Rookie righthander Roger Erickson won his first major league start as the Twins edged the Mariners, 5-4. Roy Smalley hit a first-inning homer for the Twins, who tallied three times in the second on a single by Mike Cubbage, doubles by Dan Ford and Willie Norwood and a single by Smalley.

The winning margin came in the ninth on successive singles by Bombo Rivera, Smalley and Rod Carew. Two of the Mariners' runs scored on wild pitches. Ruppert Jones hit a leadoff homer in the ninth for the final Seattle tally. [The Sporting News]
Minnesota Twins 5, Seattle Mariners 4

Game Played on Thursday, April 6, 1978 (Night game) at Kingdome

Twins        1  3  0    0  0  0    0  0  1  -   5 13  0
Mariners     0  0  0    0  0  1    2  0  1  -   4 10  0


Twins                AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Mariners             AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Powell rf             2   0   0   0     0   0   .167      Baez 2b               4   0   2   0     0   0   .250
  Rivera ph,rf        3   1   1   0     0   0   .333        Cruz pr,2b          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Smalley ss            5   1   3   2     0   1   .333      Bochte lf             4   1   2   0     0   1   .625
Carew 1b              5   0   3   1     0   0   .444      Meyer 1b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .143
Adams dh              1   0   1   0     0   0   .400      Stanton dh            4   0   0   0     0   2   .143
  Kusick ph,dh        4   0   1   0     0   0   .250      Ruppert Jones cf      3   2   2   1     1   0   .500
Wynegar c             3   0   0   0     1   1   .000      Stein 3b              4   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Ford cf               4   1   1   0     0   1   .143      Hale rf               4   1   2   0     0   0   .250
Cubbage 3b            3   1   1   0     1   1   .286      Stinson c             4   0   2   1     0   1   .286
Norwood lf            3   1   2   2     0   0   .500      Reynolds ss           2   0   0   0     0   0   .500
Wilfong 2b            1   0   0   0     0   0   .500        Braun ph            1   0   0   0     0   0   .000
  Randall 2b          1   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Milbourne ss        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Erickson p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Robertson ph        1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
  T. Johnson p        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Pole p                0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Rawley p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Burke p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               35   5  13   5     2   4             Totals               35   4  10   2     1   6

Time of Game: 2:33   Attendance: 10,311
Left on Base: Twins 8, Mariners 5
DP: Twins 0, Mariners 3
Doubles: Ford (1), Norwood (2), Stinson (1)
Home Runs: Smalley (1), Ruppert Jones (1)
Sacrifice Hits: Wilfong (1), Norwood (1)
GIDP: Kusick (1), Cubbage (1)
Hit by Pitch: Wilfong (1,by Rawley)


Twins                  IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Erickson W(1-0)         6.1   5   3   3   1   4   0  25   4.26
T. Johnson SV(1)        2.2   5   1   1   0   2   1  11   3.38
Totals                  9    10   4   4   1   6   1  36

Mariners               IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Pole L(0-1)             1.2   7   4   4   0   0   1  11  21.60
Rawley                  4     3   0   0   1   3   0  16   0.00
Burke                   3.1   3   1   1   1   1   0  13   2.70
Totals                  9    13   5   5   2   4   1  40

Hit by Pitch: Rawley (1)
Wild Pitches: Erickson 2 (2), T. Johnson (1), Rawley (1)
Balks: Erickson (1)

Umpires: HP - Lou DiMuro, 1B - Ken Kaiser, 2B - Mike Reilly, 3B - Bill Haller


TWINS 1ST: Powell lined to center; Debut game for Roger
Erickson; Smalley homered; Carew singled to center; Adams
singled to right [Carew to third]; Wynegar lined into a double
play (second to first) [Adams out at first]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Twins 1, Mariners 0.

MARINERS 1ST: Baez grounded out (third to first); Bochte struck
out; Meyer lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 1,
Mariners 0.

