1991 AL Championship Series Game 1

October 8, 1991

  The AL Championship Series got underway tonight at Comiskey Park in Chicago featuring a matchup between the White Sox and Detroit Tigers. Detroit had a 'play-in game' yesterday against Toronto that Bill Gullickson started. Frank Tanana started the day before that and Walt Terrell pitched in relief the day before Tanana. So the Tigers were forced to begin this Series with their #4 starter Mark Leiter. Leiter did well before leaving the game with the bases loaded in the 5th inning. Detroit got out of that inning allowing only 1 run.
  But the story of this game was the pitching of Chicago starter Jack McDowell. McDowell went the distance, allowing 1 run and striking out 12 as the White Sox defeated the Tigers 3-1. The big hit for Chicago came from Sammy Sosa who hit a 2-run homer in the bottom of the 8th.

BOXSCORE: 1991 Detroit Tigers At 1991 Chicago White Sox             10/8/1991
 
  Tigers             AB  R  H RBI AVG     White Sox          AB  R  H RBI AVG
  T.Phillips LF       4  0  0  0 .000     T.Raines LF         4  0  1  1 .250  
  L.Whitaker 2B       3  0  1  1 .333     R.Ventura 3B        3  0  1  0 .333  
  A.Trammell SS       3  0  1  0 .333     F.Thomas DH         3  0  2  0 .667  
  C.Fielder DH        4  0  0  0 .000     D.Pasqua 1B         4  0  1  0 .250  
  M.Tettleton C       3  0  0  0 .000     C.Fisk C            4  0  0  0 .000  
  T.Fryman 3B         3  0  1  0 .333     L.Johnson CF        4  1  2  0 .500  
  D.Bergman 1B        4  0  0  0 .000     S.Sosa RF           4  1  1  2 .250  
  R.Deer RF           4  0  0  0 .000     S.Fletcher 2B       3  0  0  0 .000  
  M.Cuyler CF         3  1  0  0 .000     O.Guillen SS        4  1  1  0 .250  
                     -- -- -- ---                            -- -- -- ---      
         Totals      31  1  3  1                 Totals      33  3  9  3
 
 
Tigers.......... 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 0 0  -  1  3  0
White Sox....... 0 0 0  0 1 0  0 2    -  3  9  1
 
Tigers (0-1)             IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
M.Leiter                  4 1/3   5   1   1   3   3   0   2.08
J.Gleaton                 2 1/3   2   0   0   0   1   0   0.00
P.Gibson LOSS(0-1)        0 1/3   2   2   2   0   0   1  54.00
S.Aldred                  1       0   0   0   0   0   0   0.00
Totals                    8       9   3   3   3   4   1
 
White Sox (1-0)          IP       H   R  ER  BB  SO  HR    ERA
J.McDowell WIN(1-0)       9       3   1   1   4  12   0   1.00
Totals                    9       3   1   1   4  12   0
 
ATTENDANCE- 40,987 DATE- Tuesday, October 8th 1991 TIME- Night WEATHER- Good
UMPIRES- Dan Morrison, Tim Welke, Dale Scott, Jim Evans
T- 2:55
LEFT ON BASE- Tigers: 8  White Sox:10
DOUBLE PLAYS- Tigers: 0  White Sox: 0
ERRORS- R.Ventura
DOUBLES- R.Ventura(1st), O.Guillen(1st)
HOME RUNS- S.Sosa(1st)
RBIs- L.Whitaker(1st), T.Raines(1st), S.Sosa-2(2nd)
STOLEN BASES- M.Cuyler(1st)
WALKS- L.Whitaker, A.Trammell, M.Tettleton, T.Fryman, T.Raines, R.Ventura,
       F.Thomas
HIT BY PITCH- M.Cuyler, S.Fletcher
STRIKE OUTS- T.Phillips-3, A.Trammell, C.Fielder, M.Tettleton-2, D.Bergman,
             R.Deer-3, M.Cuyler, D.Pasqua-2, S.Sosa-2
2-out RBI- L.Whitaker
RLISP 2-out- D.Pasqua, M.Cuyler, D.Bergman, S.Sosa, C.Fielder, C.Fisk-3
TEAM RISP- Tigers: 1 for 7  White Sox: 1 for 7
 
Jack McDowell allowed just 3 hits at New Comiskey Park as the Chicago White
Sox beat the Detroit Tigers by the count of 3 to 1.
 
Chicago had the game winning rally in the 8th inning with 2 runs utilizing 2
base hits.  Lance Johnson started the inning off right when he delivered a
base-hit.  Sammy Sosa came next and he smashed a two-run homer.  Chicago had
9 hits for the night.  
 
The win was credited to McDowell(1-0) who went the whole way allowing 1 run.
Paul Gibson(0-1) was charged with the loss in relief.  
 
Sparky Anderson was upset after the game.  'I don't like to complain but did
you see that umpires strike zone?', he said.  'Maybe they ought to start
calling the strike zone the way it's printed in the rule book.'