Stat break: 87 Rangers

Hitters

Name              AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Brower            29     1    6    5        1    0    0      3      1    .207
Browne           55     8  17    5        2    0    1      3      1    .309
Buechele         42     7  12    7        3    0    2      4      0    .286
Fletcher           40     6    8    4        0    1    1      4      2    .200
Incaviglia        51   10  12    7        4    3    0      0      0    .235
McDowell       25     2    7    6        3    0    2      0      0    .280
O'Brien           46     5  12    4        1    0    2      3       0    .267
O'Malley           4     0    3    0       1    0     0     1       0     .750
Paciorek          16    3     5   4        0    0    2      0       0     .313
Parrish             51    8   13   8        0    0    3      4      0     .255
Petralli            26    5    15   5        2    1    1      3      0     .577
Porter               1    0    0     0        0    0    0       0      0     .000
Sierra             42    6    5     3        1    0    2       3      0     .119
Slaught            2     0    0    0         0    0    0      0      0      .000
Stanley          16     2    3     4        1    0    1      1     0      .188
Wilkerson       6     2    3     1        0    1     0      0      0     .500

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Guzman            3      3     23.6     17      8      8      5     18       0     2     1    3.04
Harris                1      0       0.3       0      0      0      0       0       0     0    0     0.00

Hough               5     5     33.6      35    27    26    25     32       0     1     3    6.95

Howe                6      0      6.3        3      0      0      1       4       0      1    0    0.00

Kilgus               2      2    15         13      3      3      3      5        0      2    0    1.50

Loynd               2      0      5           4     2       2      1      3        0      0     0    3.60

Mohorcic          3     0       3.6        5      4      1      1      1        0      0     1    2.45

Russell              3     0       4.3        5      1       1      1     1        0       0     0   2.08

M. Williams      5     0       4.3       4      3       0      1      2       3      0      1    0.00

B. Witt              3      3    18,3     17       7      7    16    19       0      1     0     3.44

Ringo bracket: Blue Jays (87) defeat Rangers (87) in seven games

Game One: 87 Rangers 5, 87 Blue Jays 3 (11 innings)
WP: Howe (1-0)
LP: Eichhorn (0-1)
Save: Mi Williams (2)
HR: Moseby (1), Parrish (2), Sierra (2), O'Brien (1)

Game Two: 87 Blue Jays 5, 87 Rangers 4
WP: Eichhorn (1-1)
LP: Mi Williams (0-1)
Save: Henke (3)

Game Three: 87 Blue Jays 5, 87 Rangers 0
WP: Stieb (1-0)
LP: Guzman (2-1)
Save: Cerutti (1)
HR: McGriff (1)

Game Four: 87 Rangers 9, 87 Blue Jays 3
WP: Hough (1-2)
LP: P Niekro (1-1)
HR: O'Brien (2), Upshaw (1), G Bell (4)

Game Five: 87 Rangers 3, 87 Blue Jays 1
WP: Kilgus (2-0)
LP: Key (1-1)
Save: Mi Williams (3)

Game Six: 87 Blue Jays 8, 87 Rangers 7
WP: Cerutti (1-0)
LP: Mohorcic (0-1)
Save: Henke (4)
HR: Parrish (3), Upshaw (2), Paciorek 2 (2), McGriff (2), Moseby (2)

Game Seven: 87 Blue Jays 3, 87 Rangers 2
WP: Eichhorn (2-1)
LP: Hough (1-3)
Save: Henke (5)
HR: G Bell (5), Moseby (3)


The 1987 Blue Jays survived a series marked by bullpen meltdowns and injuries.

The Jays jumped out to a quick 3-0 lead in Game One at Toronto's old Exhibition Stadium. Lloyd Moseby hit a two-run homer in the first off Rangers ace Charlie Hough, and errors by shortstop Scott Fletcher and catcher Mike Stanley brought home an unearned run in the second. But the Rangers got solo homers from Pete O'Brien in the fourth and Larry Parrish and Ruben Sierra in the fifth (back-to-back) for a tie, Hough ptiched into the ninth, Jimmy Key into the eighth. Mark Eichhorn gave up a triple to Pete Incaviglia sandwiched around a pair of walks in the 11th, and by the time John Cerutti got out of the mess the Rangers had two runs, which stood up in the bottom of the inning.

Toronto evened the series in Game Two. Garth Iorg doubled in runs in the fourth and sixth innings off Bobby Witt, and Jim Clancy turned the 2-0 lead over to lefty Jeff Musselman in the eighth. But Musselman got only one out, and the Rangers took a 4-2 lead (Stanley and Bob Brower with two RBIs apiece). Mitch Williams entered for the bottom of the eighth. After Sierra, playing center after Oddibe McDowell went down for the series, committed an error on the first play of the inning, Williams gave up a single, then got two outs. But Tony Fernandez followed with a double and Kelly Gruber drew a walk to load the bases. Jeff Russell entered and gave up a pair of hits. The three-run inning gave the Jays the lead again, and Tom Henke did not follow the meltdown pattern.

