Rallying for two runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Tigers registered their ninth straight victory by shading the Rangers, 5-4. Detroit trailed, 4-3, when Lynn Jones began the bottom of the ninth with a game-tying homer off Jon Matlack.

Jim Kern relieved and Steve Kemp followed with a single and moved to second on a sacrifice by Tom Brookens. After Lou Whitaker was walked on purpose, Steve Comer replaced Kern. Ricky Peters singled off the glove of first baseman Bill Stein and Kemp raced home with the winning run. [The Sporting News]

Detroit Tigers 5, Texas Rangers 4

Game Played on Sunday, August 23, 1981 (Day game) at Tiger Stadium

Rangers 0 0 0 0 2 1 0 0 1 - 4 8 0 Tigers 2 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 2 - 5 9 3 Rangers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Tigers AB R H RBI BB SO AVG Rivers cf 4 1 2 1 0 1 .262 Cowens cf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .275 Wills 2b 3 1 1 0 1 1 .251 Peters ph 1 0 1 1 0 0 .235 Oliver dh 5 0 3 1 0 1 .326 Trammell ss 3 1 2 0 1 0 .297 Bell 3b 4 0 0 2 0 1 .292 Gibson lf 4 1 2 2 0 0 .279 Grubb rf 2 0 0 0 1 0 .246 Parrish c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .227 Roberts ph,rf 0 0 0 0 2 0 .301 Jackson 1b 4 0 0 0 0 0 .257 Putnam 1b 3 0 1 0 0 1 .269 Jones rf 3 2 1 1 1 0 .302 Stein ph,1b 2 0 0 0 0 0 .403 Wockenfuss dh 2 0 1 0 1 0 .208 Sample lf 3 1 0 0 0 0 .273 Kemp ph,dh 1 1 1 0 0 0 .295 Sundberg c 4 0 1 0 0 0 .259 Brookens 3b 3 0 0 0 0 1 .272 Mendoza ss 2 1 0 0 1 0 .249 Whitaker 2b 3 0 0 0 1 0 .265 Matlack p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Wilcox p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Kern p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Cappuzzello p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Comer p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Tobik p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Rozema p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000 Totals 32 4 8 4 5 5 Totals 32 5 9 4 4 2 Time of Game: 2:57 Attendance: 21,388 Left on Base: Rangers 11, Tigers 7 DP: Rangers 1, Tigers 1 Errors: Brookens, Whitaker 2 Doubles: Putnam (12) Home Runs: Gibson (5), Jones (2) Stolen Bases: Trammell (3) Caught Stealing: Rivers (3), Roberts (4) Sacrifice Hits: Mendoza (12), Wills (4), Brookens (3) Sacrifice Flies: Rivers (1), Bell (6) GIDP: Bell (6), Brookens (3) Hit by Pitch: Sample (6,by Wilcox) Rangers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Matlack 8 7 4 4 3 2 2 33 4.02 Kern L(1-2) 0.1 1 1 1 1 0 0 3 2.45 Comer 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 2.95 Totals 8.1 9 5 5 4 2 2 37 Tigers IP H R ER BB SO HR BFP ERA Wilcox 6 7 3 2 3 3 0 29 2.93 Cappuzzello 0.2 0 0 0 1 2 0 3 3.27 Tobik 2 1 1 1 1 0 0 9 2.00 Rozema W(4-4) 0.1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 3.62 Totals 9 8 4 3 5 5 0 42 Hit by Pitch: Wilcox (4) Umpires: HP - Don Denkinger, 1B - Rich Garcia, 2B - George Maloney, 3B - Dan Morrison RANGERS 1ST: Rivers singled to center; Rivers was caught stealing second (catcher to shortstop); Wills walked; Oliver singled to center [Wills to second]; Bell forced Oliver (first to shortstop) [Wills to third]; Grubb forced Bell (second to shortstop); 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 0. TIGERS 1ST: Cowens struck out; Trammell singled to left; Trammell stole second; Gibson homered [Trammell scored]; Parrish flied to left; Jackson grounded out (third to first); 2 R, 2 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. RANGERS 2ND: Putnam doubled to right; Sample grounded out (pitcher to first); Sundberg grounded out (third to first); Mendoza flied to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. TIGERS 2ND: Jones flied to center; Wockenfuss walked; Brookens struck out; Whitaker flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. RANGERS 3RD: Rivers grounded out (second