1987 Detroit Tigers season

The 1987 Detroit Tigers season was the team's 87th season and the 76th season at Tiger Stadium. The Tigers made a late-season comeback to win the American League East on the season's final day. The Tigers finished with a Major League-best record of 98–64, two games ahead of the Toronto Blue Jays. Detroit lost the ALCS to the Minnesota Twins in 5 games.

1987 Detroit Tigers
American League East champions
League	American League
Division	East
Ballpark	Tiger Stadium
City	Detroit, Michigan
Owners	Tom Monaghan
General managers	Bill Lajoie
Managers	Sparky Anderson
Television	WDIV-TV (George Kell, Al Kaline) PASS (Larry Osterman, Jim Northrup)
Radio	WJR (Ernie Harwell, Paul Carey)
← 1986 Seasons 1988 →

This would be the last time the Tigers made the postseason until 2006.

Offseason

• March 23, 1987: Brian Harper was released by the Tigers.^[1]

Regular season

After their 1984 championship season, the Tigers finished in third place in the AL East in both 1985 and 1986. The 1987 Tigers faced lowered expectations – which seemed to be confirmed by an 11–19 start to the season. The team hit its stride thereafter and gradually gained ground on its AL East rivals. This charge was fueled in part by the acquisition of pitcher Doyle Alexander from the Atlanta Braves in exchange for minor league pitcher John Smoltz. Alexander started 11 games for the Tigers, posting 9 wins without a loss and a 1.53 ERA. The deal came at a price. Smoltz, a Lansing, Michigan native, went on to have a long, productive career with the Braves winning a Cy Young Award and eventually gaining entry into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2015.

Despite their improvement, they entered September neck-and-neck with the Toronto Blue Jays. The two teams would square off in seven hard-fought games during the final two weeks of the season. All seven games were decided by one run, and in the first six of the seven games, the winning run was scored in the final inning of play. At Exhibition Stadium, the Tigers dropped three in a row to the Blue Jays before winning a dramatic extra-inning showdown.

The Tigers entered the final week of the 1987 season 3.5 games behind. After a series against the Baltimore Orioles, the Tigers returned home trailing by a game and swept the Blue Jays. Detroit clinched the division in a 1–0 victory over Toronto in front of 51,005 fans at Tiger Stadium on Sunday afternoon, October 4. Frank Tanana pitched a complete-game shutout, and outfielder Larry Herndon hit a second-inning solo home run for the game's only run. Detroit finished the season with a Major League-best 98–64, two games ahead of Toronto. The team hit 225 home runs, the most since the 1961 New York Yankees.^[2]

In what would be their last postseason appearance until 2006, the Tigers lost the 1987 American League Championship Series to the underdog Minnesota Twins (who would go on to win the World Series) in five games.

The 1987 Tigers' winning percentage ranks as the 10th best in team history, as follows:

Best Seasons in Detroit Tigers History Rank Year Wins Losses Win %   Finish 1 1934 101 53 .656 Lost 1934 World Series to Cardinals 2 1915 100 54 .649 2nd in AL behind Red Sox 3 1909 98 54 .645 Lost 1909 World Series to Pirates 4 1984 104 58 .642 Won 1984 World Series over Padres 5 1968 103 59 .636 Won 1968 World Series over Cardinals 6 1961 101 61 .623 2nd in AL behind Yankees 7 1950 95 59 .617 2nd in AL behind Yankees 8 1935 93 58 .616 Won 1935 World Series over Cubs 9 1907 92 58 .613 Lost 1907 World Series to Cubs 10 1987 98 64 .605 Lost 1987 ALCS to Twins

Season standings

• v
• t
• e

AL East

Team	W	L	Pct.	GB	Home	Road
Detroit Tigers	98	64	.605	—	54‍–‍27	44‍–‍37
Toronto Blue Jays	96	66	.593	2	52‍–‍29	44‍–‍37
Milwaukee Brewers	91	71	.562	7	48‍–‍33	43‍–‍38
New York Yankees	89	73	.549	9	51‍–‍30	38‍–‍43
Boston Red Sox	78	84	.481	20	50‍–‍30	28‍–‍54
Baltimore Orioles	67	95	.414	31	31‍–‍51	36‍–‍44
Cleveland Indians	61	101	.377	37	35‍–‍46	26‍–‍55

