Tigers 7 Orioles 5

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Armando Galarraga pitched around some shoddy defense in the first two innings.  In the first, Santiago made a two out error to extend the inning and Galarraga’s pitch count.  In the second, Brennan Boesch lost Adam Jones’s liner.  Jones was given a single but Boesch should have made the play.  Fortunately, Galarraga was able to overcome both miscues and shut the O’s down.

The Tigers got on the board in the second when Alex Avila drove in a run with a two out single driving in Carlos Guillen from third.

With two on and two out in the third, Don Kelly made a great diving catch in center field to take a hit and an RBI away from Ty Wigginton.

Johnny Damon singled with one out in the third for his 2,500 career hit.  Magglio Ordonez followed with a single to put runners at first and second with one out but Cabbie took a backwards K and Boesch flew out to end the inning with the Tigers failing to score.

Another runner in scoring position with less than two outs that the Tigers didn’t score.

Miguel Cabrerra made a fantastic play in the sixth.  Weiters lead off with a double.  Felix Pie hit a hard ground ball to first.   Cabbie fielded the ball and threw Weiters out at third.  Galarraga got Lugo to fly out but walked the ninth place hitter Izturis.  Luckily, he struck out Patterson to end the inning and preserve the one run lead.

The Orioles had runners in each of the first seven innings and finally got to Galarraga in the 7th.  Tejada singled to lead off the inning then Markakas hit a line drive over the right field wall to give the Orioles a 2-1 lead.  Armando retired the next two hitters, but after a triple by Weiters, was relieved by Phil Coke.

Coke gave up a single to Pie to drive in Weiters.  Coke was then relieved by Gonzalez.

While pitching to Lugo, Alex Avila threw out his second runner of the night at second, Pie, to end the inning.

The O’s picked up a run in the eighth but the Tigers responded with a 2 in the bottom of the inning.  Cabbie tripled and came home on a single by B Money, Brennan Boesch. Guillen struck out but I Money, Brandon Inge, tripled in Boesch.
 
Avila struck out, Santiago walked and then Austin Jackson pinch hit for Don Kelly. Unfortunately, Ajax grounded out leaving the tying run at third.

The Orioles picked up another run in the ninth on a one out single by Lugo but the inning was set up when Santiago missed a ground ball at short that could have been a double play but ended up putting runners at first and third with nobody out.

Damon led off the ninth with a walk.  Magglio struck out and Cabbie blasted a two run homer deep over the left field wall to tie the score.

Valverde pitched a scoreless tenth and Ryan Perry pitched a scoreless eleventh.

The Tigers ended it in the 11th when Ajax lead off with a single and then Johnny Damon slammed a 2 run homer to right.

With the Twins beating the Jay earlier, this was a huge win!

Mets Dust Tigers Again!

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The Tigers wasted chances early.

In the first after Damon flew out, Santiago walked and Magglio singled putting runners at first and second with one out.  Cabrera flew out, Boesch walked loading the bases but Guillen grounded out to end the inning.

Another runner in scoring position with less than two outs that the
Tigers couldn’t cash in.

In the second, Damon led off with a single and stole second.  Santiago bunted him over to third but both Magglio and Cabbie grounded out weakly stranding Damon at third.

Another runner in scoring position with less than two outs that the Tigers couldn’t cash in.

Are we seeing a pattern here?

Bonderman looked good, especially if the first when Reyes led off with a triple but was stranded there.  Bonderman struck out Pagan, Wright grounded to third and Davis grounded to first.

After retiring the first two in the third, Reyes singled and stole second, Pagan walked and Wright doubled.  Bondo got Davis to ground to Santiago ending the inning and limiting the damage to 1 run.

The Mets knuckleballer, R.A. Dickey was smoking balls, retiring 4 consecutive Tigers on 4 pitches.  Inge ended the streak with a two out single but Avilla flied out to left ending the inning.

Bondo retired the Mets 1, 2, 3, in the fourth on 4 pitches.

