Denny McLain was handed his 20th defeat of the season when the Tigers beat the Senators, 4-2, behind the pitching of Joe Coleman, who gained his 18th victory and struck out a career high of 14 in the game. Aurelio Rodriguez homered off McLain in the first inning, Mickey Stanley drove in a run with a single in the fourth, Norm Cash walked with the bases loaded in the fifth and Jim Northrup homered in the sixth. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 4, Washington Senators 2
Game Played on Wednesday, September 15, 1971 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium
Senators     1  0  0    0  1  0    0  0  0  -   2  7  0
Tigers       1  0  0    1  1  1    0  0  x  -   4  6  0


Senators             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Unser cf              5   1   1   1     0   1   .261      McAuliffe 2b          4   1   1   0     0   1   .206
Nelson 3b             3   1   2   0     1   0   .272      Rodriguez 3b          4   1   2   1     0   1   .242
Mincher 1b            4   0   0   0     0   1   .278      G. Brown lf           2   0   0   0     1   0   .368
Howard lf             4   0   1   1     0   3   .276        Kaline ph,rf        1   0   0   0     0   1   .295
Allen 2b              3   0   1   0     1   1   .267      Cash 1b               2   1   0   1     2   1   .281
  Harrah pr,ss        0   0   0   0     0   0   .222      Freehan c             2   0   0   0     2   0   .274
Billings c            3   0   1   0     1   2   .241      Northrup rf,lf        4   1   1   1     0   0   .271
Burroughs rf          4   0   1   0     0   1   .259      Stanley cf            3   0   1   1     0   0   .299
Cullen ss,2b          4   0   0   0     0   2   .192      Brinkman ss           3   0   1   0     0   1   .228
McLain p              2   0   0   0     0   2   .109      Coleman p             2   0   0   0     0   2   .089
  McCraw ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .209
  Grzenda p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
  Biittner ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .262

Totals               34   2   7   2     3  14             Totals               27   4   6   4     5   7

Time of Game: 2:19   Attendance:  8,066
Left on Base: Senators 8, Tigers 5
DP: Senators 2, Tigers 0
Doubles: Nelson (7), Howard (24), McAuliffe (15)
Home Runs: Unser (9), Rodriguez (15), Northrup (14)
Stolen Bases: Nelson (11)
Sacrifice Hits: Coleman (8)
GIDP: Freehan (12), Northrup (14)


Senators               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
McLain L(10-20)         6     6   4   4   4   4   2  27   4.24
Grzenda                 2     0   0   0   1   3   0   6   2.23
Totals                  8     6   4   4   5   7   2  33

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Coleman W(18-8)         9     7   2   2   3  14   1  37   3.08
Totals                  9     7   2   2   3  14   1  37

Umpires: HP - Dave Phillips, 1B - Larry Napp, 2B - Jerry Neudecker, 3B - Russ Goetz


SENATORS 1ST: Unser grounded out (second to first); Nelson
doubled to right; Mincher struck out; Howard doubled to center
[Nelson scored]; Allen walked; Billings walked [Howard to third,
Allen to second]; Burroughs was called out on strikes; 1 R, 2 H,
0 E, 3 LOB.  Senators 1, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: McAuliffe flied out to left; Rodriguez homered; G.
Brown flied out to left; Cash struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Senators 1, Tigers 1.

SENATORS 2ND: Cullen flied out to right; McLain was called out
on strikes; Unser popped to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Senators 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 2ND: Freehan flied out to center; Northrup popped to
second; Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Senators 1, Tigers 1.

SENATORS 3RD: Nelson walked; Mincher grounded out (second to
first) [Nelson to second]; Nelson stole third; Howard struck
out; Allen grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Senators 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Brinkman singled to left; Coleman out on a sacrifice
bunt (catcher to second) [Brinkman to second]; McAuliffe flied
out to right [Brinkman to third]; Rodriguez popped to first; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators 1, Tigers 1.

SENATORS 4TH: Billings struck out; Burroughs flied out to right;
Cullen grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Senators 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 4TH: G. Brown grounded out (second to first); Cash
walked; Freehan walked [Cash to second]; Northrup forced Freehan
(second to shortstop) [Cash to third]; Stanley singled to left
[Cash scored, Northrup to second]; Brinkman was called out on
strikes; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Senators 1, Tigers 2.

SENATORS 5TH: McLain was called out on strikes; Unser homered;
Nelson grounded out (second to first); Mincher grounded out
(first to pitcher); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 2, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 5TH: Coleman was called out on strikes; McAuliffe doubled
to right; Rodriguez singled to second [McAuliffe to third]; G.
Brown walked [Rodriguez to second]; Cash walked [McAuliffe
scored, Rodriguez to third, G. Brown to second]; Freehan
grounded into a double play (pitcher to catcher to first)
[Rodriguez out at home]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Senators 2,
Tigers 3.

SENATORS 6TH: Howard struck out; Allen struck out; Billings
singled to center; Burroughs singled to left [Billings to
second]; Cullen was called out on strikes; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Senators 2, Tigers 3.

TIGERS 6TH: Northrup homered; Stanley grounded out (shortstop to
first); Brinkman grounded out (pitcher to first); Coleman struck
out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 2, Tigers 4.

SENATORS 7TH: MCCRAW BATTED FOR MCLAIN; McCraw flied out to
center; Unser struck out; Nelson singled to right; Mincher
grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Senators
2, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 7TH: GRZENDA REPLACED MCCRAW (PITCHING); McAuliffe struck
out; Rodriguez struck out; KALINE BATTED FOR G. BROWN; Kaline
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 2, Tigers 4.

SENATORS 8TH: NORTHRUP CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); KALINE
STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Howard struck out; Allen singled to
center; HARRAH RAN FOR ALLEN; Billings was called out on
strikes; Burroughs forced Harrah (third to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Senators 2, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 8TH: HARRAH STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING SS); CULLEN CHANGED
POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); Cash flied out to center; Freehan
walked; Northrup grounded into a double play (second to first)
[Freehan out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 2,
Tigers 4.

SENATORS 9TH: Cullen was called out on strikes; BIITTNER BATTED
FOR GRZENDA; Biittner struck out; Unser grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Senators 2, Tigers 4.