Game 17: Brewers Power Their Way Past Tigers, 4-2

Milwaukee (May 1) - The Tigers have surrendered the fewest home runs of any team in the major leagues. But that didn't stop the Milwaukee Brewers from playing longball at County Stadium.

The Brewers hit two home runs in the fifth inning off Tigers starter Vern Ruhle, and the blasts were the difference as Milwaukee won, 4-2, this afternoon.

The Tigers entered the contest having given up just six home runs in 16 games. The Brewers didn't care, as they got dingers from Darrell Porter (solo) and Don Money (two-run shot) in the fifth inning to move ahead, 3-1.

The Tigers edged to within 3-2 in the sixth, but the Brewers added a run in the seventh inning for some insurance.

It was the same old story for the Tigers: inefficiency on offense. They had ten hits, yet scored just twice.


Money's two-run home run proved the difference


"We just have to start scoring more runs," Tigers manager Ralp Houk said. "We're leaving way too many runners on base."

Twelve, to be exact, in today's contest as the Tigers fell to 7-10.

Ruhle had cruised through the first four innings when he served up the home runs in the fifth.

"Just threw some fat pitches and they did what big league hitters do," Ruhle lamented afterward.

Gary Sutherland had three singles, lifting his league-leading hit total to 28, and raising his average to an even .400, also leading the league.

The Tigers infield trio of Sutherland, shortstop Tom Veryzer and third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez are a combined 65-for-179 (.363) this season. But, as an indictment of the Tigers' offensive struggles, the three have scored just 17 runs total.

"Our no. 8 and 9 guys have been terrific," Houk said of Veryzer and Rodriguez, respectively. "And Suds (Sutherland), what can you say?"

But none of it was enough to overcome even a two-run deficit.

The Tigers' team ERA is a very respectable 3.52.

"That should win you a lot more games than we have," Houk said.

Indeed.

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Tigers record: 7-10 (actual 10-7)
Home: 2-7
Away: 5-3

Game 16: Five-Run Sixth Lifts Tigers, 6-4

Milwaukee (April 30) - All month, the Tigers have lamented their inability to get clutch hits and score runs. For one night, they put those concerns to rest.

The Tigers scored five runs in the sixth inning, plating all but one base runner in the frame, and went on to a 6-4 win over the Milwaukee Brewers at County Stadium tonight.

Ron LeFlore's two out, two-run single highlighted the inning, as the Tigers erased a 3-0 deficit to go ahead, 5-3.

The Brewers answered with a run in their half of the sixth, but the Tigers tacked on an insurance run in the eighth, thanks in part to an error by shortstop Robin Yount to start the inning.

Tigers starter Dave Lemanczyk (2-0) pitched seven innings and got the win. John Hiller pitched the ninth for his third save of the year.


Willie Horton, who had three hits and a run scored: "Maybe this will kind of get things going for us."

Down 3-0, the Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out in the sixth. Willie Horton singled, Nate Colbert walked, and Bill Freehan singled. Then Danny Meyer drew a walk, forcing home Horton. A Ben Oglivie single delivered another run, and Tom Veryzer lofted a fly ball to center field that scored Freehan. LeFlore then stepped to the plate and singled home the fourth and fifth runs of the inning.

"Good to see the boys deliver," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said.

The Tigers (7-9) have won two straight.

Horton, who had three singles and a run scored, hoped that the outburst was a sign of things to come.

"I know I can do better. We all can," he said. "Maybe this will kind of get things going for us."

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Tigers record: 7-9 (actual 10-6)
Home: 2-7
Away: 5-2

Game 15: Lolich Brilliant, Tigers Snap Losing Streak

Baltimore (April 29) - When a team struggles to score runs and win as the Tigers have lately, you knew it would take a splendid pitching performance to end their four-game losing streak. And boy, did they get it.

Mickey Lolich, the reliable old lefty, pitched a four-hit shutout at the Baltimore Orioles tonight at Memorial Stadium as the Tigers won, 4-0.

Lolich was in total command all evening as the Tigers (6-9) snapped their skid.

"I know he probably has, but I doubt Mick's pitched many games better than that," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said afterward. "And we really needed it."

Lolich (2-2) lowered his ERA to 1.87.

More good news: struggling first baseman Nate Colbert hit his first home run as a Tiger and went 2-for-5 with two runs scored.

"Off the schneide," Colbert said.

