Aurelio Rodriguez homered with a man on base in the 11th inning to give the Tigers a 5-3 victory over the Twins in the opener of a scheduled doubleheader. The nightcap was postponed due to rain. Mickey Lolich, who started for the Tigers, was lifted for a pinch-hitter in the seventh inning after giving up the Twins' runs on homers by Glenn Borgmann and Bobby Darwin. The Tigers, who were losing, 3-1, tied the score in the eighth on run-scoring singles by Willie Horton and Duke Sims.

Ed Brinkman drew a walk in the 11th and was forced by Bill Slayback on an attempted sacrifice. After Tony Taylor went out, Rodriguez hit his homer to enable the Tigers to remain in a first-place tie with the Orioles in the A. L. East. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 5, Minnesota Twins 3
Game Played on Saturday, August    26, 1972 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium
Tigers       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  2  0    0  2  -   5 12  0
Twins        0  0  0    0  1  2    0  0  0    0  0  -   3  6  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
McAuliffe 2b          5   0   1   0     0   0   .246      Tovar lf,cf           4   1   2   0     1   0   .251
  Taylor ph,2b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .299      Carew 2b              3   0   0   0     2   0   .317
Rodriguez 3b          6   1   2   2     0   0   .232      Braun 3b,lf           5   0   0   0     0   2   .296
Northrup rf           5   2   2   0     1   1   .261      Darwin rf             5   1   1   2     0   2   .264
Cash 1b               4   1   2   1     0   1   .259      Thompson ss           4   0   2   0     1   1   .286
  Kaline ph,1b        1   0   1   0     0   0   .294      Reese 1b              3   0   0   0     2   1   .245
Horton lf             5   0   1   1     0   0   .231      Brye cf               3   0   0   0     0   0   .218
Sims c                4   0   1   1     0   1   .199        Nettles ph          0   0   0   0     0   0   .225
  Freehan ph,c        1   0   0   0     0   0   .261        Killebrew ph        1   0   0   0     0   0   .237
Stanley cf            5   0   2   0     0   0   .247        Soderholm 3b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .182
Brinkman ss           2   0   0   0     3   1   .206      Borgmann c            4   1   1   1     1   1   .252
Lolich p              2   0   0   0     0   1   .085      Blyleven p            3   0   0   0     0   1   .164
  G. Brown ph         1   0   0   0     0   1   .239        LaRoche p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
  Zachary p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Monzon ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .259
  Hiller p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Strickland p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .333
  Haller ph           1   0   0   0     0   0   .215
  Seelbach p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .200
  Scherman p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .105
  Slayback p          1   1   0   0     0   0   .190
  Foor p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  LaGrow p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               44   5  12   5     4   6             Totals               37   3   6   3     7   8

Time of Game: 3:54   Attendance: 36,090
Left on Base: Tigers 10, Twins 8
DP: Tigers 1, Twins 1
Errors: Reese
Doubles: Cash (11), Northrup (9), Tovar (16)
Triples: Tovar (4)
Home Runs: Rodriguez (9), Borgmann (3), Darwin (18)
Caught Stealing: Carew (5)
GIDP: Lolich (3), Borgmann (3)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lolich                  6     3   3   3   2   7   2  23   2.59
Zachary                 1.1   0   0   0   2   1   0   6   1.19
Hiller                  0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   2.28
Seelbach                0.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   3   3.38
Scherman                1.1   1   0   0   1   0   0   6   3.32
Slayback W(5-5)         0.1   1   0   0   0   0   0   2   2.90
Foor                    0     0   0   0   1   0   0   1  10.13
LaGrow SV(2)            1     0   0   0   0   0   0   2   2.45
Totals                 11     6   3   3   7   8   2  44

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Blyleven                8.2  10   3   3   3   5   0  38   3.17
LaRoche                 1.1   1   0   0   0   0   0   5   2.70
Strickland L(3-1)       1     1   2   2   1   1   1   5   2.67
Totals                 11    12   5   5   4   6   1  48

Umpires: HP - Lou DiMuro, 1B - Bill Deegan, 2B - Larry McCoy, 3B - Jim Honochick


TIGERS 1ST: McAuliffe grounded out (second to first); Rodriguez
singled to left; Northrup walked [Rodriguez to second]; Cash
struck out; Horton grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Tovar doubled to left; Carew grounded out (third to
first); Braun was called out on strikes; Darwin struck out; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Sims flied out to left; Stanley singled to left;
Brinkman walked [Stanley to second]; Lolich grounded into a
double play (second to shortstop to first) [Brinkman out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 0.

