John Gelnar, who had been the Pilots ace this season got bombed for 4 runs in the opening inning. Seattle fought gallantly to get back in the game and make a go of it, but that 4 run outburst was a hole that was too deep to recover from. George Brunet came on in relief of Gelnar, who only barely escaped the 1st, and kept his team in it by only yielding two solo runs in 5 innings worth of work. Bobby Allison's 3 run shot was the big blow in that opening stanza. after an hour rain delay in between the 5th and 6th innings Seattle finally got on the board with a solo run. All the while Pedro Ramos was cruising. Brunet gave way to Jim "Ball 4" Bouton in the 7th and he kept Minny at bay with 2 scoreless innings. Bob Locker did the same in the 9th. Ramos looked to be tiring in the 8th where he escaped 2 runners in scoring position and 1 out. He would not be as fortunate in the 9th. Steve "Orbit" Hovley led off with a frozen rope to right. Pinch hitter Mike Hegan lined out to right for the first out. Curiously Hegan was called on to hit for MVP candidate Tommy Davis, who seemed to struggle at the plate vs Ramos. Don
Mincher, who has been hot down the stretch homered deep to right to make it 6-3. At this point McDevitt got up in the Twins pen. Wayne Comer worked out a walk, but Jerry McNertney popped out to Tuttle at 3rd for the second out as it looked like Ramos had it all under control. Greg Goossen was called on to pinch hit for Gus Gil and he hit a tape measure shot to dead center to make it 6-5. Not playing around anymore, Twins manager Marvin Sik, went to the pen and McDevitt arrived on the scene just in time to get pinch hitter Jim Pagliaroni to ground weakly to short to end it. A laugher turned into a very close contest. The Pilots fell short of their goal, but they did show signs of life.GAME 2 - Sick Stadium - Seattle, WA - Twins 10, Pilots 6
The Twins again scored in the first. This time Harmon Killebrew singled home Lenny Green. Gene Brabender got Game 1 hero, Bob Allison, to line into a DP that doubled Killebrew off at 1st to limit the damage. The Pilots jumped on Camilo Pascual for runs in the bottom of the 2nd and looked to be in total control. Tommy Davis led off with a single and Mincher followed it up with his 2nd homer in 2 games. Mike Hegan, getting a rare start in right, walked. John Kennedy, hitting in the 7th spot, hit a homer that barely cleared the left field wall to make it 4-1. Minnesota chipped away at Seattle's lead by plating a run in the 4th and the 5th. After striking out the first 2 batters in the 4th Brabender yielded a single to Jim Lemon, who scored as the clutch Billy Martin doubled to the opposite field. Earl Battey singled home Lenny Green to cut it to 1 in the 5th. The Pilots bumped their lead back to 2 when Don Mincher scored on Versalles error at short. It looked for a while
like Seattle's 5-3 lead would hold up and the series would get even. That was until the Twins exploded for in the 7th and 8th innings for 3 runs in each. Brabender lost his lead in the 7th and Bouton came on and put the Twins ahead. Bob Locker replaced Bouton and let the game get out of reach. Pascual went the distance in a pedestrian performance, but all he needed to do was be average as his offense pounded out 15 hits. Lenny Green led the way going 4 for 5 with 3 runs scored.GAME 3 - Metropolitan Stadium - Bloomington, MN - Twins 5, Pilots 4
With their back up against the wall the boys from Ball 4 came out shooting and jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead off of Lee Kralick. Tommy Harper singled and John Kennedy tripled him home. Tommy Davis hit a shot to the warning track and Kennedy trotted home to make it 2-0. In the 4th the Pilots made it 3-0 when Jim Pagliaroni singled home Don Mincher who reached base on a fielding error by Twin second baseman Billy Martin. For the first 4 innings Diego Segui was cruising. Seattle's most versatile pitcher can start or relieve, and he looked to be a starter who didn't need any relief, but then the Twin bats came alive. Minnesota scored 2 in the 5th to cut Seattle's lead to 1. Jim Lemon led off the inning with a homer. Segui lost his composure after Gus Gil booted Billy Martin's grounder. 3 successive Twin singles followed. The key move of the game was when manager Marvin Sik pulled his stater (Kralick) for a pinch hitter (Hal Naragon), who singled home Martin. In the 6th Minnesota tied it up when Killebrew led off with a double and Allison doubled him home. The game remained tied at 4 apiece until the bottom of the 8th when Segui looked to have been in control He fanned the two toughest bats in Minnesota's lineup
(Killebrew/Allison), but Jim Lemon managed to double off the wall in left. Billy Martin came up and his Yankee pedigre for being clutch came through again. With a 2-2 count Billy the Kid slammed a long trip off the pole in center to plate Lemon and give the Twins the lead. Don Mincher's (yes he plays for both teams) single scored Martin for an insurance run. Heading into the top of the 9th the Twins now had the luxury of a 2-0 lead in the series and having a 2 run lead with 3 outs to go. Moore started the inning for the Twins and walked pinch hitter Steve "Orbit" Hovley. Tommy Harper popped out to short for the 1st out. Pinch hitter Steve Whitaker walked and Tommy Davis went down swinging for the second out. Don Mincher walked on 4 pitches to load the bases and when Wayne Comer walked to force in a run that 
was all for Moore. McDevitt came on to close it out and he too couldn't find the plate. With the count 3-2 to pinch hitter Greg Goossen the crowd was silent. Danny McDevitt delivered a borderline pitch which the up called for strike 3. Goossen went down looking and with him so went Seattle's chances. Minnesota did what they needed to do to gain the sweep in this LDS and earn the right to face the Los Angeles Angels in the ALDS. Both teams should be well rested. Minnesota reliever Don Lee pitched 2 scoreless innings in relief of Kralick and earned the win, but had little attention paid to him by the press. Everyone wanted to gather round Martin, who is always good for a quote.
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