Winning by homers in the 11th inning for the second and third times in a row, the Tigers defeated the Twins in a doubleheader, 5-3 and 1-0, and moved into sole possession of first place in the East division, 1½ lengths ahead of the Orioles. The Tigers averted a loss in the opener when Bill Freehan singled and Mickey Stanley doubled to tie the score at 3-3 in the ninth inning. In the 11th, Al Kaline singled and Willie Horton won the game with a homer.

Joe Coleman hurled the route for the Tigers in the nightcap and allowed only four hits. Ray Corbin matched ciphers with Coleman for 10 innings before going out for a pinch-hitter. Dave LaRoche relieved and, after he retired Dick McAuliffe, Aurelio Rodriguez came to the plate and smashed a homer. Rodriguez also hit a homer with a man on base in the 11th inning of the previous day's game to give the Tigers a 5-3 victory over the Twins. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 5, Minnesota Twins 3 (Game 1)
Game Played on Sunday, August    27, 1972 (Day game) at Metropolitan Stadium
Tigers       0  0  0    2  0  0    0  0  1    0  2  -   5 10  4
Twins        1  0  0    1  0  0    1  0  0    0  0  -   3 11  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
McAuliffe 2b          3   0   0   0     1   0   .243      Tovar lf              6   1   3   1     0   0   .254
  Taylor ph           0   0   0   0     0   0   .299      Carew 2b              4   0   2   0     1   1   .319
  I. Brown pr,2b      0   0   0   0     0   0   .270      Soderholm 3b          6   1   2   0     0   3   .185
Rodriguez 3b          5   0   0   0     0   2   .229      Darwin rf             5   0   1   1     1   1   .263
Northrup rf           5   1   3   0     0   2   .266      Thompson ss           6   0   1   1     0   0   .285
Cash 1b               2   1   1   0     1   0   .261      Reese 1b              4   0   1   0     1   1   .245
  Kaline ph,1b        2   1   1   0     0   0   .296      Brye cf               3   1   1   0     1   0   .220
Horton lf             5   1   1   2     0   1   .230        Nettles ph,cf       0   0   0   0     1   0   .225
Sims c                3   0   1   1     0   2   .201      Borgmann c            3   0   0   0     1   0   .245
  Freehan ph,c        2   1   1   0     0   0   .263        Monzon pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .259
Stanley cf            5   0   2   1     0   1   .249        Roof c              0   0   0   0     0   0   .197
Brinkman ss           5   0   0   0     0   0   .203        Renick pr           0   0   0   0     0   0   .127
Fryman p              3   0   0   0     0   0   .098        Mitterwald c        0   0   0   0     0   0   .180
  Seelbach p          1   0   0   0     0   0   .188      Goltz p               3   0   0   0     0   1   .118
  Scherman p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .105        LaRoche p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .143
                                                            Braun ph            1   0   0   0     0   1   .295
                                                            Granger p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .286

Totals               41   5  10   4     2   8             Totals               41   3  11   3     6   8

Time of Game: 3:25
Left on Base: Tigers 6, Twins 14
DP: Tigers 2, Twins 2
Errors: Freehan, Fryman, Seelbach 2, Thompson
Doubles: Stanley (13), Darwin (13)
Home Runs: Horton (10)
Stolen Bases: Tovar (14), Soderholm (2), Carew (8)
Caught Stealing: Tovar (10)
Sacrifice Hits: Carew (7), LaRoche (1), Roof (5)
GIDP: Horton (8), Brye (5)
Hit by Pitch: Taylor (2,by LaRoche)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Fryman                  6    11   3   3   2   3   0  31   3.64
Seelbach                3     0   0   0   4   2   0  13   3.26
Scherman W(5-1)         2     0   0   0   0   3   0   6   3.24
Totals                 11    11   3   3   6   8   0  50

Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Goltz                   7.2   6   2   2   2   7   0  30   1.97
LaRoche                 2.1   2   1   0   0   1   0   9   2.61
Granger L(3-5)          1     2   2   2   0   0   1   5   3.51
Totals                 11    10   5   4   2   8   1  44

Hit by Pitch: LaRoche (5)

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


TIGERS 1ST: McAuliffe walked; Rodriguez flied out to right;
Northrup struck out; Cash grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R,
0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 0.

TWINS 1ST: Tovar singled to center; Carew singled to center
[Tovar to second]; Soderholm singled to right [Carew to second,
Tovar to third]; Darwin made an out to second; Thompson grounded
out (second to first) [Soderholm to second, Carew to third,
Tovar scored]; Reese grounded out (first unassisted); 1 R, 3 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 1.

TIGERS 2ND: Horton struck out; Sims struck out; Stanley was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 1.

