1968 Tigers Tribute Site

September 23, 1968 at Memorial Stadium
Orioles 2, Tigers 1  (101-56)

The Tigers failed to set their new franchise win record for the second straight day and Denny McLain lost his sixth game of the season.  Blame the offense on this one though because McLain definitely threw a good enough game.  He gave up just two runs (one earned) on five hits and five walks with four strikeouts in seven innings.  The loss dropped his record to 31-6.

Gates Brown went two for three with a double.  Don Wert singled and he scored the lone Tigers run.

September 17, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 2, Yankees 1  (98-54)

The Tigers clinched their first American League pennant since 1945 with their eighth straight win.  Joe Sparma got it done in a pitcher’s duel in another September complete game and he gave up one run on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts.  The win improved his record to 9-10 on the season.

Don Wert had the big hit with an RBI single in the bottom of the ninth.  Bill Freehan went two for three with a run while Norm Cash went two for three.

September 7, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Twins 2, Tigers 1  (90-53)

The Tigers outhit the Twins 8-6 but they came up short where it counted in a 2-1 loss that ended their four game winning streak.  Pat Dobson went the distance but he gave up a ninth inning run to fall to 5-6.  He gave up two runs on six hits and three walks with five strikeouts and both runs came on solo homers.

Mickey Stanley went three for five.  Don Wert drove in the lone Tiger run with his twelth homerun of the season.

August 6, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 2, Indians 1  (68-41)

It can be tough enough playing a doubleheader, but when the first game goes seventeen innings, it makes it that much tougher.  Down 1-0, Don Wert hit a solo homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to tie the game up.  Then neither side scored until the bottom of the seventeenth when Dick Tracewski singled home Bill Freehan for the game winner. 

John Hiller threw the first eight innings and he held the Indians to just one run.  Then five relievers held the Indians to just three hits in nine shutout innings to finish up the game.  John Wyatt threw the final frame and he picked up the win to improve to 2-4.

August 6, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 5, Indians 2  (69-41)

The Tigers didn’t finish up their sweep over the Indians until August 7 because this one was suspended at the end of eight innings where they picked up the next day.  Mickey Lolich picked up the win and he improved to 8-7 with 2 2/3 innings of shutout relief while John Wyatt threw three shutout innings to pick up his first save of the season.

Norm Cash was the hiting star.  He went two for four with a solo homerun while Al Kaline doubled in two at bats and he drove in a pair.

July 27, 1968 at Memorial Stadium
Tigers 9, Orioles 0  (63-37)

Tiger stars Willie Horton and Denny McLain shined as the team won for the 63rd time at the 100 game mark today.  McLain improved to 20-3 with an impressive three hit shutout.  He walked two and struck out seven and with 20 out of the way, McLain had his eyes set on 30 wins with over two months left in the season.

Willie Horton homered twice and drove in four.  The two long balls brought his season total up to 25 on the season.  Dick McAuliffe, Don Wert and Al Kaline all went yard as well while Norm Cash went four for five with two doubles and two runs.

July 14, 1968 at Anaheim Stadium
Angels 7, Tigers 3  (56-31)

The Tigers kicked off a west coast trip with a loss as Earl Wilson had a tough time in his start.  He fell to 6-7 and he gave up six runs (three earned) on seven hits and a walk with two strikeouts in just three innings of work.

Norm Cash and Don Wert both hit solo shots to account for most of the Tigers offense.  Mickey Stanley was the only Tiger with two hits and Cash finished with a pair of runs.

July 12, 1968 at Metropolitan Stadium
Tigers 5, Twins 1 (56-29)

Denny McLain improved to 17-2 with an exceptional start as the Tigers evened up their series with the Twins. He gave up just one unearned run on three hits with four walks with five strikeouts in yet another complete game win.

Don Wert went two for four with a two run homer. Willie Horton singled twice, scored a run and drove in one.

June 23, 1968 at Cleveland Stadium
Indians 3, Tigers 0  (43-26)

The Tigers suffered their third straight loss and their second straight shutout at the hands of the Indians.  This time, the offense was held to just three hits, two of which were by Don Wert.  He singled and doubled while Tom Matchick had the only other hit with a single.

