Sept. 29, 1984: Tigers 11 – Yankees 3

W: Juan Berenguer (11-10) – L: Ron Guidry (10-11) – S: Roger Mason (1) | Boxscore

Record: 104-57 — 15 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Larry Herndon went three for five, including a solo homer, as the Tigers piled 11 hits on Guidry and 16 overall.

Berenguer pitched six innings allowing just two-hits … but six walks. Mason earned the three-inning save.

Lance Parrish and Dwight Lowry each hit two-run homers.

Miscellany

Venue: Yankee Stadium
Umpires: HP – Rich Garcia, 1B – Al Clark, 2B – Mike Reilly, 3B – Don Denkinger
Time of Game: 2:53
Attendance: 35,685

Birthdays

Jermaine Clark, Rob Deer, Jim Crawford, Rich Reese and the late Bob Anderson and Tony Rensa

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 546 9/9 — Rarity: 22

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 24, 1984: Tigers 7 – Brewers 3

W: Juan Berenguer (10-10) – L: Paul Hartzell (0-1) | Boxscore

Record: 101-55 — 14^1/2 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Berenguer evened his record by going five innings, giving up just five hits. Dave Rozema, Doug Bair, Bill Scherrer and Aurelio López each pitched one inning to close it out.

Chet Lemon, number 20, and Lou Whitaker, his 12th, both homered off Milwaukee reliever Rick Waits.

Dave Bergman had three hits, and Lou, Ruppert Jones, Nelson Simmons and Doug Baker all had two hits.

Miscellany

Venue: County Stadium
Umpires: HP – Marty Springstead, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Jim McKean
Time of Game: 2:32
Attendance: 9,506

Birthdays

Nate Cornejo, John McDonald and the late Dixie Walker, Tom Seats, Joe Sargent and John Kane

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid #541: 9/9 — Rarity 14

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 16, 1984: Tigers 8 – Blue Jays 3

W: Juan Berenguer (9-10) – L: Bryan Clark (1-2) | Boxscore

Record: 95-54 — 12 games up on Toronto

Magic Number: 2

Highlights

The Tigers were up 7-0 in third inning and banged out 12 hits off five Blue Jays pitchers. Berenguer eked out a five-inning win, allowing three hits, two runs and striking out four.

Lou Whitaker, Larry Herndon, Marty Castillo and Tom Brookens each had two hits, and Castillo, Brookens and Herndon each homered.

And that was all she wrote for the Blue Jays. The Tigers’ Magic Number was shrinking and the Jays were out of time.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Richard Shulock, 1B – Terry Cooney, 2B – Larry Young, 3B – Derryl Cousins
Time of Game: 3:01
Attendance: 45,488

Birthdays

Matt Vierling, Robbie Grossman, Mark Parent, Chris Pittaro, Mickey Tettleton and the late Vito Valentinetti

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 533: 9/9 – Rarity: 63

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 10, 1984: Orioles 3 – Tigers 1

W: Mike Flanagan (12-12) – L: Juan Berenguer (8-10) | Boxscore

Record: 92-52 — 11.5 games up on Toronto

Magic Number: 8

Highlights

Berenguer pitched well in this one but, except for a Kirk Gibson homer, got no run support. Juan pitched seven innings, gave up five hits and two runs, and he walked four.

Flanagan pitched his fourth complete game against the Tigers in 1984 — and allowed two earned runs total. He gave up five hits and struck out five.

The score was 2-1 heading to the bottom of the eighth and Eddie Murray added an insurance run with his 27th homer of the year, off Aurelio López.

Miscellany

Venue: Memorial Stadium
Umpires: HP – Don Denkinger, 1B – Rich Garcia, 2B – Al Clark, 3B – Tim McClelland
Time of Game: 2:38
Attendance: 27,440

Birthdays

Dustin Peterson, Riccardo Ingram, Bruce Robbins, the late Augie Johns and Sammy Hale

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 527 9/9 — Rarity: 6

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 5, 1984: Tigers 1 – Orioles 0

W: Juan Berenguer (8-9) – L: Mike Flanagan (11-12) – S: Willie Hernández (28) | Boxscore

Record: 89-51 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Magic Number: 15

Highlights

Berenguer was the story of this one. The Tigers gave him a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, and he made it hold up. He pitched 7^1/3 scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven. Willie took it the rest of the way, giving up just one hit.

On the other side, Flanagan was terrific. He gave up six hits, all singles except for Alan Trammell‘s double. Cal Ripken, Jr. made two errors, including a bad throw that allowed Tram to score on a Bárbaro Garbey single.

The Tigers have an off day before traveling to Toronto for a weekend showdown.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Vic Voltaggio, 1B – Larry McCoy, 2B – Joe Brinkman, 3B – Nick Bremigan
Time of Game: 2:30
Attendance: 34,065

Birthdays

Rob Richie and the late Wayne Belardi, Gene Bearden, Bob Maier, Merv Shea and Pete LePine

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 522 9/9 – Rarity: 20

See you tomorrow.

Sept. 1, 1984: A’s 7 – Tigers 5

W: Curt Young (7-3) – L: Juan Berenguer (7-9) – S: Chuck Rainey (1) | Boxscore

Record: 87-49 — 8.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Berenguer didn’t make it out of the first inning. He allowed six runs on three hits and three walks. The dagger was a two-out, three-run homer by Mike Davis. Doug Bair got the final out of the first and pitched 3^2/3 of scoreless relief.

The Tigers cut the deficit in half with three runs in the second, and drew to within 6-5 in the sixth. Dwayne Murphy‘s two-out homer in the Oakland sixth provided an insurance run which held up.

Rusty Kuntz had two hits and drove in two runs.

