FIDRYCH TOSSES SHUTOUT, RODRIGUEZ HOMERS
Detroit Snaps 16-of-18 'L' Skid

BOSTON, June 24 (AP) - Mark Fidrych fired his third shutout in eight starts thus far this season and Aurelio Rodriguez hit a solo home run in the top of the seventh as the Detroit Tigers slipped past the Boston Red Sox, 1-0, at Fenway Park.  The Tigers had dropped 16 of their last 18 games.  The victory was only the sixth on the road this season for Detroit; the Tigers are now 6-25 in away games.

Red Sox starter Rick Wise held Detroit to just one run in completing his fifth game of the season.  His shutout remained intact one out into the seventh when Rodriguez picked out a 1-0 offering that just barely cleared the Green Monster in left field.  Wise retired 13 of the final 14 batters he faced; Rodriguez's home run was the sole exception.

The Tigers had a good scoring opportunity in the top of the very first inning.  With one out, consecutive singles off the bats of Tom Veryzer, Ben Oglivie and Rusty Staub filled the bases.  But Wise struck out Jason Thompson and retired Alex Johnson on a fly ball to center to end the inning.

In the fifth, Detroit had another threat.  Bruce Kimm singled with one out and stole second base.  Ron LeFlore's infield single moved Kimm to third but Wise then induced Veryzer to ground into an inning ending double play.

Bsoton, meanwhile, never advanced a runner into scoring position off Fidrych with less than two outs.  The best scoring chance came in the second inning when back-to-back singles by Dwight Evans and Rico Petrocelli put runners on first and third with two outs, but Fidrych fanned Rick Burleson to extinguish the threat.  The Red Sox never advanced another baserunner beyond first.

Fidrych has tossed shutouts in three of his four wins this year.  The Tigers have averaged only 2.3 runs in the right-hander's eight starts and have managed only six runs in the four games Fidrych has lost.

6/24/1976, Det76-Bos76, Fenway Park
 
                       1  2  3  4  5  6  7  8  9     R  H  E   LOB DP
1976 Tigers            0  0  0  0  0  0  1  0  0     1  7  0     5  0
1976 Red Sox           0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0  0     0  6  0     5  2
 
Tigers               AB  R  H BI   AVG    Red Sox              AB  R  H BI   AVG
LeFlore           cf  4  0  1  0  .302    Cooper            dh  4  0  0  0  .234
Veryzer           ss  4  0  1  0  .255    Griffin,D         2b  3  0  0  0  .141
Oglivie           rf  4  0  2  0  .383     Doyle            ph  1  0  0  0  .247
Staub             dh  4  0  1  0  .300    Lynn              cf  4  0  1  0  .279
Thompson,J        1b  4  0  0  0  .173    Yastrzemski       1b  4  0  1  0  .275
Johnson,A         lf  4  0  0  0  .271    Rice              lf  4  0  0  0  .305
 Stanley,M        lf  0  0  0  0  .293    Fisk              c   3  0  2  0  .258
Rodriguez,A       3b  3  1  1  1  .275    Evans,Dw          rf  3  0  1  0  .239
Garcia,P          2b  3  0  0  0  .147    Petrocelli        3b  3  0  1  0  .210
Kimm              c   2  0  1  0  .226    Burleson          ss  3  0  0  0  .315
                     32  1  7  1                               32  0  6  0
 
Tigers                           INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Fidrych          W 4-4           9.0  6  0  0  0  5 109  76  2.08
                                 9.0  6  0  0  0  5 109  76
 
Red Sox                          INN  H  R ER BB  K PCH STR   ERA
Wise             L 8-3           9.0  7  1  1  1  3 104  73  3.23
                                 9.0  7  1  1  1  3 104  73
 
Det: Stanley,M inserted at lf in the 9th
Bos: Doyle batted for Griffin,D in the 9th
 
2B-Lynn(15). HR-Rodriguez,A(4). RBI-Rodriguez,A(28). SB-Kimm(3). CS-Fisk.
K-LeFlore, Staub, Thompson,J, Griffin,D, Rice, Evans,Dw 2, Burleson. BB-Kimm.
GWRBI: Rodriguez,A
Temperature: 79, Sky: clear, Wind: left to right at 14 MPH.
Attendance: 21,444
Game Time: 1:53