With two outs in the 5th Reyes got his third hit in three at bats with hit a solo shot.  Pagan flew out to end the inning, 2-0 Mets after 5.

Bondo gave way to Zumaya after the first two batters reached in the seventh.  Zumaya came into to face pitcher Dickey and walked him on four straight balls.  Reyes grounded to second and Gullien threw Blanco out at the plate.  Feliciano pinch hit for Pagan and grounded to second scoring Tejada.  After Zumaya walked David Wright, Leyland made a double switch, bringing in Coke for Zumaya and Rayburn for Inge. 

Ike Davis singled on an 0-2 pitch from Coke scoring two.  Wright was thrown out at third to end the inning.  5-0 Mets after seven.

Francisco Rodriguez came out for the ninth and surrendered only a single to Cabrera.

The Mets dusted the Tigers for the second night in a row.

Mets Dust Tigers 14-6

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Not that it mattered by why did G-Money Laird bat second?

The Mets jumped on the Tigers early with 2 in the second and 8 in the third.  JV didn’t look good and left the game with nobody out, and two men on in the third, after a 58 minute rain delay.

The Tigers got on the board in the fourth with a one out double by Cabbie and a monster home run by B-Money Brennan Boesch.

The Mets came back with one run in their half of the fourth.

The Tigers had a chance to really cut into the lead.  They sent 10 men to the plate in the fifth scoring 4 runs but Ryan Rayburn got caught looking with the bases loaded to end the rally.

The Tigers tried to claw there way back but the bullpen was horrible.

Verlander was charged with 5 earned runs in 2 innings.

Back at em tomorrow.

Tigers 8 Nationals 3

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The Tigers picked up their 5th consecutive win tonight.  After falling behind 2-0 on solo shots by Bernadina and Dunn, the Tigers scored 4 in the second and 1 in the third to take a 5-2 lead.  Justin Verlander was smoking balls again with another quality start.  He threw 116 pitches, going 8 innings, giving up 3 earned runs, striking out 11, walking 0, and hitting one batter.

The Tigers had a chance to pick up a run in the 6th.  Boesch grounded to 1st.  Guillen doubled, Inge walked, but Laird popped to short and Santiago grounded to 1st squandering another chance to score with a runner at second and less than two outs.

The Tigers blew it open in the 7th.  After two outs, Magglio and Cabrera singled and Brennan Boesch dusted a 423 foot, three run homer to right, giving the Tigers some insurance.

After getting 7 hits over the weekend Johnny Damon is 0-10 in this series.
.
The series wraps up tomorrow with a 1:05 start.

Tigers win 4th in a row 7-4 over Nationals

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The Tigers beat the Nationals today 7-4.  It didn’t start out great as the Tigers again failed to score runners in scoring position with two outs early in the game.

The Nationals led 1-0 in the bottom of the 2nd.  The Tigers loaded the bases with nobody out but only managed to score one run.  Worth grounded to short but the Nationals got Guillen at the plate.  Rayburn walked forcing in Inge but Damon grounded out and Magglio flew out.

Cabbie led off the 3rd with a double.  Boesch grounded to second moving Cabbie to third.  Gullien ground to first, the Nationals tried to cut down Cabrera at the plate but the throw wasn’t in time and Gullien was safe at first.  Inge popped out, Laird singled and Worth grounded to third.  The 3rd ended with the Tigers trailing 3-2.

The Tigers tied the score at 4 with two in the 4th.

In the fifth, the Tigers took the lead for good.  After a hit and a walk, Rayburn dusted a three run homer putting the Tigers ahead 7-4.

Scherzer pitched 6 innings, giving up 4 ER and striking out nine.

Aside from a hit batter and a walk in the ninth by Valverde, the Tigers bullpen was perfect.

Laird was 3-4 and Coke and Zumaya were aces.

Verlander takes the mound tomorrow against Hernandez.

GALARRAGA WAS PERFECT!

