A mental mistake by rookie catcher Glenn Borgmann enabled the Tigers to score seven runs in the second inning en route to a 12-2 victory in the opener of a twi-night doubleheader, but the Twins came back to win the nightcap, 7-6, in 10 innings. The Tigers had the bases loaded with one out in the second stanza of the lidlifter when Woodie Fryman grounded to Harmon Killebrew, who stepped on first and threw home. Borgmann stepped on plate instead of tagging the runner, who was safe because the force situation had been removed by Killebrew's putout at first. The Tigers then went on to score six more runs on two walks and four singles. Killebrew hit his 20th homer of the season and 535th of his career to move into sole possession of fifth place on the major league's all-time list ahead of Jimmie Foxx. Duke Sims homered for the Tigers.

In the nightcap, a homer by Jim Nettles helped the Twins take a 6-0 lead, but the Tigers picked up a pair in the fourth and tied the score with a four-run rally in the ninth with the aid of a round-tripper by Jim Northrup. In the 10th, Nettles singled and was forced by Rod Carew, who then took third on a single by Steve Braun and scored the winning run on a sacrifice fly by Rich Reese. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 12, Minnesota Twins 2 (Game 1)
Game Played on Thursday, August    17, 1972 (Night game) at Tiger Stadium
Twins        1  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   2  6  2
Tigers       0  7  0    1  0  2    0  2  x  -  12 13  0


Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Brye cf               4   1   2   0     0   0   .221      McAuliffe 2b          4   1   3   0     1   0   .242
Carew 2b              3   0   1   0     0   0   .305        Rodriguez 3b        0   0   0   0     0   0   .229
Killebrew 1b          4   1   1   1     0   0   .241      Taylor 3b,2b          3   1   1   1     2   1   .294
  Reese 1b            0   0   0   0     0   0   .264        Knox 2b             0   0   0   0     0   0   .125
Darwin rf             3   0   1   0     1   1   .257      G. Brown lf           3   2   1   2     1   0   .238
Braun 3b              4   0   0   0     0   2   .300        Kaline 1b           1   0   0   0     0   0   .269
Renick lf             3   0   0   0     1   0   .119      Cash 1b               3   2   1   1     1   0   .263
Thompson ss           4   0   0   0     0   1   .285        I. Brown lf         1   1   1   0     0   0   .303
Borgmann c            4   0   1   0     0   0   .215      Sims c                2   3   2   2     3   0   .202
Perry p               1   0   0   0     0   0   .196      Northrup rf           5   0   2   3     0   0   .261
  Strickland p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .500      Stanley cf            3   1   0   1     1   0   .238
  Monzon ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .280      Brinkman ss           5   1   2   0     0   0   .206
  Gebhard p           0   0   0   0     1   0   .000      Fryman p              4   0   0   1     0   0   .109
  Mitterwald ph       1   0   0   0     0   0   .169

Totals               32   2   6   1     3   4             Totals               34  12  13  11     9   1

Time of Game: 2:29
Left on Base: Twins 7, Tigers 9
DP: Twins 2, Tigers 1
Errors: Thompson 2
Doubles: Brye (6), Carew (16), McAuliffe (8), Brinkman (16)
Home Runs: Killebrew (20), Sims (2)
Stolen Bases: Carew (6)
Sacrifice Hits: Fryman (1)
Sacrifice Flies: Stanley (4)
GIDP: Renick (4), Taylor (6)
Hit by Pitch: Carew (1,by Fryman)


Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Perry L(11-11)          1.2   4   7   7   5   0   0  14   3.14
Strickland              2.1   2   1   0   2   0   0  11   2.00
Gebhard                 4     7   4   4   2   1   1  20   8.14
Totals                  8    13  12  11   9   1   1  45

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Fryman W(3-0)           9     6   2   2   3   4   1  36   3.60
Totals                  9     6   2   2   3   4   1  36

Hit by Pitch: Fryman (2)
Wild Pitches: Fryman (3)

Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - John Rice, 2B - Hank Morgenweck, 3B - Marty Springstead


TWINS 1ST: Brye singled to left; Carew was hit by a pitch [Brye
to second]; Killebrew flied out to center [Brye to third]; Carew
stole second; Fryman threw a wild pitch [Brye scored]; Darwin
struck out; Braun flied out to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 1, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: McAuliffe flied out to left; Taylor walked; G. Brown
popped to catcher in foul territory; Cash grounded out (first
unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 1, Tigers 0.

