Win a baseball game without your team getting an RBI? It happens, but it doesn’t happen all that often, in the case of our Minnesota Twins it has happened on 12 occasions in the Twins 56 years of play in Minnesota with the last occurrence taking place on May 1, 2015 at Target Field when the Twins shut out the might whities from Chicago 1-0. The Twins had seven hits that day, the most they have ever had in a game of this type. The Twins have beaten the Cleveland Indians three times and the Yankees twice without getting a RBI.
The first time it happened was June 22, 1962 at Met Stadium in the first game of a double-header against the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins had only three hits that day and a walk but they managed to come back from a 2-0 deficit to win the game 3-2. Starter Don Lee for the Angels pitched a complete game in a losing effort, he had pitched for the Twins in 1961 and part of 1962 before being traded to the Angels just a month earlier for pitcher Jim Donohue who also appeared in this game.
The Twins starter that day was Canadian Georges Maranda from Quebec. The right-handed throwing Maranda had an interesting history having been signed by the Boston Braves in 1951. Although Maranda started his career in the Braves system as a 19 year-old he did not make a big league appearance until he debuted as a Rule 5 selection for the San Francisco Giants at the age of 28 on April 26, 1960. He spent the entire season with the Giants in 1960 and was used sparingly, appearing in only 17 games and pitching a total of 50.2 innings and posting a 1-4 record. In 1961 the Giants sent him to AAA Tacoma where he posted a 10-4 record with a 3.56 ERA which was good enough to catch the attention of the Minnesota Twins who made him their Rule 5 pick on November 27, 1961. In Minnesota he again spent the entire season in the big leagues pitching primarily in relief he appeared in 32 games starting just four and the game above was one of those four games. Maranda was credited with the win which turned out to be the only victory he would get wearing a Minnesota uniform and one of the only two games he would win in the majors. The October of 1962 the Twins traded Maranda to the Cleveland Indians as the PTBNL in a deal for pitcher Ruben Gomez.
Georges Henri Maranda was the first Canadian to wear a Minnesota Twins uniform. Maranda played 13 seasons in professional baseball, but only played for two seasons in the majors. In his final season of pro ball in 1963 he pitched for the Jacksonville Suns in the American Association in 1963. In 1973, the town of Lévis named its baseball park the “Stade Georges Maranda” (Georges Maranda Stadium). He was inducted into the Quebec Baseball Hall of Fame on June 26, 2000. Georges Maranda passed away on July 14, 2000 at the age of 68 after a battle with cancer.
| Rk | Date | Tm | Opp | Rslt | AB | R | H | RBI |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2015-05-01 | MIN | CHW | W 1-0 | 28 | 1 | 7 | 0 |
| 2 | 2010-04-27 | MIN | DET | W 2-0 | 33 | 2 | 5 | 0 |
| 3 | 2001-09-28 | MIN | CLE | W 1-0 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 4 | 1985-08-24 | MIN | BOS | W 1-0 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 5 | 1978-07-07 (2) | MIN | OAK | W 1-0 | 30 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 6 | 1970-04-29 | MIN | CLE | W 1-0 | 30 | 1 | 6 | 0 |
| 7 | 1968-08-19 | MIN | NYY | W 1-0 | 28 | 1 | 4 | 0 |
| 8 | 1968-07-23 (2) | MIN | CAL | W 3-1 | 30 | 3 | 7 | 0 |
| 9 | 1967-08-25 (2) | MIN | CLE | W 2-1 | 33 | 2 | 7 | 0 |
| 10 | 1966-09-16 | MIN | NYY | W 2-1 | 28 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 11 | 1966-07-21 | MIN | WSA | W 1-0 | 32 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| 12 | 1962-06-22 (1) | MIN | LAA | W 3-2 | 29 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
Quebec Chronicle-Telegraph – Nov 28, 1961 – Maranda drafted by Twins (interesting writing style)