The Sox wasted no time getting to Kaat in the top of the first inning although Mike Andrews flied out to center to start. George Thomas doubled to right and moved to third on the Carl Yastrzemski ground out. A wild pitch scored Thomas to give the Sox the lead and Reggie Smith doubled to right. Rico Petrocelli flied out to left to end the inning with the Sox ahead 1-0.
The Twins wasted no time tying the game in the bottom of the first against Culp. Cesar Tovar beat out an infield single but Culp threw the ball away, allowing Tovar to reach second on the error. Rod Carew took strike three but Tony Oliva moved Tovar to third with a grounder. A wild pitch scored Tovar to tie the game before Harmon Killebrew walked. Rich Reese singled to center and Jim Holt walked to load the bases, but Leo Cardenas grounded out to short to end the inning with the game tied 1-1.
George Scott singled to center to start the top of the second but Billy Conigliaro popped up to first. Jerry Moses popped up to third in foul territory as a wild pitch moved Scott to second. Culp grounded out to third to end the inning. The Twins struck again in the bottom of the second as Paul Ratliff walked to start. Ratliff was erased on the force by Kaat and Tovar singled to left. Carew singled to right and Kaat motored around, only to score when catcher Jerry Moses muffed the ball for an error. Oliva singled home Tovar with another run but Killebrew banged into a double play to end the inning with the Sox down 3-1.
Andrews tried to start a rally with a base hit to to center to start the top of the third before moving to second on the grounder by Thomas. Andrews moved to third on the grounder by Yaz but Smith lined out to center to end the inning. Reese doubled to right to start the bottom of the third and moved to third on the grounder by Holt, but Cardenas popped up to third. Ratliff flied out to right to end the inning.
Kaat cruised in the top of the fourth as Petrocelli flied out to right to start. Scott and Billy C both grounded out to short to end the inning. Culp matched Kaat in the bottom of the fourth as Jim himself grounded out to short to start. Tovar lined out to left and Carew flied out to left to end the inning.
Nothing happened in the top of the fifth as Moses flied out to left to start. Culp lined out to right and Andrews grounded out to short to end the inning. Culp got Oliva to ground out to first to start the bottom of the fifth before Killebrew lined out to short. Reese lined out to left to end the inning.
The Sox came to life in the top of the sixth inning as Thomas doubled to right to start. Yaz singled him home to cut the lead. Smith doubled to left to chase Kaat after just 5 innings. Bill Zepp came in and managed to get Petrocelli to line out to right and Scott to strike out, but Billy C singled home Yaz and Smith to put the Sox on top. Moses singled to right and Culp helped his own cause with a base hit up the middle to score Conigliaro. Andrews grounded into a force to end the inning but the Sox rallied to take a 5-3 lead.
Culp did his job in the bottom of the sixth as Holt grounded back to the mound to start. Cardenas struck out and Ratliff lied out to center to end the inning.
The Sox rallied in the top of the seventh as Thomas singled to start. Yaz walked and but Smith hit a double play ball to second. Yaz was forced but Cardenas threw the relay throw away. Thomas scored and Smith moved to second. Petrocelli grounded out to short and Scott grounded out to first to end the inning with the Sox up 6-3.
Charlie Manuel pinch hit for Zepp to begin the bottom of the seventh and took strike three to start. Tovar grounded out to third but Carew motored around for a triple. Oliva grounded out to first to end the inning.
Stan Williams took over on the mound for the top of the eighth inning and Billy C struck out to start. Moses flied out to center and Culp grounded out to third to end the inning. Culp gave up a single to Killebrew to start the bottom of the eighth but he was erased on the force by Reese. Holt banged into a double play to end the inning. At this point Culp had pitched 8 innings of 3 run ball, well done.
The Sox failed to add anymore runs in the top of the ninth as Andrews popped up to short to start. Thomas got plunked and moved to second on the Yaz grounder, but Smith grounded out to second to end the inning. Culp returned to finish the job in the bottom of the ninth but got no help from his defense. Petrocelli booted a routine grounder by Cardenas to start and a single by Ratliff chased Culp. Sox manager Eddie Kasko brought in Vicente Romo to pitch to pinch hitter Rick Renick. Renick walked to loaded the bases with nobody out, but Tovar could only score Cardenas with a sac fly. Kasko wanted Sparky Lyle to pitch to Carew. The gamble worked as Lyle punched out Carew and Oliva grounded into a force to end the game. The Sox had held on to win it 6-4.
Hero of the Night is Billy Conigilaro. He put the Sox up for good in the 6th inning with a 2 run single.
The Good:
George Thomas was 3 for 4 with a hit by pitch and 3 runs scored.
Reggie Smith was 2 for 5 with a run scored.
Ray Culp tossed 8 innings of 4 run (3 earned) ball to get the win. He allowed 9 hits and 3 walks while striking out 3. He was also 1 for 4 at the plate with an rbi.
Sparky Lyle earned his 9th save of the year by getting the final two outs of the ninth.
The Bad:
Rico Petrocelli was 0 for 4.
Vicente Romo allowed a walk and an inherited runner to score in the two batters he faced.
The Ugly:
Mike Andrews was just 1 for 5.
Carl Yastrzemski was just 1 for 4 but walked, drove in a run and scored a run.
George Scott was just 1 for 4 with a strikeout.
Jerry Moses was just 1 for 4.
Final Thoughts:
Good win by the Sox especially with Sparky Lyle able to hold on at the end. If only the Sox had someone else besides Sonny Siebert and Culp to pitch well. If Jim Lonborg could revert back to 1967 form, this would be a dangerous team. Culp did well against a high powered Twins offense and good on the Sox for getting to Kaat in the 6th inning. Culp and Conigliaro driving in runs helped big time. All in all it was a good win and hopefully more of these are on the way. The win improved the Sox to 27-27, 8.5 games behind the Baltimore Orioles for first place in the AL East. The Sox play the Twins in the rubber game of the series tomorrow afternoon when the Sox send Sonny Siebert (5-3, 3.54 ERA) to the mound to take on Bert Blyleven at 2:05 PM Eastern time at Metropolitan Stadium.
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