Homers by Amos Otis and John Mayberry accounted for five runs and powered the Royals to a 7-4 victory over the Tigers before a Detroit opening-day crowd of 46,807. Otis' homer followed a single by George Brett in the first inning and Mayberry's wallop came after a single by Hal McRae and double by Otis in the fifth. Otis also singled a run across in the ninth to join Mayberry in the three-RBI class. [The Sporting News]



Kansas City Royals 7, Detroit Tigers 4
Game Played on Thursday, April     7, 1977 (Day game) at Tiger Stadium
Royals       2  0  0    1  3  0    0  0  1  -   7 12  0
Tigers       2  0  0    0  0  0    2  0  0  -   4  8  0


Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Brett 3b              4   2   1   0     1   0   .250      LeFlore cf            4   1   2   1     1   1   .500
McRae dh              5   1   3   0     0   1   .600      Fuentes 2b            4   1   1   1     0   0   .250
Otis cf               5   2   4   3     0   0   .800      Staub dh              4   0   1   1     0   1   .250
Mayberry 1b           3   1   1   3     2   1   .333      Horton lf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .250
Cowens rf             4   0   1   0     0   1   .250      Thompson 1b           3   0   0   0     1   2   .000
Zdeb lf               4   1   1   0     0   1   .250      Oglivie rf            3   1   0   0     1   0   .000
Martinez c            4   0   1   0     0   0   .250      May c                 2   1   0   0     1   0   .000
Patek ss              4   0   0   1     0   0   .000        Wockenfuss ph,c     1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
White 2b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Rodriguez 3b          2   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Kemp ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  Bird p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Wagner ss           1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Gura p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Veryzer ss            2   0   2   0     0   0  1.000
  Littell p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Mankowski ph,3b     2   0   1   1     0   0   .500
                                                          Roberts p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Arroyo p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Hiller p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               37   7  12   7     3   4             Totals               33   4   8   4     4   6

Time of Game: 2:30   Attendance: 46,807
Left on Base: Royals 6, Tigers 6
DP: Royals 2, Tigers 2
Doubles: Cowens (1), Otis (1), Fuentes (1)
Home Runs: Otis (1), Mayberry (1)
Stolen Bases: Patek (1)
Caught Stealing: McRae (1)
GIDP: Mayberry (1), Fuentes 2 (2)


Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff W(1-0)       6     5   4   4   4   3   0  25   6.00
Bird                    1     3   0   0   0   1   0   6   0.00
Gura                    0.2   0   0   0   0   1   0   2   0.00
Littell SV(1)           1.1   0   0   0   0   1   0   4   0.00
Totals                  9     8   4   4   4   6   0  37

Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Roberts L(0-1)          5     9   6   6   1   2   2  24  10.80
Arroyo                  3.1   3   1   1   2   2   0  15   2.70
Hiller                  0.2   0   0   0   0   0   0   1   0.00
Totals                  9    12   7   7   3   4   2  40

Wild Pitches: Arroyo (1)

Umpires: HP - Russ Goetz, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Terry Cooney, 3B - Greg Kosc


ROYALS 1ST: Brett singled to left; McRae grounded out (third to
first) [Brett to second]; Otis homered [Brett scored]; upper
deck HR; Mayberry walked; Cowens doubled to left [Mayberry
to third]; Zdeb struck out; Debut game for Joe Zdeb;
Martinez grounded out (second to first); 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Royals 2, Tigers 0.

TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore walked; Fuentes doubled to left [LeFlore
scored]; Staub singled to right [Fuentes scored]; Horton flied
out to right; Thompson walked [Staub to second]; Oglivie flied
out to right [Staub to third]; May flied out to left; 2 R, 2 H,
0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 2, Tigers 2.

ROYALS 2ND: Patek grounded out (shortstop to first); White
grounded out (third to first); Brett flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 2, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 2ND: Rodriguez grounded out (second to pitcher); Veryzer
singled to right; LeFlore singled to right [Veryzer to third];
Fuentes grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to
first) [LeFlore out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 2,
Tigers 2.

ROYALS 3RD: McRae singled to center; Otis flied out to center;
Mayberry struck out while McRae was caught stealing second
(catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 2, Tigers
2.

TIGERS 3RD: Staub was called out on strikes; Horton flied out to
right; Thompson struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 2,
Tigers 2.

ROYALS 4TH: Cowens flied out to right; Zdeb singled to left;
Martinez singled to right [Zdeb to third]; Patek forced Martinez
(shortstop to second) [Zdeb scored]; Patek stole second; White
grounded out (shortstop to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals
3, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 4TH: Oglivie grounded out (first unassisted); May
grounded out (second to first); Rodriguez struck out; 0 R, 0 H,
0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 3, Tigers 2.

ROYALS 5TH: Brett flied out to right; McRae singled to left;
Otis doubled [McRae to third]; Mayberry homered [McRae scored,
Otis scored]; Cowens popped to third in foul territory; Zdeb
grounded out (pitcher to first); 3 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals
6, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 5TH: Veryzer singled to left; LeFlore forced Veryzer
(first to shortstop); Fuentes grounded into a double play
(shortstop to second to first) [LeFlore out at second]; 0 R, 1
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 2.

ROYALS 6TH: ARROYO REPLACED ROBERTS (PITCHING); Martinez
grounded out (shortstop to first); Patek grounded out (shortstop
to first); White grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 6TH: Staub flied out to left; Horton grounded out (third
to first); Thompson flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 6, Tigers 2.

ROYALS 7TH: Brett grounded out (first to pitcher); McRae struck
out; Otis singled to left; Arroyo threw a wild pitch [Otis to
second]; Mayberry was walked intentionally; Cowens was called
out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 2.

TIGERS 7TH: Oglivie walked; May walked [Oglivie to second]; BIRD
REPLACED SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); KEMP BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; Kemp
struck out; Debut game for Steve Kemp; MANKOWSKI BATTED
FOR VERYZER; Mankowski singled to right [Oglivie scored, May to
second]; LeFlore singled to left [May scored, Mankowski to
second]; Fuentes popped to catcher in foul territory; Staub
flied out to right; 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 4.

ROYALS 8TH: WAGNER REPLACED KEMP (PLAYING SS); MANKOWSKI STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING 3B); Zdeb grounded out (third to first);
Martinez popped to first in foul territory; Patek grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 8TH: Horton singled to right; GURA REPLACED BIRD
(PITCHING); Thompson was called out on strikes; Oglivie grounded
out (pitcher to first) [Horton to second]; LITTELL REPLACED GURA
(PITCHING); WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR MAY; Wockenfuss flied out to
center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 6, Tigers 4.

ROYALS 9TH: WOCKENFUSS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING C ); White
grounded out (pitcher to first); Brett walked; McRae singled to
right [Brett to third]; Otis singled to left [Brett scored,
McRae to second]; HILLER REPLACED ARROYO (PITCHING); Mayberry
grounded into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Otis
out at second]; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Royals 7, Tigers 4.

TIGERS 9TH: Wagner grounded out (second to first); Mankowski
flied out to center; LeFlore struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Royals 7, Tigers 4.