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
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