After losing two of three to the Blue Jays, the Tigers travel to visit another A.L. East rival, the Brewers, for a three-game weekend set at County Stadium.
Record: 44-16 — 6 games up on Toronto
So here’s another June 14 game. This one from 1978:
Record: 31-27 — Fifth place, 91/2 games back of Boston
Highlights
The Tigers scratched out just four hits off of Splittorf who threw a complete-game gem.
Billingham was roughed up for eight hits and four walks in six innings, and allowed five earned runs.
Mickey Stanley‘s fifth-inning homer was the Tigers highlight.
Miscellany
Venue: Royals Stadium
Umpires: HP – Dave Phillips, 1B – Larry McCoy, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Don Denkinger
Time of Game: 2:05
Attendance: 21,025
Mike Laga – 1B #4
The first paragraph of the 1984 Tigers Yearbook profile on Mike Laga pretty much summed it up:
“Mike Laga has been called the Tiger first baseman of the future. And despite the presence of a veteran star like Darrell Evans, it seems clear the Tigers still have high hopes for Laga.”
I’d go so far as to say we still have high hopes for Laga.
We heard so much about the left-handed hitting slugger but he didn’t capitalize on his brief visits to Detroit from 1982 through 1986 — and as I recall, injuries were a problem.
1982: Laga made his debut on Sept. 1, 1982 against the Angels and faced Ken Forsch, flying out to left. Two days later he hit his first homer, a two-run shot, off the A’s Rick Langford. He played in 27 games for ’82 Tigers, essentially the starting first baseman in September.
1983: The bulk of his season was spent in Evansville with a dozen games in Detroit: 21 at bats, no homers, .190 average.
1984: Laga again was a September call up but appeared just nine games: but he hit .545 — six for 11.
1985: Another nine-game stint. Thirty six at bats, two home runs, .167 average.
1986: Laga made the Opening Day roster and appeared in 33 games before being sent to Nashville. The Tigers traded him to the Cardinals, as a player to be named later, along with Ken Hill for catcher Mike Heath.
His final numbers with Detroit: 72 games, .239 avg., eight home runs, 28 RBI and a .691 OPS.
Pat Underwood shut out the Blue Jays for eight-and-a-third innings at Exhibition Stadium, earning his first major-league win as the Tigers beat Toronto, and his brother Tom, 1-0 thanks to Jerry Morales‘ eighth-inning solo home run.
How great is this? Underwood picked off Blue Jays second baseman Danny Ainge at second base.
Mark Salas – #10 and #27
Here are five things to know about catcher Mark Salas:
The Tigers signed him as a free agent on April 8, 1990.
The left-handed hitting Salas made his debut on April 14 against the Orioles. He pinch hit for Mike Heath in the seventh and struck out.
He appeared in 74 games for the Tigers that season — wearing number 10 — hitting .232 with nine home runs, 24 RBI and a .737 OPS.
He appeared in just 33 games, now wearing number 27, for the 1991 Tigers. He hit .088 with a homer and seven RBI.
Salas’s final big-league game was Oct. 5, 1991, like his first, against the Orioles. In the bottom of the sixth, he replaced pinch hitter Rich Rowland, playing first and batting ninth. His career came to an end when he led off the ninth by grounding out to pitcher Mark Williamson.
Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, whom the Tigers drafted in 1994 and traded in 1998 to Indians for Geronimo Berroa.
No Tigers today, but Ed Whitson sure took a beating from them in Game 2 of the ‘84 World Series: 5 hits and 3 runs in two-thirds of an inning — the first inning. Whitson got pulled and the Padres came back to win their only game of the series, 5-3.
On the next-to-last day of the 2009 season, with the Tigers’ fate still undecided, we continue our series on the Tigers’ and Blue Jays’ battle for the A.L. East crown on the next-to-last day of the 1987 season.
American League East Standings: October 3, 1987
Team
Record
Pct.
GB
Detroit
96-64
.600
–
Toronto
96-64
.600
–
In game two of the final series, Jack Morris and Mike Flanagan faced off on a bright and blustery Saturday afternoon.
As they had in Toronto nine days earlier, the two veteran pitchers sparkled. The Jays grabbed an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers countered with a Mike Heath single and Bill Madlock double to knot the game. Both teams scored in the fifth.
But over the next seven innings neither team scored. Morris pitched nine strong innings to Flanagan’s 11.
“I’ve been in this league eight years facing Flanagan, and I’ve never seen him better,†Tom Brookens said to the Free Press‘s John Lowe.
Mike Henneman relieved Morris in the tenth and shut down the Jays. Jeff Musselman took over for Flanagan but couldn’t pick up where the starter had left off.
As the Tigers and Twins square off for the biggest series of the year with the division title hanging in the balance, we continue our look back on the last great race in Tigers history: 1987 and the seven games against the Toronto Blue Jays. Today: Game 2.
For the second straight night, the Tigers produced a two-run lead. In the Tigers’ second, Chet Lemon doubled and Darrell Evans singled him home. Later, in the sixth, Kirk Gibson bunted for a base hit and took second on Key’s wild throw to first. Larry Herndon followed with a single to left scoring Gibson and giving Tanana a two-run cushion.
Tanana pitched one of his best games of the season throwing seven scoreless innings, yielding just five hits and a walk. Key was equally masterful in his 8.1 innings pitched. He scattered nine hits, allowing only one earned run and walking a single hitter. Going into the ninth inning the Tigers maintained a 2-0 lead.
As they had in Toronto nine days earlier, the two veteran pitchers sparkled. The Jays grabbed an early 1-0 lead. The Tigers countered with a 
dailyfungo.com 