Homers by Jim Northrup and Bill Freehan enabled the Tigers to defeat the Athletics, 2-1, behind the pitching of Joe Coleman, who gave up seven hits and walked three but struck out 10. Northrup's homer off Catfish Hunter in the opening frame was the first homer against Oakland pitching in 70 innings.

The A's picked up their tally in the second on a single by Mike Epstein, double by Rick Monday and sacrifice fly by Dave Duncan. Freehan then supplied the Tigers' winning run in the fourth. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 2, Oakland Athletics 1
Game Played on Saturday, July      17, 1971 (Day game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Tigers       1  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  8  0
A's          0  1  0    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  7  0


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Jones lf              4   0   1   0     0   1   .266      Brown ss              4   0   1   0     0   1   .222
  Kaline rf           0   0   0   0     0   0   .299        Tenace ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .224
Rodriguez 3b          4   0   1   0     0   1   .241      Rudi lf               4   0   0   0     0   2   .255
Northrup cf,1b        3   1   2   1     1   0   .291      Hendrick rf           4   0   1   0     0   1   .346
Horton rf,lf          4   0   0   0     0   1   .283      Epstein 1b            3   1   2   0     1   0   .270
Cash 1b               3   0   1   0     0   2   .293      Bando 3b              2   0   0   0     1   1   .263
  Stanley cf          1   0   1   0     0   0   .300      Monday cf             4   0   1   0     0   2   .231
Freehan c             4   1   1   1     0   2   .274      Duncan c              2   0   0   1     1   1   .244
McAuliffe 2b          3   0   0   0     0   0   .183      Green 2b              2   0   0   0     0   1   .249
  Taylor ph,2b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .244        Blefary ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .235
Brinkman ss           3   0   0   0     0   1   .205        LaRussa 2b          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Coleman p             3   0   1   0     0   1   .128        Jackson ph          1   0   0   0     0   0   .265
                                                          Hunter p              2   0   1   0     0   0   .339
                                                            Hovley ph           1   0   0   0     0   1   .120
                                                            Knowles p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .250
                                                            Davis ph            1   0   1   0     0   0   .325

Totals               33   2   8   2     1   9             Totals               32   1   7   1     3  10

Time of Game: 2:45   Attendance: 15,039
Left on Base: Tigers 5, A's 9
DP: Tigers 0, A's 2
Doubles: Monday (5)
Home Runs: Northrup (10), Freehan (12)
Sacrifice Hits: Bando (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Duncan (2)
GIDP: Rodriguez (4), Northrup (7)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Coleman W(9-6)          9     7   1   1   3  10   0  37   3.45
Totals                  9     7   1   1   3  10   0  37

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Hunter L(11-9)          7     6   2   2   1   9   2  27   3.49
Knowles                 2     2   0   0   0   0   0   7   4.46
Totals                  9     8   2   2   1   9   2  34

Passed Balls: Duncan (6)

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


TIGERS 1ST: Jones struck out; Rodriguez struck out; Northrup
homered; Horton lined to left; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1,
Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: Brown was called out on strikes; Rudi struck out;
Hendrick grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 1, Athletics 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Cash singled to right; Duncan allowed a passed ball
[Cash to second]; Freehan was called out on strikes; McAuliffe
popped to third in foul territory; Brinkman struck out; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Epstein singled to center; Bando popped to
second; Monday doubled to right [Epstein to third]; Duncan hit a
sacrifice fly to center [Epstein scored]; Green struck out; 1 R,
2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Coleman flied out to center; Jones singled to
center; Rodriguez popped to shortstop; Northrup walked [Jones to
second]; Horton grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: Hunter flied out to left; Brown grounded out
(third to first); Rudi flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Tigers 1, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Cash struck out; Freehan homered; McAuliffe grounded
out (shortstop to first); Brinkman grounded out (third to
first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Hendrick singled to right; Epstein singled to
right [Hendrick to second]; Bando was called out on strikes;
Monday was called out on strikes; Duncan forced Hendrick
(shortstop to third); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics
1.

TIGERS 5TH: Coleman singled to right; Jones popped to first in
foul territory; Rodriguez grounded into a double play (shortstop
to second to first) [Coleman out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Green grounded out (second to first); Hunter
singled to center; Brown singled to right [Hunter to second];
Rudi struck out; Hendrick struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 6TH: Northrup singled to right; Horton was called out on
strikes; Cash was called out on strikes; Norm Cash ejected by
HP umpire Ron Luciano; Freehan was called out on strikes; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 6TH: STANLEY REPLACED CASH (PLAYING CF); NORTHRUP
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 1B); Epstein walked; Bando out on a
sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Epstein to second]; Monday
struck out; Duncan walked; BLEFARY BATTED FOR GREEN; Blefary
grounded out (first to pitcher); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers
2, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 7TH: LARUSSA REPLACED BLEFARY (PLAYING 2B); McAuliffe
lined to left; Brinkman lined to center; Coleman struck out; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 7TH: HOVLEY BATTED FOR HUNTER; Hovley was called out
on strikes; Brown made an out to third; Rudi grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 8TH: KNOWLES REPLACED HOVLEY (PITCHING); Jones made an
out to shortstop; Rodriguez singled to left; Northrup grounded
into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Rodriguez out
at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 8TH: KALINE REPLACED JONES (PLAYING RF); HORTON
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); Hendrick grounded out (third to
first); Epstein popped to shortstop; Bando walked; Monday flied
out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 9TH: Horton lined to center; Stanley singled to left;
Freehan flied out to center; TAYLOR BATTED FOR MCAULIFFE; Taylor
forced Stanley (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Tigers 2, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 9TH: TAYLOR STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Duncan struck
out; JACKSON BATTED FOR LARUSSA; Jackson popped to first in foul
territory; DAVIS BATTED FOR KNOWLES; Davis singled to left;
TENACE BATTED FOR BROWN; Tenace popped to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Athletics 1.