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.

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