Record vs. opponents

1987 American League record v t e Sources:
Team	BAL	BOS	CAL	CWS	CLE	DET	KC	MIL	MIN	NYY	OAK	SEA	TEX	TOR
Baltimore	—	1–12	9–3	8–4	7–6	4–9	9–3	2–11	5–7	3–10	7–5	4–8	7–5	1–12
Boston	12–1	—	4–8	3–9	7–6	2–11	6–6	6–7	7–5	7–6	4–8	7–5	7–5	6–7
California	3–9	8–4	—	8–5	7–5	3–9	5–8	7–5	8–5	3–9	6–7	7–6	5–8	5–7
Chicago	4–8	9–3	5–8	—	7–5	3–9	6–7	6–6	6–7	5–7	9–4	6–7	7–6	4–8
Cleveland	6–7	6–7	5–7	5–7	—	4–9	6–6	4–9	3–9	6–7	4–8	5–7	2–10	5–8
Detroit	9–4	11–2	9–3	9–3	9–4	—	5–7	6–7	8–4	5–8	5–7	7–5	8–4	7–6
Kansas City	3–9	6–6	8–5	7–6	6–6	7–5	—	4–8	8–5	5–7	5–8	9–4	7–6	8–4
Milwaukee	11–2	7–6	5–7	6–6	9–4	7–6	8–4	—	3–9	7–6	6–6	4–8	9–3	9–4
Minnesota	7–5	5–7	5–8	7–6	9–3	4–8	5–8	9–3	—	6–6	10–3	9–4	6–7	3–9
New York	10–3	6–7	9–3	7–5	7–6	8–5	7–5	6–7	6–6	—	5–7	7–5	5–7	6–7
Oakland	5–7	8–4	7–6	4–9	8–4	7–5	8–5	6–6	3–10	7–5	—	5–8	6–7	7–5
Seattle	8–4	5–7	6–7	7–6	7–5	5–7	4–9	8–4	4–9	5–7	8–5	—	9–4	2–10
Texas	5–7	5–7	8–5	6–7	10–2	4–8	6–7	3–9	7–6	7–5	7–6	4–9	—	3–9
Toronto	12–1	7–6	7–5	8–4	8–5	6–7	4–8	4–9	9–3	7–6	5–7	10–2	9–3	—

Transactions

• June 2, 1987: 1987 Major League Baseball draft
  • Travis Fryman was drafted by the Tigers in the 1st round (30th pick). Player signed June 6, 1987.^[3]
  • Torey Lovullo was drafted by the Tigers in the 5th round. Player signed June 7, 1987.^[4]
• June 4, 1987: Bill Madlock was signed as a free agent by the Tigers.^[5]
• August 7, 1987: Darnell Coles and a player to be named later were traded by the Tigers to the Pittsburgh Pirates for Jim Morrison. The Tigers completed the deal by sending Morris Madden to the Pirates on August 12.^[6]
• August 12, 1987: John Smoltz was traded by the Tigers to the Atlanta Braves for Doyle Alexander.^[7]
• September 22, 1987: Dickie Noles was loaned to the Tigers by the Chicago Cubs.^[8]

Roster

1987 Detroit Tigers
Roster
Pitchers 19 Doyle Alexander 39 Mike Henneman 21 Willie Hernández 45 Bryan Kelly 25 Eric King 42 Morris Madden 47 Jack Morris 27 Dickie Noles 46 Dan Petry 44 Jeff Robinson 36 Nate Snell 26 Frank Tanana 35 Walt Terrell 30 Mark Thurmond		Catchers  8 Mike Heath 12 Dwight Lowry 24 Orlando Mercado 33 Matt Nokes Infielders  9 Doug Baker 14 Dave Bergman 16 Tom Brookens 19 Darnell Coles 41 Darrell Evans  7 Bill Madlock 17 Jim Morrison  3 Alan Trammell 32 Jim Walewander  1 Lou Whitaker		Outfielders  4 Billy Bean 23 Kirk Gibson 30 Johnny Grubb 17 Terry Harper 31 Larry Herndon 34 Chet Lemon 24 Scott Lusader 15 Pat Sheridan 38 Tim Tolman		Manager 11 Sparky Anderson Coaches 50 Billy Consolo (Bench) 51 Alex Grammas (Third base) 56 Billy Muffett (Pitching) 28 Vada Pinson (Hitting) 53 Dick Tracewski (First base)

