Game 48: Crash! Tigers' Win Streak Ends In Oakland, 12-0

Oakland, CA (June 8) - That sound you heard was the Tigers' five-game winning streak coming to a crashing end.

It couldn't have been more resounding: a 12-0 pasting at the hands of the Oakland A's at the Coliseum this afternoon.

A's lefty Ken Holtzman escaped a bases loaded jam in the first inning and was never headed off after that.

Billy Williams went 5-for-5 with an RBI. Joe Rudi had five RBI with a homer and a single as the A's salvaged the final game of the three-game series.

The Tigers, though, are 5-1 on this eight-game trip so they have clinched a winning record on it.

Still, today's game was a stunning way to end the winning streak.

Holtzman blanked the Tigers on six hits, with a walk and five strikeouts. After the first inning, no Tigers runner so much as reached second base.

"(Holtzman) pretty much mowed us down after we let him off the hook," Tigers manager Ralph Houk said, referring to the opening inning, when Holtzman struck out Leon Roberts and coaxed a line out from Nate Colbert to leave the sacks loaded.


Holtzman baffled the Tigers after the first inning


Meanwhile, the A's, who'd only scored three runs in the first two games of the series, were exploding.

They scored twice in the second on Rudi's two-run homer and then added four more in the third off starter Joe Coleman, making his first start since injuring himself in Anaheim in his last start.

Houk said the knee injury played a role in Coleman's performance.

"Oh, I think so," the skipper said. "I think he was kind of ginger on it," he added about Coleman's left leg, injured in a collision with California's Joe Lahoud at first base.

But Houk said Coleman and trainer Bill Behm assured the manager that Coleman was OK to start.

The A's couldn't do anything against Ray Bare, who pitched the fourth, fifth and sixth. But they abused Gene Pentz, who has struggled all year. The A's tagged Pentz for six runs (three earned) in the eighth.

Gary Sutherland had three singles for Detroit (20-28).

Notes: GM Jim Campbell, who's on the trip, denied reports that the team is close to trading Colbert, who's batting .128. The San Francisco Examiner reported that the Tigers are talking to two National League teams who've inquired about the struggling slugger...Tom Veryzer is in a 3-for-23 slump, lowering his average to .277...Mickey Stanley started a fifth straight game at third base for injured Aurelio Rodriguez.

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Tigers record: 20-28 (actual 23-25)
Home: 8-16
Away: 12-12
Last 10: 6-4