September 30, 1967 at Fenway Park
Red sox 6 (91-70), Twins 4 (91-70)
The Red Sox kept their pennant hopes alive in a must win game over the Twins. With the win, the Red Sox moved into a tie for first place and it set up what was effectively a one game playoff in the final game of the season tomorrow. The best the Tigers could hope for was a tie with tomorrow’s winner and that would only come about if they took both games of their doubleheader with the Angels.
It was Jim Kaat going up against Jose Santiago and the Twins drew first blood in the first inning. Zoilo Versalles led off with a single and after a fly out by Cesar Tovar, he moved to second on a walk by Harmon Killebrew. Tony Oliva then drove home the Twins first run with a single that scored Versalles. Bob Allison singled to load the bases but Rod Carew lined out and Ted Uhlaender grounded out to end the inning with three runners aboard.
From that point, the game turned into a pitcher’s duel although the Twins were dealt a critical blow in the third inning. With a man on and a man out, Jim Kaat strained his elbow and he had to leave the game. Jim Perry came in to relieve but in the month of September, Jim Kaat was one of the hottest pitchers in the game so they lost one of the guys who had gotten them to this point.
With Perry on the mound, the Red Sox finally struck in the fifth inning. Reggie Smith led off with a double and he moved to third on Dalton Jones single. Santiago and Mike Andrews struck out but Jerry Adair came through with the clutch hit when he singled home the tying run. Carl Yastrzemski then gave the Red Sox their first lead with another single and it was 2-1 Red Sox as things headed into the fifth inning.
It didn’t take the Twins long to answer. In the top of the sixth, Rich Reese singled home Bob Allison to tie the game with Santiago still on the mound. The Red Sox then put another run on the board in the bottom of the sixth on George Scott’s leadoff solo homer off of reliever Ron Kline to make it 3-2.
In the bottom of the seventh, the Red Sox opened up the flood gates. Santiago led off with a groundout before Mike Andrews singled. Then Zoilo Versalles made a critical error on a ground out by Jerry Adair. Instead of what could have been a potential inning ending double play, Zoilo misplayed it and everyone was safe. Carl Yastrzemski then made the Twins pay with a huge three run homer to give the Red Sox a 6-2 lead. It was his 44th homerun of the season.
Gary Bell relieved Santiago and Bell did give up two runs in the top of the ninth on a two run homer by Harmon Killebrew (also his 44th) but by that point the game was out of reach. Santiago improved to 12-4 with the nice start and Bell picked up his third save. Kline took the loss for the Twins and he fell to 7-1 on the season.