Game log

Past Games Legend
Tigers Win (#bfb)	Tigers Loss (#fbb)	Game Postponed (#bbb)	All-Star Game (#bbcaff)	Clinched Division (#039)
Bold denotes a Tigers pitcher

1987 game log: 98–64 (Home: 54–27; Away: 44–37)
April: 9–12 (Home: 4–5; Away: 5–7) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 1 April 6 Yankees 1–2 (10) Righetti (1–0) Morris (0–1) 51,315 0–1 L1 2 April 8 Yankees 5–6 Hudson (1–0) Hernández (0–1) Righetti (1) 12,271 0–2 L2 3 April 9 Yankees 9–3 Terrell (1–0) Tewksbury (1–0) 12,228 1–2 W1 4 April 10 @ White Sox 11–4 Tanana (1–0) Allen (0–1) 40,025 2–2 W2 5 April 11 @ White Sox 7–1 Morris (1–1) Dotson (1–1) 12,896 3–2 W3 6 April 12 @ White Sox 7–1 Robinson (1–0) Davis (0–1) 13,245 4–2 W4 7 April 14 @ Royals 1–10 Gubicza (1–1) Petry (0–1) 16,023 4–3 L1 8 April 15 @ Royals 1–2 Saberhagen (2–0) Terrell (1–1) Black (1) 18,721 4–4 L2 9 April 17 White Sox 3–1 Tanana (2–0) Dotson (1–2) Thurmond (1) 16,953 5–4 W1 10 April 18 White Sox 3–2 King (1–0) Thigpen (0–1) 20,607 6–4 W2 11 April 19 White Sox 2–7 Bannister (1–1) Petry (0–2) 14,269 6–5 L1 12 April 20 @ Yankees 2–8 Rhoden (2–1) Morris (1–2) Righetti (4) 20,111 6–6 L2 13 April 21 @ Yankees 1–3 Niekro (1–1) Terrell (1–2) Guante (1) 25,148 6–7 L3 14 April 22 @ Yankees 1–4 Shirley (1–0) Tanana (2–1) Righetti (5) 21,091 6–8 L4 15 April 24 Royals 3–7 Leibrandt (3–1) Petry (0–3) 14,449 6–9 L5 16 April 25 Royals 13–2 Morris (2–2) Gubicza (1–3) 18,052 7–9 W1 17 April 26 Royals 1–6 Saberhagen (4–0) Terrell (1–3) 16,686 7–10 L1 18 April 27 @ Mariners 2–5 Langston (3–2) King (1–1) Núñez (4) 8,492 7–11 L2 19 April 28 @ Mariners 4–6 Morgan (1–3) Robinson (1–1) Núñez (5) 7,393 7–12 L3 20 April 29 @ Angels 2–1 (10) King (2–1) Moore (1–1) 26,126 8–12 W1 21 April 30 @ Angels 12–4 Morris (3–2) Fraser (1–1) 27,656 9–12 W2
May: 15–11 (Home: 11–6; Away: 4–5) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 22 May 1 @ Athletics 1–2 (13) Eckersley (2–1) Kelly (0–1) 14,035 9–13 L1 23 May 2 @ Athletics 2–3 (13) Leiper (1–0) Snell (0–1) 17,753 9–14 L2 24 May 3 @ Athletics 0–2 Plunk (1–1) King (2–2) Howell (4) 21,810 9–15 L3 25 May 5 Mariners 5–7 Clarke (1–0) Robinson (1–2) Núñez (6) 10,918 9–16 L4 26 May 6 Mariners 7–5 Terrell (2–3) Bankhead (4–2) Thurmond (2) 13,718 10–16 W1 27 May 8 Athletics 2–7 Young (4–1) Tanana (2–2) 13,949 10–17 L1 28 May 9 Athletics 7–8 G. Nelson (1–1) Thurmond (0–1) Howell (5) 15,685 10–18 L2 29 May 10 Athletics 7–6 Snell (1–1) Ontiveros (0–1) 14,114 11–18 W1 30 May 11 Angels 1–5 Witt (5–2) Terrell (2–4) Buice (2) 11,079 11–19 L1 31 May 12 Angels 15–2 Petry (1–3) Lugo (0–2) 11,579 12–19 W1 32 May 