"THE BIRD" STELLAR IN DEBUT AS STARTER
Tigers Snap 5-Game Losing Streak
DETROIT, May 15 (AP) - There hasn't been a lot to cheer about in Detroit thus
far this baseball season, but Tigers fans found something to get excited about
when Mark "The Bird" Fidrych made his major league debut as a starting
pitcher with a three-hit complete game game shutout, defeating the Cleveland
Indians 1-0 at Tiger Stadium. Fidrych took a no-hitter into the sixth
inning before surrendering a single to Duane Kuiper but held Cleveland without
an extra base hit and didn't walk a batter en route to the victory. The
win snapped a five-game Detroit losing streak.
Fidrych out-pitched Indians starter Pat Dobson, but only barely.
Dobson--who has struggled mightily thus far this season and entered the game
with an ERA of 6.94 in six starts--tossed a complete game of his own and held
the Tigers to a single run in a losing effort.
The game was scoreless for four frames, but Detroit finally broke the deadlock
in the bottom of the fourth inning. Willie Horton led off with a single
and advanced to second when Rusty Staub drew a free pass. Jason Thompson
flied out to left but Aurelio Rodriguez lined a single to center field, loading
the bases for Tom Veryzer. Veryzer lined to George Hendrick in left for
the second out, but Horton tagged and scored in the play for the game's only
run. Gary Sutherland flied to center to end the inning.
Fidrych retired 15 of the first 16 batters he faced, hitting Doug Howard with a
pitch to lead off the third inning. Duane Kuiper brought the no-hit bid to
an end when he led off the sixth with a single. Frank Duffy sacrificed
Kuiper to second and, after John Lowenstein struck out, Buddy Bell reached on an
infield single, putting runners on first and third. But Rick Manning
rolled into a fielder's choice, forcing Manning at second, to end the
threat. It was the only time in the game the Indians advanced a runner
beyond second base.
Fidrych went on to retire 10 of the final 11 batters he faced, finishing off the
first shutout of the season for the Tigers.
5/15/1976, Cle76-Det76, Tiger Stadium 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E LOB DP 1976 Indians 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 0 4 3 1976 Tigers 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 x 1 8 0 7 0 Indians AB R H BI AVG Tigers AB R H BI AVG Lowenstein rf 4 0 0 0 .135 LeFlore cf 4 0 0 0 .257 Bell,B 3b 4 0 1 0 .295 Johnson,A lf 4 0 1 0 .275 Manning cf 4 0 0 0 .261 Stanley,M lf 0 0 0 0 .364 Carty dh 4 0 0 0 .171 Horton dh 4 1 3 0 .211 Hendrick lf 3 0 1 0 .267 Manuel pr 0 0 0 0 .300 Ashby c 3 0 0 0 .235 Staub rf 2 0 2 0 .309 Howard,D 1b 2 0 0 0 .190 Thompson,J 1b 4 0 0 0 .190 Kuiper 2b 3 0 1 0 .245 Rodriguez,A 3b 3 0 1 0 .298 Duffy ss 1 0 0 0 .107 Veryzer ss 2 0 1 1 .250 Blanks ph 1 0 0 0 .308 Sutherland 2b 2 0 0 0 .164 29 0 3 0 Kimm c 3 0 0 0 .273 28 1 8 1 Indians INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Dobson L 0-4 8.0 8 1 1 3 7 127 77 5.82 8.0 8 1 1 3 7 127 77 Tigers INN H R ER BB K PCH STR ERA Fidrych W 1-0 9.0 3 0 0 0 3 100 71 0.00 9.0 3 0 0 0 3 100 71 Cle: Blanks batted for Duffy in the 8th Blanks moved to ss in the 8th Det: Manuel ran for Horton in the 8th Stanley,M inserted at lf in the 9th 2B-Horton(4). RBI-Veryzer(5). K-Lowenstein 2, Duffy, LeFlore 2, Horton, Rodriguez,A, Veryzer, Kimm 2. BB-Staub 2, Sutherland. SH-Duffy. SF-Veryzer. HBP-Howard,D. HB-Fidrych. GWRBI: Veryzer Temperature: 56, Sky: clear, Wind: in from left at 5 MPH. Attendance: 23,675 Game Time: 2:00