TWINS 2ND: Thompson walked; Reese was called out on strikes;
Brye flied out to right; Borgmann struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 0.

TIGERS 3RD: McAuliffe grounded out (first to pitcher); Rodriguez
flied out to left; Northrup singled to center; Cash doubled to
right [Northrup scored, Cash out at third (center to second to
third)]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 3RD: Blyleven grounded out (shortstop to first); Tovar
flied out to right; Carew grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 0.

TIGERS 4TH: Horton flied out to center; Sims grounded out
(pitcher to third to first); Stanley singled to center; Brinkman
walked [Stanley to second]; Lolich was called out on strikes; 0
R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 4TH: Braun grounded out (second to first); Darwin was
called out on strikes; Thompson was called out on strikes; 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 0.

TIGERS 5TH: McAuliffe singled to left; Rodriguez flied out to
left; Northrup lined to left; Cash lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 0.

TWINS 5TH: Reese made an out to first; Brye grounded out
(shortstop to first); Borgmann homered; Blyleven lined to
center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 1.

TIGERS 6TH: Horton flied out to center; Sims struck out; Stanley
flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 1.

TWINS 6TH: Tovar walked; Carew lined to left; Braun struck out;
Darwin homered [Tovar scored]; Thompson popped to first in foul
territory; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 3.

TIGERS 7TH: Brinkman popped to third in foul territory; G. BROWN
BATTED FOR LOLICH; G. Brown struck out; McAuliffe flied out to
center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 3.

TWINS 7TH: ZACHARY REPLACED G. BROWN (PITCHING); Reese flied out
to left; Brye grounded out (catcher to first); Borgmann walked;
Blyleven struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Twins 3.

TIGERS 8TH: Rodriguez flied out to center; Northrup doubled to
left; Cash singled to right [Northrup to third]; Horton singled
to right [Cash to second, Northrup scored]; Sims singled to
right [Horton to second, Cash scored]; Stanley flied out to
right; Brinkman was called out on strikes; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 8TH: Tovar flied out to left; Carew walked; HILLER
REPLACED ZACHARY (PITCHING); Carew was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop to first); Braun lined to right; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TIGERS 9TH: HALLER BATTED FOR HILLER; Haller grounded out
(pitcher to first); McAuliffe reached on an error by Reese;
Rodriguez forced McAuliffe (third to second); LAROCHE REPLACED
BLYLEVEN (PITCHING); Northrup lined to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E,
1 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 9TH: SEELBACH REPLACED HALLER (PITCHING); Darwin grounded
out (first unassisted); Thompson singled to center; Reese walked
[Thompson to second]; NETTLES BATTED FOR BRYE; SCHERMAN REPLACED
SEELBACH (PITCHING); KILLEBREW BATTED FOR NETTLES; Killebrew
made an out to shortstop; Borgmann made an out to first; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TIGERS 10TH: SODERHOLM REPLACED KILLEBREW (PLAYING 3B); BRAUN
CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING LF); TOVAR CHANGED POSITIONS (PLAYING
CF); KALINE BATTED FOR CASH; Kaline singled to left; Horton
flied out to center; FREEHAN BATTED FOR SIMS; Freehan flied out
to left; Stanley made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
 Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 10TH: KALINE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); FREEHAN STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING C ); MONZON BATTED FOR LAROCHE; Monzon made an
out to second; Tovar tripled to right; Carew was walked
intentionally; Braun popped to catcher in foul territory;
SLAYBACK REPLACED SCHERMAN (PITCHING); Darwin forced Carew
(shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TIGERS 11TH: STRICKLAND REPLACED MONZON (PITCHING); Brinkman
walked; Slayback forced Brinkman (pitcher to shortstop); TAYLOR
BATTED FOR MCAULIFFE; Taylor flied out to left; Rodriguez
homered [Slayback scored]; Northrup struck out; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 5, Twins 3.

TWINS 11TH: TAYLOR STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Thompson singled
to center; FOOR REPLACED SLAYBACK (PITCHING); Reese walked
[Thompson to second]; LAGROW REPLACED FOOR (PITCHING); Soderholm
popped to third in foul territory; Borgmann grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Reese out at
second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 5, Twins 3.