   .000      Tenace 1b             4   0   2   0     0   0   .500
Holt lf               4   1   1   1     0   0   .250      Conigliaro cf         4   1   1   1     0   0   .250
Blyleven p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Fosse c               4   0   2   1     0   0   .500
                                                          Green 2b              3   0   0   0     0   1   .000
                                                            Hegan ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
                                                            McKinney 2b         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                          Hunter p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Gardner p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Fingers p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               38   8  13   7     4   6             Totals               38   3  10   3     2   7

Time of Game: 2:45   Attendance: 38,207
Left on Base: Twins 8, A's 10
DP: Twins 0, A's 3
Errors: Darwin, Thompson, Bando, Fosse, Green
Doubles: Hisle (1), Carew (1), Bando (1), Marquez (1)
Home Runs: Oliva (1), Holt (1), Hisle (1)
Stolen Bases: Hisle (1), Carew (1)
Caught Stealing: Lis (1)
GIDP: Darwin (1), Thompson (1)
Hit by Pitch: Darwin (1,by Fingers)


Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven W(1-0)         9    10   3   2   2   7   0  40   2.00
Totals                  9    10   3   2   2   7   0  40

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hunter L(0-1)           3     9   6   5   1   2   2  20  15.00
Gardner                 3     3   1   1   2   1   1  12   3.00
Fingers                 3     1   1   1   1   3   0  11   3.00
Totals                  9    13   8   7   4   6   3  43

Hit by Pitch: Fingers (1)

Umpires: HP - Bill Haller, 1B - Marty Springstead, 2B - Ron Luciano, 3B - Dave Phillips


TWINS 1ST: Hisle singled; Carew reached on an error by Green
[Hisle to second]; Hisle stole third and Carew stole second
[Hisle scored (error by Fosse) (unearned)]; Darwin struck out;
Oliva homered [Carew scored]; Braun lined to right; Lis singled
to left; Thompson popped to first in foul territory; 3 R (2 ER),
3 H, 2 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 3, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: North reached on an error by Thompson; Maxvill
popped to second in foul territory; Rudi walked [North to
second]; Jackson was called out on strikes; Bando grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 3, Athletics 0.

TWINS 2ND: Mitterwald struck out; Holt homered; Hisle doubled to
right; Carew flied to center; Darwin singled to center [Hisle
scored]; Oliva popped to first in foul territory; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Twins 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Tenace popped to shortstop; Conigliaro grounded
out (second to first); Fosse grounded out (third to first); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 5, Athletics 0.

TWINS 3RD: Braun flied to center; Lis singled to left; Thompson
popped to shortstop; Mitterwald walked [Lis to second]; Holt
forced Mitterwald (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Twins 5, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Green grounded out (pitcher to shortstop to
first); North singled to left; Maxvill forced North (shortstop
to second); Rudi flied to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins
5, Athletics 0.

TWINS 4TH: Hisle singled to right; Carew singled to right [Hisle
to second]; GARDNER REPLACED HUNTER (PITCHING); Darwin grounded
into a double play (third to first) [Carew to second, Hisle out
at third]; Oliva singled [Carew scored]; Braun was called out on
strikes; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 6, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Jackson singled to center; Bando doubled to right
[Jackson scored]; Tenace popped to first in foul territory;
Conigliaro singled to right [Bando scored, Conigliaro to third
(error by Darwin)]; Fosse singled to left [Conigliaro scored
(unearned)]; Green popped to first in foul territory; North
grounded out (second to first); 3 R (2 ER), 4 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 6, Athletics 3.

TWINS 5TH: Lis reached on an error by Bando; Thompson grounded
into a double play (third to second to first) [Lis out at
second]; Mitterwald lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Twins
6, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Maxvill was called out on strikes; Rudi popped to
first in foul territory; Jackson lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Twins 6, Athletics 3.

TWINS 6TH: Holt grounded out (second to first); Hisle homered;
Carew doubled to center [Carew out at third (center to shortstop
to third)]; Darwin walked; Oliva walked [Darwin to second];
Braun flied to right; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 7, Athletics
3.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Bando grounded out (second to first); Tenace
singled; Conigliaro lined to center; Fosse singled to center
[Tenace to third]; Green struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Twins 7, Athletics 3.

TWINS 7TH: FINGERS REPLACED GARDNER (PITCHING); Lis walked;
Thompson was called out on strikes while Lis was caught stealing
second (catcher to second); Mitterwald grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 7, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 7TH: North lined to center; MARQUEZ BATTED FOR
MAXVILL; Marquez doubled; Rudi was called out on strikes;
Jackson walked; Bando forced Jackson (shortstop to second); 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 7, Athletics 3.

TWINS 8TH: KUBIAK REPLACED MARQUEZ (PLAYING SS); Holt grounded
out (third to first); Hisle grounded out (pitcher to first);
Carew lined to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 7, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Tenace singled to left; Conigliaro popped to
first in foul territory; Fosse flied to center; HEGAN BATTED FOR
GREEN; Hegan was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 7, Athletics 3.

TWINS 9TH: MCKINNEY REPLACED HEGAN (PLAYING 2B); Darwin was hit
by a pitch; Oliva grounded out (third to first) [Darwin to
second]; Braun singled to right [Darwin scored, Braun to second
(on throw)]; Lis was called out on strikes; Thompson struck out;
1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 8, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 9TH: North singled; Kubiak flied to right; Rudi was
called out on strikes; Jackson was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 8, Athletics 3.