Editor’s note: The 27 * 61 Yankees Replay games are being played with Strat-o-Matic cards and dice. The designated hitter will not be used for any games. Injuries will only be used during the game when they occur.
Some unexpected power helped the 1968 Detroit Tigers down the 1961 New York Yankees 9-4.
The Tigers hit five homers with Dick McAuliffe and Jim Northrup each blasting a pair. Norm Cash had the other long ball.
From the other dugout, the Yankees had two home runs. Mickey Mantle drove his 32nd out of the park this season, while Elston Howard hit his 11th.
McAuliffe led off the contest for the Tigers in the bottom of the first with a solo shot against New York starter Bill Stafford, who would fall to 11-3 on the season.
Three straight doubles by Yogi Berra, Bill Skowron and Bobby Richardson gave the Yankees a 2-1 advantage in the fourth.
Northrup tied the affair at 2-2 in the bottom of the fourth with his first shot of the game.
Detroit took the lead for good in the fifth on Cash’s two-run homer that made it 4-2 and ended the day for Stafford, who left after allowing nine hits with one strikeout.
Tex Clevenger worked out of the fifth, but the Tigers touched him up for two runs in the sixth.
Detroit starting pitcher Earl Wilson singled with one out before McAuliffe delighted the cardboard fans in Tiger Stadium with a two-run bomb that gave his team a 6-2 lead.
The Tigers added three more runs in the seventh against Clevenger.
Northrup led off with a solo homer before McAuliffe and Mickey Stanley ended Detroit’s scoring with back-to-back RBI singles.
Mantle and Howard hit their solo homers in the eighth as Wilson appeared to be getting tired. Wilson gave up 10 hits and had seven strikeouts without a walk in eight innings.
Pat Dobson tossed the ninth for the Tigers and he fanned Mantle for the final out.
Ralph Terry (5-5) is set to start for the Yankees in the third contest in the six-game series with the Tigers countering with Mickey Lolich.
27 * 61 Replay Standings
1927 New York Yankees (48-29)
1961 New York Yankees (43-34)
1968 Detroit Tigers (9-5)
1948 Cleveland Indians (8-6)
2004 Boston Red Sox (15-17)
1970 Baltimore Orioles (5-9)
1924 Washington Senators (11-19)
1972 Oakland A’s (11-25)
2005 Chicago White Sox (4-10)
27 * 61 Home Run Totals
Mickey Mantle 32
Roger Maris 31
Babe Ruth 30
Lou Gehrig 21