Friday, April 5, 1996 | 11:59 a.m.
It started as a track meet but finished as a marathon.
In a game where teams seemingly scored at will for nine innings, action slowed to crawl. Then Detroit's Mel Nieves hit a bloop single to score Bobby Higginson in the 15th inning and gave the Tigers a 10-9 victory over the Oakland A's in front of 8,346 at Cashman Field Thursday afternoon ... and night.
"These guys battled their (butts) off," Tigers rookie manager Buddy Bell said of the 4-hour, 47-minute affair. "They were (upset). They wanted to win this game."
The A's, who have yet to win in three tries this season, were able to force extra innings when the Tigers blew a seven-run, eighth-inning lead.
"We got a lot of key hits until we reached extra innings," A's manager Art Howe said, "and then we couldn't get one key hit. That's a tough game to lose."
Higginson, who was 4 for 6 with a three-run home run and three runs scored, singled off Aaron Small (0-1) with one out in the 15th and advanced to second on a passed ball. Cecil Fielder followed with a walk to bring Nieves to the plate.
With a count of three balls and no strikes, Bell told Nieves, an ex-Las Vegas Star, to swing away.
"I just wanted to get the game over with," said Nieves, who went 3 for 6 with two doubles and a pair of runs. "It wasn't the greatest pitch, but when I get to 3-0, I have to swing the bat. I'm (the No. 5 hitter) and I'm expected to drive in runs. They gave me the green light. It didn't matter where the ball was. I was swinging."
Greg Keagle (1-0), who finished the 1995 season with Las Vegas, pitched the final three innings for the victory, his first in the major leagues.
The Tigers jumped all over A's starter Todd Van Poppel, who gave up seven earned runs with no strikeouts in 4 1/3 innings. Van Poppel was finally knocked out by back-to-back home runs from Higginson and Travis Fryman that made the score 7-1 in the fifth inning.
In the sixth, Fryman hit his second homer in as many innings, this time a two-run shot off Don Wengert to give Detroit a 9-2 lead.
But in the eighth, Scott Brosius capped a six-run Oakland surge with his second home run of the day, a three-run blast to make it 9-8.
Tigers closer Brian Williams came on in the ninth for the save, but loaded the bases with a pair of walks and a throwing error before walking in the tying run.
Williams' blown save gave Detroit starter Omar Olivares the no-decision. Olivares gave up four runs on eight hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Around the horn
* LONGBALL: Neither team came close to equalling their longest games in club history. The A's played a 21-inning affair against the Washington Senators -- managed by Ted Williams -- in 1971. The Tigers went 24 innings in 1945. They also played a seven-hour, 22-inning game in 1962.
* HOW BAD IS IT?: With Thursday's loss, Oakland matched last season's opening skid at three games. Another loss tonight and the A's will be one shy of a team record. Only the 1979 and '87 squads lost more than three to start a season. Each dropped its first five. ... Including Oakland's nine-game slide to end last season, the team has lost 12 straight. ... The A's issued 11 walks for the second consecutive game and have allowed 26 in their three games this season. ... When Terry Steinbach flied out in the seventh inning, it ended a personal streak of five straight strikeouts that began Wednesday.
* DUCK FOR COVER: When a ball was scorched down the right-field line into a crowd of Detroit players, forcing them to scatter during Oakland's batting practice, former Las Vegas Star and current Tiger Eddie Williams deadpanned "I didn't even have to look to see who hit it." The line drive came off the bat of an embarrassed Phil Plantier, who was traded from Detroit to Oakland two weeks ago today. "We're sorry, Phil," Tigers manager Buddy Bell yelled. "We didn't mean it."
* HALL-OF-FAME CREDENTIALS: With the games Saturday and Sunday being beamed back to Detroit, a pair of Hall-of-Famers will be in Cashman Field's pressbox. The Tigers' TV crew of Al Kaline and George Kell are both former AL batting champions. ... With no cable TV telecasts planned by the Tigers, Hall-of-Fame announcer Ernie Harwell will not be in town.
* FASTBALLS: Tiger catcher Mark Parent, who played for the Stars from 1985-87, is building a home in Las Vegas. Now living in San Diego, Parent said he was tired of paying California taxes even though he hadn't played for the Padres since '90. ... Reigning Miss USA Ali Landry will throw out tonight's first pitch. Landry, of Louisiana, was crowned Miss USA last month. She will return to Las Vegas May 17 to represent the United States in the Miss Universe Pageant at the Aladdin Theatre of Performing Arts. ... While in town, the Tigers are staying at the Sheraton Desert Inn. The A's are at the Rio.
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