to first); Wills singled to second; Oliver singled to left [Wills to second]; Bell grounded into a double play (pitcher to second to first) [Oliver out at second]; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. TIGERS 3RD: Cowens grounded out (third to first); Trammell grounded out (shortstop to first); Gibson singled to right; Parrish singled to right [Gibson to third]; Jackson popped to shortstop; 0 R, 2 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. RANGERS 4TH: Grubb grounded out (third to first); Putnam flied to center; Sample reached on an error by Brookens [Sample to second]; Sundberg grounded out (third to first); 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 2. TIGERS 4TH: Jones walked; Wockenfuss singled to right [Jones to third]; Brookens grounded into a double play (shortstop to second to first) [Jones scored (no RBI), Wockenfuss out at second]; Whitaker flied to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 0, Tigers 3. RANGERS 5TH: Mendoza walked; Rivers struck out; Wills reached on an error by Whitaker [Mendoza to third]; Oliver singled to right [Mendoza scored, Wills to third]; Bell forced Oliver (third to second) [Wills scored (unearned)]; Grubb walked [Bell to second]; Putnam struck out; 2 R (1 ER), 1 H, 1 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 2, Tigers 3. TIGERS 5TH: Cowens grounded out (shortstop to first); Trammell walked; Gibson popped to third in foul territory; Parrish forced Trammell (shortstop to second); 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 2, Tigers 3. RANGERS 6TH: Sample was hit by a pitch; Sundberg singled to left [Sample to second]; Mendoza out on a sacrifice bunt (pitcher to second) [Sample to third, Sundberg to second]; Rivers hit a sacrifice fly to left [Sample scored]; Wills struck out; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. TIGERS 6TH: Jackson grounded out (third to first); Jones grounded out (third to first); Wockenfuss flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. RANGERS 7TH: CAPPUZZELLO REPLACED WILCOX (PITCHING); Oliver was called out on strikes; Bell struck out; ROBERTS BATTED FOR GRUBB; Roberts walked; STEIN BATTED FOR PUTNAM; TOBIK REPLACED CAPPUZZELLO (PITCHING); Roberts was picked off and caught stealing second but was safe at second (error by Whitaker; assists by Tobik and Jackson); Stein flied to right; 0 R, 0 H, 1 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. TIGERS 7TH: ROBERTS STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING RF); STEIN STAYED IN GAME (PLAYING 1B); Brookens grounded out (third to first); Whitaker grounded out (shortstop to first); Cowens flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. RANGERS 8TH: Sample grounded out (third to first); Sundberg flied to left; Mendoza flied to center; 0 R, 0 H, 0 E, 0 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. TIGERS 8TH: Trammell singled to left; Gibson popped to first in foul territory; Parrish grounded out (third to first) [Trammell to second]; Jackson flied to right; 0 R, 1 H, 0 E, 1 LOB. Rangers 3, Tigers 3. RANGERS 9TH: Rivers singled to right; Wills reached on a fielder's choice on a sacrifice bunt [Rivers to second]; Oliver flied to center [Rivers to third]; Bell hit a sacrifice fly to right [Rivers scored]; Roberts walked [Wills to second]; ROZEMA REPLACED TOBIK (PITCHING); Stein flied to center; 1 R, 1 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 4, Tigers 3. TIGERS 9TH: Jones homered; KERN REPLACED MATLACK (PITCHING); KEMP BATTED FOR WOCKENFUSS; Kemp singled to center; Brookens out on a sacrifice bunt (first to second) [Kemp to second]; Whitaker was walked intentionally; COMER REPLACED KERN (PITCHING); PETERS BATTED FOR COWENS; Peters singled to right [Kemp scored, Whitaker to second]; 2 R, 3 H, 0 E, 2 LOB. Rangers 4, Tigers 5.

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