Sparked by Roy Howell, who collected four singles, the Blue Jays opened their home season with a 10-8 victory over the Tigers before a crowd of 35,761. Homers by Ron LeFlore and Jason Thompson helped the Tigers take a 6-4 lead before the Blue Jays sent 10 men to plate and erupted for six runs in the sixth inning with the aid of two errors.

Only two runs in the outburst were earned. Howell drove in a pair with a single and had three RBIs for the game. [The Sporting News]

Toronto Blue Jays 10, Detroit Tigers 8

Game Played on Friday, April 14, 1978 (Day game) at Exhibition Stadium

Tigers 3 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 2 - 8 13 3 Blue Jays 2 0 2 0 0 6 0 0 x - 10 12 0 Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Blue Jays AB R H RBI BB SO AVG LeFlore cf 4 3 2 1 1 2 .370 Bosetti cf 5 2 1 0 0 2 .222 Whitaker 2b 5 0 0 0 0 0 .133 Bailor 3b 4 2 2 0 1 0 .583 Staub dh 4 1 1 0 1 0 .250 Howell rf 5 3 4 3 0 0 .435 Thompson 1b 4 2 3 2 1 0 .269 Carty dh 4 0 2 2 0 1 .273 Kemp lf 5 0 3 3 0 0 .429 Mayberry 1b 2 1 0 0 3 0 .150 Corcoran rf 4 0 0 0 1 0 .273 Hutton lf 3 0 1 0 0 1 .278 May c 3 1 1 0 1 0 .545 Ault ph 1 1 1 1 0 0 1.000 Rodriguez 3b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .417 Upshaw lf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 Mankowski ph,3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .250 McKay 2b 4 0 1 2 0 0 .182 Trammell ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .300 Gomez ss 3 0 0 0 1 0 .059 Wockenfuss ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 1.000 Ashby c 3 1 0 0 1 1 .063 Slaton p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Garvin p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Wilcox p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Moore p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Hiller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kirkwood p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Taylor p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Murphy p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 37 8 13 7 5 2 Totals 35 10 12 8 6 5 Time of Game: 2:55 Attendance: 35,761 Left on Base: Tigers 7, Blue Jays 8 DP: Tigers 1, Blue Jays 2 Errors: LeFlore, Whitaker 2 Doubles: May (2), Bosetti (2), Hutton (2) Home Runs: LeFlore (2), Thompson (2) Sacrifice Flies: Carty (1) GIDP: Rodriguez (1), Kemp (1), Ashby (1) Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Slaton 2 7 4 4 2 0 0 14 6.10 Wilcox L(0-1) 3.1 2 3 1 2 3 0 15 2.70 Hiller 1.2 3 3 1 2 2 0 10 3.86 Taylor 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0.00 Totals 8 12 10 5* 6 5 0 42 Blue Jays IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Garvin 2.1 6 5 5 1 1 2 14 5.73 Moore 0 0 0 0 2 0 0 2 0.00 Kirkwood W(1-0) 5.2 5 3 3 2 1 0 21 4.76 Murphy SV(1) 1 2 0 0 0 0 0 5 0.00 Totals 9 13 8 8 5 2 2 42 Wild Pitches: Slaton 2 (2), Hiller (1), Moore (1) Umpires: HP - George Maloney, 1B - Jim McKean, 2B - Greg Kosc, 3B - Jerry Neudecker TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore homered; Whitaker lined to shortstop; Staub singled to right; Thompson homered [Staub scored]; Kemp grounded out (pitcher to first); Corcoran made an out to shortstop; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 3, Blue Jays 0. BLUE JAYS 1ST: Bosetti doubled to left; Bailor grounded out (shortstop to first) [Bosetti to third]; Howell singled [Bosetti scored]; Carty singled to left [Howell to second]; Slaton threw a wild pitch [Howell to third]; Carty was out trying to advance to second (catcher to shortstop); Slaton threw a wild pitch [Howell scored]; Mayberry walked; Hutton doubled to left [Mayberry to third]; McKay grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 3, Blue Jays 2. TIGERS 2ND: May doubled to right; Rodriguez singled to right [May scored, Rodriguez to second (on throw to home)]; Trammell grounded out (shortstop to first); LeFlore struck out; Whitaker grounded out (pitcher to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 4, Blue Jays 2. BLUE JAYS 2ND: Gomez reached on an error by Whitaker [Gomez to first]; Ashby grounded into a double play (first to shortstop to first) [Gomez out at second]; Bosetti lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 4, Blue Jays 2. TIGERS 3RD: Staub lined to second; Thompson walked; Kemp singled to right [Thompson to third]; MOORE REPLACED GARVIN (PITCHING); Moore threw a wild pitch [Thompson scored, Kemp to second]; Corcoran walked; May walked [Kemp to third, Corcoran to second]; KIRKWOOD REPLACED MOORE (PITCHING); Rodriguez grounded into a double play (third to second) [Corcoran out at third, May out at second]; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 5, Blue Jays 2. BLUE JAYS 3RD: Bailor singled to left; Howell singled to right [Bailor to third]; Carty singled to right [Bailor scored, Howell to second]; WILCOX REPLACED SLATON (PITCHING); Mayberry walked (walk was charged to Slaton) [Howell to third, Carty to second]; Hutton struck out; McKay forced Mayberry (second to shortstop) [Howell scored, Carty to third]; Gomez walked [McKay to second]; Ashby made an out to shortstop; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Tigers 5, Blue Jays 4. TIGERS 4TH: Trammell singled to center; LeFlore singled to right [Trammell to third]; Whitaker reached on a fielder's choice [Trammell out at home (third to catcher to third), LeFlore to third]; Staub walked [Whitaker to second]; Thompson flied out to left; Kemp singled to left [LeFlore scored, Whitaker out at home (left to catcher), Staub to second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 4. BLUE JAYS 4TH: Bosetti struck out; Bailor flied out to left; Howell singled to right; Carty was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 4. TIGERS 5TH: Corcoran grounded out (pitcher to first); May flied out to left; Rodriguez grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 4. BLUE JAYS 5TH: Mayberry made an out to shortstop; Hutton grounded out (second to first); McKay flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 4. TIGERS 6TH: Trammell grounded out (third to first); LeFlore struck out; Whitaker grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 4. BLUE JAYS 6TH: Gomez grounded out (shortstop to first); Ashby walked; Bosetti reached on an error by Whitaker [Ashby to second]; Bailor singled to pitcher [Ashby to third, Bosetti to second]; HILLER REPLACED WILCOX (PITCHING); Howell singled to left [Ashby scored, Bosetti scored (unearned), Bailor to third]; Carty hit a sacrifice fly to center [Bailor scored (unearned)]; Mayberry walked [Howell to second]; AULT BATTED FOR HUTTON; Hiller threw a wild pitch [Howell to third, Mayberry to second]; Ault singled to center [Howell scored (unearned, but earned for the pitcher), Mayberry scored (error by LeFlore) (unearned), Ault to third]; McKay singled [Ault scored (unearned)]; Gomez grounded out (second to first); 6 R (2 ER), 4 H, 2 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 10. TIGERS 7TH: UPSHAW REPLACED AULT (PLAYING LF); Staub popped to catcher in foul territory; Thompson singled to center; Kemp grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Thompson out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 10. BLUE JAYS 7TH: Ashby struck out; Bosetti struck out; Bailor walked; Howell grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 10. TIGERS 8TH: Corcoran grounded out (first to pitcher); May grounded out (first unassisted); MANKOWSKI BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; Mankowski grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 10. BLUE JAYS 8TH: MANKOWSKI STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); TAYLOR REPLACED HILLER (PITCHING); Carty grounded out (shortstop to first); Mayberry flied out to center; Upshaw flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 6, Blue Jays 10. TIGERS 9TH: WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR TRAMMELL; Wockenfuss singled to third; LeFlore walked [Wockenfuss to second]; MURPHY REPLACED KIRKWOOD (PITCHING); Whitaker flied out to left; Staub flied out to right; Thompson singled to left [Wockenfuss to third, LeFlore to second]; Kemp singled to center [Wockenfuss scored, LeFlore scored, Thompson to second]; Corcoran grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 8, Blue Jays 10.

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