With my $8.50 beer gone and the Tigers down 6-1 in the middle of the 4th inning last night, things looked bleak for their midweek series against the Minnesota Twins. However, the kitties stormed back with 10 unanswered runs last night, and tacked on 3 more today to win the final two games of the series, handing the Twins their first series loss of the season.
Game 1: Twins 2, Tigers 0
Admittedly, I didn’t care about this game very much; the Wings were prepping for Game 7 and I was prepping for my last exam, so I had other things on my mind. Unfortunately, the Tigers seemed the same way in this one. Francisco Liriano was dominant, pitching 8 innings of 4-hit baseball. He struck out 10 cats and only walked one. The Tigers committed three errors in the game, of which two directly led to the Twins’ two runs. Justin Verlander continued to struggle with his efficiency, throwing 121 pitches in just 5.2 innings.
Game 2: Tigers 11, Twins 6
Like my beer sadness implied, I was at the game last night thanks to the generosity of D4L reader (I hope) and BYB commenter Patty “Detroitchik” Justice. Max Scherzer struggled, giving up all 6 Twins runs in just 3.2 innings. The oft-maligned (by me) Brad Thomas came in and locked down the fort, pitching 2.1 shutout innings while the Tigers came back. They scored 4 runs in the bottom of the 4th and 6 runs in a monster 6th inning after Twins manager Ron Gardenhire was tossed for arguing the ruling on an error by CF Denard Span (I think he dropped it). Magglio Ordonez and Brandon Inge both had 3 RBI, while Brennan Boesch had 2 RBI on a near-grand-slam double off the wall. Phil Coke and Jose Valverde locked down the win for the Tigs. I’m obviously good luck, I should get tickets for the rest of the season. Maybe I’ll flap my arms around for good measure.
Game 3: Tigers 3, Twins 0
Of the three Tigers starters in this series, most fans expected Dontrelle Willis to struggle the most. The D-Train once again proved why the organization decided to bring him north after Spring Training, pitching 6 shutout innings. He gave up 4 hits and 2 walks, but struck out 6 Twinkies before leaving in the 7th inning. Joel Zumaya locked down the 7th and 8th, including an awesome 3-pitch strikeout of reigning MVP Joe Mauer. Valverde picked up his 7th save with a 3-up, 3-down 9th.
COUNTRY STRONG BULLPEN
The abusive treatment Jim Leyland and the Tigers starters have levied on the bullpen (they lead the majors in innings pitched) hasn’t had any ill effects just yet. The ‘pen pitched 11.2 innings in the three games, giving up just one unearned run. They did give up 8 walks, but also struck out 11 hitters. Still, Tigers fans would like to see the starters last longer than just 5-6 innings per game to give some of the relievers a rest.
MR. 2000, ERR…2001
Magglio Ordonez came into this series needing 4 hits to reach the coveted 2,000 hit milestone for his career. After an 0-for-4 night on Tuesday, Maggs had 5 hits in the last two games to get to 2,001 in his career. He received a standing ovation from the Tigers crowd today after he singled in the bottom of the 4th inning.
LOOKS AT THE ROOKS
Austin Jackson rebounded from a hitless first game (he did take a walk) with 4 hits and another walk in the last two games of the series. He scored 3 runs last night and once today, and singled in fellow rook Scott Sizemore from second this afternoon to put the Tigs up 2-0. Jackson also made a spectacular diving catch in center last night right after my buddy said the ball would drop. A-Jax is now hitting .330 and leads the AL with 31 base hits.
Despite my girlfriend’s opinion of him (she thinks he sucks), Scott Sizemore had a decent series. He went 2-for-6 in the two games he played (he had last night off), and scored a crucial run in today’s game on Jackson’s RBI single. He also bounced back from a costly error on Tuesday by turning two key double plays in today’s game.
Apparently, Brennan Boesch is quite the ladies’ man. When my buddy and I went down to the Tigers dugout after the game, Boesch was basically surrounded (or as surrounded as you can be with a dugout in your way) by women more interested in Boesch’s phone number than his actual autograph. Whether or not Boesch actually cashed in on a booty call, he deserved one after going 2-for-4 with a bases-loaded double to put the Tigers ahead 8-6. I’m assuming he was up late last night, because he was a very forgettable 0-for-2 before giving way to defensive replacement Don Kelly, who had an RBI single in his only at bat. Boesch didn’t play on Tuesday.
AROUND THE CENTRAL
Despite the saying that “you can’t win the division in April,” the Tigers really needed this series win. The Twins division lead was cut to just 1.5 games in what is looking like a 2-team race this year.
The Indians lost two of their three games against the Angels this week, finishing their 9-game road trip with a 3-6 record. They had today off before returning home for a 3-game set against the Twins.
The White Sox lost 2 of 3 against Texas after sweeping the Mariners. They sit at 9-13 on the season and head to New York tomorrow for a series against the Yankees.
The Royals followed the trend, losing 2 of 3 against Seattle this week. They started their 11-game road trip in Tampa Bay today before going to Chicago next and Texas last. Someone needs to buy their schedule maker a map. Check out the standings below. (Click to enlarge)
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