Rookie righthander Roger Erickson won his first major league start as the Twins edged the Mariners, 5-4. Roy Smalley hit a first-inning homer for the Twins, who tallied three times in the second on a single by Mike Cubbage, doubles by Dan Ford and Willie Norwood and a single by Smalley.

The winning margin came in the ninth on successive singles by Bombo Rivera, Smalley and Rod Carew. Two of the Mariners' runs scored on wild pitches. Ruppert Jones hit a leadoff homer in the ninth for the final Seattle tally. [The Sporting News]

Minnesota Twins 5, Seattle Mariners 4

Game Played on Thursday, April 6, 1978 (Night game) at Kingdome

Twins 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 - 5 13 0 Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 1 2 0 1 - 4 10 0 Twins AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Mariners AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Powell rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .167 Baez 2b 4 0 2 0 0 0 .250 Rivera ph,rf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .333 Cruz pr,2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Smalley ss 5 1 3 2 0 1 .333 Bochte lf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .625 Carew 1b 5 0 3 1 0 0 .444 Meyer 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Adams dh 1 0 1 0 0 0 .400 Stanton dh 4 0 0 0 0 2 .143 Kusick ph,dh 4 0 1 0 0 0 .250 Ruppert Jones cf 3 2 2 1 1 0 .500 Wynegar c 3 0 0 0 1 1 .000 Stein 3b 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Ford cf 4 1 1 0 0 1 .143 Hale rf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .250 Cubbage 3b 3 1 1 0 1 1 .286 Stinson c 4 0 2 1 0 1 .286 Norwood lf 3 1 2 2 0 0 .500 Reynolds ss 2 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Wilfong 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .500 Braun ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Randall 2b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Milbourne ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Erickson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Robertson ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 T. Johnson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Pole p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rawley p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Burke p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 35 5 13 5 2 4 Totals 35 4 10 2 1 6 Time of Game: 2:33 Attendance: 10,311 Left on Base: Twins 8, Mariners 5 DP: Twins 0, Mariners 3 Doubles: Ford (1), Norwood (2), Stinson (1) Home Runs: Smalley (1), Ruppert Jones (1) Sacrifice Hits: Wilfong (1), Norwood (1) GIDP: Kusick (1), Cubbage (1) Hit by Pitch: Wilfong (1,by Rawley) Twins IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Erickson W(1-0) 6.1 5 3 3 1 4 0 25 4.26 T. Johnson SV(1) 2.2 5 1 1 0 2 1 11 3.38 Totals 9 10 4 4 1 6 1 36 Mariners IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Pole L(0-1) 1.2 7 4 4 0 0 1 11 21.60 Rawley 4 3 0 0 1 3 0 16 0.00 Burke 3.1 3 1 1 1 1 0 13 2.70 Totals 9 13 5 5 2 4 1 40 Hit by Pitch: Rawley (1) Wild Pitches: Erickson 2 (2), T. Johnson (1), Rawley (1) Balks: Erickson (1) Umpires: HP - Lou DiMuro, 1B - Ken Kaiser, 2B - Mike Reilly, 3B - Bill Haller TWINS 1ST: Powell lined to center; Debut game for Roger Erickson; Smalley homered; Carew singled to center; Adams singled to right [Carew to third]; Wynegar lined into a double play (second to first) [Adams out at first]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 1, Mariners 0. MARINERS 1ST: Baez grounded out (third to first); Bochte struck out; Meyer lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 1, Mariners 0. TWINS 2ND: Ford doubled to left; Cubbage singled to right [Ford to third, Cubbage to second (on throw to home)]; Norwood doubled to center [Ford scored, Cubbage scored]; Wilfong grounded out (first unassisted) [Norwood to third]; Powell flied out to center; Smalley singled to center [Norwood scored]; RAWLEY REPLACED POLE (PITCHING); Carew grounded out (pitcher to first); Debut game for Shane Rawley; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. MARINERS 2ND: Stanton grounded out (third to first); Ruppert Jones walked; Stein grounded out (second to first) [Ruppert Jones to second]; Hale lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. TWINS 3RD: KUSICK BATTED FOR ADAMS; Kusick singled to center; Wynegar forced Kusick (third to second); Ford flied out to center; Cubbage struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. MARINERS 3RD: Stinson was called out on strikes; Reynolds flied out to left; Baez singled to right; Bochte grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. TWINS 4TH: Norwood singled to shortstop; Wilfong out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Norwood to second]; RIVERA BATTED FOR POWELL; Rivera grounded out (shortstop to first) [Norwood to third]; Smalley lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. MARINERS 4TH: RIVERA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Meyer popped to first; Stanton was called out on strikes; Ruppert Jones grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. TWINS 5TH: On a bunt Carew singled to third; Kusick grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Carew out at second]; Wynegar struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. MARINERS 5TH: Stein grounded out (second to first); Hale singled to right; Stinson flied out to center; Reynolds forced Hale (shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. TWINS 6TH: Ford struck out; Cubbage walked; Norwood out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Cubbage to second]; Rawley threw a wild pitch [Cubbage to third]; Wilfong was hit by a pitch; BURKE REPLACED RAWLEY (PITCHING); Rivera grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 0. MARINERS 6TH: RANDALL REPLACED WILFONG (PLAYING 2B); Baez made an out to second; Bochte singled to right; Meyer grounded out (second to first) [Bochte to second]; Erickson threw a wild pitch [Bochte to third]; Erickson threw a wild pitch [Bochte scored]; Stanton struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 1. TWINS 7TH: Smalley struck out; Carew grounded out (second to first); Kusick grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 1. MARINERS 7TH: Ruppert Jones singled to right; Erickson balked [Ruppert Jones to second]; Stein lined to right; Hale singled to shortstop [Ruppert Jones to third]; T. JOHNSON REPLACED ERICKSON (PITCHING); Stinson singled to left [Ruppert Jones scored, Hale to third, Stinson out at second (left to second)]; BRAUN BATTED FOR REYNOLDS; T. Johnson threw a wild pitch [Hale scored]; Braun flied out to right; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 3. TWINS 8TH: MILBOURNE REPLACED BRAUN (PLAYING SS); Wynegar walked; Ford popped to first in foul territory; Cubbage grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Wynegar out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 3. MARINERS 8TH: Baez singled to center; CRUZ RAN FOR BAEZ; Cruz was picked off first (pitcher to first); Bochte singled to left; Meyer flied out to center; Stanton flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 4, Mariners 3. TWINS 9TH: CRUZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Norwood grounded out (third to first); Randall popped to first in foul territory; Rivera singled to center; Smalley singled to center [Rivera to second]; Carew singled to right [Rivera scored, Smalley to third]; Kusick forced Carew (third to second); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Twins 5, Mariners 3. MARINERS 9TH: Ruppert Jones homered; Stein was called out on strikes; Hale flied out to center; Stinson doubled to left; ROBERTSON BATTED FOR MILBOURNE; Robertson struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Twins 5, Mariners 4.

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