Stout pitching by Jack Morris and the hitting heroics of rookie Kirk Gibson sparked the Tigers to a 5-1 season-opening victory over the Royals. Gibson tied the score at 1-1 with a fourth-inning homer and then led off the sixth with a triple and scored on an error by K.C. first baseman Willie Aikens on Steve Kemp's grounder. A triple by Richie Hebner plated Kemp and a single by Jason Thompson drove in Hebner. Morris retired 11 straight batters over a stretch beginning in the fourth inning. [The Sporting News]



Detroit Tigers 5, Kansas City Royals 1
Game Played on Thursday, April     10, 1980 (Night game) at Royals Stadium
Tigers       0  0  0    1  0  3    0  0  1  -   5  9  1
Royals       0  0  1    0  0  0    0  0  0  -   1  3  1


Tigers               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG      Royals               AB   R   H RBI    BB  SO    AVG
Whitaker 2b           4   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Wilson cf             3   0   0   0     1   1   .000
Gibson cf             4   2   2   1     0   2   .500      McRae dh              3   0   0   0     1   0   .000
Kemp lf               4   1   2   1     0   0   .500      G. Brett 3b           3   0   0   1     1   0   .000
Hebner 3b             3   1   1   1     1   0   .333      Aikens 1b             4   0   0   0     0   1   .000
Thompson 1b           3   0   1   1     1   0   .333      LaCock lf             4   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Summers dh            3   0   1   0     0   0   .333      Quirk c               4   0   1   0     0   0   .250
  Wockenfuss ph,dh    1   0   0   0     0   1   .000      Hurdle rf             4   0   1   0     0   0   .250
Parrish c             4   1   1   1     0   0   .250      White 2b              3   1   1   0     0   1   .333
Peters rf             3   0   0   0     1   0   .000      Washington ss         3   0   0   0     0   2   .000
Wagner ss             4   0   1   0     0   0   .250      Leonard p             0   0   0   0     0   0   .000
Morris p              0   0   0   0     0   0   .000        Christenson p       0   0   0   0     0   0   .000

Totals               33   5   9   5     3   4             Totals               31   1   3   1     3   5

Time of Game: 2:28   Attendance: 34,901
Left on Base: Tigers 4, Royals 6
DP: Tigers 0, Royals 3
Errors: Morris, Aikens
Doubles: Kemp (1), White (1), Hurdle (1)
Triples: Gibson (1), Hebner (1)
Home Runs: Gibson (1), Parrish (1)
Stolen Bases: Peters (1), Wilson (1)
Caught Stealing: Hebner (1)
GIDP: Parrish (1), Whitaker (1)


Tigers                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Morris W(1-0)           9     3   1   0   3   5   0  34   0.00
Totals                  9     3   1   0   3   5   0  34

Royals                 IP     H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR BFP    ERA
Leonard L(0-1)          7.1   8   4   3   3   3   1  31   3.68
Christenson             1.2   1   1   1   0   1   1   5   5.40
Totals                  9     9   5   4   3   4   2  36

Passed Balls: Quirk (1)
Balks: Leonard (1)

Umpires: HP - Dave Phillips, 1B - Lou DiMuro, 2B - Al Clark, 3B - Steve Palermo


TIGERS 1ST: Whitaker grounded out (third to first); Gibson
struck out; Kemp grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

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

TIGERS 2ND: Hebner grounded out (second to first); Thompson
walked; Summers singled to right [Thompson to second]; Parrish
grounded into a double play (third to second to first) [Summers
out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 2ND: Aikens grounded out (first to pitcher); LaCock
grounded out (first unassisted); Quirk singled to left; Hurdle
grounded out (pitcher to first); 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers
0, Royals 0.

TIGERS 3RD: Peters lined to third; Wagner grounded out (third to
first); Whitaker grounded out (second to first); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E,
0 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 0.

ROYALS 3RD: White doubled to right; Washington grounded out
(third to first); Wilson reached on an error by Morris [White to
third, Wilson to first]; Wilson stole second; McRae walked; G.
Brett walked [White scored (unearned), Wilson to third, McRae to
second]; Aikens struck out; LaCock forced G. Brett (third to
second); 1 R (0 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 3 LOB.  Tigers 0, Royals 1.

TIGERS 4TH: Gibson homered; Kemp singled to left; Hebner forced
Kemp (pitcher to shortstop) [Hebner to first]; Leonard balked
[Hebner to second]; Quirk allowed a passed ball [Hebner to
third]; Thompson flied out to left; Summers grounded out (first
unassisted); 1 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Royals 1.

ROYALS 4TH: Quirk grounded out (first unassisted); Hurdle
doubled to right; White grounded out (third to first) [Hurdle to
third]; Washington struck out; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1,
Royals 1.

TIGERS 5TH: Parrish made an out to shortstop; Peters walked;
Peters stole second; Wagner made an out to first; Whitaker
struck out; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 1, Royals 1.

ROYALS 5TH: Wilson grounded out (second to first); McRae made an
out to second; G. Brett lined to right; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 1, Royals 1.

TIGERS 6TH: Gibson tripled to left; Kemp reached on an error by
Aikens [Gibson scored (RBI), Kemp to first]; Hebner tripled to
left [Kemp scored (unearned)]; Thompson singled to left [Hebner
scored]; Summers flied out to center; Parrish hit into a double
play (left to shortstop to second to first) [Thompson out at
second]; 3 R (2 ER), 3 H, 1 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 4, Royals 1.

ROYALS 6TH: Aikens flied out to left; LaCock grounded out
(second to first); Quirk made an out to shortstop; 0 R, 0 H, 0
E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 4, Royals 1.

TIGERS 7TH: Peters flied out to left; Wagner singled to center;
Whitaker grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to
first) [Wagner out at second]; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 4,
Royals 1.

ROYALS 7TH: Hurdle made an out to third; White struck out;
Washington was called out on strikes; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 4, Royals 1.

TIGERS 8TH: Gibson struck out; Kemp doubled to left; Hebner
walked; CHRISTENSON REPLACED LEONARD (PITCHING); Thompson flied
out to right [Kemp to third]; WOCKENFUSS BATTED FOR SUMMERS;
Hebner was caught stealing second (catcher to second); 0 R, 1 H,
0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 4, Royals 1.

ROYALS 8TH: WOCKENFUSS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING DH); Wilson
walked; McRae forced Wilson (third to second) [McRae to first];
G. Brett forced McRae (second to shortstop) [G. Brett to first];
Aikens flied out to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB.  Tigers 4,
Royals 1.

TIGERS 9TH: Wockenfuss struck out; Parrish homered; Peters
popped to first in foul territory; Wagner grounded out
(shortstop to first); 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.  Tigers 5, Royals 1.

ROYALS 9TH: LaCock flied out to center; Quirk flied out to left;
Hurdle grounded out (first unassisted); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB.
Tigers 5, Royals 1.