Two wild pitches spoiled Vida Blue's first start of the season and enabled the Twins to defeat the Athletics, 3-1. Geoff Zahn pitched a four-hitter for the Twins. Craig Kusick doubled in the second inning and scored when Blue bounced a pitch off the plate. After Dan Ford walked in the fifth, another wild pitch moved the runner to second in position to score on a single by Kusick. [The Sporting News]



Minnesota Twins 3, Oakland Athletics 1
Game Played on Saturday, April     16, 1977 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium
A's          1  0  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  4  0
Twins        0  1  0    0  1  0    0  1  x  -   3  5  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
North cf              3   1   1   0     1   0   .240      Terrell 3b            3   0   0   0     0   2   .231
  Alexander pr,cf     0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Smalley ss            4   0   0   0     0   1   .267
Lintz 2b              2   0   0   0     0   0   .188      Carew 1b              4   0   1   1     0   1   .270
  E. Williams ph      1   0   0   0     0   0   .154      Hisle cf              3   0   0   0     1   1   .297
  Scott 2b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .273      Ford rf               2   1   0   0     1   1   .241
Page lf               4   0   0   0     0   3   .444      Kusick dh             2   1   2   1     1   0   .273
Allen 1b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .321      Gorinski lf           3   0   0   0     0   2   .000
Sanguillen c          4   0   1   1     0   0   .242      Randall 2b            3   0   1   0     0   0   .138
Gross 3b              4   0   0   0     0   2   .323      Borgmann c            3   1   1   0     0   0   .154
McKinney dh           3   0   0   0     0   0   .214      Zahn p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Armas rf              3   0   2   0     0   0   .226
Picciolo ss           3   0   0   0     0   0   .226
Blue p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               31   1   4   1     1   6             Totals               27   3   5   2     3   8

Time of Game: 2:25   Attendance:  6,946
Left on Base: A's 5, Twins 4
DP: A's 0, Twins 1
Errors: Smalley
Doubles: Armas (1), Kusick (2), Carew (2)
Stolen Bases: Hisle (4)
Sacrifice Hits: Terrell (1)
GIDP: McKinney (1)
Hit by Pitch: Lintz (1,by Zahn)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue L(0-1)             8     5   3   3   3   8   0  31   3.38
Totals                  8     5   3   3   3   8   0  31

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Zahn W(2-0)             9     4   1   1   1   6   0  33   2.12
Totals                  9     4   1   1   1   6   0  33

Hit by Pitch: Zahn (1)
Wild Pitches: Blue 2 (2), Zahn (1)

Umpires: HP - Ken Kaiser, 1B - Bill Haller, 2B - Ron Luciano, 3B - Bill Kunkel


ATHLETICS 1ST: North walked; Lintz was hit by a pitch [North to
second]; Page struck out; Allen forced Lintz (shortstop to
second) [North to third]; Sanguillen singled to right [North
scored, Allen to second]; Gross grounded out (first unassisted);
1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Terrell grounded out (pitcher to first); Smalley
grounded out (third to first); Carew was called out on strikes;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: McKinney flied out to center; Armas singled to
right; Picciolo grounded out (first unassisted) [Armas to
second]; North grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Hisle struck out; Ford grounded out (shortstop to
first); Kusick doubled to right; Blue threw a wild pitch [Kusick
scored]; Gorinski struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
1, Twins 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Lintz popped to second; Page struck out; Allen
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Twins 1.

TWINS 3RD: Randall singled to left; Randall was out trying to
advance to second (second to shortstop); Borgmann popped to
first in foul territory; Terrell struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Sanguillen reached on an error by Smalley; Gross
was called out on strikes; McKinney grounded into a double play
(third to second to first) [Sanguillen out at second]; 0 R, 0 H,
1 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 1.

TWINS 4TH: Smalley grounded out (second to first); Carew popped
to catcher in foul territory; Hisle flied out to right; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Armas doubled to right; Picciolo grounded out
(second to first) [Armas to third]; North reached on a fielder's
choice [Armas out at home (second to catcher)]; Lintz forced
North (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1,
Twins 1.

TWINS 5TH: Ford walked; Blue threw a wild pitch [Ford to
second]; Kusick singled to left [Ford scored, Kusick to second
(on throw to home)]; Gorinski grounded out (third to first);
Randall grounded out (third to first); Borgmann grounded out
(pitcher to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 2.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Page flied out to left; Allen popped to first;
Sanguillen grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 2.

TWINS 6TH: Terrell struck out; Smalley popped to first in foul
territory; Carew flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Twins 2.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Gross struck out; McKinney grounded out (third to
first); Armas popped to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics
1, Twins 2.

TWINS 7TH: Hisle walked; Hisle stole second; Ford struck out;
Kusick was walked intentionally; Gorinski struck out; Randall
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics
1, Twins 2.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Picciolo flied out to left; North singled;
ALEXANDER RAN FOR NORTH; E. WILLIAMS BATTED FOR LINTZ; E.
Williams grounded out (shortstop to first) [Alexander to
second]; Zahn threw a wild pitch [Alexander to third]; Page
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 2.

TWINS 8TH: ALEXANDER STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING CF); SCOTT REPLACED
E. WILLIAMS (PLAYING 2B); Borgmann singled to left; Terrell out
on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to second) [Borgmann to second];
Smalley struck out; Carew doubled to center [Borgmann scored];
Hisle flied out to center; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1,
Twins 3.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Allen was called out on strikes; Sanguillen
grounded out (shortstop to first); Gross grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Twins 3.