Jim Palmer became the first A. L. pitcher in 43 years to win 20 games for an eighth season when the Orioles gained a 6-1 victory in the nightcap of a doubleheader after the Tigers rallied for two runs in the ninth inning to capture the opener, 4-3. Lefty Grove, who did it last in 1935, also won 20 games eight times, while Walter Johnson holds the league record with a dozen 20 victory seasons.

Palmer's shutout bid was spoiled when Steve Kemp homered for the Tigers' tally in the seventh inning. Doug DeCinces had a homer for the Orioles. In the opener, Milt May led off the Tigers' ninth with a single, leading to the exit of Dennis Martinez. Don Stanhouse failed in relief. Successively, Tim Corcoran and Alan Trammell singled to load the bases before John Wockenfuss batted for Steve Dillard and singled to drive in tying and winning runs. [The Sporting News]

Detroit Tigers 4, Baltimore Orioles 3 (Game 1)

Game Played on Saturday, September 23, 1978 (Night game) at Memorial Stadium

Tigers       0  0  0    0  0  1    0  1  2  -   4 11  0
Orioles      0  0  1    0  0  0    0  2  0  -   3  9  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Orioles              AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
LeFlore cf            4   1   2   0     1   1   .298      Harlow cf             4   1   2   0     0   0   .241
Mankowski 3b          4   0   1   0     0   1   .278        Mora ph             1   0   0   0     0   1   .215
  Rodriguez 3b        1   0   0   0     0   0   .270      Kelly lf              4   1   2   1     0   1   .275
Staub dh              4   0   0   0     1   1   .277        Belanger ss         0   0   0   0     0   0   .212
Thompson 1b           3   0   1   2     1   0   .294      Singleton rf          3   0   1   0     1   0   .295
Kemp lf               4   0   0   0     0   1   .275        Dimmel pr,rf        0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
May c                 4   0   1   0     0   1   .257      Murray 1b             2   0   0   1     1   1   .289
  Stegman pr          0   1   0   0     0   0   .333      DeCinces 3b           4   0   1   1     0   1   .278
  Parrish c           0   0   0   0     0   0   .222      May dh                4   0   0   0     0   3   .246
Corcoran rf           4   1   2   0     0   1   .274      Garcia ss             3   0   1   0     0   0   .256
Trammell ss           4   0   2   0     0   0   .272        Anderson lf         1   0   0   0     0   1   .097
Dillard 2b            3   1   1   0     0   0   .242      Dauer 2b              4   0   0   0     0   0   .264
  Wockenfuss ph       1   0   1   2     0   0   .275      Skaggs c              3   1   2   0     0   1   .155
  Wagner 2b           0   0   0   0     0   0   .239        Roenicke ph         0   0   0   0     1   0   .255
Billingham p          0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Lopez pr            0   0   0   0     0   0   .243
  Hiller p            0   0   0   0     0   0   .000      D. Martinez p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
                                                            Stanhouse p         0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               36   4  11   4     3   6             Totals               33   3   9   3     3   9

Time of Game: 2:49
Left on Base: Tigers 8, Orioles 7
DP: Tigers 1, Orioles 2
Errors: Skaggs
Doubles: Harlow (24), DeCinces (35)
Triples: Skaggs (1)
Stolen Bases: LeFlore (66)
Caught Stealing: Kelly (8)
Sacrifice Flies: Murray (6)
GIDP: Kemp 2 (9), Harlow (9)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Billingham              7.1   8   3   3   2   6   0  30   3.88
Hiller W(9-4)           1.2   1   0   0   1   3   0   7   2.46
Totals                  9     9   3   3   3   9   0  37

Orioles                IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
D. Martinez             8     8   3   2   3   5   0  33   3.66
Stanhouse L(6-8)        1     3   1   1   0   1   0   6   3.03
Totals                  9    11   4   3   3   6   0  39

Umpires: HP - Larry McCoy, 1B - Steve Palermo, 2B - Don Denkinger, 3B - Dave Phillips


TIGERS 1ST: LeFlore was called out on strikes; Mankowski flied
out to left; Staub lined to second; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 0, Orioles 0.

ORIOLES 1ST: Harlow doubled to right; Kelly struck out;
Singleton grounded out (second to first) [Harlow to third];
Murray walked; DeCinces flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
 Tigers 0, Orioles 0.