The Tigers banged out 10 hits and scratched out enough offense to give Lolich breathing room, scoring single runs in the second, fourth, fifth and seventh innings.



The Tigers did commit three errors (as did the O's), which made Lolich's job a tad more difficult than necessary. But the 32-year-old southpaw was more than up to the challenge, even though he only struck out three batters.

"His fastball was really jumping," said Baltimore right fielder Ken Singleton, who managed a double off Lolich.

The Tigers got a sacrifice fly from Leon Roberts in the second, and then Roberts hit his first homer of the season two innings later. Two Orioles errors led to a run in the fifth, and Colbert took reliever Paul Mitchell deep in the seventh.

Just enough to allow Lolich to cruise to his second win of the season.

The Tigers travel to Milwaukee for a pair of games with the Brewers, before heading to Boston for a weekend series.

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Tigers record: 6-9 (actual 10-5)
Home: 2-7
Away: 4-2


"

Game 14: Belanger Stings Tigers Late, 3-2

Baltimore (April 28) - Mark Belanger isn't normally known for clutch hitting. In fact, he's not normally known for hitting, period.

But Belanger, the Baltimore Orioles' shortstop, delivered a two-out single in the seventh inning that scored Ellie Hendricks and broke a 2-2 tie, lifting the O's to a 3-2 win over the Tigers tonight at Memorial Stadium.

It was the third 3-2 loss for the Tigers (5-9) in their past four games.

Once again, the offense let the Bengals down.

"Same old story," said Tigers designated hitter Willie Horton. "Not enough runs to win games."

It was also another fine pitching performance wasted.

Joe Coleman (1-3) pitched all eight innings for the Tigers, surrendering just five hits and three runs, striking out seven. But it wasn't good enough for a win.

The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the fifth inning on Ron LeFlore's two-run homer, his first round-tripper of the season.

Orioles starter Mike Cuellar had traffic on the base paths in every inning, but managed to pitch one batter into the eighth before being relieved by Doyle Alexander. Grant Jackson got the save after spelling Alexander with one out in the ninth.



The Tigers threatened Jackson, putting runners on first and second before the lefty got Tom Veryzer on a force out and coaxing a groundball from Aurelio Rodriguez.

Bobby Grich's solo homer in the fifth cut the Tigers' lead to 2-1.

In the seventh, with two out and nobody on, the Orioles rallied.

Brooks Robinson walked, and was plated by Hendricks' double. Hendricks advanced to third on the play when Tigers left fielder Danny Meyer bobbled the baseball in the corner. That set the stage for Belanger's heroics, as he drove a 1-2 slider from Coleman that caught too much of the plate.

"That's baseball," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said. "Anyone can beat you, if you don't make pitches. But Joe pitched well, overall."

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Tigers record: 5-9 (actual 9-5)
Home: 2-7
Away: 3-2

Game 13: Wise, Red Sox Tame Tigers, 7-0

Detroit (April 27) - The Tigers dropped the first two games of their weekend series to the Boston Red Sox by the narrowest of margins. After both games, Tigers players bemoaned the lack of a clutch hit to even the score.

No such worries today.

The Red Sox ran away from the Tigers, 7-0 this afternoon at Tiger Stadium, giving the Bosox the three-game sweep. Boston right-hander Rick Wise pitched a complete-game, two-hitter. In fact, the Tigers had more errors (three) than hits.

The Red Sox banged out 13 hits, led by rookie Fred Lynn, who followed up his four-hit game on Saturday with three more on Sunday.

Boston blew open the game with three runs in the fourth and two in the fifth, extending their lead to 6-0 and knocking out starter Lerrin LaGrow (1-2).

Wise, meanwhile, handcuffed the offensively challenged Tigers, whose 38 runs scored rank them next to last in the American League.



Only one Tigers base runner advanced as far as second base all afternoon.

"Couldn't do a thing with him," lamented Tigers manager Ralph Houk of Wise. "He was, basically, two pitches away from a no-hitter."

In fact, the Tigers didn't get a hit until the fifth inning, when they got both of them, and singles.

Wise walked one and struck out five in his command performance.

On offense, the Red Sox didn't need much but got plenty. The biggest blow was Bernie Carbo's two-out, two-run single in the fourth, making the score 4-0.

The Tigers are now off to Baltimore for two games. Maybe it's a good thing; the Tigers are 2-7 at home but 3-1 on the road, though all four of those games were in one city (New York).

