Batting with bases the loaded and two out in the seventh inning, Lou Piniella cleared the sacks with a double to give the Royals a 7-4 victory over the Tigers. The Royals knocked out Mickey Lolich while scoring four times in the sixth, but the Tigers came back with four runs in their half.

In the Royals' seventh, Fran Healy walked, Freddie Patek doubled and Cookie Rojas drew a pass to load the bases. Amos Otis forced Healy at the plate and John Mayberry struck out, but Piniella came through in the clutch situation with his game-winning double. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 7, Detroit Tigers 4
Game Played on Saturday, April     28, 1973 (Day game) at Tiger Stadium
Royals       0  0  0    0  0  4    3  0  0  -   7  9  1
Tigers       0  0  0    0  0  4    0  0  0  -   4 10  0


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Patek ss              4   2   1   0     1   0   .282      Taylor 2b             5   0   1   1     0   2   .211
Rojas 2b              4   2   2   0     1   0   .325      Rodriguez 3b          4   0   0   0     0   0   .169
Otis cf               5   2   3   2     0   0   .286        McAuliffe ph        1   0   1   0     0   0   .208
Mayberry 1b           4   1   1   1     1   1   .233      Kaline rf             5   0   0   0     0   2   .233
Piniella lf           5   0   2   3     0   0   .292      Freehan c             4   1   1   0     1   0   .329
McRae rf              3   0   0   0     1   1   .175      Horton lf             4   1   2   0     1   0   .340
  Hovley rf           0   0   0   0     0   0   .286      Howard dh             3   1   2   1     0   1   .207
Bevacqua dh           2   0   0   0     0   1   .227        G. Brown ph,dh      1   0   0   0     0   0   .190
  Hopkins ph,dh       1   0   0   1     0   1   .455      I. Brown 1b           2   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Schaal 3b             4   0   0   0     0   0   .257        Reese ph,1b         2   0   0   0     0   1   .042
Healy c               3   0   0   0     1   2   .067      Stanley cf            3   0   2   1     1   0   .242
Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Brinkman ss           3   1   1   0     1   0   .259
  Garber p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Lolich p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            LaGrow p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Hiller p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Timmermann p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Scherman p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   7   9   7     5   6             Totals               37   4  10   3     4   7

Time of Game: 3:10   Attendance: 12,231
Left on Base: Royals 7, Tigers 10
DP: Royals 0, Tigers 0
Errors: Rojas
Doubles: Otis (5), Mayberry (4), Patek (5), Piniella (4), McAuliffe (3)
Stolen Bases: Otis (3), Rojas (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Hopkins (1)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff              5     5   3   3   4   5   0  24   3.00
Garber W(3-1)           4     5   1   0   0   2   0  17   1.74
Totals                  9    10   4   3   4   7   0  41

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Lolich                  5     6   4   4   1   3   0  22   3.63
LaGrow                  0.1   0   0   0   1   0   0   2   3.63
Hiller L(0-1)           0.2   1   3   3   2   0   0   5   7.36
Timmermann              0.1   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   4.76
Scherman                2.2   2   0   0   1   3   0  11   0.00
Totals                  9     9   7   7   5   6   0  41

Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Jim Evans, 3B - John Rice


ROYALS 1ST: Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); Rojas
popped to shortstop; Otis singled to third; Otis stole second;
Mayberry popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: Taylor struck out; Rodriguez grounded out (third to
first); Kaline popped to third; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0,
Tigers 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Piniella grounded out (third to first); McRae struck
out; Bevacqua struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0,
Tigers 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Freehan flied out to right; Horton singled; Howard
singled [Horton to second]; I. Brown grounded out (first
unassisted) [Horton to third, Howard to second]; Stanley
grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 0,
Tigers 0.

ROYALS 3RD: Schaal popped to shortstop; Healy grounded out
(shortstop to first); Patek grounded out (pitcher to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 3RD: Brinkman walked; Taylor struck out; Rodriguez
grounded out (third to first) [Brinkman to second]; Kaline was
called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

ROYALS 4TH: Rojas lined to center; Otis singled to shortstop;
Mayberry forced Otis (third to second); Piniella singled
[Mayberry to second]; McRae flied out to center; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E,
2 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 4TH: Freehan singled; Horton walked [Freehan to second];
Howard struck out; I. Brown struck out; Stanley walked [Freehan
to third, Horton to second]; Brinkman lined to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0
E, 3 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

ROYALS 5TH: Bevacqua grounded out (second to first); Schaal
popped to shortstop; Healy struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 0, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 5TH: Taylor grounded out (third to first); Rodriguez
flied out to right; Kaline grounded out (shortstop to first); 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 0, Tigers 0.

ROYALS 6TH: Patek walked; Rojas singled to shortstop [Patek to
second]; Otis doubled [Patek scored, Rojas scored]; Mayberry
doubled [Otis scored]; LAGROW REPLACED LOLICH (PITCHING);
Piniella grounded out (second to first) [Mayberry to third];
McRae walked; HILLER REPLACED LAGROW (PITCHING); HOPKINS BATTED
FOR BEVACQUA; Hopkins hit a sacrifice fly to left [Mayberry
scored, McRae to second]; Schaal flied out to center; 4 R, 3 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 4, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 6TH: HOPKINS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Freehan walked;
Horton singled [Freehan to second]; Howard singled [Freehan
scored, Horton to second]; GARBER REPLACED SPLITTORFF
(PITCHING); REESE BATTED FOR I. BROWN; Reese flied out to left;
Stanley singled [Horton scored, Howard to second]; Brinkman
forced Stanley (shortstop to second) [Howard scored (error by
Rojas), Brinkman to second]; Taylor singled [Brinkman scored
(unearned)]; Rodriguez flied out to center; 4 R (3 ER), 4 H, 1
E, 1 LOB.  Royals 4, Tigers 4.

ROYALS 7TH: REESE STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Healy walked;
Patek doubled [Healy to third]; Rojas walked; Tigers Manager
Billy Martin ejected by HP umpire Russ Goetz; TIMMERMANN
REPLACED HILLER (PITCHING); Otis forced Healy (third to catcher)
[Patek to third, Rojas to second]; SCHERMAN REPLACED TIMMERMANN
(PITCHING); Mayberry was called out on strikes; Piniella doubled
[Patek scored, Rojas scored, Otis scored]; McRae flied out to
center; 3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 7TH: HOVLEY REPLACED MCRAE (PLAYING RF); Kaline flied out
to center; Freehan grounded out (third to first); Horton flied
out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

ROYALS 8TH: Hopkins was called out on strikes; Schaal popped to
shortstop; Healy was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 8TH: G. BROWN BATTED FOR HOWARD; G. Brown grounded out
(second to first); Reese struck out; Stanley singled; Brinkman
singled [Stanley to second]; Taylor grounded out (pitcher to
first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

ROYALS 9TH: Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); Rojas
singled; Rojas stole second; Otis popped to second; Mayberry
walked; Piniella grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 9TH: MCAULIFFE BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; McAuliffe doubled;
Kaline was called out on strikes; Freehan flied out to center;
Horton flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 7,
Tigers 4.