In the 10th inning after a pair of singles, one from Clete Thomas and the other from Miguel Cabrea, Carlos Guillen tapped one up the middle on a 2-2 pitch into center field for a single that brought Clete Thomas around from 2nd base to score the game winning run. Tigers win 4-3 in the 10th inning. It was then Billy Zane who said it best. Listen to your buddy Billy Zane, he’s a cool dude:
This game was thrilling to say the least. In the bottom of the 9th the Tigers, who appeared to stash their hitting sticks away after the first inning, put runners at the corners with one out. Ramon Santiago then popped out to the shortstop, not doing his job (or doing his job by not ending the game and hitting into a double play), which left it all up to Curtis Granderson with two outs.
I love Curtis Granderson and if you held a gun to my head and told me I had to pick just one Tiger to be my answer to “Who’s your Tiger?” I’d probably pick him. But when he got in a quick 0-2 hole to Bobby Jenks, my hopes of him pulling through in the clutch dwindled as I could not remember for the life of me if Granderson ever had a 9th inning, or extra inning, game tying or winning hit. I could, however, remember countless times Granderson ended games with a big, fat “K.” I was thinking negatively (shame on me) that this was for sure how it would end. However, Jenks threw an 0-2 fastball that was way too good of a pitch for a quality pitcher to be throwing was jammed by Granderson past Konerko at first and down the right field line for an RBI, game tying double. Rejoice!
Now, you might be wondering if Marcus Thames, who was running from first on the double, could have scored to end the game. The answer to that is easy: No. He would have been out by a mile. Someone mentioned to me that had Leyland pinch ran for Thames, the Tigers would have been celebrating Granderson’s double on the field. That would also be false as Magglio (slow) and Dusty Ryan (slow) were the only “runners” available after Leyland pinch ran for Brandon Inge with Adam Everett.
Either way, I don’t think many people score on that particular double, except maybe for Josh Anderson and, as we all know, he was designated for assignment and is probably wasting his sorrows away somewhere in Nevada. I will say, Brandon Inge seemed to be running just fine as he ran onto the field to greet Guillen after the walk-off single. Who knows? Maybe Adam Everett could have scored from first on Granderson’s double if Leyland had saved him to run for Thames. Doesn’t matter though, because Inge’s run was most important and the Tigers ended up winning. Shame on me for bringing up an irrelevant discussion after a walk off win. I’m just saying is all.
I digress.
After this amazing win today, the Tigers will go for the Mr. Clean sweep tomorrow on ESPN’s Sunday Night Baseball and hope to up their now three game lead to four games. The Tigers have been bad on national television in the past couple years, although I do not have an official stat for that, but hopefully Rick Porcello and Co. can change that in a big way.
For tonight, let’s celebrate the walk-off by listening to some Michael Jackson, “Beat It.” I’m going monk.
Go Tigers!
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