TWINS 2ND: Renick grounded out (third to first); Thompson
grounded out (second to first); Borgmann singled to left; Perry
popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins
1, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Sims walked; Northrup popped to shortstop in foul
territory; Stanley walked [Sims to second]; Brinkman singled to
center [Stanley to second, Sims to third]; Fryman grounded out
(first unassisted) [Brinkman to second, Stanley to third, Sims
scored]; McAuliffe was walked intentionally; Taylor singled to
center [McAuliffe to second, Brinkman to third, Stanley scored];
G. Brown singled to right [Taylor to third, McAuliffe scored,
Brinkman scored]; Cash singled to right [G. Brown to second,
Taylor scored]; Sims walked [G. Brown to third, Cash to second];
STRICKLAND REPLACED PERRY (PITCHING); Northrup singled to left
[Sims to second, Cash scored, G. Brown scored]; Stanley popped
to first in foul territory; 7 R, 5 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 1,
Tigers 7.

TWINS 3RD: Brye flied out to left; Carew grounded out (shortstop
to first); Killebrew homered; Darwin grounded out (third to
first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 7.

TIGERS 3RD: Brinkman reached on an error by Thompson; Fryman out
on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to second) [Brinkman to second];
McAuliffe singled to center [Brinkman to third]; Taylor grounded
into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [McAuliffe out
at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 7.

TWINS 4TH: Braun struck out; Renick walked; Thompson forced
Renick (third to second); Borgmann forced Thompson (shortstop to
second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 7.

TIGERS 4TH: G. Brown walked; Cash flied to right in foul
territory; Sims walked [G. Brown to second]; Northrup forced
Sims (second to shortstop) [Northrup to second (error by
Thompson), G. Brown scored (unearned) (no RBI)]; Stanley made an
out to third; 1 R (0 ER), 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 8.

TWINS 5TH: MONZON BATTED FOR STRICKLAND; Monzon lined to second;
Brye doubled to left; Carew reached on a fielder's choice [Brye
out at third (shortstop to third)]; Killebrew lined to left; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 8.

TIGERS 5TH: GEBHARD REPLACED MONZON (PITCHING); Brinkman
grounded out (third to first); Fryman made an out to second;
McAuliffe singled to center; Taylor struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 8.

TWINS 6TH: Darwin walked; Braun forced Darwin (first to
shortstop); Renick grounded into a double play (third to second
to first) [Braun out at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 2,
Tigers 8.

TIGERS 6TH: G. Brown grounded out (first unassisted); Cash
walked; Sims singled to right [Cash to second]; Northrup singled
to center [Sims to third, Cash scored]; Stanley hit a sacrifice
fly to center [Sims scored, Northrup to second]; Brinkman
grounded out (third to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2,
Tigers 10.

TWINS 7TH: KALINE REPLACED G. BROWN (PLAYING 1B); I. BROWN
REPLACED CASH (PLAYING LF); Thompson was called out on strikes;
Borgmann grounded out (second to first); Gebhard walked; Brye
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2,
Tigers 10.

TIGERS 7TH: Fryman grounded out (second to first); McAuliffe
doubled to left; Taylor walked; Kaline hit into a double play
(center to second) [McAuliffe to third, Taylor out at second]; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 10.

TWINS 8TH: RODRIGUEZ REPLACED MCAULIFFE (PLAYING 3B); TAYLOR
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING 2B); Carew doubled to left; Killebrew
grounded out (third to first); Darwin singled to left [Carew to
third]; Braun struck out; Renick popped to third in foul
territory; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 10.

TIGERS 8TH: REESE REPLACED KILLEBREW (PLAYING 1B); I. Brown
singled to left; Sims homered [I. Brown scored]; Northrup
grounded out (first to pitcher); Stanley grounded out (third to
first); Brinkman doubled to left; Fryman lined to third; 2 R, 3
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 12.

TWINS 9TH: KNOX REPLACED TAYLOR (PLAYING 2B); Thompson flied out
to center; Borgmann grounded out (shortstop to first);
MITTERWALD BATTED FOR GEBHARD; Mitterwald popped to catcher in
foul territory; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 2, Tigers 12.