Rookie southpaw Bob Sykes gained his first major league victory when the Tigers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to win the nightcap of a doubleheader, 3-2, after two homers had carried the Indians to a 5-2 triumph in the opener. Walks actually beat the Tigers in the lidlifter. John Hiller passed two batters before serving up a gopher ball to Buddy Bell in the third inning. Then in the seventh, reliever Milt Wilcox issued a pass ahead of a circuit clout by Paul Dade. Jason Thompson batted in both Tiger tallies with a homer and sacrifice fly.

Sykes was handed a 1-0 lead in the first inning of the second game and stayed ahead in his duel with Wayne Garland until the top of the ninth when Ron Pruitt batted in the Indians' two runs with a single. With two out in the Tigers' half, Thompson singled and counted the tying run on a double by Ben Oglivie. Jim Kern replaced Garland and gave up a single by Milt May that drove in Oglivie with the winning run. [The Sporting News]

Cleveland Indians 5, Detroit Tigers 2 (Game 1)

Game Played on Sunday, June 26, 1977 (Day game) at Tiger Stadium

Indians 0 0 3 0 0 0 2 0 0 - 5 11 1 Tigers 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 - 2 8 0 Indians AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Norris cf 3 1 1 0 2 2 .284 LeFlore cf 5 0 2 0 0 2 .270 Kuiper 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .263 Veryzer ss 3 0 0 0 1 1 .186 Dade rf 4 1 3 2 1 1 .337 May ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .258 Carty dh 3 1 0 0 2 1 .284 Staub dh 3 1 0 0 1 1 .225 Thornton 1b 3 1 0 0 1 1 .197 Kemp lf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .259 Bell 3b 4 1 3 3 0 1 .300 Thompson 1b 3 1 2 2 0 1 .262 Fosse c 4 0 1 0 0 1 .268 Stanley rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .279 Pruitt lf 4 0 2 0 0 1 .281 Wockenfuss c 3 0 1 0 0 1 .276 Duffy ss 4 0 0 0 0 3 .200 Oglivie ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .255 Waits p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kimm c 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kern p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rodriguez 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .207 Mankowski ph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .294 Scrivener 2b 3 0 0 0 0 0 .130 Corcoran ph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .222 Hiller p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Wilcox p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 33 5 11 5 6 11 Totals 35 2 8 2 2 8 Time of Game: 2:48 Left on Base: Indians 8, Tigers 9 DP: Indians 0, Tigers 1 Errors: Waits Doubles: Dade (7) Home Runs: Bell (7), Dade (2), Thompson (13) Stolen Bases: LeFlore (16) Caught Stealing: Fosse (3), Bell (5), Norris (12) Sacrifice Hits: Kuiper (10) Sacrifice Flies: Thompson (3) GIDP: Thornton (3) Indians IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Waits W(5-0) 7 6 2 1 2 6 1 30 3.26 Kern SV(10) 2 2 0 0 0 2 0 8 2.42 Totals 9 8 2 1 2 8 1 38 Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Hiller L(4-8) 2.1 5 3 3 4 2 1 15 4.08 Wilcox 6.2 6 2 2 2 9 1 25 2.70 Totals 9 11 5 5 6 11 2 40 Balks: Wilcox (1) Umpires: HP - Mike Reilly, 1B - Ken Kaiser, 2B - Bill Haller, 3B - Ron Luciano INDIANS 1ST: Norris struck out; Kuiper singled to shortstop; Dade doubled to left [Kuiper to third]; Carty walked; Thornton grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Carty out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore singled to center; Veryzer popped to third in foul territory; Staub struck out; Kemp flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 0, Tigers 0. INDIANS 2ND: Bell singled to right; Fosse popped to first in foul territory; Pruitt singled to center [Bell to third, Pruitt to second (on throw to 3b)]; Duffy popped to first in foul territory; Norris walked; Kuiper grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 3 LOB. Indians 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 2ND: Thompson homered; Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); Wockenfuss struck out; Rodriguez grounded out (second to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 0, Tigers 1. INDIANS 3RD: Dade was called out on strikes; Carty walked; Thornton walked [Carty to second]; Bell homered [Carty scored, Thornton scored]; WILCOX REPLACED HILLER (PITCHING); Fosse was called out on strikes; Pruitt lined to pitcher; 3 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 1. TIGERS 3RD: Scrivener grounded out (third to first); LeFlore struck out; Veryzer lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 1. INDIANS 4TH: Duffy struck out; Norris struck out; Kuiper grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 1. TIGERS 4TH: Staub reached on an error by Waits; Kemp singled to right [Staub to third]; Thompson hit a sacrifice fly to left [Staub scored (unearned), Kemp to second]; Stanley grounded out (shortstop to first); Wockenfuss flied out to center; 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 2. INDIANS 5TH: Dade singled to center; Wilcox balked [Dade to second]; Carty flied out to right; Thornton struck out; Bell was called out on strikes; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 2. TIGERS 5TH: Rodriguez struck out; Scrivener grounded out (shortstop to first); LeFlore singled; LeFlore stole second; Veryzer walked; Staub flied out to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 2. INDIANS 6TH: Fosse singled; Pruitt was called out on strikes; Fosse was caught stealing second (catcher to second); Duffy struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 2. TIGERS 6TH: Kemp lined to second; Thompson struck out; Stanley singled to left; Wockenfuss singled to left [Stanley to second]; Rodriguez grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 3, Tigers 2. INDIANS 7TH: Norris walked; Kuiper out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Norris to second]; Dade homered [Norris scored]; Carty struck out; Thornton made an out to shortstop; 2 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2. TIGERS 7TH: Scrivener flied out to right; LeFlore grounded out (second to first); Veryzer struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2. INDIANS 8TH: Bell singled to right; Fosse made an out to second; Pruitt singled to left [Bell to second]; Bell was caught stealing third (catcher unassisted) [Pruitt to second]; Duffy struck out; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2. TIGERS 8TH: Staub walked; KERN REPLACED WAITS (PITCHING); Kemp made an out to third; Thompson singled to right [Staub to second]; Stanley struck out; OGLIVIE BATTED FOR WOCKENFUSS; Oglivie lined to shortstop; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2. INDIANS 9TH: KIMM REPLACED OGLIVIE (PLAYING C ); Norris singled to center; Norris was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Kuiper flied out to center; Dade walked; Carty flied out to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2. TIGERS 9TH: MANKOWSKI BATTED FOR RODRIGUEZ; Mankowski singled to center; CORCORAN BATTED FOR SCRIVENER; Corcoran flied out to left; LeFlore struck out; MAY BATTED FOR VERYZER; May popped to third in foul territory; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Indians 5, Tigers 2.

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