"We've played nine of our first thirteen games at home," Houk said, "and we didn't take advantage of it, at all."

The Red Sox, and Wise, helped see to that.

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Tigers record: 5-8 (actual 8-5)
Home: 2-7
Away: 3-1

Game 12: Rookie Lynn Victimizes Tigers

Detroit (April 26) - Rookie Fred Lynn hit a two-out, two-run homer off reliever Fernando Arroyo in the eighth inning, his fourth hit of the game, erasing a 2-1 deficit, and the Boston Red Sox defeated the Detroit Tigers, 3-2 on Saturday afternoon.

Lynn struck with Bernie Carbo, who led off the inning with a walk, on third base. Arroyo (0-1) came on to relieve starter Vern Ruhle after Carbo's walk.

Dwight Evans sacrificed Carbo to second, and Carl Yastrzemski grounded out, setting the stage for Lynn, who had three singles and scored a run prior to his game-winning at-bat.

The clutch homer made a winner of lefty Bill Lee, who went 7-2/3 innings. Dick Drago went the rest of the way for the save,

Lee gave up 11 hits but just two runs, both unearned.

Ruhle was even stingier, surrendering just four hits.



The Tigers jumped off to a 1-0 lead in the first.

Ron LeFlore led off with a single, advanced to second after an error, and scored on a two-out single by Bill Freehan.

Gary Sutherland had two more hits for the Tigers (5-7), giving him 21 for the season and a .429 batting average.

The Tigers have dropped the first two games of this weekend series with the Red Sox, each by identical 3-2 scores.

"Our offense just isn't clicking," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said of his team, which has scored just 38 runs in 12 games.

Indeed, despite the 11 hits, the Tigers never really put together any major threats against Lee.

In the fourth inning, Leon Roberts, trying to score from first on a double, was thrown out at the plate by right fielder Evans, whose cannon arm fired a strike to catcher Bob Montgomery on one hop from about 300 feet away.

Drago intentionally walked Ben Oglivie in the eighth inning after relieving Lee, then struck out Tom Veryzer to end a man on first and second threat. Drago then pitched a perfect ninth.

"We're not going to win very many games the way we're scoring runs," Sutherland said afterward. "Our pitching's been pretty good. We're just not bailing them out."

As for Lynn, Houk was effusive in his praise.

"If he played here, with that swing, he'd hit a bushel of homers," Houk said about Lynn's lefty bat and the short right field porch at Tiger Stadium. "He's going to be a good one."

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Record: 5-7 (actual 7-5)
Home: 2-6
Away: 3-1

Game 11: Tiant Outduels Lolich, 3-2

Detroit (April 25) - Luis Tiant started slow but finished strong. Mickey Lolich started slow but finished not as strong.

That was pretty much the difference, as the Boston Red Sox held on for a 3-2 win over the Tigers at Tiger Stadium tonight.

Tiant fired a complete-game, nine-hitter, surrendering his runs and six of the hits in the first three innings. Lolich gave up Boston's runs and eight of their 12 hits after four innings.

Both pitchers settled in as the game wore on, and the Tigers couldn't push across the tying run.

Lolich (1-2) was victimized by a Nate Colbert error in the fourth, which extended the inning one batter too long. Juan Beniquez took advantage, singling home Bob Heise with the go-ahead, and eventual game-winning, run.

Gary Sutherland had three hits for the Tigers (5-6), lifting his batting average to .432.



Tigers shortstop Tom Veryzer had to be removed from the game in the sixth inning after colliding with left fielder Dan Meyer chasing a pop fly that Veryzer eventually caught. As Veryzer was helped off the field, the crowd of 11, 266 gave him a nice ovation.

Dwight Evans had three singles and an RBI for Boston (8-5).

Tiant's biggest challenge came in the eighth, when the Tigers put men on first and second with two outs. But the Cuban right-hander struck out Willie Horton to end the threat.

"That was a pretty good game," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said. "But not the result we wanted, obviously."

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Tigers record: 5-6 (Actual 6-5)
Home: 2-5
Away: 3-1

Game 10: Coleman, Tigers Cruise Past Tribe, 9-2

DETROIT (April 23)- It's only two weeks into the season, and Joe Coleman was already itching to get his first victory.

Consider that itch scratched.

