1991 AL Game: Opening Day in Detroit

April 8, 1991

It was Opening Day in Detroit for the start of the 1991 AL MLB season. The day was dreary and wet, but the fans seemed oblivious to the weather as they welcomed the home town team for the first game of the year. Detroit led 4-2 when they blew the game open with a 5 run 7th inning. The big blow was a 3-run homer by Rob Deer. The final score was 9-2. Frank Tanana went 8 1/3 innings for Detroit, getting his 1st win of the season.

BOXSCORE: 1991 New York Yankees At 1991 Detroit Tigers               4/8/1991
 
  Yankees            AB  R  H RBI AVG     Tigers             AB  R  H RBI AVG
  S.Sax 2B            4  0  2  1 .500     T.Phillips DH       5  1  1  0 .200  
  D.Mattingly 1B      3  0  0  0 .000     L.Moseby LF         3  2  0  0 .000  
  R.Kelly CF          4  0  1  0 .250     A.Trammell SS       5  2  2  1 .400  
  K.Maas DH           3  0  0  0 .000     C.Fielder 1B        2  2  1  1 .500  
  H.Meulens LF        4  0  1  0 .250     L.Whitaker 2B       2  1  0  1 .000  
  J.Barfield RF       4  1  1  1 .250     R.Deer RF           3  1  1  3 .333  
  J.Leyritz C         4  1  1  0 .250     M.Tettleton C       4  0  0  0 .000  
  M.Blowers 3B        3  0  0  0 .000     T.Fryman 3B         4  0  2  1 .500  
  A.Espinoza SS       2  0  0  0 .000     M.Cuyler CF         4  0  1  0 .250  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  2  6  2                 Totals      32  9  8  7
 
 
Yankees......... 0 0 0  0 2 0  0 0 0  -  2  6  2
Tigers.......... 0 2 2  0 0 0  5 0    -  9  8  0
 
Yankees (0-1)            IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
T.Leary LOSS(0-1)         6       4   5   5   6   5   0 130   7.50
E.Plunk                   0 2/3   3   4   4   1   0   1  25  54.00
G.Cadaret                 1 1/3   1   0   0   0   2   0  18   0.00
Totals                    8       8   9   9   7   7   1
 
Tigers (1-0)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR  PC    ERA
F.Tanana WIN(1-0)         8 1/3   5   2   2   2   3   1 125   2.16
D.Petry                   0 2/3   1   0   0   0   1   0   8   0.00
Totals                    9       6   2   2   2   4   1
 
ATTENDANCE- 45,614 DATE- Monday, April 8th 1991 TIME- Day WEATHER- Bad
UMPIRES- Don Denkinger, Larry McCoy, Durwood Merrill, Tim McClelland
T- 3:03
LEFT ON BASE- Yankees: 5  Tigers: 6
DOUBLE PLAYS- Yankees: 0  Tigers: 0
ERRORS- J.Barfield, M.Blowers
DOUBLES- A.Trammell-2(2nd)
HOME RUNS- J.Barfield(1st), R.Deer(1st)
CAUGHT STEALING- A.Espinoza, M.Cuyler
SACRIFICE HITS- D.Mattingly
WALKS- K.Maas, A.Espinoza, L.Moseby-2, C.Fielder-2, L.Whitaker-2, R.Deer
STRIKE OUTS- R.Kelly, K.Maas, J.Barfield, J.Leyritz, A.Trammell-2, R.Deer,
             M.Tettleton-2, M.Cuyler-2
WILD PITCHES- T.Leary
2-out RBI- T.Fryman, S.Sax
RLISP 2-out- K.Maas, H.Meulens, T.Fryman-2, A.Trammell
 
The Detroit Tigers easily topped the New York Yankees; the final score was 9
to 2.
 
New York was unable to recover after Detroit went ahead in the 2nd inning when
they came up with 2 runs on 1 hit.  Detroit rapped out 8 hits for the
afternoon.  
 
Frank Tanana(1-0) allowed 2 runs in 8 and 1/3 innings, and picked up the
victory. Tim Leary(0-1) was the loser.  He gave up 4 hits and 6 walks in 6
innings.