Game 22: Tigers Go Deep, Bury Rangers

Detroit (May 9) -- For the first few weeks of the season, the Tigers learned to win games without the benefit of the home run, of which they had hit precious few.

But the baseballs flew out of Tiger Stadium tonight---three Tigers home runs---and Detroit overpowered the Texas Rangers, 6-4.

The Tigers (10-12) now have their first three-game winning streak of 1975.

Dan Meyer (4th HR), Leon Roberts (2nd) and Willie Horton (3rd) all went yard to overcome an early 4-1 deficit.

The power surge helped make a winner of starter Lerrin LaGrow (3-2). John Hiller notched his fifth save, and second in consecutive nights.

"This team can hit," Meyer said. "It's good to see us finally doing it."



Texas starter Jackie Brown surrendered all three dingers.

"Mistakes are killer in this ballpark," Brown said. "It's a very unforgiving place to pitch."

Meyer ripped his fourth homer into the upper deck in right field in the second inning, putting the Tigers on the scoreboard after Texas scored three times in their half of the frame.

The Rangers added a run in the third, then Roberts took Brown deep to left-center for a two-run shot to make the score 4-3.

The Tigers finally took the lead in the sixth, helped by a Toby Harrah error, as the shortstop threw wild to first base. The error came two batters after Horton tied the score with a drive into the left field lower deck.

Roberts singled home Ben Oglivie (beneficiary of the error), and Aurelio Rodriguez doubled to plate Roberts. Both hits came with two outs. If Harrah hadn't botched Oglivie's ball, neither Roberts nor Rodriguez would have come to the plate.

But they did, and the Tigers have a mini winning streak.

"There's more life on the bench now," Meyer said. "Guys are starting to feel it."

Lenny Randle's clutch two-out, two-run single in the second gave Texas an early 3-0 lead.

It didn't hold up.

NOTES: Nate Colbert was back out of the lineup, for the second time in three games. Oglivie played first base and made a couple nice plays, along with stealing his team-high fourth base...Manager Ralph Houk shrugged off concerns from a reporter that Bill Freehan, who's started all but one game at catcher so far, might be getting fatigued. "We've had a lot of rainouts," Houk said firmly. "I'm fully aware of Bill's age, but our games have been spread out more than most teams." Houk's right; the Houston Astros have played 32 games, ten more than the Tigers so far. Several teams have played between 28-30 games, while the Tigers have played a mere 22...Detroit's own "Fat Bob" Taylor sang the National Anthem before the game...Mike Hargrove made the final out after getting on base four times in a row.
***************************************************************
Tigers record: 10-12 (actual 12-10)
Home: 5-8
Away: 5-4