A'S TAME TIGERS IN 11 FOR 10TH STRAIGHT 'W'
Rudi Homers, Drives in Game-Winner with SF
DETROIT, Apr. 28 (AP) - Joe Rudi's sacrifice fly in the top of the eleventh
inning drove home Bill North from third and Rollie Fingers threw a scoreless
bottom half as the Oakland Athletics extended their winning streak to 10 games
with a 3-2 victory over the Detroit Tigers at Tiger Stadium. The A's have
the best record in the major leagues at 14-2. The Tigers fell to 2-10,
tied for the worst mark in Major League Baseball.
Oakland broke out on top in the very first inning when Rudi drove an offering
from Dave Roberts into the lower seats in left field for his first home run of
the season and a 1-0 lead.
Detroit retaliated with the tying run in the bottom of the fifth. Alex
Johnson led off with a single to center and, after A's starter Mike Norris
retired Willie Horton on a pop to short, Rusty Staub's base hit to right scored
Johnson, knotting the score at one.
The A's regained the lead in the very next half-inning. Larry Haney led
off with a base hit and, one out later, took second when Claudell Washington
looped a single to center. Rudi's sharp single to left loaded the bases
and Haney scored on Don Baylor's slow roller to first. Roberts then walked
Sal Bando intentionally, refilling the bases, but Billy Williams grounded out to
first, ending the inning with Oakland now on top, 2-1.
But Detroit fought right back, tying the game in the bottom of the inning.
With two outs, Gary Sutherland doubled into the left field corner and Ron
LeFlore followed with a two-bagger to right-center, squaring the score at 2-2.
The Tigers had a chance to take the lead in the eighth when John Wockenfuss
doubled off Paul Lindblad with one out and was replaced on second by pinch
runner Jerry Manuel. Tom Veryzer's fly to deep left advanced Manuel to
third but Lindblad retired Sutherland on a ground out to second, ending the
inning.
The A's finally broke the tie in the 11th. Bill North led off with a
double to left off reliever Steve Grilli and Washington advanced the runner to
third with a perfect sacrifice. Rudi's fly ball to center was easily deep
enough for the speedy North to score and Oakland led 2-1.
In the bottom of the inning Fingers, who had come on to get the final out of the
10th, yielded a lead-off single to Bruce Kimm. Ben Oglivie pinch hit for
Veryzer but struck out. Sutherland then bounced into an around the horn
double play to end the game.
4/28/1976, Oak76-Det76, Tiger Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 R H E LOB DP 1976 Athletics 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 3 8 0 6 1 1976 Tigers 0 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 2 8 0 10 1 Athletics AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG North cf 5 1 1 0 .299 LeFlore cf 4 0 1 1 .320 Washington rf 4 0 2 0 .250 Johnson,A lf 5 1 2 0 .275 Rudi lf 4 1 2 2 .308 Horton dh 3 0 0 0 .146 Baylor 1b 5 0 1 1 .250 Staub rf 4 0 1 1 .333 Bando 3b 3 0 0 0 .246 Thompson,J 1b 5 0 0 0 .200 Williams,B dh 5 0 0 0 .151 Rodriguez,A 3b 5 0 1 0 .340 Campaneris ss 3 0 0 0 .241 Wockenfuss c 3 0 1 0 .143 Garner 2b 4 0 1 0 .213 Manuel pr 0 0 0 0 .300 Haney c 4 1 1 0 .333 Kimm c 1 0 1 0 1.000 37 3 8 3 Veryzer ss 3 0 0 0 .200 Oglivie ph 1 0 0 0 .318 Sutherland 2b 5 1 1 0 .080 39 2 8 2 Athletics INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Norris 6.1 6 2 2 5 3 117 67 5.06 Lindblad 3.1 1 0 0 0 1 45 32 1.17 Fingers W 2-0 1.1 1 0 0 0 1 11 8 0.00 11.0 8 2 2 5 5 173 107 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Roberts,D 9.0 6 2 2 1 2 111 74 3.16 Grilli L 0-1 2.0 2 1 1 2 0 39 20 3.60 11.0 8 3 3 3 2 150 94 Det: Manuel ran for Wockenfuss in the 8th Kimm inserted at c in the 9th Oglivie batted for Veryzer in the 11th 2B-North(6), Garner(1), LeFlore(1), Wockenfuss(1), Sutherland(2). HR-Rudi(1). RBI-Rudi 2(11), Baylor(15), LeFlore(4), Staub(4). SB-LeFlore(4), Johnson,A(1). CS-Campaneris. K-Washington, Campaneris, LeFlore 2, Thompson,J, Wockenfuss, Oglivie. BB-Bando 2, Campaneris, LeFlore, Horton 2, Staub, Wockenfuss. SH-Washington, Veryzer. SF-Rudi. GWRBI: Rudi Temperature: 70, Sky: clear, Wind: in from right at 7 MPH. Attendance: 12,927 Game Time: 3:04