The series shifted to Arlington Stadium, and Dave Stieb got an immediate lead in Game Three when Fred McGriff hit a two-run homer in the first inning. Mosby had a sac fly in the fourth and Iorg drove in two more runs in the fifth. Stieb loaded the bases in the bottom of the inning with one out; Cerutti relieved, got Sierra to ground into a double play and then threw three more innings of one-hit ball for the long save. Fernandez left in mid-game with an injury.

The Rangers won Game Four handily despite two injuries of their own, to Sierra and Fletcher. Hough prevailed in a matchup of knuckleballers (Phil Niekro). Hough went eight innings while Texas hit three triples off Niekro and Musselman. Niekro went seven innings, allowing four runs; Musselman gave up five in the bottom of the eighth.

Paul Kilgus gave the Rangers the series lead in Game Five with eight innings of one-run ball. He allowed six hits and walked one. The lineup got three runs off Key in the fourth -- single by Parrish, double by Incaviglia, singles by Tom Paciorek and O'Brien.

The series returned to Toronto, and for a brief while in Game Six the Rangers appeared to have it in hand. Incaviglia doubled and scored in the second. Willie Upshaw tied it with third-inning homer. In the sixth the Rangers exploed for five runs off Jim Clancy. Pacoriek led off with a homer, and after a walk and two singles, Parrish hit a grand slam. The Jays got three runs back off Witt in their half of the inning, with a solo homer from Mosby and a two-run shot from McGriff. Paciorek homered again off Cerutti in the seventh for a 7-4 lead.

And then the game, and the series, turned. Dale Mohorcic got the first out in the bottom of the eighth. But then Fletcher booted an apparent double-play ball, and McGriff, Ernie Whitt and Upshaw all had RBI hits while centerfielder Brower -- playing there because of the injuries to Sierra and McDowell -- added an error. Three of the four runs were unearned.

Hough and Stieb dueled in Game Seven. George Bell homered in the first; the Rangers tied it in the second. Moseby homered in the third. the Rangers finally answered with a run in the seventh to chase Stieb. In the bottom of the seventh, Moseby drew a one-out walk. Fernandez singled him to second, and with two outs McGriff singled him home. Eichhorn and Henker avoided the bullpen meltdowns that marked the series, and the Jays advanced.

Player of the series: Fred McGriff was 6-for-17 with seven RBIs, five runs, two homers and six walks.

Player availability: All Toronto injuries have expired. Clancy can pitch Game Two with penalty. Stieb cannot pitch until Game Three.

Projected rotation: Key-Clancy-Stieb-Niekro-(Key)-(Clancy)-(Stieb). Niekro gets the nod again if only to have him face his brother Joe in Game Four.

Stat break: Rangers 87

Hitters

Name              AB   R   H   RBI  2B  3B  HR  BB  SB  Avg,
Brower             7     0    1    1        0    0    0      0      0    .143
Browne           27    4    5    3        1    0    1      0      0    .185
Buechele         21    6    9    7        2    0    2      2      0    .429
Fletcher           21   5    6     4        0    1    1      2      2    .286
Incaviglia        20   5    7     4        2    1    0      0      0    .350
McDowell       20   2    6     6        2    0    2      0      0    .300
O'Brien            17   2    2    0         0    0    0     2       0    .118
Paciorek            5   0    0     0        0    0    0      0      0    .000
Parrish            24   3    6     3         0    0    1      0      0    .250
Petralli            12   3    9     3        1    0    1       3      0    .750
Porter               1    0    0     0        0    0    0       0      0    .000
Sierra              25   4    4     2        1    0    1       1      0     .160
Stanley            7     1    1     2        0    0    1       0     0      .143
Wilkerson        1     1    1    0        0    0     0      0      0     .000

Pitchers

Name                G    GS   IP        H    R    ER   BB    K     Sv.   W    L   ERA

Guzman            2      2     16.6       8      3      3      3     14       0     2     0   1.62

Hough               2     2     10.6     19    18     18    12    14       0      0     2  15.18

Howe                4      0      3           2      0      0      0       2       0      0    0    0.00

Kilgus               1      1      7           7      2      2      2      3        0      1    0    2.57

Loynd               1      0      3           4     2       2      1      2        0      0     0    6.00

Moharcic           1     0      1.6        0      0      0      1      0        0      0     0    0.00

Russell               2    0       3          3      1       1      0      2       0       0     0    3.00

