4/27: History Rewritten

 On 4/27/1973, Steve Busby of the Kansas City Royals no-hit the Detroit Tigers. The following is a complete rewrite. 

KCR 6-13-1 DET 4-6-3 

Bottom of the 1st: lead-off man Jim Northrup promptly broke up the no-hit bid with a lead-off single to center. Aurelio Rodriguez reached 1st on an error to 3b Paul Schaal, Northrup to 2nd. Rich Reese then walked to load the bases. Bill Freehan singled to left, scoring Northrup, everyone else moving a base. Gates Brown grounded into a 4-6-3 DP scoring Rodriguez. 

Bottom of the 4th, 2-0 Detroit: Gates Brown walked, moved to 2nd when Norm Cash was HBP. After Dick McAuliffe flied to right, Mickey Stanley tripled home both Brown and Cash. History was not on Steve Busby's side but read on. 

Top of the 5th, 4-0 Detroit: Kansas City got on the board with one out when DH Steve Hovley singled. Amos Otis then hit a 2-run homer off Jim Perry cutting the Tigers lead to 4-2.

Bottom of the 7th, 4-2 Detroit: Mickey Stanley led off the inning with his 3rd straight hit, a single to center. He had doubled in the 2nd, then the 2-run triple in the 4th. Stanley's single as it turned out, would be the last Tiger hit and baserunner. And Steve Busby was still pitching. 

Top of the 9th, 4-2 Detroit: Jim Perry fatigued, but still pitching. Steve Hovley led of the 9th with a single. Then Amos Otis ended Perry's evening with a 2-run homer. In his last 2 games, Otis has hit 4 home runs. After a 1-2-3 Tiger 9th, on to extra innings.

Top of the 11th, 4-4: Steve Hovley led off the inning by reaching on a botched dribbler by Tiger catcher Bill Freehan. Then. Up. Stepped. Otis. RBI triple. John Mayberry scored Otis with a sac fly. Did I mention Steve Busby was still pitching?

Bottom of the 11th, 6-4 Kansas City Rodriguez struck out looking. Willie Horton flied to right. Bill Freehan struck out looking. From the 7th to the 11th, Steve Busby retired the last 14 Tiger batters, capping a remarkable game. He had only 2/3 of the fatigue criteria. 

WP-Busby LP-LaGrow Amos Otis 4-6, 2 homers, triple, double, 4 RBI, 3 runs scored.

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