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.