Joe Niekro gained his first victory of the season and Bill Zepp picked up his first save when the Tigers defeated the Royals, 8-3. The Tigers decided the outcome with four runs in the third inning on two walks, a single by Al Kaline, a throwing error by Joe Keough, double by Willie Horton and single by Bill Freehan. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 8, Kansas City Royals 3
Game Played on Monday, April     26, 1971 (Night game) at Municipal Stadium
Tigers       0  1  4    0  0  0    0  0  3  -   8 11  0
Royals       0  1  0    0  0  2    0  0  0  -   3 10  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Stanley cf            5   0   0   0     0   2   .244      Patek ss              5   0   1   0     0   0   .238
Northrup 1b           4   2   1   0     1   0   .328      Rojas 2b              2   1   0   0     2   1   .333
Kaline rf             3   1   1   1     2   0   .310      Otis cf               4   1   1   0     0   0   .274
Horton lf             5   1   2   1     0   2   .228      Kirkpatrick lf        4   0   2   2     0   0   .235
Freehan c             4   1   2   1     1   1   .345      Oliver 1b             3   0   0   0     1   1   .239
Rodriguez 3b          4   2   1   0     1   0   .242      Schaal 3b             4   1   2   0     0   0   .317
McAuliffe 2b          4   0   1   3     1   1   .225      Keough rf             4   0   2   0     0   0   .231
Brinkman ss           4   0   2   1     0   0   .183      Paepke c              4   0   2   1     0   1   .286
Niekro p              3   1   1   0     1   0   .200      Rooker p              1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Zepp p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Fitzmorris p        1   0   0   0     0   1   .286
                                                            Hopkins ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            York p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Burgmeier p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .500
                                                            Piniella ph         1   0   0   0     0   0   .209

Totals               36   8  11   7     7   6             Totals               34   3  10   3     3   5

Time of Game: 3:04   Attendance:  6,424
Left on Base: Tigers 9, Royals 7
DP: Tigers 3, Royals 1
Errors: Keough
Doubles: Rodriguez (2), Horton 2 (3), Brinkman (1), Paepke (2), Kirkpatrick (2)
Stolen Bases: Northrup (3)
GIDP: Rodriguez (1), Kirkpatrick (1), Keough (1), Piniella (2)
Hit by Pitch: Brinkman (2,by York)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Niekro W(1-3)           8    10   3   3   3   5   0  35   5.09
Zepp SV(1)              1     0   0   0   0   0   0   2  14.54
Totals                  9    10   3   3   3   5   0  37

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Rooker L(0-4)           2.1   4   5   5   3   3   0  14  12.00
Fitzmorris              4.2   3   0   0   1   1   0  17   5.40
York                    1.2   2   3   3   3   2   0  11   6.43
Burgmeier               0.1   2   0   0   0   0   0   2   0.82
Totals                  9    11   8   8   7   6   0  44

Hit by Pitch: York (2)
Wild Pitches: Rooker (1)

Umpires: HP - John Rice, 1B - Bill Kunkel, 2B - Ron Luciano, 3B - Red Flaherty


TIGERS 1ST: Stanley struck out; Northrup grounded out (shortstop
to first); Kaline walked; Horton struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Patek singled to third; Rojas walked [Patek to
second]; Otis flied out to center [Patek to third]; Kirkpatrick
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first)
[Rojas out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Freehan struck out; Rodriguez doubled to left;
Rooker threw a wild pitch [Rodriguez to third]; McAuliffe
grounded out (second to first) [Rodriguez scored]; Brinkman
grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers
1, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Oliver grounded out (pitcher to first); Schaal
singled to right; Keough singled to right [Schaal to third];
Paepke doubled to right [Keough to third, Schaal scored]; Rooker
struck out; Patek grounded out (third to first); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Tigers 1, Royals 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Niekro walked; Stanley grounded out (third to first)
[Niekro to second]; Northrup walked; Kaline singled to right
[Niekro scored, Northrup scored (error by Keough), Kaline to
third]; Horton doubled to left [Kaline scored]; Freehan singled
to left [Horton scored]; FITZMORRIS REPLACED ROOKER (PITCHING);
Rodriguez grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to
first) [Freehan out at second]; 4 R, 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5,
Royals 1.

ROYALS 3RD: Rojas was called out on strikes; Otis flied out to
left; Kirkpatrick flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 5, Royals 1.

TIGERS 4TH: McAuliffe grounded out (first unassisted); Brinkman
singled to left; Niekro singled to center [Brinkman to second];
Stanley made an out to second; Northrup grounded out (first to
pitcher); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Oliver flied out to left; Schaal grounded out
(second to first); Keough grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

TIGERS 5TH: Kaline flied out to right; Horton doubled to right;
Freehan made an out to first; Rodriguez flied out to left; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: Paepke grounded out (shortstop to first); Fitzmorris
struck out; Patek grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

TIGERS 6TH: McAuliffe struck out; Brinkman grounded out
(shortstop to first); Niekro flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

ROYALS 6TH: Rojas walked; Otis singled to right [Rojas to
second]; Kirkpatrick doubled to left [Otis scored, Rojas
scored]; Oliver struck out; Schaal singled to first [Kirkpatrick
to third]; Keough grounded into a double play (second to
shortstop to first) [Schaal out at second]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 3.

TIGERS 7TH: Stanley grounded out (third to first); Northrup
flied out to left; Kaline walked; Horton made an out to pitcher;
0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 3.

ROYALS 7TH: Paepke was called out on strikes; HOPKINS BATTED FOR
FITZMORRIS; Hopkins flied out to center; Patek flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 3.

TIGERS 8TH: YORK REPLACED HOPKINS (PITCHING); Freehan singled to
right; Rodriguez grounded out (first unassisted) [Freehan to
second]; McAuliffe was walked intentionally; Brinkman was hit by
a pitch [Freehan to third, McAuliffe to second]; Niekro flied
out to right; Stanley struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Tigers
5, Royals 3.

ROYALS 8TH: Rojas flied out to center; Otis made an out to
second; Kirkpatrick singled to left; Oliver walked [Kirkpatrick
to second]; Schaal forced Oliver (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 3.

TIGERS 9TH: Northrup singled to center; Northrup stole second;
Kaline flied out to right; Horton was called out on strikes;
Freehan walked; Rodriguez walked [Northrup to third, Freehan to
second]; BURGMEIER REPLACED YORK (PITCHING); McAuliffe singled
to right [Rodriguez to second, Freehan scored, Northrup scored];
Brinkman doubled to third [Rodriguez scored, McAuliffe out at
home (shortstop to catcher)]; 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 8,
Royals 3.

ROYALS 9TH: Keough singled to left; Paepke singled to left
[Keough to second]; PINIELLA BATTED FOR BURGMEIER; ZEPP REPLACED
NIEKRO (PITCHING); Piniella grounded into a double play (second
to shortstop to first) [Keough to third, Paepke out at second];
Patek grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Tigers 8, Royals 3.