1984 Detroit Tigers

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[stevem810]

G 132 Moore vs Wilcox

The Tigers threatened to blow this one open early scoring one in the first and two in the second but Moore wiggled out of some tight spots keeping the game in reach. The M's scored single runs in the 3rd and 4th to make it 3-2 but Gibson ripped a 5th inning triple and scored on a SF to make a 2 run advantage, 4-2. The M's came right back with one of their own in the bottom half. Wilcox pitched into the 8th but when he gave up a lead off single the call went out to Hernandez as he was asked to pitch the 8th and presumably the 9th. Willie let runners get to 2nd and 3rd with 2 out but retired the side and then got the M's 1-2-3 in the 9th nailing down his 26th save. Wilcox goes to 11-10

Yanks lose so the Tigers are now 3.5 GB. The Jays are 1/2 game out and the O's just 1 out. Heckuva race going on as we close in on September.

G 133 Matt Youngs vs Rozema

M's win 6-0 and the game was not as close as the score indicated. Tram and Gibson had a single each and aside from 2 walks that was it.

G 134 Langston vs Berenguer

The M's had a nice 2-0 lead but 13 hits and 5 walks by the Tiger offense was too much for Seattle and it's Detroit with the 5-2 win. Scherrer retired the M's in the 9th 1-2-3 to earn his first save as a Tiger.

On to Oakland and the AL East now has a new team in first place since July 27 when NY and Tor were tied.

[stevem810]

[stevem810]

G 125 Krueger vs Morris

Both ball clubs had 10 hits but Krueger issued 9 free passes and Jack just one. Can you guess who won the game? Ho Jo (26) had 3 rbi's and Gibby 2 as Detroit won 8-5 improving Morris to 14-12/ 4.51. O'Neal picked up his 2nd save after A. Lopez gave up a 2 run homer to Lansford in the 8th.

The Blue Jays have won 7 in a row to keep distance from all 3 other contenders but the O's have dropped 2 straight which means Detroit is 1 behind Baltimore, 3 behind NY, and 3.5 behind Toronto. The Tigers are 7-1 on this west coast trip.

G 126 Corderoli vs Petry

You could see the Tigers were going to lose this one based on the fact that they let a gazillion chances go by to add to their 1 run lead as the final total was 14 LOB. Petry was brilliant fanning the 4 batters he faced and no-hitting the A's into the 6th but the A's touched him up for 2 runs with a Balk allowing the final run in the 6th, then added a run off Bair in the 8th, and so with just 4 hits they were able to win 3-1. Tram and Gibby each straded 6 runners.

G 127 Young vs Wilcox

For the 2nd day in a row the Tigers out hit the A's but 3 HR's in the second inning before an out was recorded was the undoing of Milt as the A's put a 5 spot up and that's all they would need in the 5-2 win.

A tough way to end a successful road trip as the Tigers are now 5 back of the Yanks as they return to Tiger Stadium to face the O's.

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September

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G 138 Rozema vs Boddicker

Murray and Dempsey each had 2 run homers as Baltimore pummeled Rozema and company banging out 16 hits in the 9-5 drubbing of Detroit. With the Jays winning 9 of 10 it's amazing the Yanks are just 1/2 game back and the O's 1.5 GB. The Tigers are in jeopardy of falling out of the race as their 0-3 start to September has them 5.5 games behind.

G 139 Berenguer vs McGregor

Cal Ripken Jr. stroked his 30th of the year, a solo shot, but Sweet Lou's bomb was a three run shot and that secured a 7-5 Tiger win. Willie notches save #27. Yanks lead by 1/2 over Jays, 2 over O's, and 5 over Tigers.

G 140 Morris vs. Storm Davis

Great pitchers dual that saw Jack exit after 8 IP with the score 1-1. Roger Mason came on in the 9th and retired the O's 1-2-3 striking out the first 2 batters. In the bottom half Gibby singled, Lemon doubled, and Darrel Evans lined a single to left and Detroit had a walk off win to end the series.

Herndon and Brookens have been out for several weeks but are due back next week.

[stevem810]

G 141 Stieb vs Petry

Detroit travels north of the border for a big 3 game series with Toronto. Back and forth game that saw Cliff Johnson hit a solo shot in the 8th inning off Willie Hernandez. Willie got the call a bit early but Detroit wanted to get the first game of the series so they let it fly. Going to the 9th Lou walked and Tram singled which brought Gibby to the plate. That's right. It made for an easy bottom of the 9th as the Tigers win 6-3. Yanks lose to their hated rivals the Red Sox and the O's take out the Brew Crew.

