Detroit knocked around Leal with nine hits in six innings: three doubles, a triple and a Kirk Gibson home run.
Rozema went five, allowing three runs on four hits. Newcomer Sid Monge was immediately pressed into duty; he faced one batter, threw two pitches and gave up a single.
Willy pitched 21/3 scoreless, yielding a hit and striking out three.
Miscellany
Venue: Exhibition Stadium
Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Jerry Neudecker, 2B – John Hirschbeck, 3B – Steve Palermo
Kirk Gibson hit a first-inning homer to put the Tigers up 1-0 … and then the Mariners took control, scoring four off Berenguer in the home half.
Berenguer retired only one batter: Seattle’s leadoff hitter, Jack Perconte. The following hitters walked, singled, singled, singled, then a wild pitch, and two more singles. Mariners 4, Tigers 1.
Umpires: HP – Mike Reilly, 1B – Al Clark, 2B – Don Denkinger, 3B – Rich Garcia
Time of Game: 2:51
Attendance: 41,342
Bob Sykes #27
The Tigers drafted lefty Bob Sykes in the 19th round of the 1974 MLB June Amateur Draft from Miami Dade College.
After three seasons in the minors, he made his debut on April 9, 1977, at age 22, pitching four-and-two-thirds in a Royals 16-2 rout — but he managed to blank K.C., allowing just two hits and a walk.
Sykes appeared in 32 games that season, 20 of them starts, and finished with a record of 5-7 and a 4.41 ERA.
In 1978, appeared in 22 games, starting 10 and throwing a pair of shutouts. His record was 6-6 with a 3.94 ERA; he also earned two saves.
That offseason, Dec. 4, 1978, he was traded to the Cardinals, with minor leaguer John Murphy, in a deal that worked out well for the Tigers, who received Aurelio López and Jerry Morales in return.
Sykes’ final numbers in Detroit: 11-13, 4.22 ERA and two saves. He pitched three seasons in St. Louis before being traded to the Yankees for a young outfielder named Willie McGee.
For the second straight day, the Tigers edge the Indians 6-5, but this one was a 12-inning affair.
Milt Wilcox started opposite Bert Blyleven. Milt went five innings, giving up eight hits and five runs.
The bullpen, Dave Rozema, Willie Hernández and Aurelio López, held the Tribe scoreless over the next seven. Blyleven pitched seven and a third yielding seven hits, five walks and struck out seven.
Dave Bergman led off the 12th with a double and Tom Brookens sacrificed him to third. Lou Whitaker singled to score Bergman with the go-ahead and eventual winning run.
Bergman and Alan Trammell each had three hits, and Johnny Grubb had two singles to go with three walks.
Miscellany
Venue: Cleveland Municipal Stadium
Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Marty Springstead
Time of Game: 4:20
Attendance: 16,125
Dave Gumpert #43
The Tigers signed 6′ 1″ righty Dave Gumpert on Nov. 4, 1980 as an amateur free agent out of Aquinas College in Grand Rapids.
He quickly moved up the ladder in 1981, starting in Single-A Lakeland, Double-A Birmingham and the Triple-A Evansville. In 1982, he appeared in 42 games for Birmingham and two for Evansville before getting the call to Detroit.
He pitched in five games for the ’82 Tigers, including one brief start on Aug. 8: getting just one out and giving up three runs on four hits, including a homer to Ernie Whitt.
His final line for 1982: Five appearances, two innings pitched, 13 batters faced, one start, one save, and a 27.00 ERA.
In 1983, he began the season in Evansville and was promoted in time to again face the Blue Jays, on May 30. Gumpert relieved starter Dan Petry with one out in the ninth and the Tigers trailing 4-0. He escaped the inning and the Tigers scored four in the bottom half to push it to extras. Gumpert was charged with two runs in the 10th and the Tigers lost, 6-4.
Gumpert appeared in 26 games for the ’83 Tigers, finishing with a record of 0-2, an ERA of 2.94 and a pair of saves.
He spent all of 1984 in Evansville, posting a 7-4 record with a 4.96 ERA. The Tigers released him at the end of Spring Training in 1985 and he signed with the Cubs a week later. His final numbers with Detroit: 0-2, 3.69 ERA, two saves.
Gumpert spent the ’85 and ’86 seasons in Chicago, before being traded to the Royals for his final big-league season in 1987.
Umpires: HP – Don Denkinger, 1B – Dan Morrison, 2B – Mike Reilly, 3B – Al Clark
Time of Game: 2:50
Attendance: 13,559
Rick Schu #35
Rick Schu was tasked with replacing Mike Schmidt when he retired from the Phillies. That could not have been fun, nor could it have been fun coming to the 1989 Tigers, who were 14-24 when the club purchased his contract from the Orioles on May 19.
The wheelhouse of The Daily Fungo is the Ralph Houk, Les Moss and Sparky Anderson years. So, through that narrow lens in the Tigers’ much broader history, let’s look at how the teams from 1977 through 1994 opened their respective seasons.
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