Oglivie is now batting .488 (21-for-43) and is 5-for-5 in stolen bases, with another swipe tonight.
The Tigers (18-27) pulled off an unlikely sweep, given that they came into the series in a 1-10 funk.
"We battled this whole series," manager Ralph Houk said of his team, which won the three games by a combined total of five runs. "I'm proud of my guys."
Oglivie was the unquestioned star on this night.
He had singles in the first, third and fifth innings before coming to the plate in the seventh with runners on second and third and one out.
Angels manager Dick Williams, for whatever reason, elected to pitch to Oglivie with first base empty, rather than walk him to face Willie Horton with the bases loaded. Oglivie made Williams and the Angels pay by ripping a drive into the right field corner, plating Ron LeFlore and Terry Humphrey to erase a 2-1 deficit.
So why pitch to a guy who was 3-for-3 with first base open?
"Horton isn't chopped liver," Williams explained afterward of the Tigers DH, who is batting .317. "Frankly, I thought we could get Oglivie and then I'd have walked Horton."
Still, strange strategy, it would seem, and Oglivie's double underlined that.
Horton, ironically, then lined into a double play off reliever Dick Lange.
But the damage had been done.
Tom Walker, who has become the Tigers most dependable reliever recently, pitched two shutout innings (7th and 8th), and Fernando Arroyo pitched the ninth for his second save.
Normal fireman John Hiller was unavailable because of 3.1 innings pitched in the first two games of the series.
"The bullpen was great," Oglivie said. "I was happy to help," he then understated.
Oglivie is batting .488, albeit in 43 at-bats
Starter Vern Ruhle (3-6) pitched one batter into the seventh, scattering seven hits and allowing two unearned runs. He, too, lauded his relievers.
"Tommy's been on his game," Ruhle said of Walker. "And Fernie (Arroyo) picked us up with John (Hiller) being out."
The Tigers, though, committed three errors. They lead the majors with 47 miscues.
"We need to catch the ball better," Houk acknowledged.
But the Tigers have a three-game winning streak heading to Oakland.
Notes: Oglivie leads the Tigers with five steals. Shouldn't speedster Ron LeFlore (4) be doing that? "We'll look at that," Houk said. "Maybe we need to give Ronnie more leeway"...The Tigers will head to Kansas City for two games after the three games in Oakland...With GM Jim Campbell on the trip, there's a buzz about the future of 1B Nate Colbert. Rookie Jack Pierce started for the second straight night at first base. Pierce is 0-for-8. Houk wouldn't comment.
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Tigers record: 18-27 (actual 21-24)
Home: 8-16
Away: 10-11
Last 10: 4-6
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