THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 26, 1974
Time is running out for Kaline to get his 400th homer. The Tigers return home for a 3 game series with the Boston Red Sox before ending the season with 3 at home to Baltimore. Kaline is once again the DH and batting third. The Boston pitcher today will be Dick Drago, who is 6-7 with a 4.00 era on the season. This game will also give me a chance to see young Red Sox outfielder Fred Lynn in action. It will be just the 8th start of his career for Lynn, but he has 106 at bats because the game has used him as a pinch-hitter quite a bit. Lynn is tearing things up, batting .453 but has just 2 homers in 126 plate appearances. Joe Coleman (12-19, 4.56) gets the start for Detroit.
In the bottom of the first Kaline hits a line shot down the left field line but Fred Lynn gets a great jump and makes a difficult running catch. He gets another shot at #400 in the third inning as he steps to the plate with a runner on first and one out with the Tigers trailing 2-0 thanks to a 2-run double from Boston outfielder Dwight Evans. Kaline strokes a single to left-center for his 3001st career hit but the Tigers would fail to score.
In the fifth Kaline gets another single for his second hit of the game, this one driving in a run and making the score 3-1 Boston. After flying out in the seventh, Kaline would get his third hit of the game - all singles - to keep a rally alive in the bottom of the ninth. Detroit is trailing 4-3 with two out but Freehan is on second and Kaline on first as Ben Oglivie steps to the plate with a chance to tie the game. But it was not to be as Oglivie grounds out to end the game and the Tigers lose 4-3 despite a 3-for-5 day from Kaline. Fred Lynn was 0-for-4 for the Red Sox.
PLAYOFF RACE
California and Oakland both lose so the Angels lead in the AL West remains 1 game. John Mayberry hit his 18th homerun of the season and Steve Busby improved to 16-14 as the Kansas City Royals topped the Angels 5-3. In Oakland, Dave Goltz (11-8) tossed a 3-hit shutout to pitch Minnesota past Oakland 4-0. Catfish Hunter (18-12) took the loss.
A light schedule in the National League with just 3 games but all had playoff implications. The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates beat Tom Seaver (14-14) and the New York Mets 4-1 moving the Bucs back into a first place tie with Philadelphia at 92-64 atop the East Division. Jack Billingham (21-8) shut out the Houston Astros 2-0 to allow the Cincinnati Reds to move 1 game ahead of Los Angeles in the West. The Dodgers lost 8-2 to the Padres in San Diego as Dave Winfield hit his 20th homerun of the season.