13 Angels 10–7 Tanana (3–2) Candelaria (4–1) 11,659 13–19 W2 33 May 15 Indians 4–3 Henneman (1–0) Huismann (0–1) 17,525 14–19 W3 34 May 16 Indians 5–3 Morris (4–2) Niekro (2–3) 20,583 15–19 W4 35 May 17 Indians 8–4 Terrell (3–4) Carlton (2–4) 20,824 16–19 W5 36 May 18 @ Rangers 6–3 Robinson (2–2) Guzmán (2–3) Thurmond (3) 26,503 17–19 W6 37 May 19 @ Rangers 8–10 Mohorcic (3–1) King (2–3) 17,484 17–20 L1 38 May 20 @ Rangers 6–4 Petry (2–3) Witt (1–3) King (1) 16,820 18–20 W1 39 May 22 @ Twins 3–2 Morris (5–2) Viola (2–5) King (2) 15,423 19–20 W2 40 May 23 @ Twins 5–7 Anderson (1–0) Terrell (3–5) Reardon (9) 18,601 19–21 L1 41 May 24 @ Twins 7–2 Robinson (3–2) Atherton (2–1) 16,351 20–21 W1 42 May 25 Rangers 8–5 Tanana (4–2) Correa (1–5) Henneman (1) 13,824 21–21 W2 43 May 26 Rangers 8–7 (11) Henneman (2–0) Mohorcic (3–2) 11,234 22–21 W3 44 May 27 Rangers 4–3 Morris (6–2) Loynd (1–2) Thurmond (4) 12,696 23–21 W4 45 May 29 Twins 15–7 Terrell (4–5) Straker (2–2) 19,031 24–21 W5 — May 30 Twins Postponed (Rain); Makeup: May 31 46 May 31 Twins 5–9 Reardon (2–3) King (2–4) – 24–22 L1 47 May 31 Twins 3–11 Frazier (5–2) Tanana (4–3) 20,993 24–23 L2
June: 17–9 (Home: 7–5; Away: 10–4) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 48 June 1 @ Indians 6–9 Niekro (3–5) Petry (2–4) Bailes (3) 6,509 24–24 L3 — June 2 @ Indians Postponed (Rain); Makeup: August 21 49 June 3 @ Indians 15–3 Morris (7–2) Schrom (4–5) 8,226 25–24 W1 50 June 4 @ Red Sox 5–8 Hurst (6–4) Terrell (4–6) 24,660 25–25 L1 51 June 5 @ Red Sox 4–2 Robinson (4–2) Nipper (4–5) King (3) 33,827 26–25 W1 52 June 6 @ Red Sox 5–3 (14) King (3–4) Gardner (0–3) 33,902 27–25 W2 53 June 7 @ Red Sox 18–8 Henneman (3–0) Leister (0–1) 33,254 28–25 W3 54 June 9 Brewers 8–5 Morris (8–2) Higuera (5–6) 16,645 29–25 W4 55 June 10 Brewers 5–8 (10) Plesac (2–0) King (3–5) 16,998 29–26 L1 56 June 11 Brewers 5–8 Wegman (5–5) King (3–6) Bosio (2) 20,780 29–27 L2 57 June 12 Red Sox 11–4 Tanana (5–3) Clemens (4–6) 32,341 30–27 W1 58 June 13 Red Sox 6–4 Petry (3–4) Crawford (2–2) Hernández (1) 40,427 31–27 W2 59 June 14 Red Sox 2–1 Morris (6–2) Hurst (7–5) 28,203 32–27 W3 60 June 15 @ Blue Jays 2–1 Terrell (5–6) Key (8–4) King (4) 36,225 33–27 W4 61 June 16 @ Blue Jays 4–10 Lavelle (1–0) Robinson (4–3) 36,398 33–28 L1 62 June 17 @ Blue Jays 3–2 Tanana (6–3) Clancy (7–4) Hernández (2) 46,227 34–28 W1 63 June 19 @ Orioles 5–3 Morris (10–2) Williamson (2–5) Hernández (3) 31,672 35–28 W2 64 June 20 @ Orioles 5–9 Bell (6–5) Terrell (5–7) Niedenfuer (2) 27,240 35–29 L1 65 June 21 @ Orioles 9–3 Petry (4–4) Dixon (3–7) King (5) 28,845 36–29 