M. Williams      1     0       1          1      0       0      0      0       1      0      0    0.00

B. Witt               1      1      7         5       1       1     9       7       0      1     0     1.29

Ringo bracket: Rangers (87) defeat Tigers (87) in six games

Game One: Detroit 12, Texas 1
WP: Morris (1-0)
LP: Hough (0-1)
HR: Da. Evans (1), Trammell (1), Lemon (1), Buechele (1)

Game Two: Texas 2, Detroit 1
WP: Guzman (1-0)
LP: Tanana (0-1)
HR: Browne (1), Madlock (1)

Game Three: Texas 17, Detroit 2
WP: B. Witt (1-0)
LP: Terrell (0-1)
HR: Parrish (1), Buechele (2)

Game Four: Detroit 8, Texas 4
WP: Alexander (1-0)
LP: Hough (0-2)
HR: K. Gibson (1), Petralli (1), McDowell (1)

Game Five: Texas 5, Detroit 2
WP: Kilgus (1-0)
LP: Morris (1-1)
S; Williams (1)
HR: McDowell (2), Sierra (1)

Game Six: Texas 7, Detroit 2
WP: Guzman (2-0)
LP: Tanana (0-2)
HR: Stanley (1), Fletcher (1), Trammell (2), Bergman (1)

The 40-Years Tourney opened with a significant upset, as the 1987 team with the most wins got clobbered in six games.

Remarkably, the Texas Rangers pulled off the upset over the Detroit Tigers without any help from ace starter Charlie Hough, who allowed 17 runs (all earned) in 10.6 innings over two starts.

Jose Guzman stepped up for Texas, however, holding the powerful Tigers to three runs in his two starts, going 16.6 innings and yielding just eight hits.

Detroit jumped on Hough early in Game One, getting a three-run bomb from Darrell Evans in the first inning. The knuckleballer kept the score at 3-0 until the fifth, when the Tigers bombed him for seven runs, including a three-run blast from Alan Trammell and a two-run dinger by Chet Lemon.

Jack Morris threw a complete-game three-hitter, with Steve Buechele touching him for a solo shot in the ninth. Morris fanned nine and walked two,

Guzman evened the series by outdueling Frank Tanana in Game Two. Guzman threw a three-hitter of his own, with seven strikeouts. Jerry Browne hit a two run homer off Tanana in the third inning. The Rangers didn't get another runner until the ninth, but the two runs stood up.

Game Three was a total Texas rout. Walt Terrell and Bobby Witt matched zeros for three innings, but the Rangers celebrated their first home game with three runs in the fourth and seven in the fifth, which drove Terrell from the mound, The Rangers stung Dan Petry for seven more in the seventh.

The only Ranger in the lineup without an RBI was Pete O'Brien, and he scored a run; the only Ranger who didn't score was Oddibe McDowell, and he had three hits and two RBIs. Pete Incavigila was 4-for-6 with three runs, three RBIs, a double and an improbable triple.

Witt walked nine men in his seven innings, but the Tigers couldn't come up with hits behind those walks. Jeff Russell finished in relief.

Detroit evened the series behind Doyle Alexander in Game Four. The Tigers again jumped on Hough early with a pair of runs in the first, taking advantage of a bit of overmanaging by the Rangers, who walked Evans intentionally. Hough never really settled in.

Lou Whitaker walked four times against Hough and scored twice. Kirk Gibson had four RBIs.

Alexander went eight innings, allowing three runs on six hits, including a pair of homers. Eric King mopped up and allowed an unearned run.

Pivotal Game Five went to Texas as Paul Kilgus kept the ball in the park for seven innings. McDowell led off against Morris with a home run. The score was 2-2 after six, but after Kilgus pitched around a two out single in the seventh, the Rangers broke the tie as McDowell plated pinch-runner Curtis Wilkerson with a double. Sierra added a homer off Morris in the eighth. Lefties Steve Howe and Mitch Williams choked off the Tigers in the final two frames..

Texas completed the series win in Game Six, peppering Tanana for five runs in the first four innings. Bob Brower capped a three-run second with a nifty squeeze bunt, and Mike Stanley hit a two-run homer in the fourth. Tanana held the Rangers at bay until the ninth, when Scott Fletcher hit a two-out, two-run shot.

Guzman took a no-hitter into the fifth. He did allow solo homers to Trammell (sixth inning) and pinch-hitter Dave Bergman (eighth). Howe entered to get Evans to finish the eighth, and Russell wrapped things up with a 1-2-3 ninth.

Player of the series: Jose Guzman.

Pitcher availability for Round 2: Kilgus needs a game off; Guzman needs one, two without penalty, All other pitchers immediately available.

Projected rotation: Hough-Witt-Guzman-Hough -(Kilgus)-(Witt)-(Hough)