YANKS CRUSH BENGALS, 19-6
10-Run 4th Inning; Chambliss 5 Hits
DETROIT, May 30 (AP) - The New York Yankees set a new American League high for
runs in a game, scoring 19 times against the Detroit Tigers and cruising to a
19-6 victory at Tiger Stadium. The Yankees conclusively put their stamp on
the game with a 10-run fourth inning, becoming the first major league team to
reach double digits in a single inning thus far this season. Only one
other team has scored 19 runs in a game; the Cincinnati Reds beat the Houston
Astros 19-2 on April 11 at Riverfront Stadium.
The Yankees set the tone for the game when they broke out on top in the second
inning with four runs. Chris Chambliss opened the frame with the first of
his five hits, a single to left-center and advanced to second on Lou Piniella's
base hit. Graig Nettles then lofted a fly ball to left that Alex Johnson
dropped for an error, loading the bases. Rick Dempsey followed with a
double to right, scoring Chambliss and Piniella and chasing Nettles to
third. Willie Randolph made it 3-0 when he lofted a sacrifice fly to left,
scoring Nettles. Fred Stanley's single to right scored Dempsey and capped
the scoring in the inning at four runs.
Johnson partially atoned for his error by hitting a solo home run in the bottom
of the inning, making the New York lead 4-1. But the Yankees got the run
back in the top of the third when Chambliss singled and scored one out later on
Nettles' doubled to left-center.
The Tigers scored once in the bottom of the third when Ron LeFlore reached on a
one-out infield single and came home on Tom Veryzer's triple to right-center.
So it was 5-2 when the game reached the top of the fourth and the Yankees
effectively ended it. Fred Stanley drew a lead-off walk from Detroit
starter Bill Laxton. Mickey Rivers flied out but Roy White advanced
Stanley to second with a base hit to left. Thurman Munson's single to
right-center scored Stanley and sent White to third, giving the Yankees a 6-2
lead. Laxton walked Chambliss to load the bases and then took a walk of
his own, right out of the game. He was replaced on the mound by Jim
Crawford. Piniella greeted Crawford with a two-run single to left-center,
making it 8-2 and advancing Chambliss to second. Nettles' squibber to the
left of the mound resulted in a force at third for the second out of the
inning. But Crawford walked Dempsey on four pitches, filling the bases and
Randolph bounced a single into right field, scoring Piniella and Nettles and
advancing Dempsey to third. It was now 10-2, but the Yankees weren't
done. Stanley, hitting for the second time in the inning as New York
batted around, singled to right, scoring Dempsey and moving Randolph to
third. Rivers joined the party with a base hit to left, driving home
another run. White walked, loading the bases again and Munson reached on
catcher's interference, scoring the eighth run of the inning and giving the
Yankees a 13-2 lead. Chambliss then lined a single to right-center,
driving home Rivers and White. The Tigers cut off the throw to the plate
and nailed Chambliss, who somewhat greedily was trying to take second, to
finally end the inning with New York on top, 15-2.
In all, the Yankees had sent 14 batters to the plate. Only two had been
retired. There had been seven hits, four walks one error--the catcher's
interference charged to John Wockenfuss--and ten runs. After Nettles
rolled into the fielder's choice, seven straight batters had reached base
safely. The inning had ended only because of an out on the
bases.
The rest of the game seemed like little more than an obligation that had to be
fulfilled. The Yankees scored four more runs in the sixth on a two-run
single off the bat of Chambliss and a two-run double from Nettles. A Jason
Thompson triple and an Aurelio Rodriguez sacrifice fly in the bottom of the
sixth plated two runs for the Tigers and Thompson's two-run home run into the
upper deck in right field in the eighth accounted for the final two tallies.
5/30/1976, NYA76-Det76, Tiger Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Yankees 0 4 1 10 0 4 0 0 0 19 18 1 8 0 1976 Tigers 0 1 1 0 0 2 0 2 0 6 8 3 5 1 Yankees AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG Rivers cf 4 2 2 1 .232 LeFlore cf 5 1 3 0 .319 White,R lf 4 3 1 0 .265 Veryzer ss 5 0 1 1 .261 Munson c 4 1 1 2 .264 Staub rf 4 0 0 0 .288 Velez rf 1 0 0 0 .234 Freehan c 0 0 0 0 .236 Chambliss 1b 5 3 5 4 .310 Horton dh 3 0 0 0 .236 Piniella dh 6 2 2 2 .232 Meyer ph 1 0 0 0 .237 Nettles 3b 6 2 3 3 .242 Johnson,A lf 2 2 1 1 .297 Mason ss 0 0 0 0 .147 Stanley,M ph 1 1 1 0 .368 Dempsey rf 5 2 1 2 .075 Thompson,J 1b 4 2 2 3 .173 Randolph 2b 3 1 1 3 .366 Rodriguez,A 3b 3 0 0 1 .285 Alomar ph 2 0 0 0 .242 Wockenfuss c 2 0 0 0 .182 Stanley,F ss 4 3 2 2 .400 Oglivie rf 1 0 0 0 .341 44 19 18 19 Sutherland 2b 4 0 0 0 .146 35 6 8 6 Yankees INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA May,R W 4-4 6.0 6 4 4 2 3 99 61 4.29 Pagan H 1 2.0 2 2 2 0 1 36 23 3.46 Guidry 1.0 0 0 0 0 0 7 6 0.00 9.0 8 6 6 2 4 142 90 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Laxton L 1-4 3.1 8 9 8 3 2 85 49 5.34 Crawford,J 1.2 6 9 6 5 0 72 32 5.96 Hiller 4.0 4 1 1 0 3 57 33 2.43 9.0 18 19 15 8 5 214 114 NYA: Alomar batted for Randolph in the 7th Velez inserted at rf in the 7th Dempsey moved to c in the 7th Alomar moved to 2b in the 7th Mason inserted at ss in the 8th Alomar moved to 3b in the 8th Stanley,F moved to 2b in the 8th Det: Freehan inserted at c in the 8th Oglivie inserted at rf in the 8th Meyer batted for Horton in the 8th Stanley,M batted for Johnson,A in the 8th Stanley,M moved to lf in the 9th E-Rivers, Veryzer, Johnson,A, Wockenfuss. 2B-Chambliss(8), Nettles 2(7), Dempsey(1). 3B-Veryzer(2), Thompson,J(1). HR-Johnson,A(3), Thompson,J(4). RBI-Rivers(13), Munson 2(24), Chambliss 4(28), Piniella 2(10), Nettles 3(26), Dempsey 2(3), Randolph 3(17), Stanley,F 2(12), Veryzer(7), Johnson,A(16), Thompson,J 3(15), Rodriguez,A(13). SB-Rivers(12), LeFlore(12). K-Munson, Piniella, Nettles, Randolph, Velez, Staub, Horton, Rodriguez,A 2. BB-Rivers 2, White,R 2, Chambliss, Dempsey, Stanley,F 2, Johnson,A, Wockenfuss. SF-Randolph, Rodriguez,A. CI-Munson. GWRBI: Dempsey Temperature: 80, Sky: partly cloudy, Wind: right to left at 8 MPH. Attendance: 31,609 Game Time: 3:21