W1 66 June 22 Blue Jays 2–0 Tanana (7–3) Clancy (7–5) 28,978 37–29 W2 67 June 23 Blue Jays 7–8 Stieb (6–4) Robinson (4–4) Henke (13) 29,275 37–30 L1 68 June 24 Blue Jays 3–5 Cerutti (5–2) Morris (10–3) Musselman (3) 34,866 37–31 L2 69 June 26 Orioles 9–0 Terrell (6–7) Griffin (0–1) 29,396 38–31 W1 70 June 27 Orioles 2–4 Niedenfuer (1–0) Tanana (7–4) 32,395 38–32 L1 71 June 28 Orioles 8–7 (11) Hernández (1–1) Corbett (0–2) 31,606 39–32 W1 72 June 29 @ Brewers 11–1 Morris (11–3) Bosio (3–2) 21,487 40–32 W2 73 June 30 @ Brewers 8–5 Petry (5–4) Clear (5–3) Hernández (4) 21,609 41–32 W3
July: 17–9 (Home: 10–3; Away: 7–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 74 July 1 @ Brewers 2–13 Wegman (7–7) Terrell (6–8) 24,528 41–33 L1 75 July 2 @ Mariners 2–5 Guetterman (6–1) Tanana (7–5) 10,646 41–34 L2 76 July 3 @ Mariners 5–2 Robinson (5–4) Moore (3–10) King (6) 13,568 42–34 W1 77 July 4 @ Mariners 7–3 Morris (12–3) Campbell (0–1) 16,884 43–34 W2 78 July 5 @ Mariners 7–5 Petry (6–4) Langston (10–7) Henneman (2) 13,232 44–34 W3 79 July 6 @ Athletics 3–5 G. Nelson (4–1) King (3–7) Howell (15) 14,656 44–35 L1 80 July 7 @ Athletics 6–4 Tanana (8–5) Andújar (3–2) Hernández (5) 17,174 45–35 W1 81 July 8 @ Athletics 9–5 Robinson (6–4) Ontiveros (5–3) Thurmond (5) 20,031 46–35 W2 82 July 9 @ Angels 2–5 Sutton (6–9) Morris (12–4) Minton (5) 30,966 46–36 L1 83 July 10 @ Angels 9–4 King (4–7) Lazorko (2–5) 31,073 47–36 W1 84 July 11 @ Angels 12–5 Henneman (4–0) Reuss (3–1) 44,219 48–36 W2 85 July 12 @ Angels 4–5 Witt (11–5) Tanana (8–6) Minton (6) 42,682 48–37 L1 ASG July 14 NL @ AL 2–0 Smith (1–0) Howell (0–1) Fernandez (1) 49,671 — N/A 86 July 16 Mariners 3–2 Terrell (7–8) Moore (3–11) 20,488 49–37 W1 87 July 17 Mariners 7–0 Tanana (9–6) Langston (10–9) 24,669 50–37 W2 88 July 18 Mariners 10–6 Henneman (5–0) Reed (0–1) King (7) 31,594 51–37 W3 89 July 19 Mariners 4–5 Núñez (3–1) Hernández (1–2) 23,577 51–38 L1 90 July 20 Athletics 5–4 Henneman (6–0) G. Nelson (4–2) 22,692 52–38 W1 91 July 21 Athletics 6–5 (10) King (5–7) Howell (3–4) 23,118 53–38 W2 92 July 22 Athletics 1–10 Lamp (1–0) Tanana (9–7) 24,855 53–39 L1 93 July 24 Angels 6–3 Henneman (7–0) Finley (2–4) 33,275 54–39 W1 94 July 25 Angels 5–4 (10) Henneman (8–0) Minton (3–1) 34,973 55–39 W2 95 July 26 Angels 6–2 Terrell (8–8) Fraser (6–7) 31,339 56–39 W3 96 July 27 White Sox 4–1 Tanana (10–7) Nielsen (3–4) 23,704 57–39 W4 97 July 28 White Sox 3–1 Robinson (7–4) Long (5–6) 26,156 58–39 W5 98 July 29 White Sox 0–4 Bannister (6–8) Morris (12–5) 28,918 58–40 L1 99 July 31 @ Yankees 5–6 Righetti (6–3) Henneman (8–1) 50,214 58–41 L2
