Jim Palmer became the first A. L. pitcher in 43 years to win 20 games for an eighth season when the Orioles gained a 6-1 victory in the nightcap of a doubleheader after the Tigers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to capture the opener, 4-3. Lefty Grove, who did it last in 1935, also won 20 games eight times, while Walter Johnson holds the league record with a dozen 20 victory seasons.

Palmer's shutout bid was spoiled when Steve Kemp homered for the Tigers' tally in the seventh inning. Doug DeCinces had a homer for the Orioles. In the opener, Milt May led off the Tigers' ninth with a single, leading to the exit of Dennis Martinez. Don Stanhouse failed in relief. Successively, Tim Corcoran and Alan Trammell singled to load the bases before John Wockenfuss batted for Steve Dillard and singled to drive in tying and winning runs. [The Sporting News]

Detroit Tigers 4, Baltimore Orioles 3 (Game 1)

Game Played on Saturday, September 23, 1978 (Night game) at Memorial Stadium

Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 2 - 4 11 0 Orioles 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 0 - 3 9 1 Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Orioles AB R H RBI BB SO AVG LeFlore cf 4 1 2 0 1 1 .298 Harlow cf 4 1 2 0 0 0 .241 Mankowski 3b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .278 Mora ph 1 0 0 0 0 1 .215 Rodriguez 3b 1 0 0 0 0 0 .270 Kelly lf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .275 Staub dh 4 0 0 0 1 1 .277 Belanger ss 0 0 0 0 0 0 .212 Thompson 1b 3 0 1 2 1 0 .294 Singleton rf 3 0 1 0 1 0 .295 Kemp lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .275 Dimmel pr,rf 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 May c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .257 Murray 1b 2 0 0 1 1 1 .289 Stegman pr 0 1 0 0 0 0 .333 DeCinces 3b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .278 Parrish c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .222 May dh 4 0 0 0 0 3 .246 Corcoran rf 4 1 2 0 0 1 .274 Garcia ss 3 0 1 0 0 0 .256 Trammell ss 4 0 2 0 0 0 .272 Anderson lf 1 0 0 0 0 1 .097 Dillard 2b 3 1 1 0 0 0 .242 Dauer 2b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .264 Wockenfuss ph 1 0 1 2 0 0 .275 Skaggs c 3 1 2 0 0 1 .155 Wagner 2b 0 0 0 0 0 0 .239 Roenicke ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .255 Billingham p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Lopez pr 0 0 0 0 0 0 .243 Hiller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 D. Martinez p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Stanhouse p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 36 4 11 4 3 6 Totals 33 3 9 3 3 9 Time of Game: 2:49 Left on Base: Tigers 8, Orioles 7 DP: Tigers 1, Orioles 2 Errors: Skaggs Doubles: Harlow (24), DeCinces (35) Triples: Skaggs (1) Stolen Bases: LeFlore (66) Caught Stealing: Kelly (8) Sacrifice Flies: Murray (6) GIDP: Kemp 2 (9), Harlow (9) Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Billingham 7.1 8 3 3 2 6 0 30 3.88 Hiller W(9-4) 1.2 1 0 0 1 3 0 7 2.46 Totals 9 9 3 3 3 9 0 37 Orioles IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA D. Martinez 8 8 3 2 3 5 0 33 3.66 Stanhouse L(6-8) 1 3 1 1 0 1 0 6 3.03 Totals 9 11 4 3 3 6 0 39 Umpires: HP - Larry McCoy, 1B - Steve Palermo, 2B - Don Denkinger, 3B - Dave Phillips TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore was called out on strikes; Mankowski flied out to left; Staub lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 0. ORIOLES 1ST: Harlow doubled to right; Kelly struck out; Singleton grounded out (second to first) [Harlow to third]; Murray walked; DeCinces flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 0. TIGERS 2ND: Thompson grounded out (pitcher to first); Kemp grounded out (first unassisted); May grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 0. ORIOLES 2ND: May struck out; Garcia made an out to second; Dauer lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 0. TIGERS 3RD: Corcoran was called out on strikes; Trammell grounded out (third to first); Dillard flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 0. ORIOLES 3RD: Skaggs tripled to right; Harlow grounded out (shortstop to first); Kelly singled to right [Skaggs scored]; Kelly was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Singleton singled to center; Murray lined to first; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 1. TIGERS 4TH: LeFlore walked; LeFlore stole second; Mankowski made an out to third; Staub flied out to left; Thompson grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 1. ORIOLES 4TH: DeCinces struck out; May grounded out (shortstop to first); Garcia singled to pitcher; Dauer grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 1. TIGERS 5TH: Kemp struck out; May grounded out (second to first); Corcoran singled to right; Trammell singled to right [Corcoran to second]; Dillard popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 1. ORIOLES 5TH: Skaggs singled to center; Harlow grounded into a double play (first to shortstop to first) [Skaggs out at second]; Kelly flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 0, Orioles 1. TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore singled to center; Mankowski singled to right [LeFlore to third]; Staub flied out to center; Thompson singled to right [LeFlore scored, Mankowski to second]; Kemp grounded into a double play (shortstop to first) [Thompson out at second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 1, Orioles 1. ORIOLES 6TH: Singleton flied out to left; Murray struck out; DeCinces flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Orioles 1. TIGERS 7TH: May struck out; Corcoran grounded out (first to pitcher); Trammell flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Orioles 1. ORIOLES 7TH: May struck out; Garcia grounded out (first to pitcher); Dauer flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Tigers 1, Orioles 1. TIGERS 8TH: Dillard singled to left; LeFlore singled to right [Dillard to second]; Dillard was picked off second but was safe on an error by Skaggs [Dillard to third, LeFlore to second]; Mankowski struck out; Staub was walked intentionally; Thompson walked [Dillard scored (unearned), LeFlore to third, Staub to second]; Kemp grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to shortstop to first) [Thompson out at second]; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 2, Orioles 1. ORIOLES 8TH: RODRIGUEZ REPLACED MANKOWSKI (PLAYING 3B); Skaggs struck out; Harlow singled; Kelly singled [Harlow to third]; Singleton walked [Kelly to second]; DIMMEL RAN FOR SINGLETON; HILLER REPLACED BILLINGHAM (PITCHING); Murray hit a sacrifice fly to center [Harlow scored]; DeCinces doubled to left [Kelly scored, Dimmel to third]; May struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 2, Orioles 3. TIGERS 9TH: BELANGER REPLACED KELLY (PLAYING SS); DIMMEL STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); ANDERSON REPLACED GARCIA (PLAYING LF); May singled to shortstop; STEGMAN RAN FOR MAY; STANHOUSE REPLACED D. MARTINEZ (PITCHING); Corcoran singled to left [Stegman to second]; On a bunt Trammell singled [Stegman to third, Corcoran to second]; WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR DILLARD; Wockenfuss singled to center [Stegman scored, Corcoran scored, Trammell to second]; LeFlore flied out to right; Rodriguez grounded out (shortstop to first) [Trammell to third, Wockenfuss to second]; Staub was called out on strikes; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Tigers 4, Orioles 3. ORIOLES 9TH: PARRISH REPLACED STEGMAN (PLAYING C ); WAGNER REPLACED WOCKENFUSS (PLAYING 2B); Anderson struck out; Dauer flied out to center; ROENICKE BATTED FOR SKAGGS; Roenicke walked; LOPEZ RAN FOR ROENICKE; MORA BATTED FOR HARLOW; Mora struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Tigers 4, Orioles 3.

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