John Hiller was roughed up and he gave up three runs while he pitched just 1/3 of an inning.  Dennis Ribant did a fine job in relief and he pitched 6 2/3 shutout innings and he also got the Tigers out of their first inning jam, but it wasn’t enough as the hitters could never get going.

June 23, 1968 at Cleveland Stadium
Tigers 4, Indians 1 (44-26)

The Tigers snapped their three game losing streak behind a solid outing by Joe Sparma.  He gave up one run on six hits and four walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.  Pat Dobson threw two no-hit innings to close out the game and he picked up his third save of the season.

Dick Tracewski had a big day at the plate in the win. He went two for five and his three run homer was the difference.  Dick McAuliffe had a pinch hit, RBI single and he later drew a walk.

June 16, 1968 at Comiskey Park
White Sox 3, Tigers 2  (40-22)

Mickey Lolich fell to 5-4 on the season despite a solid outing as the Tigers lost to the White Sox in the first game of their Sunday doubleheader.  He gave up three runs (two earned) on seven hits with two strikeouts in 6 1/3 innings. 

Bill Freehan was the only Tiger with two hits in the contest.  Don Wert doubled, scored a run and drew a walk.

June 16, 1968 at Comiskey Park
Tigers 6, White Sox 1 (41-22)

The Tigers salvaged both a split in their doubleheader with the White Sox as well as their four game series behind another fantastic outing by Denny McLain.  He improved to 11-2 and he gave up one run on three hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.  Pat Dobson got the final five outs and he picked up his first save of the season.

Jim Northrup doubled, singled and drove in a pair.  Dick McAuliffe doubled, drove in two and scored a run in the win.

June 14, 1968 at Comiskey Park
Tigers 6, White Sox 5  (40-20)

This time it was the hitters who bailed out the pitchers as the Tigers won their fifth straight contest despite needing fourteen innings to notch the win.  Earl Wilson helped out his own cause with a three run homer and Don Wert belted a solo homer in the top of the fourteenth for the game winner.  Bill Freehan had a team high three hits and he scored and drove in a run.

Wilson gave up four runs in seven innings before yielding to the pen.  Pat Dobson came up huge with five shutout innings while John Hiller shut the White Sox out in the final two frames to improve to 5-1.

June 4, 1968 at Fenway Park
Red Sox 2, Tigers 0  (30-19)

A pretty good start by Mickey Lolich went to waste as the Tigers dropped the first game of their doubleheader with the Red Sox.  Lolich gave up two runs on just two hits but he walked six with four strikeouts in seven innings.  For his efforts, he fell to 3-3.

The Tigers actually outhit the Red Sox 3-2 but that wasn’t saying much.  Gate Brown got the start in left and he was the only Tiger to reach base twice with a single and a walk.

June 4, 1968 at Fenway Park
Tigers 2, Red Sox 0  (31-19)

The Tigers returned the favor and Pat Dobson shut out the Red Sox on just five hits in the second game of their doubleheader.  Dobson picked up his first win of the season and he gave up the five hits and two walks with four strikeouts.

The Tigers scored both of their runs in the seventh frame.  Don Wert belted a solo homer, his sixth of the season.  Norm Cash was the only Tiger with more then one hit and he had a pair of singles.

May 26, 1968 at the Oakland Coliseum
Athletics 7, Tigers 6  (24-15)

The Tigers lost a bizare one as Joe Sparma was pummelled for six runs total in the second, third and fourth innings.  The Tigers then scored two in the fifth and four in the sixth to tie it before the game settled down and the final three regulation innings were scoreless on both sides.  Then John Hiller was touched up for a run in the bottom of the tenth as the Tigers dropped their fourth game in their last five.

Mickey Stanley had a nice day at the plate.  He went two for five with a triple, an RBI and two runs.  Don Wert singled, doubled and scored a run in the loss.

May 22, 1968 at Metropolitan Stadium
Twins 4, Tigers 3  (23-14)

The Tigers lost their rubber game with the Twins despite coming back from two runs down to tie it in the top of the eighth.  Don Wert led off the inning with his second homerun of the game to make it a one run contest and then after a Gate Brown pinch hit triple, Al Kaline singled to tie the game.  Unfortunately, Fred Lasher gave up a run in relief of Mickey Lolich in the bottom of the eighth to blow the comeback.

