With two out in the ninth inning, Ron LeFlore singled and Lou Whitaker followed with his first major league homer to lift the Tigers to a 4-3 victory over the Mariners. The Tigers also had an earlier homer by Jason Thompson and a run-scoring single by Rusty Staub for his 84th RBI of the season.

The Mariners loaded the bases in the seventh and scored their runs when Leon Roberts smashed a hard grounder that bounced off the glove of third baseman Aurelio Rodriguez and rolled into the bullpen area in left field. [The Sporting News]

Detroit Tigers 4, Seattle Mariners 3

Game Played on Friday, July 28, 1978 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium

Mariners 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 0 - 3 5 0 Tigers 0 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 2 - 4 9 2 Mariners AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Cruz 2b 4 1 1 0 0 1 .256 LeFlore cf 4 2 2 0 1 0 .293 Reynolds ss 4 1 2 0 0 0 .297 Whitaker 2b 4 1 2 2 0 0 .301 Ruppert Jones cf 3 1 1 0 1 0 .251 Staub dh 4 0 2 1 0 0 .297 Roberts rf 4 0 0 1 0 0 .295 Thompson 1b 3 1 2 1 1 0 .304 Paciorek lf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .328 Kemp lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .268 Hale lf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .164 May c 3 0 0 0 1 0 .259 Bochte dh 3 0 0 0 0 0 .267 Corcoran rf 2 0 0 0 0 0 .260 Meyer 1b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .201 Stanley ph,rf 2 0 0 0 0 1 .234 Bernhardt 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .268 Mankowski 3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .289 Stinson c 3 0 1 0 0 0 .264 Rodriguez 3b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .257 Colborn p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Trammell ss 3 0 1 0 0 1 .268 House p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Parrish ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .223 Romo p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rozema p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 31 3 5 1 1 2 Totals 33 4 9 4 4 3 Time of Game: 2:19 Attendance: 20,484 Left on Base: Mariners 2, Tigers 8 DP: Mariners 1, Tigers 1 Errors: May, Rodriguez Doubles: Cruz (11) Home Runs: Thompson (22), Whitaker (1) Stolen Bases: Ruppert Jones (12), LeFlore 2 (43) Caught Stealing: Cruz (6) Sacrifice Hits: Whitaker (8) GIDP: Ruppert Jones (10), May (9) Mariners IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Colborn 5.1 5 2 2 2 1 1 22 6.04 House 2 2 0 0 1 0 0 9 5.06 Romo L(8-3) 1.1 2 2 2 1 2 1 7 3.13 Totals 8.2 9 4 4 4 3 2 38 Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Rozema W(5-5) 9 5 3 1 1 2 0 32 2.97 Totals 9 5 3 1 1 2 0 32 Umpires: HP - Durwood Merrill, 1B - Marty Springstead, 2B - Larry Barnett, 3B - Jim Evans MARINERS 1ST: Cruz grounded out (first unassisted); Reynolds singled to center; Ruppert Jones grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Reynolds out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore popped to first in foul territory; Whitaker lined to right; Staub grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 0. MARINERS 2ND: Roberts flied out to center; Paciorek popped to first in foul territory; Bochte grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 2ND: Thompson homered; Kemp flied out to center; May flied out to right; Corcoran grounded out (first to pitcher); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. MARINERS 3RD: Meyer flied out to left; Bernhardt struck out; Stinson grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. TIGERS 3RD: Mankowski flied out to left; Trammell flied out to right; LeFlore singled to center; LeFlore stole second; Whitaker grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. MARINERS 4TH: Cruz struck out; Reynolds made an out to third; Ruppert Jones flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. TIGERS 4TH: Staub singled to right; Thompson flied out to center; Kemp walked [Staub to second]; May grounded into a double play (pitcher to shortstop to first) [Kemp out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. MARINERS 5TH: Roberts grounded out (third to first); Paciorek grounded out (third to first); Bochte lined to first; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. TIGERS 5TH: Corcoran grounded out (second to first); Mankowski grounded out (pitcher to first); Trammell was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. MARINERS 6TH: RODRIGUEZ REPLACED MANKOWSKI (PLAYING 3B); Meyer grounded out (pitcher to first); Bernhardt grounded out (shortstop to first); Stinson grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 1. TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore walked; LeFlore stole second; Whitaker out on a sacrifice bunt (third to second) [LeFlore to third]; Staub singled to right [LeFlore scored]; Thompson singled to center [Staub to second]; HOUSE REPLACED COLBORN (PITCHING); Kemp popped to shortstop; May lined to shortstop; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Mariners 0, Tigers 2. MARINERS 7TH: Cruz doubled to left; Reynolds singled to left [Cruz to third]; Ruppert Jones walked [Reynolds to second]; Roberts reached on an error by Rodriguez [Cruz scored, Reynolds scored (unearned), Ruppert Jones scored (unearned), Roberts to second]; Paciorek grounded out (shortstop to first); Bochte grounded out (pitcher to first) [Roberts to third]; Meyer grounded out (first unassisted); 3 R (1 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 2. TIGERS 7TH: STANLEY BATTED FOR CORCORAN; Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); Rodriguez flied out to right; Trammell singled to center; LeFlore forced Trammell (second to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 2. MARINERS 8TH: STANLEY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Bernhardt grounded out (third to first); Stinson singled to left; Cruz forced Stinson (pitcher to shortstop); Cruz was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 2. TIGERS 8TH: Whitaker singled to left; Staub flied out to left; Thompson walked [Whitaker to second]; ROMO REPLACED HOUSE (PITCHING); Kemp grounded out (pitcher to first) [Whitaker to third, Thompson to second]; May was walked intentionally; Stanley struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 2. MARINERS 9TH: Reynolds flied out to left; Ruppert Jones singled to right; Ruppert Jones stole second [Ruppert Jones to third (error by May)]; Roberts lined to shortstop; Paciorek grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 2. TIGERS 9TH: HALE REPLACED PACIOREK (PLAYING LF); Rodriguez grounded out (shortstop to first); PARRISH BATTED FOR TRAMMELL; Parrish struck out; LeFlore singled to center; Whitaker homered [LeFlore scored]; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Mariners 3, Tigers 4.

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