Tonight’s game against the Minnesota Twins was Detroit’s first visit to Target Field, the new ballpark that the Twins are calling home this season. However, despite Tigers fans celebrating the ‘downfall of the dome,’ the team must have still thought they were in the Metrodome. Max Scherzer gave up all 10 earned runs in just 4.1 innings, taking his second loss of the season.
The Tigers’ offense cut the Minnesota lead to 7-3 with runs in the fourth and fifth innings, but the Twins answered with three more runs in the bottom of the 5th to push the lead back up to 7 runs. The Tigers added a cheap run in the 9th to make it 10-4.
EASY LIKE SUNDAY MORNING
I failed in my promise to write a recap of yesterday’s 5-1 win over the Angels, so here’s the basic idea. Justin Verlander realized it was May and pitched into the 9th, giving up one run in the final frame before being pulled. He was untouchable in innings 2-8, setting down 23 straight Angels batters, and gave up just 3 hits the entire day. He had 7 strikeouts and no walks. The Tigers scored 4 runs in the 5th on RBI singles from Ramon Santiago and Miguel Cabrera, and an RBI double from Brennan Boesch. Austin Jackson singled in a run in the 6th inning to make the Tigers lead 5-0.
CASE OF THE MONDAYS
As good as Verlander was yesterday, Scherzer was just as bad tonight. Despite only throwing 87 pitches, he gave up 10 runs on 8 hits and 4 walks, including a bomb of a home run by Michael Cuddyer. He only struck out one Twin batter. In two starts against the Twins this year, Scherzer has given up 16 earned runs on 18 hits and 4 walks, with only 3 K’s. That won’t fly if Maxi Pad decides to stay in Detroit for a while.
JOE WHO?
Wilson Ramos, the catching prospect called up to replace Joe Mauer while he’s on the DL, was 3-of-4 tonight with an RBI and a run scored. The scary part? He only saw 9 pitches. In his brief 2-game career, he’s hitting .778 (7-for-9) after an abysmal Spring Training. Maybe the Twins didn’t need to give Mauer a huge contract extension after all.
NICK PUNTO LOOKS SILLY
Seriously, this is the only part of the game where anyone in a Twins uniform looked bad.
LOOKS AT THE ROOKS
Austin Jackson continues to stay white hot, collecting 3 hits in 5 at bats tonight. He was a home run short of the cycle. He was also 3-for-5 yesterday, collecting an RBI in each game. His season average is up to .377. Wow.
Scott Sizemore had tonight off, but he went 2-for-3 with a run scored in yesterday’s game. He’s hitting .265 on the year.
Update: Forgot about Brennan Boesch. Boesch was 2-for-4 with an RBI double in the 4th inning. He’s hitting .300 in his brief MLB stint.
AROUND THE CENTRAL
The Indians lost to the Blue Jays 5-1 tonight. Jays pitcher Brett Cecil took a perfect game into the 7th inning before he walked two Injuns and then gave up a hit.
The White Sox beat the Royals 5-1 behind Jake Peavy’s strong outing (7.0 IP, 4 H, 0 R, 9 K, 1 BB). Alex Rios and Andruw Jones both had 2 RBI, and Alexei Ramirez hit his second home run of the season.
I’ll update with standings later when ESPN/Yahoo stop their fail, or when MLB.com updates theirs.
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