August: 19–11 (Home: 9–5; Away: 10–6) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 100 August 1 @ Yankees 10–5 Tanana (11–7) Rasmussen (8–5) 55,103 59–41 W1 101 August 2 @ Yankees 5–8 Rhoden (14–6) Robinson (7–5) Righetti (20) 46,212 59–42 L1 102 August 3 Royals 2–4 (10) Gleaton (2–3) Morris (12–6) 25,781 59–43 L2 103 August 4 Royals 4–8 D. Jackson (5–13) Petry (6–5) 23,330 59–44 L3 104 August 5 Royals 4–2 Terrell (9–8) Saberhagen (15–7) 21,584 60–44 W1 105 August 6 Yankees 12–5 Tanana (12–7) Guidry (3–5) 41,875 61–44 W2 106 August 7 Yankees 8–0 Robinson (8–5) Rhoden (14–7) 48,262 62–44 W3 107 August 8 Yankees 0–7 John (11–4) King (5–8) 45,812 62–45 L1 108 August 9 Yankees 15–4 Petry (7–5) Rasmussen (8–6) 44,673 63–45 W1 109 August 10 @ White Sox 4–8 Dotson (9–8) Terrell (9–9) 16,068 63–46 L1 110 August 11 @ White Sox 9–6 Tanana (13–7) Nielsen (3–5) Hernández (6) 14,567 64–46 W1 111 August 12 @ White Sox 8–7 Hernández (2–2) Thigpen (3–4) 16,438 65–46 W2 112 August 13 @ Royals 4–1 Morris (13–6) Gubicza (9–12) 38,221 66–46 W3 113 August 14 @ Royals 5–7 Black (5–6) Terrell (9–10) Quisenberry (8) 38,749 66–47 L1 114 August 15 @ Royals 8–4 King (6–8) D. Jackson (6–14) Henneman (3) 40,425 67–47 W1 115 August 16 @ Royals 10–6 Robinson (9–5) Gleaton (2–4) 33,006 68–47 W2 116 August 18 Twins 11–2 Morris (14–6) Carlton (6–12) 32,053 69–47 W3 117 August 19 Twins 7–1 Terrell (10–10) Blyleven (12–10) 38,163 70–47 W4 118 August 20 Twins 8–0 Alexander (1–0) Niekro (6–9) 45,804 71–47 W5 119 August 21 @ Indians 4–12 Easterly (1–0) Petry (7–6) Gordon (1) – 71–48 L1 120 August 21 @ Indians 3–8 Farrell (2–0) Tanana (13–8) 20,965 71–49 L2 121 August 22 @ Indians 8–6 Henneman (9–1) Bailes (6–6) King (8) 20,148 72–49 W1 122 August 23 @ Indians 4–3 Morris (15–6) Candiotti (6–13) 21,097 73–49 W2 123 August 24 @ Twins 4–5 Reardon (6–6) King (6–9) 27,338 73–50 L1 124 August 25 @ Twins 5–4 Alexander (2–0) Niekro (6–10) Henneman (4) 30,639 74–50 W1 125 August 26 @ Twins 10–8 Petry (8–6) Reardon (6–7) Hernández (7) 29,265 75–50 W2 126 August 28 Rangers 3–5 Williams (7–3) Morris (15–7) Mohorcic (16) 32,362 75–51 L1 127 August 29 Rangers 4–1 Terrell (11–10) Witt (7–7) 41,604 76–51 W1 128 August 30 Rangers 7–0 Alexander (3–0) Hough (14–10) 38,641 77–51 W2 129 August 31 Indians 2–7 Farrell (3–0) Tanana (13–9) 22,530 77–52 L1
