The streaking Twins gained their fifth straight victory and 10th in the last 12 games when Dan Ford hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning to beat the Athletics, 6-5. Joe Rudi and Gene Tenace each drove in two runs and Billy Williams homered for the A's, who held a 5-4 lead until the Twins decided the outcome when Mike Cubbage was safe on an error in the eighth and Ford smashed his round-tripper off Stan Bahnsen. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 6, Oakland Athletics 5
Game Played on Saturday, July      31, 1976 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium
A's          3  1  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   5  8  3
Twins        0  0  0    2  2  0    2  0  x  -   6 12  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
North cf              5   0   0   0     0   1   .276      Braun dh              5   0   0   1     0   0   .262
Campaneris ss         3   1   1   0     1   0   .251      Smalley ss            5   0   3   0     0   1   .238
Baylor 1b             5   1   2   0     0   0   .239      Carew 1b              5   1   2   0     0   1   .317
Rudi lf               5   2   2   2     0   0   .267      Wynegar c             4   1   1   0     1   0   .295
Bando 3b              3   0   0   0     1   1   .227      Bostock cf            5   1   1   1     0   0   .346
  Lintz pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Cubbage 3b            2   2   0   0     2   0   .221
  McMullen 3b         0   0   0   0     0   0   .250      Hisle lf              3   0   3   2     0   0   .259
Tenace c              2   0   1   2     1   1   .252      Ford rf               4   1   1   2     0   1   .255
Washington rf         4   0   0   0     0   1   .238      Randall 2b            4   0   1   0     0   0   .257
Williams dh           3   1   2   1     1   0   .215      Goltz p               0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Alexander pr,dh     0   0   0   0     0   0   .037        Campbell p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Garner 2b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .251
P. Mitchell p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Bahnsen p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lindblad p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               34   5   8   5     4   5             Totals               37   6  12   6     3   3

Time of Game: 3:18   Attendance: 13,515
Left on Base: A's 8, Twins 11
DP: A's 0, Twins 1
Errors: Washington, Garner 2, Smalley
Doubles: Rudi 2 (19), Williams (8), Bostock (10), Carew (17)
Home Runs: Williams (10), Ford (13)
Stolen Bases: Baylor (42), Lintz (23), Alexander (11), Hisle (23)
Sacrifice Hits: Hisle (9)
Sacrifice Flies: Tenace (3)
GIDP: Washington (12)
Hit by Pitch: Campaneris (3,by Goltz)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
P. Mitchell             4     7   4   3   2   1   0  22   4.61
Bahnsen L(4-3)          3.2   5   2   1   1   2   1  18   3.16
Lindblad                0.1   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   3.12
Totals                  8    12   6   4   3   3   1  41

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Goltz W(9-9)            7     8   5   4   0   5   1  31   3.75
Campbell SV(11)         2     0   0   0   4   0   0   9   3.15
Totals                  9     8   5   4   4   5   1  40

Hit by Pitch: Goltz (4)
Wild Pitches: Goltz (10)

Umpires: HP - Bill Kunkel, 1B - Dave Phillips, 2B - Rich Garcia, 3B - Lou DiMuro


ATHLETICS 1ST: North struck out; On a bunt Campaneris singled;
Baylor singled [Campaneris to second]; Goltz threw a wild pitch
[Campaneris to third, Baylor stayed at first]; Rudi doubled to
left [Campaneris scored, Baylor scored]; Bando flied out to
right [Rudi to third]; Tenace singled [Rudi scored]; Washington
forced Tenace (second unassisted); 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 3, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Braun made an out to shortstop; Smalley singled to
right; Carew lined to center; Wynegar walked [Smalley to
second]; Bostock grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Athletics 3, Twins 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Williams homered; Garner grounded out (second to
first); North grounded out (pitcher to first); Campaneris
grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
4, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Cubbage flied out to right; Hisle singled; Hisle
stole second; Ford grounded out (shortstop to first); Randall
popped to first in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 4, Twins 0.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Baylor grounded out (third to first); Rudi flied
out to center; Bando struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 4, Twins 0.

TWINS 3RD: Braun flied out to center; Smalley singled; Carew was
called out on strikes; Wynegar flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins 0.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Tenace was called out on strikes; Washington
struck out; Williams doubled to left; Garner grounded out (third
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins 0.

TWINS 4TH: Bostock doubled to right; Cubbage walked; Hisle
singled to left [Bostock scored, Cubbage to second]; Ford flied
out to right; Randall reached on an error by Garner [Cubbage to
third, Hisle to second]; Braun forced Randall (second to
shortstop) [Cubbage scored (unearned), Hisle to third]; Smalley
lined to left; 2 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins
2.

ATHLETICS 5TH: North grounded out (second to first); Campaneris
grounded out (shortstop to first); Baylor grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins 2.

TWINS 5TH: On a bunt Carew singled; Wynegar singled to right
[Carew to third (error by Washington), Wynegar to second];
BAHNSEN REPLACED P. MITCHELL (PITCHING); Bostock grounded out
(first unassisted) [Carew scored, Wynegar to third]; Cubbage
walked; Hisle singled [Wynegar scored, Cubbage to second]; Ford
was called out on strikes; Randall singled [Cubbage to third,
Hisle to second]; Braun made an out to shortstop; 2 R, 4 H, 1 E,
3 LOB.  Athletics 4, Twins 4.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Rudi doubled to left; Bando reached on an error
by Smalley [Rudi to third]; Tenace hit a sacrifice fly to right
[Rudi scored (unearned)]; Washington flied out to center;
Williams grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 4.

TWINS 6TH: Smalley singled; Carew forced Smalley (shortstop to
second); Wynegar flied out to right; Bostock grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 4.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Garner was called out on strikes; North grounded
out (pitcher to first); Campaneris was hit by a pitch; Baylor
singled to left [Campaneris to third]; Baylor stole second; Rudi
lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 4.

TWINS 7TH: Cubbage reached on an error by Garner; Hisle out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Cubbage to second]; Ford
homered [Cubbage scored (unearned)]; Randall made an out to
second; Braun grounded out (shortstop to first); 2 R (1 ER), 1
H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 6.

ATHLETICS 8TH: CAMPBELL REPLACED GOLTZ (PITCHING); Bando walked;
LINTZ RAN FOR BANDO; Lintz stole second; Tenace walked;
Washington grounded into a double play (third to second to
first) [Lintz to third, Tenace out at second]; Williams walked;
ALEXANDER RAN FOR WILLIAMS; Alexander stole second; Garner
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Athletics 5, Twins 6.

TWINS 8TH: ALEXANDER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); MCMULLEN
REPLACED LINTZ (PLAYING 3B); Smalley was called out on strikes;
Carew doubled; Wynegar popped to third in foul territory;
LINDBLAD REPLACED BAHNSEN (PITCHING); Bostock grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 6.

ATHLETICS 9TH: North flied out to center; Campaneris walked;
Baylor flied out to right; Rudi made an out to second; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 5, Twins 6.