G 142

Alexander vs Wilcox

The Tigers struck early with 3 two out hits by Gibson, Lemon, and Evans to take a 1-0 lead. But, George Bell answered in the bottom half of the inning with a 3 run homer to make it Jays, 3-1. The Jays ended up scoring 9 runs in 7 IP off of Wilcox as Milt just didn't have it and left with the score 9-2. Detroit scored 2 in the 8th to make it 9-4 and Sid Monge pitched a scoreless 8th inning for Detroit. In the top of the 9th Detroit put on a furious rally and scored 5 runs to tie it at 9. Mason pitched a scoreless 9th to send it to extra innings where AAA call up Nelson Simmons blasted a homer to lead off the 10th. Mason sent them down 1-2-3 in the 9th and Detroit had an amazing, if not unlikely, 10-9 win extending the Jays losing streak to 4.

With the Yanks winning the Jays are 3 back, O's 3.5 GB, and the Tigers 4.5.

G 143 Clancy vs Berenguer

Tram's 12th error of the season was a costly one as it allowed 2 Blue Jay runs and ultimately was the difference in the 5-3 Toronto win. The Tigers put runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out in the 9th but Jimmy Key hung tough allowing the Jays to put a halt to their 4 game skid.

So the Tigers head to Baltimore for a 3 game set.

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[stevem810]

G 144 - Tigers lose a close one 4-2

G 145 - 10 stranded Tigers allow the O's to nip Detroit 3-2

G 146 - The O's manage but 2 hits off Wilcox but Young's homer was a grand slam as Baltimore completes the sweep with a 4-3 win.

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G 147 - All Jays as they win 7-1.

G 148 - Tigers get a real nice start from Jack as Detroit wins 5-0.

G 149 - Detroit wins 3-2 in 13 innings.

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G 150 Wilcox vs Haas

Three Tiger errors in the 7th inning proved to be the undoing as the Crew rallied for 3 runs to over take Detroit 5-3. Wilcox pitched pretty good for 8 innings not walking anyone but he couldn't overcome the shoddy D.

G 151 Rozema vs Porter

Rozy was hot as it took just 86 pitches to dispose of Milwaukee in the Tigers 4-0 victory. Chet Lemon unloaded with his 22nd round tripper of the season.

G 152 Berenguer vs Sutton

Homers by Ho Jo, Tram, and Parrish combined with the 20 other hits and 3 walks all made for an easy 14-2 Detroit win.

The division leading Yankees come to town with a 1 game lead over the Jays, 1.5 games over the O's, and 5 over Detroit. The Tigers can probably afford to lose maybe 1 game the rest of the way to stay in it. They have 6 with the Yanks but none with the Jays or O's.

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http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...1&d=1488851319

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G 153 Morris vs Fontenent

Willie Hernandez came on in the 9th to get the final out and preserve the Tiger win by the score of 8-5. The Tigers peppered Yankee pitching as Lemon, Herndon and Trammell all hit homers. Morris pitched 7 innings allowing just 1 hit and Bair pitched a scoreless 8th. But, Mason gave up 5 hits and 2 walks, mostly with 2 outs, forcing the Tigers to use Willie to lock it down which he did in 4 pitches.

Jays win and move into first by 1/2 game. Tigers 4.5 GB. O's 2.5 GB

G 154 Petry vs Niekro

Don Baylor went 3 for 4 and took Dan Petry deep twice but it was Kirk Gibson's 2 run double that put Detroit ahead for good as the Tigers won a close one, 4-2. Hernandez got the last 5 outs for his 29th save. Petry is now 16-10/ 3.64 ERA.

The Jays won for the 6th straight game reducing the magic # to 7. Bal won, too.

G 155 Wilcox vs Bystrom

Five meaningless runs made it closer than it was as NY pitching simply could not handle the bats of the Tigers as Ho Jo, Gibby, Parrish, and Lemon all hit home runs in the 14-5 drubbing of the Yanks. Milt goes to 12-13 as the Tigers have a 5 game winning streak.

The problem for Detroit at this juncture is the Jays have a 7 game winning streak and play the Red Sox and Brew Crew to close it out as Toronto clearly controls their own fate right now.

[webrian]

Come on, Tigers! Since they haven't played much like the actual 1984 team, maybe they can get super hot down the stretch like the 1987 team did.

Still rooting, way up here in the mezzanine.

[stevem810]

[stevem810]

With the home portion of the season over (47-34) the Tigers head to Milwaukee for three games before finishing up in the big Apple.

