Although the amazing A's boosted their record to 19-5, they had done it with only two complete games from their pitching staff, both by rookie lefthander John Henry Johnson, who turned in his second route-going effort in a 5-1 victory over the Tigers.

In winning the meeting between A.L. division leaders, Johnson held the Tigers to four hits, while the A's had 12, including a two-run homer by Jim Essian, off Jack Billingham and Jim Crawford. Billingham suffered his first defeat of the season after three victories. [The Sporting News]

Oakland Athletics 5, Detroit Tigers 1

Game Played on Friday, May 5, 1978 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum

Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 - 1 4 3 A's 1 0 0 2 1 1 0 0 x - 5 12 1 Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG A's AB R H RBI BB SO AVG LeFlore cf 4 1 1 0 0 0 .292 North cf 4 0 3 0 0 0 .286 Wagner ss 4 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Edwards 2b 2 1 1 0 0 1 .288 Staub dh 3 0 2 1 1 0 .326 Tabb ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .000 Thompson 1b 4 0 1 0 0 2 .307 Staggs 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .357 Kemp lf 4 0 0 0 0 2 .286 Page lf 3 1 0 0 1 0 .298 Wockenfuss rf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .333 Murphy lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Parrish c 3 0 0 0 0 0 .209 Alexander dh 3 0 1 1 0 1 .269 Rodriguez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .370 Guerrero ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 .320 Dillard 2b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .143 Revering 1b 3 2 1 0 1 0 .282 Billingham p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Gross 3b 4 0 2 0 0 1 .253 Crawford p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Essian c 3 1 1 2 0 0 .227 Dilone rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .214 Johnson p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 30 1 4 1 2 6 Totals 31 5 12 3 2 4 Time of Game: 2:03 Attendance: 14,612 Left on Base: Tigers 5, A's 7 DP: Tigers 0, A's 1 Errors: Parrish, Dillard 2, Gross Doubles: LeFlore (5) Home Runs: Essian (2) Stolen Bases: Dilone (9), Edwards (4) Caught Stealing: North (2), Dilone (6) Sacrifice Hits: Dillard (4), Edwards (2), Essian (3) Sacrifice Flies: Alexander (1) Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Billingham L(3-1) 6 11 5 3 2 4 1 29 3.38 Crawford 2 1 0 0 0 0 0 7 3.86 Totals 8 12 5 3 2 4 1 36 A's IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Johnson W(3-1) 9 4 1 1 2 6 0 33 1.19 Totals 9 4 1 1 2 6 0 33 Wild Pitches: Billingham (3) Umpires: HP - Jerry Neudecker, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Jim McKean, 3B - Greg Kosc TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore grounded out (shortstop to first); Wagner grounded out (third to first); Staub singled to center; Thompson forced Staub (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 0. ATHLETICS 1ST: North singled to left; Edwards struck out; North was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Page walked; Alexander singled to left [Page to third]; Guerrero singled to second [Page scored (error by Dillard) (unearned), Alexander to third, Guerrero to second]; Revering flied out to left; 1 R (0 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. TIGERS 2ND: Kemp flied out to center; Wockenfuss flied out to center; Parrish flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 2ND: Gross grounded out (second to first); Essian popped to second; Dilone singled to right; Dilone was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. TIGERS 3RD: Rodriguez reached on an error by Gross [Rodriguez to second]; Dillard out on a sacrifice bunt (first unassisted) [Rodriguez to third]; LeFlore hit into a double play (right to catcher) [Rodriguez out at home]; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 3RD: North reached on an error by Dillard; Edwards out on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to first) [North to second]; Page flied out to left; Alexander was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. TIGERS 4TH: Wagner popped to second; Staub walked; Thompson struck out; Kemp flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 1. ATHLETICS 4TH: Guerrero grounded out (shortstop to first); Revering walked; Gross was called out on strikes; Essian homered [Revering scored]; Dilone singled to left; Dilone stole second; North singled to left [Dilone out at home (left to catcher)]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 3. TIGERS 5TH: Wockenfuss walked; Parrish flied out to center; Rodriguez struck out; Dillard flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 3. ATHLETICS 5TH: Edwards singled to left; Edwards stole second [Edwards to third (error by Parrish)]; Page grounded out (shortstop to first); Alexander hit a sacrifice fly to center [Edwards scored (unearned)]; Guerrero flied out to center; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Athletics 4. TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore doubled to right; Wagner grounded out (shortstop to first); Staub singled to right [LeFlore scored]; Thompson struck out; Kemp struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 4. ATHLETICS 6TH: Revering singled to center; Gross singled to left [Revering to third]; Billingham threw a wild pitch [Revering scored, Gross to second]; Essian out on a sacrifice bunt (third to first) [Gross to third]; Dilone reached on a fielder's choice [Gross out at home (second to catcher)]; North singled to right [Dilone to third, North to second (on throw to 3b)]; TABB BATTED FOR EDWARDS; Tabb struck out; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5. TIGERS 7TH: STAGGS REPLACED TABB (PLAYING 2B); Wockenfuss struck out; Parrish flied out to right; Rodriguez flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5. ATHLETICS 7TH: CRAWFORD REPLACED BILLINGHAM (PITCHING); Page flied to left in foul territory; Alexander flied out to center; Guerrero grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5. TIGERS 8TH: MURPHY REPLACED PAGE (PLAYING LF); Dillard grounded out (shortstop to first); LeFlore grounded out (shortstop to first); Wagner grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5. ATHLETICS 8TH: Revering grounded out (second to first); Gross singled to left; Essian grounded out (shortstop to first) [Gross to second]; Dilone grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5. TIGERS 9TH: Staub grounded out (second to first); Thompson singled to center; Kemp struck out; Wockenfuss grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 1, Athletics 5.

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