1968 Tigers Tribute Site

August 17, 1968 at Fenway Park
Tigers 10, Red Sox 9  (78-43)

The Tigers outlasted the Red Sox in a game that saw the two teams combined for 19 runs on 28 hits.  The Tigers blew an 8-1 lead only to win it in the eleventh inning on a solo homer by Bill Freehan.  Norm Cash and Dick McAuliffe also went yard in the win and Cash went an impressive five for six with five RBIs to lead the way.

Pat Dobson gave up five runs in 5 1/3 innings as he fell apart and gave up the bulk of the damage in the Red Sox seven run sixth inning.  Don McMahon picked up the win and he gave up one run in four innings of relief while John Wyatt got the final batter out to pick up his second save of the season.

August 9, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Red Sox 5, Tigers 3  (71-42)

The Tigers five game winning streak came to an end at the hands of the defending American League champion Red Sox.  Pat Dobson was cruising in this one until he ran into trouble in the eighth inning.  In that frame, both he and John Wyatt combined to give up four runs that sealed the Tigers fate.  Dobson fell to 3-4 and he gave up three runs on six hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 7 1/3 innings.

All three Tiger runs came via the long ball.  Gates Brown, Mickey Stanley and Dick Tracewski all hit solo homers in the loss.

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 13, 1968 at Metropolitan Stadium
Twins 7, Tigers 6 (56-30)

The Tigers lost a tough one as they blew a three run eighth inning lead then lost it in the fourteenth inning.  Joe Sparma gave up two runs in six innings in a solid start but it was John Hiller and Fred Lasher who combined to give up the three runs in the eighth.  Then in the fourteenth, after the Tigers had scored a run in the top of the inning, Dennis Ribant and John Wyatt combined to give up a pair of runs on back to back bases loaded walks to lose it.

Mickey Stanley and Willie Horton both went yard in the loss.  For Horton, it was his 22nd of the season and Stanley belted his eighth.  Dick McAuliffe went two for seven with a double, a run and an RBI.