Miscellany

Venue: Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum
Umpires: HP – Jerry Neudecker, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Rick Reed
Time of Game: 2:37
Attendance: 25,021

Birthdays

Dave Rucker, Gary Ignasiak and the late Paul Campbell, Fred Nicholson and Jimmy Wiggs

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 518 9/9 — Rarity: 17

See you tomorrow.

Aug. 28, 1984: Tigers 5 – Mariners 4

W: Willie Hernández (8-2) – L: Mike Stanton (4-4) | Boxscore

Record: 87-45 — 11.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

The Mariners took a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh, but the Tigers tied it in the eighth, thanks to an Alan Trammell two-run homer.

Juan Berenguer started, going 6^2/3 and allowing four runs (only one earned.) Bill Scherrer made his Tigers debut, relieving Berenguer and getting the final out of the seventh.

Darrell Evans and Ruppert Jones both had two hits, and Kirk Gibson homered. Jones drove in the winning run in the top of the ninth.

Miscellany

Venue: The Kingdome
Umpires: HP – Tim Welke, 1B – Marty Springstead, 2B – Durwood Merrill, 3B – Dan Morrison
Time of Game: 2:51
Attendance: 8,353

Birthdays

Joe Yeager, he hit .260 with the Tigers from 1901-03.

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 514 9/9 — Rarity: 19

See you tomorrow.

Aug. 18, 1984: Tigers 4 – Mariners 3

W: Juan Berenguer (6-8) – L: Dave Geisel (0-1) – S: Willie Hernández (26) | Boxscore

Record: 81-43 — 11 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Juan Berenguer dominated: 8^1/3 innings, three hits, 12 strikeouts.

The Tigers had just five hits and Kirk Gibson had the big one: a three-run homer in the sixth off Mariners’ starter Geisel. Marty Castillo and Lance Parrish both doubled.

“Juan Berenguer pitched the game of his career. It certainly was the best game we’ve pitched in the last two months.” — Sparky, “Bless You Boys”

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – John Hirschbeck, 1B – Dave Phillips, 2B – Steve Palermo, 3B – Rick Reed
Time of Game: 2:41
Attendance: 36,719

Birthdays

Justin Wilson, Bobby Higginson, Bob James, Bob Humphreys and the late Bob Kennedy

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 504 7/9 — Rarity: 260

See you tomorrow.

Aug. 14, 1984: A Doubleheader Letdown

Game 1: Angels 6 – Tigers 4

W: Don Aase (2-1) – L: Willie Hernández (6-2) – S: Luis Sánchez (11) | Boxscore

Record: 77-42

Highlights

A decent start from Juan Berenguer, six innings, five hits, six strikeouts, is wasted by the bullpen. The Tigers were up 4-3 in the seventh until Bob Boone homered off Aurelio López to tie it. Then Willie surrendered two runs on three hits and a walk.

The Tigers tagged Angels starter Mike Witt with four solo homers: Lou Whitaker, Alan Trammell, Lance Parrish and Howard Johnson.

Both teams had 10 hits; Juan Beníquez had four of them for California.

Miscellany

Venue: Tiger Stadium
Umpires: HP – Rich Garcia, 1B – Tim McClelland, 2B – Don Denkinger, 3B – Mike Reilly
Time of Game: 2:53

Game 2: Angels 12 – Tigers 1

W: Bruce Kison (3-1) – L: Dave Rozema (7-4) | Boxscore

Record: 77-43 — 7.5 games up on Toronto

Highlights

A seven-run third inning put this one out of reach in a hurry, making it 8-0. Doug DeCinces drove in four, Bobby Grich plated three and the Angels got three hits each from Rob Wilfong and Reggie Jackson.

Rozema started and last two innings, giving up five runs on seven hits. Doug Bair wasn’t good either: 3^1/3 innings, five runs, five hits and three walks.

Darrell Evans drove in the Tigers lone run on an RBI single in the eighth.

Miscellany

Umpires: HP – Tim McClelland, 1B – Don Denkinger, 2B – Mike Reilly, 3B – Rich Garcia
Time of Game: 2:33
Attendance: 38,597

Birthdays

Colt Keith and the late Mark Fidrych and Skinny Graham

Today’s Grid

⚾️ Immaculate Grid 500: 5/9 — Rarity: 426

A clunker compared to yesterday.

See you tomorrow.

Aug. 8, 1984: Red Sox 8 – Tigers 0

W: Oil Can Boyd (7-8) – L: Glenn Abbott (3-4) | Boxscore

Record: 74-41 — 8 games up on Toronto

Highlights

Abbott made his final appearance as a Tiger and as a major leaguer in this one. He started and wasn’t able to survive the first inning: 2/3 of an inning, five runs on five hits, including a three-run homer from Rich Gedman — who had a five-RBI game.

Juan Berenguer pitched 5^1/3 innings of solid relief — two days after pitching a complete game.

The Tigers had seven hits, all singles, off Boyd; Johnny Grubb had two of them.

Miscellany

Venue: Fenway Park
Umpires: HP – Jim McKean, 1B – Durwood Merrill, 2B – Dan Morrison, 3B – Tim Welke
Time of Game: 2:28
Attendance: 32,563

Birthdays

Alexis Gomez and the late Mike Ivie, Frank Howard, Marlin Stuart, Ken Holloway and Jack Smith*

*Smith appeared in one major-league game, for the Tigers, on May 18, 1912. He entered the game as a defensive substitution at third base, and didn’t have a plate appearance. This was an infamous game against the Athletics in Philadelphia when (future Catholic priest) Allan Travers was forced into duty and allowed 24 runs on 26 hits and seven walks. Read about him here.

See you tomorrow.