Wert hit his fourth and fifth homeruns of the season and outside of that, the Tigers didn’t get much at the plate.  A decent start by Mickey Lolich went to waste and he gave up three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in seven innings.

May 11, 1968 at D.C. Stadium
Tigers 12, Senators 2  (18-9)

For the second straight game, an impressive offensive performance by the Tigers overshadowed a solid outing by the team’s starter.  Bill Freehan, Willie Horton and Don Wert all went yard in the contest and both Horton and Freehan finished with three RBIs a piece.  Mickey Stanley and Al Kaline also pitched in and they both scored a team high three runs.

Joe Sparma improved to 2-3 on the season.  He gave up two runs on four hits with three walks and six strikeouts in the complete game.

May 10, 1968 at D.C. Stadium
Tigers 12, Senators 1  (17-9)

The Tigers won their third straight game behind a huge game by Al Kaline at the plate and another rock solid outing on the mound by Denny McLain.  Kaline went three for four with a homerun, six RBIs and three runs.  Bill Freehan and Don Wert also went yard in the contest and Freehan finished the game with three RBIs.

Denny McLain improved to 5-0 with another complete game.  He gave up one run on seven hits with seven strikeouts and the lone run was a solo homer off the bat of Frank Howard.

April 29, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 2, Athletics 1  (12-4)

The Tigers returned home to Tiger Stadium and won their sixth straight home game behind Mickey Lolich’s first win of the season.  Lolich gave up just a single run on four hits and three walks with three strikeouts in the complete game win.

Don Wert had a big day at the plate.  He went three for four and he belted his first homerun of the season.  And while Wert didn’t get the RBI, his ninth inning single pushed home the winning run after Rene Lachemann couldn’t hold onto a throw to the plate that could have gotten Norm Cash, the winning run, out.

April 28, 1968 at Yankee Stadium
Yankees 2, Tigers 1  (10-4)

The Tigers lost a tough one in a low scoring pitchers duel.  Joe Sparma took a shutout into the eighth inning but both he and Jon Warden combined to give up two runs in the eighth to blow a 1-0 lead.  Sparma dropped to 1-2 on the season and while one of the runs scored off of Warden, both were credited to Sparma.

The Tigers lone run came in the fourth inning when Roy Oyler drove in Jim Northrup with a sac. fly.  No Tiger reached base more the once in the loss.

April 28, 1968 at Yankee Stadium
Tigers 3, Yankees 2  (11-4)

The Tigers salvaged both a split in their doubleheader with the Yankees as well as their four game series at Yankee Stadium.  The Tigers were down 2-1 heading into the ninth when Bill Freehan belted a solo shot to tie the game and then just two batters later, Jim Northrup drove in the winning run with a solo shot of his own.  Don Wert singled twice and drove in a run to account for the other Tigers run.

Les Cain made his major league debut and while he didn’t get the win, he definitely kept the Tigers in this one.  He gave up just a single run on six hits and four walks with two strikeouts in seven innings.  John Hiller threw 1 2/3 shutout innings and he picked up the win while Fred Lasher got the final batter out to earn his second save of the season.

April 26, 1968 at Yankee Stadium
Yankees 5, Tigers 0  (9-3)

The Tigers suffered their worst loss of the short season and for the second straight time, they were shut out by the opposition.  Roy Oyler doubled and Don Wert and Earl Wilson both singled to account for the only Tiger hits of the game.

Wilson was knocked around for five runs in seven innings and he dropped to 2-2.  He gave up the five runs on seven hits and five walks with eight strikeouts and the big hit against him was a two run blast by Mickey Mantle.

April 14, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 5, White Sox 4  (3-1)

The Tigers won their third straight in a ten inning contest in which Bill Freehan provided the heroics.  His RBI single in the bottom of the tenth inning won it for the Tigers and it capped off a great individual game for the catcher.  He finished three for five with two RBIs and a run.  Don Wert doubled, drove in two and scored.

Mickey Lolich was roughed up for four runs on nine hits in just five innings.  Fred Lasher threw a shutout tenth inning and he improved to 1-0 on the season.