Recently converted from a reliever, John Hiller gained his first victory as a starter this season when the Tigers defeated the Athletics, 5-2. Hiller gave up a homer by Marty Perez in the eighth inning and was leading only 3-2, but Mickey Stanley and Milt May clinched his decision by hitting for the circuit in the Tigers' half. Hiller then ran out of steam in the ninth and Steve Foucault took over to finish the game. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 5, Oakland Athletics 2
Game Played on Tuesday, May       31, 1977 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium
A's          1  0  0    0  0  0    0  1  0  -   2  9  1
Tigers       1  0  0    0  0  0    2  2  x  -   5  9  1


A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Alexander ss          1   1   1   0     0   0   .444      LeFlore cf            3   0   1   1     1   0   .232
  Picciolo ss         2   0   1   0     0   0   .176      Fuentes 2b            4   0   0   0     0   0   .291
  Jorgensen ph        1   0   0   0     0   1   .188      Oglivie rf            4   1   1   0     0   3   .261
  Scott ss            0   0   0   0     0   0   .293      Kemp lf               3   0   2   1     1   1   .281
Sanguillen rf         4   0   3   0     0   0   .298      Stanley 1b            4   2   3   1     0   0   .270
  Murray pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .226      Wockenfuss dh         3   1   0   0     1   0   .243
Gross 3b              4   0   1   0     0   2   .268      May c                 3   1   1   1     0   0   .279
Allen 1b              3   0   0   0     1   2   .250      Mankowski 3b          4   0   1   1     0   2   .305
E. Williams c         4   0   1   0     0   0   .261      Veryzer ss            2   0   0   0     0   0   .157
  Lintz pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .107        Staub ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .227
McKinney dh           4   0   1   0     0   0   .197        Scrivener ss        0   0   0   0     0   0   .333
Armas cf              3   0   0   0     0   2   .232      Hiller p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Perez 2b              3   1   1   1     0   1   .202        Foucault p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Tyrone lf             3   0   0   0     0   2   .233
Blue p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Lacey p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               32   2   9   1     1  10             Totals               31   5   9   5     3   6

Time of Game: 2:21   Attendance:  7,067
Left on Base: A's 4, Tigers 6
DP: A's 1, Tigers 4
Errors: Armas, Oglivie
Doubles: Kemp (8)
Home Runs: Perez (1), Stanley (5), May (4)
Stolen Bases: Alexander (11), Oglivie (3), LeFlore (9)
Caught Stealing: McKinney (1), Kemp (1)
Sacrifice Hits: May (4)
GIDP: McKinney (3), Gross (2), E. Williams (9), May (5)


A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blue L(3-6)             6     6   3   3   3   3   0  26   3.92
Lacey                   2     3   2   2   0   3   2   9   2.05
Totals                  8     9   5   5   3   6   2  35

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hiller W(2-5)           8     9   2   2   1   9   1  30   3.86
Foucault SV(3)          1     0   0   0   0   1   0   3   2.28
Totals                  9     9   2   2   1  10   1  33

Wild Pitches: Hiller (2)

Umpires: HP - Joe Brinkman, 1B - Rich Garcia, 2B - Nestor Chylak, 3B - Steve Palermo


ATHLETICS 1ST: Alexander singled; Alexander stole second;
Sanguillen flied out to right [Alexander to third]; Hiller threw
a wild pitch [Alexander scored]; Gross was called out on
strikes; Allen was called out on strikes; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: PICCIOLO REPLACED ALEXANDER (PLAYING SS); LeFlore
grounded out (pitcher to first); Fuentes grounded out (shortstop
to first); Oglivie singled; Oglivie stole second; Kemp singled
[Oglivie scored, Kemp to second (error by Armas)]; Stanley
grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: E. Williams popped to catcher in foul territory;
McKinney singled; Armas struck out while McKinney was caught
stealing second (catcher to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 2ND: Wockenfuss grounded out (third to shortstop to
first); May grounded out (third to first); Mankowski struck out;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Perez grounded out (third to first); Tyrone
struck out; Picciolo singled; Sanguillen singled [Picciolo to
third (error by Oglivie)]; Gross struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2
LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Veryzer flied out to right; LeFlore walked; LeFlore
stole second; Fuentes lined to shortstop; Oglivie struck out; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Allen popped to second; 42 minute rain
delay; E. Williams singled; McKinney grounded into a double
play (third to second to first) [E. Williams out at second]; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Kemp doubled; Stanley singled [Kemp to third];
Wockenfuss popped to second; May grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [Stanley out at second]; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Armas was called out on strikes; Perez was called
out on strikes; Tyrone struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 5TH: Mankowski lined to right; Veryzer popped to first in
foul territory; LeFlore lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Picciolo grounded out (pitcher to first);
Sanguillen singled; Gross grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Sanguillen out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 6TH: Fuentes flied out to left; Oglivie was called out on
strikes; Kemp walked; Kemp was picked off and caught stealing
second (pitcher to first to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: Allen walked; E. Williams grounded into a double
play (pitcher to second to first) [Allen out at second];
McKinney popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Athletics 1, Tigers 1.

TIGERS 7TH: Stanley singled; Wockenfuss walked [Stanley to
second]; May reached on a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt
[Stanley to third, Wockenfuss to second]; Mankowski singled
[Stanley scored, Wockenfuss to third, May to second]; STAUB
BATTED FOR VERYZER; LACEY REPLACED BLUE (PITCHING); Staub popped
to second; LeFlore singled [Wockenfuss scored, May to third,
Mankowski to second]; Fuentes popped to third; Oglivie was
called out on strikes; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Athletics 1,
Tigers 3.

ATHLETICS 8TH: SCRIVENER REPLACED STAUB (PLAYING SS); Armas
flied out to right; Perez homered; Tyrone flied out to center;
JORGENSEN BATTED FOR PICCIOLO; Jorgensen struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Tigers 3.

TIGERS 8TH: SCOTT REPLACED JORGENSEN (PLAYING SS); Kemp was
called out on strikes; Stanley homered; Wockenfuss flied to
right in foul territory; May homered; Mankowski was called out
on strikes; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Athletics 2, Tigers 5.

ATHLETICS 9TH: Sanguillen singled; MURRAY RAN FOR SANGUILLEN;
Gross singled [Murray to second]; FOUCAULT REPLACED HILLER
(PITCHING); Allen was called out on strikes; E. Williams forced
Gross (shortstop to second) [Murray to third]; LINTZ RAN FOR E.
WILLIAMS; McKinney popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Athletics 2, Tigers 5.