TWINS 2ND: Brye flied out to center; Borgmann grounded out
(shortstop to first); Goltz struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 0, Twins 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Brinkman flied out to center; Fryman grounded out
(second to first); McAuliffe flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 1.

TWINS 3RD: Tovar singled to left; Tovar stole second; Carew
reached on an error by Fryman on a sacrifice bunt [Tovar to
third]; Tovar was caught stealing home (catcher to second to
catcher); Soderholm was called out on strikes; Darwin walked
[Carew to second]; Thompson flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E,
2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Twins 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Rodriguez grounded out (third to first); Northrup
singled to left; Cash walked [Northrup to second]; Horton lined
to left; Sims singled to center [Cash to second, Northrup
scored]; Stanley singled to left [Sims to second, Cash scored];
Brinkman flied out to center; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 2,
Twins 1.

TWINS 4TH: Reese singled to right; Brye singled to left [Reese
to second]; Borgmann flied out to right; Goltz forced Reese
(pitcher to third) [Brye to second]; Tovar singled to left
[Goltz to second, Brye scored]; Carew singled to right [Tovar to
second, Goltz to third]; Soderholm flied out to center; 1 R, 4
H, 0 E, 3 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 2.

TIGERS 5TH: Fryman grounded out (pitcher to first); McAuliffe
flied out to center; Rodriguez struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
 Tigers 2, Twins 2.

TWINS 5TH: Darwin grounded out (third to first); Thompson
singled to left; Reese grounded out (first unassisted) [Thompson
to second]; Brye was walked intentionally; Borgmann flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 2.

TIGERS 6TH: Northrup singled to right; Cash singled to left
[Northrup to second]; Horton grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [Northrup to third, Cash out at
second]; Sims struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins
2.

TWINS 6TH: Goltz flied out to right; Tovar grounded out
(shortstop to first); Carew struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 2, Twins 2.

TIGERS 7TH: Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); Brinkman
grounded out (third to first); Fryman grounded out (pitcher to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 2.

TWINS 7TH: Soderholm singled to left; Soderholm stole second;
Darwin doubled to left [Soderholm scored]; SEELBACH REPLACED
FRYMAN (PITCHING); Darwin was picked off second but was safe on
an error by Seelbach [Darwin to third]; Thompson made an out to
shortstop; Reese was walked intentionally; Brye grounded into a
double play (pitcher to shortstop to first) [Reese out at
second]; 1 R, 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 3.

TIGERS 8TH: McAuliffe flied out to center; Rodriguez struck out;
Northrup singled to left; KALINE BATTED FOR CASH; LAROCHE
REPLACED GOLTZ (PITCHING); Kaline flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 3.

TWINS 8TH: KALINE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Borgmann walked;
MONZON RAN FOR BORGMANN; LaRoche reached on an error by Seelbach
on a sacrifice bunt [Monzon to third]; Tovar lined into a double
play (second to first) [LaRoche out at first]; Carew was walked
intentionally; Carew stole second; Soderholm was called out on
strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 2, Twins 3.

TIGERS 9TH: ROOF REPLACED MONZON (PLAYING C ); Horton flied out
to center; FREEHAN BATTED FOR SIMS; Freehan singled to left;
Stanley doubled to left [Freehan scored (error by Thompson)
(unearned) (no RBI), Stanley to third (on throw)]; Brinkman
lined into a double play (first to third) [Stanley out at
third]; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 9TH: FREEHAN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); Darwin flied out
to center; Thompson grounded out (third to first); Reese struck
out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TIGERS 10TH: Seelbach made an out to shortstop; TAYLOR BATTED
FOR MCAULIFFE; Taylor was hit by a pitch; I. BROWN RAN FOR
TAYLOR; Rodriguez popped to first in foul territory; Northrup
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 3, Twins 3.

TWINS 10TH: I. BROWN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); NETTLES BATTED
FOR BRYE; Nettles walked; Roof reached on an error by Freehan on
a sacrifice bunt [Nettles to second]; RENICK RAN FOR ROOF; BRAUN
BATTED FOR LAROCHE; SCHERMAN REPLACED SEELBACH (PITCHING); Braun
was called out on strikes; Tovar made an out to second; Carew
forced Nettles (third unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers
3, Twins 3.

TIGERS 11TH: GRANGER REPLACED BRAUN (PITCHING); MITTERWALD
REPLACED RENICK (PLAYING C ); NETTLES STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING
CF); Kaline singled to left; Horton homered [Kaline scored];
Freehan flied out to left; Stanley grounded out (second to
first); Brinkman grounded out (pitcher to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Twins 3.

TWINS 11TH: Soderholm struck out; Darwin was called out on
strikes; Thompson lined to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers
5, Twins 3.