TIGERS 2ND: Thompson grounded out (pitcher to first); Kemp
grounded out (first unassisted); May grounded out (third to
first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 0.

ORIOLES 2ND: May struck out; Garcia made an out to second; Dauer
lined to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 0.

TIGERS 3RD: Corcoran was called out on strikes; Trammell
grounded out (third to first); Dillard flied out to left; 0 R, 0
H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 0.

ORIOLES 3RD: Skaggs tripled to right; Harlow grounded out
(shortstop to first); Kelly singled to right [Skaggs scored];
Kelly was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop);
Singleton singled to center; Murray lined to first; 1 R, 3 H, 0
E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 1.

TIGERS 4TH: LeFlore walked; LeFlore stole second; Mankowski made
an out to third; Staub flied out to left; Thompson grounded out
(pitcher to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 1.

ORIOLES 4TH: DeCinces struck out; May grounded out (shortstop to
first); Garcia singled to pitcher; Dauer grounded out (pitcher
to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 1.

TIGERS 5TH: Kemp struck out; May grounded out (second to first);
Corcoran singled to right; Trammell singled to right [Corcoran
to second]; Dillard popped to catcher in foul territory; 0 R, 2
H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 0, Orioles 1.

ORIOLES 5TH: Skaggs singled to center; Harlow grounded into a
double play (first to shortstop to first) [Skaggs out at
second]; Kelly flied out to left; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers
0, Orioles 1.

TIGERS 6TH: LeFlore singled to center; Mankowski singled to
right [LeFlore to third]; Staub flied out to center; Thompson
singled to right [LeFlore scored, Mankowski to second]; Kemp
grounded into a double play (shortstop to first) [Thompson out
at second]; 1 R, 3 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Orioles 1.

ORIOLES 6TH: Singleton flied out to left; Murray struck out;
DeCinces flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 1,
Orioles 1.

TIGERS 7TH: May struck out; Corcoran grounded out (first to
pitcher); Trammell flied out to left; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 1, Orioles 1.

ORIOLES 7TH: May struck out; Garcia grounded out (first to
pitcher); Dauer flied out to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 1, Orioles 1.

TIGERS 8TH: Dillard singled to left; LeFlore singled to right
[Dillard to second]; Dillard was picked off second but was safe
on an error by Skaggs [Dillard to third, LeFlore to second];
Mankowski struck out; Staub was walked intentionally; Thompson
walked [Dillard scored (unearned), LeFlore to third, Staub to
second]; Kemp grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to
shortstop to first) [Thompson out at second]; 1 R (0 ER), 2 H, 1
E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 2, Orioles 1.

ORIOLES 8TH: RODRIGUEZ REPLACED MANKOWSKI (PLAYING 3B); Skaggs
struck out; Harlow singled; Kelly singled [Harlow to third];
Singleton walked [Kelly to second]; DIMMEL RAN FOR SINGLETON;
HILLER REPLACED BILLINGHAM (PITCHING); Murray hit a sacrifice
fly to center [Harlow scored]; DeCinces doubled to left [Kelly
scored, Dimmel to third]; May struck out; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.
Tigers 2, Orioles 3.

TIGERS 9TH: BELANGER REPLACED KELLY (PLAYING SS); DIMMEL STAYED
IN GAME (PLAYING RF); ANDERSON REPLACED GARCIA (PLAYING LF); May
singled to shortstop; STEGMAN RAN FOR MAY; STANHOUSE REPLACED D.
MARTINEZ (PITCHING); Corcoran singled to left [Stegman to
second]; On a bunt Trammell singled [Stegman to third, Corcoran
to second]; WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR DILLARD; Wockenfuss singled to
center [Stegman scored, Corcoran scored, Trammell to second];
LeFlore flied out to right; Rodriguez grounded out (shortstop to
first) [Trammell to third, Wockenfuss to second]; Staub was
called out on strikes; 2 R, 4 H, 0 E, 2 LOB.  Tigers 4, Orioles
3.

ORIOLES 9TH: PARRISH REPLACED STEGMAN (PLAYING C ); WAGNER
REPLACED WOCKENFUSS (PLAYING 2B); Anderson struck out; Dauer
flied out to center; ROENICKE BATTED FOR SKAGGS; Roenicke
walked; LOPEZ RAN FOR ROENICKE; MORA BATTED FOR HARLOW; Mora
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 4, Orioles 3.

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