G 156 Sutton vs Rozema

Sutton was 0-2 against Detroit this year entering the game including a 14-2 loss last week. Tiger batters did not take pity on Sutton as they kep the pressure on all game long often scoring with 2 outs and by the 5th inning led 5-0. Meanwhile Rozema put on a clinic before tiring in the 9th (83 pitches, 4 hits, 0 runs) but Bair came on to finish the job and Detroit had a nice, easy, 5-0 win to begin the series.

Meanwhile the Jays lost 12-7 at Fenway as Armas and Dewey Evans hit homers cutting the Toronto lead to 1.5 over NY, 2.5 over BAL, and 3.5 over Detroit. The O's and NY are going head to head right now with NY winning the opener 12-7 shaking off the affects of the Tiger series at Memorial Stadium.

G157 McCLure vs Berenguer

Classic pitchers duel with both pitchers dealing and after 5 innings it was 0-0 (and nobody was winning). In the bottom half of the 6th Cooper lined a ball into the seats to put the Brewers up 1-0. McCLure hung tough through 7 giving up just 1 hit before being lifted. Top of the 8th and the Tigers went quietly 1-2-3. It looked like that one run might just stand up and then Cooper did it, again, this time a bomb into the seats with a man on to put the Crew up 3-0 after 8 innings. You got the filling the season was ending right here and now as Detroit can not afford another loss at this stage. On to the 9th with Tellman on the mound. Herndon fans to lead off. Tram on a 1-2 count singles. Lance Parrish singles and the Tigers hopes are up. Chet Lemon rips one into the right center alley.....it's a gapper! and races all the way to the third! 3-2 with just one out. Dave Bergman pinch hits as he might be the least likely to strike out. He doesn't fan but he rolls one to the second baseman and with the infield in he's retired with Lemon stuck on third. Down to the last out and now we have a pinch hitter. Strolling to the plate number 23. Gibby. On a 0-1 count Gibson rips a single to right and the game is tied!
In the bottom half of the inning Molitor leads off with a 2B and makes it as far as 3rd but is stranded. Extra innings. No scoring but we get to the bottom of the 11th and Molitor singles with one out. Mason on the mound (Willie out of the game as he gave up the 2 run homer to Coop in the 8th). Molitor reaches third again with 2 out but he's stranded. No scoring in the top of the 12th. With one out Howell hits his own gapper and he's trying for the third.....OUT! We go to the 13th where LHP Waits retires the first batter before Herndon walks and Ho Jo doubles. Tram to the plate....and you can kiss it good-bye....a 3 run blast and the Tigers win it 6-3 in 13!

Yanks beat the O's 2-1, Jays lose to Boston (again) by a score of 12-8.

Tor 92-66
MY 91-66
Det 89-68
Bal 89-68

G 158 Cocanower vs Morris

This one had trouble written all over it. The Tigers kept letting scoring opportunities go by inning after inning. In the end they would strand 11 runners, hit into three double plays, commit an error in the 9th inning....yet, still they squeaked by with a 2-1 win. Jack labored through 7 IP throwing 124 pitches and with a depleted bullpen it was up to Randy O'Neal to save it. He went the final 2 innings allowing 1 bb and 0 hits while consequently earning his 3rd save. Jack goes to 17-13 with a 4.00 ERA.

Boston beats the Jays 4-3 and the O's defeat the Yanks 7-3.

On to the Big Apple for the final 4 games of the season. Baltimore at Boston. Toronto at Milwaukee (9 game losing streak) for 3.

[stevem810]

http://www.ootpdevelopments.com/boar...1&d=1489804216

[BaseballMan]

Nice pennant race. At times i thought you still had a chance and at other times i thought it was over. Even though you were not able to dominate the competition like the 84 Tigers, this pennant race was pretty good.

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G 159 Niekro vs Petry

Close, close game...right to the finish. The Tigers surrendered a 2-1 lead in the 7th as the Yanks tallied 3 runs, 2 of them with 2 out. Detroit put up a threat in the 9th scoring a run and getting Herndon to 2nd. Lou singled to right with 2 outs but the third base coach held up Herndon. Tram made the final out and the Yanks take the opener by a score of 4-3.

Jays lose, O's win.

No room for error now as the Tigers must sweep NY and hope the Jays lose 2 more games. And, don't forget Baltimore...just 1 game out.

G 160 Bystrom vs Wilcox

It was over in the first inning as the Tigers posted an 8 spot as Bystrom threw 49 pitches, gave up 2 homers, retired 2 batters, then hit the showers. Not all good news for Tiger fans as both Ho Jo and Gibby went down with injuries (Johnson - 3 weeks and Gibby 3 days), AND the Jays and O's both won.