Although the amazing A's boosted their record to 19-5, they had done it with only two complete games from their pitching staff, both by rookie lefthander John Henry Johnson, who turned in his second route-going effort in a 5-1 victory over the Tigers.

In winning the meeting between A.L. division leaders, Johnson held the Tigers to four hits, while the A's had 12, including a two-run homer by Jim Essian, off Jack Billingham and Jim Crawford. Billingham suffered his first defeat of the season after three victories. [The Sporting News]



Oakland Athletics 5, Detroit Tigers 1
Game Played on Friday, May       5, 1978 (Night game) at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Tigers       0  0  0    0  0  1    0  0  0  -   1  4  3
A's          1  0  0    2  1  1    0  0  x  -   5 12  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      A's                  AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
LeFlore cf            4   1   1   0     0   0   .292      North cf              4   0   3   0     0   0   .286
Wagner ss             4   0   0   0     0   0   .222      Edwards 2b            2   1   1   0     0   1   .288
Staub dh              3   0   2   1     1   0   .326        Tabb ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Thompson 1b           4   0   1   0     0   2   .307        Staggs 2b           0   0   0   0     0   0   .357
Kemp lf               4   0   0   0     0   2   .286      Page lf               3   1   0   0     1   0   .298
Wockenfuss rf         3   0   0   0     1   1   .333        Murphy lf           0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Parrish c             3   0   0   0     0   0   .209      Alexander dh          3   0   1   1     0   1   .269
Rodriguez 3b          3   0   0   0     0   1   .370      Guerrero ss           4   0   1   0     0   0   .320
Dillard 2b            2   0   0   0     0   0   .143      Revering 1b           3   2   1   0     1   0   .282
Billingham p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Gross 3b              4   0   2   0     0   1   .253
  Crawford p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      Essian c              3   1   1   2     0   0   .227
                                                          Dilone rf             4   0   2   0     0   0   .214
                                                          Johnson p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               30   1   4   1     2   6             Totals               31   5  12   3     2   4

Time of Game: 2:03   Attendance: 14,612
Left on Base: Tigers 5, A's 7
DP: Tigers 0, A's 1
Errors: Parrish, Dillard 2, Gross
Doubles: LeFlore (5)
Home Runs: Essian (2)
Stolen Bases: Dilone (9), Edwards (4)
Caught Stealing: North (2), Dilone (6)
Sacrifice Hits: Dillard (4), Edwards (2), Essian (3)
Sacrifice Flies: Alexander (1)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Billingham L(3-1)       6    11   5   3   2   4   1  29   3.38
Crawford                2     1   0   0   0   0   0   7   3.86
Totals                  8    12   5   3   2   4   1  36

A's                    IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Johnson W(3-1)          9     4   1   1   2   6   0  33   1.19
Totals                  9     4   1   1   2   6   0  33

Wild Pitches: Billingham (3)

Umpires: HP - Jerry Neudecker, 1B - George Maloney, 2B - Jim McKean, 3B - Greg Kosc


TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore grounded out (shortstop to first); Wagner
grounded out (third to first); Staub singled to center; Thompson
forced Staub (shortstop to second); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Tigers 0, Athletics 0.

ATHLETICS 1ST: North singled to left; Edwards struck out; North
was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Page walked;
Alexander singled to left [Page to third]; Guerrero singled to
second [Page scored (error by Dillard) (unearned), Alexander to
third, Guerrero to second]; Revering flied out to left; 1 R (0
ER), 3 H, 1 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 2ND: Kemp flied out to center; Wockenfuss flied out to
center; Parrish flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 0, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 2ND: Gross grounded out (second to first); Essian
popped to second; Dilone singled to right; Dilone was caught
stealing second (catcher to shortstop); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 0, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 3RD: Rodriguez reached on an error by Gross [Rodriguez to
second]; Dillard out on a sacrifice bunt (first unassisted)
[Rodriguez to third]; LeFlore hit into a double play (right to
catcher) [Rodriguez out at home]; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers
0, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 3RD: North reached on an error by Dillard; Edwards out
on a sacrifice bunt (catcher to first) [North to second]; Page
flied out to left; Alexander was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0
H, 1 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Wagner popped to second; Staub walked; Thompson
struck out; Kemp flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Tigers 0, Athletics 1.

ATHLETICS 4TH: Guerrero grounded out (shortstop to first);
Revering walked; Gross was called out on strikes; Essian homered
[Revering scored]; Dilone singled to left; Dilone stole second;
North singled to left [Dilone out at home (left to catcher)]; 2
R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

TIGERS 5TH: Wockenfuss walked; Parrish flied out to center;
Rodriguez struck out; Dillard flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 3.

ATHLETICS 5TH: Edwards singled to left; Edwards stole second
[Edwards to third (error by Parrish)]; Page grounded out
(shortstop to first); Alexander hit a sacrifice fly to center
[Edwards scored (unearned)]; Guerrero flied out to center; 1 R
(0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Athletics 4.

TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore doubled to right; Wagner grounded out
(shortstop to first); Staub singled to right [LeFlore scored];
Thompson struck out; Kemp struck out; 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.
Tigers 1, Athletics 4.

ATHLETICS 6TH: Revering singled to center; Gross singled to left
[Revering to third]; Billingham threw a wild pitch [Revering
scored, Gross to second]; Essian out on a sacrifice bunt (third
to first) [Gross to third]; Dilone reached on a fielder's choice
[Gross out at home (second to catcher)]; North singled to right
[Dilone to third, North to second (on throw to 3b)]; TABB BATTED
FOR EDWARDS; Tabb struck out; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 1,
Athletics 5.

TIGERS 7TH: STAGGS REPLACED TABB (PLAYING 2B); Wockenfuss struck
out; Parrish flied out to right; Rodriguez flied out to right; 0
R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 7TH: CRAWFORD REPLACED BILLINGHAM (PITCHING); Page
flied to left in foul territory; Alexander flied out to center;
Guerrero grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0
LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 5.

TIGERS 8TH: MURPHY REPLACED PAGE (PLAYING LF); Dillard grounded
out (shortstop to first); LeFlore grounded out (shortstop to
first); Wagner grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 5.

ATHLETICS 8TH: Revering grounded out (second to first); Gross
singled to left; Essian grounded out (shortstop to first) [Gross
to second]; Dilone grounded out (shortstop to first); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 5.

TIGERS 9TH: Staub grounded out (second to first); Thompson
singled to center; Kemp struck out; Wockenfuss grounded out
(third to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Athletics 5.