Coleman, the Tigers' no. 2 starter, pitched into the ninth inning and his teammates banged out 16 hits as Detroit buried the Cleveland Indians, 9-2, at Tiger Stadium this afternoon.

Coleman (1-2) said before the game that his rough start to the season (0-2 with a 4.61 ERA) was already getting to him.

"You don't want to go too far into the season before you win your first game," Coleman said in the clubhouse prior to the matinee affair. "I want to get the W today, real bad."

His teammates made it easy for him, racing to a 5-0 lead after three innings.

Coleman did the rest, limiting the Tribe to one run until Oscar Gamble led off the ninth with a home run. Coleman struck out three and walked none. He did, however, surrender 11 hits as he pitched three batters into the ninth before running out of gas.

"Joe gave up some hits, but when he needed an out, he got it," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said.

Gary Sutherland had four hits, Art James three, and four other Tigers had two hits apiece as the Indians were blown out.

Cleveland starter Jim Perry (2.1 IP, 9 hits, five runs) was ineffective from the first pitch, when Ron LeFlore singled. Sutherland followed with a double and Willie Horton grounded out, and after three batters it was 1-0 Detroit.

The Tigers added three more runs in the second as five of the first seven batters in the inning singled.

"Runs have been hard to come by for us, it seems," Sutherland said. "It was good to see the guys break out a little bit."

No one was more thrilled than Coleman.



"I was able to relax, and I needed to do that," Coleman said afterward. "It was just two starts [prior to this one] but I still felt like I was pressing a little."

The Tigers (5-5) swept the two-game series from the Indians.

They are 2-0 since getting demolished, 15-0, by the Yankees on Sunday.

"That's what's great about baseball," Houk said. "You don't have to wait long to try to get those bad tastes out of your mouth."

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Record: 5-5 (actual: 5-5)
Home: 2-4
Road: 3-1

Games 1 thru 9

(since I'm starting this blog after the first nine games have been played, what follows are brief capsules of those nine games. Going forward, each game will be its own blog post)

Game 1 (4-10-75; Baltimore at Tigers)
Orioles 3, Tigers 0
Palmer (BAL): CG, 3 H, 1 BB, 7 K
Singleton (BAL): 2-3, 2 R, 2-run HR

Tigers record: 0-1

Game 2 (4-11-75; Tigers at New York)
Tigers 4, Yankees 1
Lolich (DET): 8.1 IP, 7 H, 7 K, 0 ER
Rodriguez (DET): 3-run HR

Tigers record: 1-1

Game 3 (4-12-75; Tigers at New York)
Yankees 5, Tigers 4 (1o inn)
Chambliss (NY): Walk-off solo HR
Yankees: Erased 4-0 deficit with four-run 5th

Tigers record: 1-2

Game 4 (4-13-75; Tigers at New York; DH #1)
Tigers 3, Yankees 2
Michael (DET): Squeeze play in 9th inning for go-ahead run
Rodriguez (DET): Pinch-hit triple in 9th; scored on squeeze

Tigers record: 2-2

Game 5 (4-13-75; Tigers at New York; DH #2)
Tigers 4, Yankees 3
Yankees: two runs in ninth; left tying run on third base
Veryzer (DET): 4-for-4, run, RBI

Tigers record: 3-2

Game 6 (4-18-75; New York at Tigers)
Yankees 6, Tigers 2
Blomberg (NY): 3-for-3, on base 5-for-5 (2 BB); 2 RBI, 2 runs
Yankees: 14 hits
Medich (NY): 8 IP, 7 H, 4 K, 0 BB, 1 ER

Tigers record: 3-3

Game 7 (4-19-75; New York at Tigers)
Yankees 5, Tigers 4
Yankees: 5-0 lead after seven, held on for win
Horton (DET): 2-run HR
Johnson, Nettles (NY): 2 RBI each

Tigers record: 3-4

Game 8 (4-20-75; New York at Tigers)
Yankees 15, Tigers 0
Yankees: 22 hits (no HR); hit in every inning except 9th
Maddox (NY): four hits, 2 RBI
Munson (NY): four hits (two 2B), 4 RBI
Yankees: all nine batters got at least one hit
Tigers: as many errors (4) as hits

Tigers record: 3-5

Game 9 (4-22-75; Cleveland at Tigers)
Tigers 4, Indians 2
Horton (DET): 2-run HR (2)
Meyer (DET): solo HR
Lowenstein (CLE): leadoff HR

Tigers record: 4-5