September: 17–12 (Home: 9–3; Away: 8–9) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 130 September 1 Indians 6–5 (12) Hernández (3–2) Gordon (0–2) 19,810 78–52 W1 131 September 2 Indians 2–1 Morris (16–7) Candiotti (7–14) 20,516 79–52 W2 132 September 3 Indians 3–1 Terrell (12–10) Yett (3–6) 21,964 80–52 W3 133 September 4 @ Rangers 11–2 Alexander (4–0) Hough (14–11) 16,095 81–52 W4 134 September 5 @ Rangers 7–8 Howe (2–2) Hernández (3–3) 26,058 81–53 L1 135 September 6 @ Rangers 3–9 Guzmán (12–11) Robinson (9–6) 22,374 81–54 L2 136 September 7 @ Orioles 12–4 Morris (17–7) Ballard (2–5) 13,651 82–54 W1 — September 8 @ Orioles Postponed (Rain); Makeup: September 9 137 September 9 @ Orioles 7–4 Terrell (13–10) Dixon (7–9) Hernández (8) – 83–54 W2 138 September 9 @ Orioles 6–0 Alexander (5–0) Boddicker (10–8) 21,579 84–54 W3 139 September 10 @ Brewers 3–4 Nieves (12–6) Tanana (13–10) Mirabella (1) 9,715 84–55 L1 140 September 11 @ Brewers 2–5 Higuera (16–9) Henneman (9–2) 21,161 84–56 L2 141 September 12 @ Brewers 2–11 Wegman (10–10) Morris (17–8) 50,288 84–57 L3 142 September 13 @ Brewers 5–1 Terrell (14–10) Bosio (10–6) 21,880 85–57 W1 143 September 14 Red Sox 3–0 Alexander (6–0) Clemens (16–9) Henneman (5) 23,287 86–57 W2 144 September 15 Red Sox 9–8 Petry (9–6) Crawford (5–4) Henneman (6) 20,398 87–57 W3 145 September 16 Red Sox 4–1 Morris (18–8) Sellers (7–8) 22,341 88–57 W4 146 September 18 Brewers 5–2 Terrell (15–10) Wegman (10–11) King (9) 30,104 89–57 W5 147 September 19 Brewers 7–6 Alexander (7–0) Bosio (10–7) 34,006 90–57 W6 148 September 20 Brewers 4–11 Nieves (13–7) Morris (18–9) Crim (10) 32,143 90–58 L1 149 September 21 @ Red Sox 4–9 Nipper (10–11) Snell (1–2) 20,376 90–59 L2 150 September 22 @ Red Sox 8–5 Terrell (16–10) Woodward (1–1) Noles (1) 20,189 91–59 W1 151 September 23 @ Red Sox 4–0 Alexander (8–0) Hurst (15–12) 23,798 92–59 W2 152 September 24 @ Blue Jays 3–4 Flanagan (6–7) Morris (18–10) Henke (34) 42,436 92–60 L1 153 September 25 @ Blue Jays 2–3 Musselman (12–4) Hernández (3–4) 46,233 92–61 L2 154 September 26 @ Blue Jays 9–10 Núñez (5–1) Henneman (9–3) 46,429 92–62 L3 155 September 27 @ Blue Jays 3–2 (13) Henneman (10–3) Núñez (5–2) Noles (4) 46,346 93–62 W1 156 September 28 Orioles 0–3 Habyan (6–6) Morris (18–11) Niedenfuer (12) 20,015 93–63 L1 157 September 29 Orioles 10–1 Tanana (14–10) Bell (9–13) 16,882 94–63 W1 158 September 30 Orioles 3–7 Mesa (1–3) Petry (9–7) 19,434 94–64 L1
October: 4–0 (Home: 4–0; Away: 0–0) # Date Opponent Score Win Loss Save Crowd Record Streak 159 October 1 Orioles 9–5 Terrell (17–10) Boddicker (10–12) 19,749 95–64 W1 160 October 2 Blue Jays 4–3 Alexander (9–0) Clancy (15–11) Henneman (7) 45,167 96–64 W2 161 October 3 Blue Jays 3–2 (12) Henneman (11–3) Musselman (12–5) 45,026 97–64 W3 162 October 4 Blue Jays 1–0 Tanana (15–10) Key (17–8) 51,005 98–64 W4

