Milt was superb: seven innings, one run, one hit and one walk but eight strikeouts.
The Tigers scored first thanks to Alan Trammell‘s first-inning double and a single by Darrell Evans. Toronto evened it in the second on George Bell‘s solo homer.
Ruppert Jones homered off Stieb in the fourth and that was it for the scoring.
Miscellany
Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Derryl Cousins, 1B – Richard Shulock, 2B – Terry Cooney, 3B – Larry Young
Carl Willis made his major-league debut, pitching the final 21/3, giving up just one hit and a walk.
Miscellany
Venue: Memorial Stadium
Umpires: HP – Drew Coble, 1B – Jim Evans, 2B – Greg Kosc, 3B – Ted Hendry Time of Game: 2:41 Attendance: 44,404
John Pacella #27 and #43
Here are a few things to know about John Pacella, who spent part of the year with the 1986 Tigers:
The Brooklyn-born right-hander made his major-league debut on Sept. 15, 1977, his 21st birthday, for the Mets against the Phillies.
Fast forward to Dec. 28, 1984 when the Tigers signed Pacella. He spent the ’85 season with the Tigers’ Triple-A affiliate in Nashville posting a 7-7 mark with a 3.23 ERA. In 1986, he started the year with the Sounds notching a 7-6 record and 2.90 ERA before getting called up to Detroit.
His first Tigers appearance came on June 16 at Baltimore. He pitched 11/3 scoreless innings and earned the save. Pacella pitched four more times for the Tigers that year; his longest outing was 52/3 innings against the Yankees in which he allowed seven walks.
His final major-league appearance was on July 12, 1986, at Kansas City. He faced Greg Pryor in the bottom of the seventh and gave up an RBI single. The Tigers lost, 7-4.
Pacella started the 1987 season with Detroit’s new Triple-A club, the Toledo Mud Hens. On June 30, 1987, the Yokohama Bay Stars purchased his contract from Detroit. In 1988 he was back in the States pitching at the Triple-A level for the Brewers, Orioles and then, hey now, the Tigers.
After 19 professional seasons, six major league, 13 minor league, Pacella finished with a mark of 4-10, 5.73 ERA in the majors, 71-86, 3.94 in the minors.
I’ll admit that while I remember John Pacella‘s cup of coffee with the Tigers in 1986 (11 innings pitched), I didn’t know much about him. But today I learned a lot about him, including:
Today is Pacella’s 52nd birthday.
The Brooklyn-born right-hander made his major-league debut on this date in 1977 — his 21st birthday — for his hometown Mets against the Phillies at Veterans Stadium in Philadelphia.
Pacella entered the game in the bottom of the seventh, relieving Rick Baldwin, and got the first hitter, Greg Luzinski, to line out to center. Next, Richie Hebner popped out to third. Garry Maddox doubled to right before Bob Boone popped out to Mets catcher John Stearns.
In his two innings of work, Pacella allowed a pair each of hits, walks and unearned runs. The loss went to Mets starter Craig Swan who allowed five walks in one inning of work.
All told, he pitched just four innings in 1977, didn’t pitch for the Mets in ’78, but returned in ’79 for 16 innings. In 1980, Pacella appeared in 32 games, 15 of them starts, and earned a 3-4 record.
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