Editor’s note: Tournament games are played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. Three-man pitching rotations will be used for starting pitchers. Injuries are in-game only during this single elimination event.
A late rally gave the Minnesota Twins a 5-2 victory over the Oakland A’s in the third round of the 1972 Tournament.
Trailing 2-1, Minnesota scored three times in the eighth inning to put the game away and advance to the semifinals. The Twins will face the winner of the Atlanta Braves at Los Angeles Dodgers affair with Bert Blyleven (1-0) on the mound.
All of the damage was done in the first three batters of the frame as Cesar Tovar reached on a two-base error by A’s shortstop Bert Campaneris.
Rod Carew smacked a RBI single off A’s starter Ken Holtzman and the game was tied at 2-2.
Harmon Killebrew drilled a two-run homer and Holtzman was sent to the showers and the Twins led for good.
Although the Twins went on to load the bases after that, Bob Locker and Darold Knowles were able to get out of the inning without another run scoring.
Twins starting pitcher Jim Kaat capped his complete game effort with a homer in the ninth off Dave Hamilton to produce the final tally of the contest.
Kaat (1-0) allowed six hits with four strikeouts to earn the victory. Holtzman (0-1) gave up seven hits in seven innings with a walk and six strikeouts.
The A’s grabbed an advantage on a solo homer by Joe Rudi in the third inning before a sacrifice fly by Minnesota’s Steve Braun tied it at 1-1 in the fourth.
Oakland’s George Hendrick had a run-scoring single in the seventh to put the A’s in front just before the Twins rallied to take the lead the next inning.
1972 Tournament Schedule
Semifinal Pairings
(1) Detroit Tigers at (1) Pittsburgh Pirates
Third Round Results and Pairings
NL East Bracket
(1) Pittsburgh Pirates 7, (2) Chicago Cubs 3
AL East Bracket
(1) Detroit Tigers 2, (2) Boston Red Sox 0
AL West Bracket
(3) Minnesota Twins 5, (1) Oakland A’s 2
NL West Bracket
(4) Atlanta Braves at (3) Los Angeles Dodgers
Second Round Results
NL East Bracket
(1) Pittsburgh Pirates 2, (4) St. Louis Cardinals 1
(2) Chicago Cubs 9, (6) Philadelphia Phillies 1
AL East Bracket
(1) Detroit Tigers 2, (5) Cleveland Indians 0
(2) Boston Red Sox 7, (3) Baltimore Orioles 2
AL West Bracket
(1) Oakland A’s 4, (5) California Angels 1
(3) Minnesota Twins 2, (2) Chicago White Sox 1
NL West Bracket
(4) Atlanta Braves 4, (1) Cincinnati Reds 2
(3) Los Angeles Dodgers 6, (2) Houston Astros 5
First Round Results
NL East Bracket
(1) Pittsburgh Pirates, bye
(4) St. Louis Cardinals 5, (5) Montreal Expos 3
(6) Philadelphia Phillies 3, (3) New York Mets 0
(2) Chicago Cubs, bye
AL East Bracket
(1) Detroit Tigers, Bye
(5) Cleveland Indians 7, (4) New York Yankees 0
(3) Baltimore Orioles 4, (6) Milwaukee Brewers 0
(2) Boston Red Sox, bye
AL West Bracket
(1) Oakland A’s, Bye
(5) California Angels 1, (4) Kansas City Royals 0
(3) Minnesota Twins 3, (6) Texas Rangers 0
(2) Chicago White Sox, bye
NL West Bracket
(1) Cincinnati Reds, Bye
(4) Atlanta Braves 4, (5) San Francisco Giants 1
(3) Los Angeles Dodgers 4, (6) San Diego Padres 2
(2) Houston Astros, bye