1961 Game 15: Chicago White Sox (6-6) @ Minnesota Twins (9-5)

Sunday April 30, 1961

White Sox 5, Twins 3 – 11 innings

The buzz surrounding the Twins was the left on base numbers from the five-game road trip. They emerged with just two wins, primarily, according to Tom Briere in the Sporting News, due to the 55 runners  left on base over the course of the five game. The Twins came into an extended homestand looking to reverse that trend against the White Sox.

The two teams entered the 11th inning tied at two. Both starting pitchers had pitched 10 full innings. Jack Kralick had allowed just two runs on nine hits prior to the 11th inning. The Sox got to him for three runs in the inning, two of which came off the bat of Roy Sievers who hit a two-run blast that gave the Sox a three-run lead heading into the bottom of the frame.

1962 Topps card courtesy of TwinsCards.com.

White Sox pitcher Bob Shaw allowed a solo home run to Harmon Killebrew, but did not allow a Twins comeback in the bottom of the 11th inning. For what it’s worth, the Twins left six men on base to the White Sox’ 13.

Team Name                        G    W    L    T   PCT    GB    RS   RA
Detroit Tigers                  14   10    4    0  .714     -    85   53
New York Yankees                15    9    5    1  .643   1.0    61   57
Minnesota Twins                 15    9    6    0  .600   1.5    62   73
Chicago White Sox               13    7    6    0  .538   2.5    60   57
Baltimore Orioles               17    8    8    1  .500   3.0    66   64
Cleveland Indians               16    8    8    0  .500   3.0    70   65
Boston Red Sox                  14    7    7    0  .500   3.0    46   55
Kansas City Athletics           13    5    8    0  .385   4.5    73   69
Washington Senators             16    5   11    0  .313   6.0    36   55
Los Angeles Angels              13    4    9    0  .308   5.5    40   51

The Twins finish the two-game series against the White Sox on Monday: Chuck Stobbs vs. Frank Baumann.