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.

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