With two out in the ninth inning, Rusty Staub smashed a three-run homer to bring the Tigers an 8-5 victory over the Royals. The Tigers took a 5-4 lead in the seventh when Steve Kemp hit for the circuit with a man on base, but the Royals tied the score in their half when Hal McRae reached second on an error by Aurelio Rodriguez and John Mayberry singled. In the ninth, Tom Veryzer led off with a double but the next two batters went out before Steve Kemp drew a walk and Staub stunned the Royals' crowd of 23,753 by hitting his homer. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 8, Kansas City Royals 5
Game Played on Saturday, April     16, 1977 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
Tigers       0  0  0    0  0  3    2  0  3  -   8 13  5
Royals       0  0  1    0  1  2    1  0  0  -   5 10  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
LeFlore cf            5   0   0   0     0   1   .270      Brett 3b              5   1   2   1     0   0   .300
Fuentes 2b            5   2   2   0     0   0   .297      McRae dh              5   1   1   0     0   0   .419
Kemp lf               4   3   2   2     1   0   .156      Mayberry 1b           4   0   1   2     0   1   .258
Staub dh              5   1   2   3     0   1   .206      Porter c              4   0   1   0     0   1   .476
Thompson 1b           4   0   0   0     1   0   .233      Otis cf               4   0   1   0     0   0   .286
Oglivie rf            3   1   1   1     1   1   .258      Cowens rf             3   1   1   0     1   1   .333
May c                 4   0   3   2     0   0   .333      LaCock lf             3   1   1   0     0   1   .150
Rodriguez 3b          3   0   2   0     0   0   .241        Zdeb ph,lf          1   0   0   0     0   0   .125
  Mankowski ph        0   0   0   0     0   0   .200      Patek ss              4   1   2   1     0   2   .296
  Wockenfuss ph       1   0   0   0     0   0   .143      White 2b              3   0   0   0     0   0   .160
  Scrivener 3b        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Rojas ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .167
Veryzer ss            4   1   1   0     0   0   .333      Splittorff p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Rozema p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Bird p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Hiller p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Mingori p           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               38   8  13   8     3   3             Totals               37   5  10   4     1   6

Time of Game: 2:33   Attendance: 23,753
Left on Base: Tigers 6, Royals 6
DP: Tigers 1, Royals 2
Errors: Kemp, Oglivie, Rodriguez, Scrivener, Rozema, Patek
Doubles: Staub (1), May (1), Veryzer (1)
Triples: Patek (1)
Home Runs: Kemp (2), Staub (1)
Stolen Bases: Cowens (1)
GIDP: Veryzer (1), Wockenfuss (1), Zdeb (1)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Rozema                  6     8   4   2   1   5   0  26   3.65
Hiller W(1-2)           3     2   1   0   0   1   0  12   7.94
Totals                  9    10   5   2   1   6   0  38

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Splittorff              6     9   4   3   1   2   0  27   4.71
Bird                    1.1   2   1   1   1   1   1   7   3.86
Mingori L(0-1)          1.2   2   3   3   1   0   1   7  12.00
Totals                  9    13   8   6*  3   3   2  41

Umpires: HP - Nick Bremigan, 1B - Al Clark, 2B - Jerry Neudecker, 3B - Art Frantz


TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore struck out; Fuentes singled to left; Kemp
forced Fuentes (third to second); Staub flied out to left; 0 R,
1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 1ST: Brett lined to left; McRae grounded out (shortstop
to first); Mayberry struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0,
Royals 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Thompson grounded out (first to pitcher); Oglivie
popped to third; May flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Porter struck out; Otis singled to center; Cowens
walked [Otis to second]; Cowens was picked off first but was
safe on an error by Rozema [Otis to third, Cowens to second];
LaCock struck out; Patek struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.
Tigers 0, Royals 0.

TIGERS 3RD: Rodriguez singled to left; Veryzer grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [Rodriguez out at
second]; LeFlore grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: White flied out to center; Brett singled to left
[Brett to second (error by Kemp)]; McRae singled to center
[Brett to third]; Mayberry grounded out (first unassisted)
[Brett scored (unearned), McRae to second]; Porter grounded out
(first unassisted); 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0,
Royals 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Fuentes grounded out (third to first); Kemp flied
out to left; Staub doubled to center; Thompson walked; Oglivie
struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Otis grounded out (second to first); Cowens struck
out; LaCock lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0,
Royals 1.

TIGERS 5TH: May singled to left; Rodriguez singled to center
[May out at third (center to third), Rodriguez to second (on
throw to 3b)]; Veryzer grounded out (pitcher to first); LeFlore
grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0,
Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: Patek tripled to left; White grounded out (shortstop
to first); Brett singled to right [Patek scored]; McRae grounded
out (third to first) [Brett to third]; Mayberry grounded out
(pitcher to first); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 2.

TIGERS 6TH: Fuentes singled to center; Kemp singled to left
[Fuentes to second]; Staub popped to second; Thompson lined to
right [Fuentes to third]; Oglivie singled to left [Fuentes
scored, Kemp to second]; May doubled to left [Kemp scored,
Oglivie scored]; Rodriguez popped to second; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Tigers 3, Royals 2.

ROYALS 6TH: Porter singled to left; Otis popped to second;
Cowens forced Porter (first to shortstop); Cowens stole second;
LaCock singled to center [Cowens to third]; Patek singled
[Cowens scored, LaCock scored (error by Oglivie) (unearned) (no
RBI), Patek out at home (center to second to catcher)]; 2 R (1
ER), 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 3, Royals 4.

TIGERS 7TH: Veryzer reached on an error by Patek; BIRD REPLACED
SPLITTORFF (PITCHING); LeFlore grounded out (pitcher to first)
[Veryzer to second]; Fuentes reached on a fielder's choice
[Veryzer out at third (pitcher to third)]; Kemp homered
(unearned, but earned for the pitcher) [Fuentes scored
(unearned)]; Staub struck out; 2 R (1 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 5, Royals 4.

ROYALS 7TH: HILLER REPLACED ROZEMA (PITCHING); White grounded
out (pitcher to first); Brett lined to left; McRae reached on an
error by Rodriguez [McRae to second]; Mayberry singled to left
[McRae scored (unearned)]; Porter flied out to center; 1 R (0
ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 5.

TIGERS 8TH: Thompson grounded out (second to first); Oglivie
walked; May singled to center [Oglivie to third]; MANKOWSKI
BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; MINGORI REPLACED BIRD (PITCHING);
WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR MANKOWSKI; Wockenfuss grounded into a
double play (shortstop to second to first) [May out at second];
0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 5.

ROYALS 8TH: SCRIVENER REPLACED WOCKENFUSS (PLAYING 3B); Otis
popped to shortstop; Cowens singled to left; ZDEB BATTED FOR
LACOCK; Zdeb grounded into a double play (third to second to
first) [Cowens out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5,
Royals 5.

TIGERS 9TH: ZDEB STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING LF); Veryzer doubled to
left; LeFlore grounded out (third to first); Fuentes grounded
out (shortstop to first); Kemp walked; Staub homered [Veryzer
scored, Kemp scored]; Thompson grounded out (pitcher to first);
3 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 8, Royals 5.

ROYALS 9TH: Patek was called out on strikes; ROJAS BATTED FOR
WHITE; Rojas grounded out (shortstop to first); Brett reached on
an error by Scrivener; McRae forced Brett (shortstop to second);
0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 8, Royals 5.