September 19, 1968 at Tiger Stadium
Tigers 6, Yankees 2 (99-54)
It’s funny how this Denny McLain win is almost more memorable then his 30th. With the pennant and the game firmly in hand, McLain grooved a pitch to Mickey Mantle in the eighth inning to give him a nice send off in what was his final at bat at the ballpark. The end result was Mantle’s 535rd career homer. Still McLain threw a nice game and he improved to 31-5. He gave up two runs on eight hits and three walks with seven strikeouts.
Norm Cash belted two homers and drove in three in the win. He finished a perfect three for three with a walk.
This game was also significant because it was the first big league start at shortstop by Mickey Stanley. With a loaded outfield and a lack of hitting at shortstop, Mayo Smith took the chance of a position move for Stanley and this game was the beginning of his warm up at the position heading into the World Series.