Player stats

= Indicates team leader

Batting

Starters by position

Note: Pos = Position; G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Pos	Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
C	Matt Nokes	135	461	133	.289	32	87
1B	Darrell Evans	150	499	128	.257	34	99
2B	Lou Whitaker	149	604	160	.265	16	59
3B	Tom Brookens	143	444	107	.241	14	59
SS	Alan Trammell	151	597	205	.343	28	105
LF	Kirk Gibson	128	487	135	.277	24	79
CF	Chet Lemon	146	470	130	.277	20	75
RF	Pat Sheridan	141	421	109	.259	6	49
DH	Bill Madlock	87	326	91	.279	14	50

Other batters

Note: G = Games played; AB = At bats; H = Hits; Avg. = Batting average; HR = Home runs; RBI = Runs batted in

Player	G	AB	H	Avg.	HR	RBI
Mike Heath	93	270	76	.281	8	33
Larry Herndon	89	225	73	.324	9	47
Dave Bergman	91	172	47	.273	6	22
Darnell Coles	53	149	27	.181	4	15
Jim Morrison	34	117	24	.205	4	19
Johnny Grubb	59	114	23	.202	2	13
Billy Bean	26	66	17	.258	0	4
Terry Harper	31	64	13	.203	3	10
Jim Walewander	53	54	13	.241	1	4
Scott Lusader	23	47	15	.319	1	8
Dwight Lowry	13	25	5	.200	0	1
Orlando Mercado	10	22	3	.136	0	1
Tim Tolman	9	12	1	.083	0	1
Doug Baker	8	1	0	.000	0	0

Pitching

Starting pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; IP = Innings pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	IP	W	L	ERA	SO
Jack Morris	34	266.0	18	11	3.38	208
Walt Terrell	35	244.2	17	10	4.05	143
Frank Tanana	34	218.2	15	10	3.91	146
Dan Petry	30	134.2	9	7	5.61	93
Jeff Robinson	29	127.1	9	6	5.37	98
Doyle Alexander	11	88.1	9	0	1.53	44

Relief pitchers

Note: G = Games pitched; W = Wins; L = Losses; SV = Saves; ERA = Earned run average; SO = Strikeouts

Player	G	W	L	SV	ERA	SO
Eric King	55	6	9	9	4.89	89
Mike Henneman	55	11	3	7	2.98	75
Willie Hernández	45	3	4	8	3.67	30
Mark Thurmond	48	0	1	5	4.23	21
Nate Snell	22	1	2	0	3.96	19
Dickie Noles	4	0	0	2	4.50	0
Bryan Kelly	5	0	1	0	5.06	10
Morris Madden	2	0	0	0	16.20	0

Farm system

See also: Minor League Baseball

Level	Team	League	Manager
AAA	Toledo Mud Hens	International League	Leon Roberts
AA	Glens Falls Tigers	Eastern League	Tom Burgess, Tom Gamboa and Paul Felix
A	Lakeland Tigers	Florida State League	John Wockenfuss
A	Fayetteville Generals	South Atlantic League	Johnny Lipon
Rookie	Bristol Tigers	Appalachian League	Rick Magnante

^[9]