The Tigers have rediscovered their pitching, which enabled them to stay near .500 in the season's first month. In the past three games, the Tigers have allowed just five runs.
Mickey Lolich (5-6) went eight strong innings (eight hits, two runs, six strikeouts) before giving way to fireman John Hiller, who appears to have bounced back from his season-long struggles. Hiller pitched an uneventful ninth for his 10th save, his third straight scoreless appearance.
The A's scored single runs in the fifth and sixth innings, but aside from that, Lolich held the three-time defending World Champs at bay.
Danny Meyer continued his hot hitting with a double and two singles. Meyer has eight hits in his last 14 at-bats.
Manager Ralph Houk attributed the Tigers' 4-0 start on this eight-game road trip to pitching and timely hitting.
"We're not doing a whole lot on offense, but we're doing enough, because our pitching has been terrific," Houk said.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the first inning. With Gary Sutherland on third base and Meyer on second with one out, DH Willie Horton lofted a sacrifice fly to center field.
They tacked on two more runs in the fifth on a Leon Roberts ground out and an error by Oakland SS Bert Campaneris, making the score 3-0 Detroit.
The A's scored on a Phil Garner ground out in the fifth and a Joe Rudi triple in the sixth. After Rudi's hit put a runner on third with one out, Lolich beared down and struck out Gene Tenace before inducing a ground out from Sal Bando to preserve the 3-2 lead.
Lolich said it wasn't as easy as he made it look.
Lolich retired 10 straight A's batters from the first thru fourth innings
"That's a great lineup," he said of the A's. "It's a pressure-filled lineup and I was just trying to make it through each inning with minimal damage."
He did that. At one point, the 34-year-old lefty retired 10 in a row.
The four-game winning streak matches the Tigers' season high.
"We just need wins," Lolich said. "The wheels were coming off there for awhile," he added about the team's 1-10 funk prior to the road trip.
The win enabled the Tigers (19-27) to virtually tie the Baltimore Orioles (20-28) for fifth place in the East Division. That sounds better than tied for last, right?
Notes: The Tigers continue to get next to nothing offensively from the first base position. With Nate Colbert temporarily benched, rookie Jack Pierce has started the last three games but is 0-for-12...Ron LeFlore went 0-for-5 with four fly outs to center field...The A's made three errors...Horton's 30 RBI ranks him fifth in the league...Announced attendance was just over 6,500 as the A's continue to struggle to draw, despite three straight World Series titles.
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Tigers record: 19-27 (actual 22-24)
Home: 8-16
Away: 11-11
Last 10: 5-5
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