A bunt that turned into a "home run" on a wild throw in the seventh inning helped the Tigers defeat the Royals, 3-1. After the Royals scored their run in the top half of the seventh, Ed Brinkman doubled for the Tigers. Mickey Lolich then bunted to Mike Hedlund, who threw wildly to third base.

Brinkman scored easily and when Carl Taylor overran the ball in left field, Lolich also chugged around the bases. Dick McAuliffe came to the plate next and settled any doubts by smashing a homer off the rattled Hedlund. [The Sporting News]

Detroit Tigers 3, Kansas City Royals 1

Game Played on Friday, May 7, 1971 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium

Royals 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 - 1 8 3 Tigers 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 x - 3 8 0 Royals AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Patek ss 5 1 1 0 0 1 .243 McAuliffe 2b 4 1 2 1 0 0 .218 Rojas 2b 4 0 3 0 1 0 .343 Rodriguez 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .237 Otis cf 5 0 1 1 0 2 .274 Northrup rf 4 0 0 0 0 0 .337 Oliver 1b 5 0 0 0 0 4 .226 Cash 1b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .245 Taylor lf 5 0 0 0 0 1 .250 Horton lf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .212 Schaal 3b 2 0 2 0 2 0 .349 Freehan c 4 0 2 0 0 1 .301 Paepke rf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .269 Stanley cf 3 0 0 0 1 2 .259 Kirkpatrick c 2 0 0 0 1 1 .241 Brinkman ss 3 1 2 0 0 0 .216 Knoop ph 0 0 0 0 1 0 .200 Lolich p 2 1 1 0 0 1 .273 Abernathy p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Hedlund p 3 0 0 0 0 2 .067 Burgmeier p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .333 May ph,c 1 0 0 0 0 1 .296 Totals 35 1 8 1 6 13 Totals 30 3 8 1 3 4 Time of Game: 2:47 Attendance: 13,973 Left on Base: Royals 13, Tigers 7 DP: Royals 3, Tigers 0 Errors: Patek, Schaal, Hedlund Doubles: Paepke (3), Brinkman (3) Home Runs: McAuliffe (3) Stolen Bases: Otis (9), Schaal (1), Rodriguez (3) Sacrifice Hits: Lolich (2) GIDP: Brinkman (2) Royals IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Hedlund L(3-1) 6 7 3 3 3 3 1 28 2.45 Burgmeier 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 1.02 Abernathy 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 3 0.63 Totals 8 8 3 3 3 4 1 34 Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Lolich W(5-2) 9 8 1 1 6 13 0 41 2.95 Totals 9 8 1 1 6 13 0 41 Passed Balls: Kirkpatrick (2) Wild Pitches: Hedlund (1), Lolich (1) Umpires: HP - Larry Barnett, 1B - Merle Anthony, 2B - George Maloney, 3B - Hank Soar ROYALS 1ST: Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); Rojas singled to shortstop; Lolich threw a wild pitch [Rojas to second]; Otis struck out; Oliver struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 1ST: McAuliffe flied out to right; Rodriguez grounded out (third to first); Northrup grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 2ND: Taylor grounded out (shortstop to first); Schaal walked; Paepke walked [Schaal to second]; Kirkpatrick struck out; Hedlund grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 2ND: Cash walked; Horton lined to right; Freehan singled to left [Cash to second]; Hedlund threw a wild pitch [Freehan to second, Cash to third]; Stanley walked; Brinkman grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Stanley out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 3RD: Patek struck out; Rojas flied out to right; Otis singled to shortstop; Otis stole second; Oliver struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 3RD: Lolich singled to center; McAuliffe singled to right [Lolich to second]; Rodriguez reached on an error by Patek [Lolich to third, McAuliffe out at third (catcher to third)]; the Tigers wound up with two runners at 3B after the throw from RF to HP; Northrup flied out to center; Cash made an out to second; 0 R, 2 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 4TH: Taylor grounded out (shortstop to first); Schaal singled to left; Schaal stole second; Paepke struck out; Kirkpatrick walked; Hedlund was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 4TH: Horton walked; Freehan singled to center [Horton to second]; Stanley was called out on strikes while Horton was picked off second (catcher to third); Brinkman singled to center [Freehan to second]; Lolich was called out on strikes; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 5TH: Patek grounded out (pitcher to first); Rojas singled to left; Otis flied out to right; Oliver flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 5TH: McAuliffe flied out to center; Rodriguez grounded out (shortstop to first); Northrup reached on an error by Schaal; Cash flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 6TH: Taylor grounded out (second to first); Schaal walked; Paepke forced Schaal (shortstop to second); Kirkpatrick flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 6TH: Horton flied to right in foul territory; Freehan grounded out (shortstop to first); Stanley struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 0, Tigers 0. ROYALS 7TH: Hedlund struck out; Patek singled to left; Rojas singled to center [Patek to third]; Otis forced Rojas (shortstop to second) [Patek scored]; Oliver struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 1, Tigers 0. TIGERS 7TH: Brinkman doubled to left; Lolich reached on an error by Hedlund on a sacrifice bunt [Brinkman scored (no RBI), Lolich scored (no RBI)]; McAuliffe homered; BURGMEIER REPLACED HEDLUND (PITCHING); Rodriguez singled to center; Rodriguez stole second; Kirkpatrick allowed a passed ball [Rodriguez to third]; Northrup lined to first; On a bunt Cash hit into a double play (pitcher to third) [Rodriguez out at home]; 3 R, 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Tigers 3. ROYALS 8TH: Taylor flied out to center; Schaal singled to left; Paepke doubled to left [Schaal to third]; KNOOP BATTED FOR KIRKPATRICK; Knoop walked; MAY BATTED FOR BURGMEIER; May struck out; Patek lined to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Royals 1, Tigers 3. TIGERS 8TH: MAY STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); ABERNATHY REPLACED KNOOP (PITCHING); Horton grounded out (first to pitcher); Freehan struck out; Stanley grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Royals 1, Tigers 3. ROYALS 9TH: Rojas walked; Otis was called out on strikes; Oliver struck out; Taylor struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Royals 1, Tigers 3.

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