TWINS 2ND: Ford doubled to left; Cubbage singled to right [Ford
to third, Cubbage to second (on throw to home)]; Norwood doubled
to center [Ford scored, Cubbage scored]; Wilfong grounded out
(first unassisted) [Norwood to third]; Powell flied out to
center; Smalley singled to center [Norwood scored]; RAWLEY
REPLACED POLE (PITCHING); Carew grounded out (pitcher to
first); Debut game for Shane Rawley; 3 R, 4 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 0.

MARINERS 2ND: Stanton grounded out (third to first); Ruppert
Jones walked; Stein grounded out (second to first) [Ruppert
Jones to second]; Hale lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Twins 4, Mariners 0.

TWINS 3RD: KUSICK BATTED FOR ADAMS; Kusick singled to center;
Wynegar forced Kusick (third to second); Ford flied out to
center; Cubbage struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4,
Mariners 0.

MARINERS 3RD: Stinson was called out on strikes; Reynolds flied
out to left; Baez singled to right; Bochte grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 0.

TWINS 4TH: Norwood singled to shortstop; Wilfong out on a
sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Norwood to second]; RIVERA
BATTED FOR POWELL; Rivera grounded out (shortstop to first)
[Norwood to third]; Smalley lined to center; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1
LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 0.

MARINERS 4TH: RIVERA STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); Meyer popped
to first; Stanton was called out on strikes; Ruppert Jones
grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins
4, Mariners 0.

TWINS 5TH: On a bunt Carew singled to third; Kusick grounded
into a double play (third to second to first) [Carew out at
second]; Wynegar struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4,
Mariners 0.

MARINERS 5TH: Stein grounded out (second to first); Hale singled
to right; Stinson flied out to center; Reynolds forced Hale
(shortstop unassisted); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners
0.

TWINS 6TH: Ford struck out; Cubbage walked; Norwood out on a
sacrifice bunt (pitcher to first) [Cubbage to second]; Rawley
threw a wild pitch [Cubbage to third]; Wilfong was hit by a
pitch; BURKE REPLACED RAWLEY (PITCHING); Rivera grounded out
(second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 0.

MARINERS 6TH: RANDALL REPLACED WILFONG (PLAYING 2B); Baez made
an out to second; Bochte singled to right; Meyer grounded out
(second to first) [Bochte to second]; Erickson threw a wild
pitch [Bochte to third]; Erickson threw a wild pitch [Bochte
scored]; Stanton struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4,
Mariners 1.

TWINS 7TH: Smalley struck out; Carew grounded out (second to
first); Kusick grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 1.

MARINERS 7TH: Ruppert Jones singled to right; Erickson balked
[Ruppert Jones to second]; Stein lined to right; Hale singled to
shortstop [Ruppert Jones to third]; T. JOHNSON REPLACED ERICKSON
(PITCHING); Stinson singled to left [Ruppert Jones scored, Hale
to third, Stinson out at second (left to second)]; BRAUN BATTED
FOR REYNOLDS; T. Johnson threw a wild pitch [Hale scored]; Braun
flied out to right; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 3.

TWINS 8TH: MILBOURNE REPLACED BRAUN (PLAYING SS); Wynegar
walked; Ford popped to first in foul territory; Cubbage grounded
into a double play (second to shortstop to first) [Wynegar out
at second]; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 3.

MARINERS 8TH: Baez singled to center; CRUZ RAN FOR BAEZ; Cruz
was picked off first (pitcher to first); Bochte singled to left;
Meyer flied out to center; Stanton flied out to center; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 4, Mariners 3.

TWINS 9TH: CRUZ STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 2B); Norwood grounded
out (third to first); Randall popped to first in foul territory;
Rivera singled to center; Smalley singled to center [Rivera to
second]; Carew singled to right [Rivera scored, Smalley to
third]; Kusick forced Carew (third to second); 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2
LOB.  Twins 5, Mariners 3.

MARINERS 9TH: Ruppert Jones homered; Stein was called out on
strikes; Hale flied out to center; Stinson doubled to left;
ROBERTSON BATTED FOR MILBOURNE; Robertson struck out; 1 R, 2 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Twins 5, Mariners 4.
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