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Armando Galarraga was perfect tonight although he won’t get credit for a perfect game.  After Armando retired the first 26 batters of the game, Jason Donald hit a ground ball between first and second.  Miguel Cabrera fielded the ball and threw to Galarraga in plenty of time to get Donald and solidify a perfect game.  The only problem was that first base umpire Jim Joyce called Donald safe.

Mark Grudzielanek led off the ninth with a deep drive to left center.  Tigers center fielder Austin Jackson made a Willie Mays, over the shoulder, catch and the perfect game seemed like destiny.  But it was not to be.

The final line for Galarraga was 9 innings, 0 BBI, 3 strike outs, and 1 gift hit.

The good news is that the Tigers beat the Indians 3-0.

I’ve never felt so terrible after a Tiger win.
 

Indians 3 Tigers 2

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The Tigers blew another quality start by Bonderman.  Bondo went 8 innings and allowed only 3 runs, two of them on solo shots by Branyan and Choo.

The starting pitching has come around but the bats have gone to sleep.  Jake Westbrook had the Tigers off balance all night surrendering only 1 run in 7 and two thirds.

An encouraging sign comes from Alex Avila.  Avila had two singles yesterday and singled in a run in his only at bat in the 9th tonight with two outs.

It is time for Avila to play everyday.

Mariners 5 Tigers 4

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It was a tough loss for the Tigers today as the bullpen, Perry, couldn’t hold a 3 run eighth inning lead, and spoiled a gem by Bonderman.

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I was hoping Lelyand would leave Bondo in for the 8th.  He threw 94 pitches, gave up one run, and
struck out 6.  Instead he opted to bring in Perry.

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Today wasn’t Rick Perry’s day, although the Mariners did hit
some good pitches. 

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Sweeny homered off of a good pitch from Perry, a low slider and  Johnson drove in two off a slow slider as well.

The Tigers finished the road trip 3-4 and head home to face the A’s.

Although he had a single today, why is Laird playing everyday?  We need to find out what Avila can do.

Seattle 5 Tigers 3

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The Tigers’ old nemesis came back to haunt them.  Unable to score runners at third base with less then two outs proved costly.

In the second inning, with runners at first and third with one out Worth got a base hit scoring one run.  Jackson followed with a doubled to plate the Tigers second run leaving runners at second and third with still one out.  Santiago then grounded to third and Damon flew out.  The inning ended with the score tied at 2.

It the third inning, with runners at first and third and one out, Inge hit the ball hard but lined into a double play ending the inning.

The Tigers left two runs that could have been scored without a hit.  Those two runs proved to be the difference.

Verlander pitched seven and third giving up 5 runs and striking out 9.

Alex Avila was 1 for 4.  I could be wrong about him but isn’t it time he plays everyday for a while?  Let him prove he can’t hit.  Laird has already proved he can’t.

A few areas of concern for the 5-1 Tigers

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The Tigers have won five of their first six games but there are still some troubling signs.  First Justin Verlander has not looked that great in his first two starts this season.  He gave up 4 earned runs in five plus innings in his first start again Kansas City and 6 earned today in his second start in 5 innings against Cleveland.

Second, the Tigers still have a hard time scoring runners at second and third with less than two outs.  This is a phenomenon that has plagued the Tigers for the past few seasons.  In fact, if not for a 3 run error by Jhonny Peralta, the Tigers may not have won their home opener on Friday.

That being said, Willis and Bonderman have looked pretty good and there seems to be some magic around this team.  They play 27 outs and have pulled out some impressive come from behind wins so far this young season.

If JV can find his form and the Tigers get some clutch hitting, this could be a great season.

Look for Alex Avilia to get some more playing time.  On Saturday, even though he got caught looking in his last at bat with the bases loaded, he did work two walks and a HBP in his previous three plate appearances.  In his last at bat he looked anxious.  He swung a few questionable pitches early in the AB and got caught by a marginal third strike for the backwards K.  Still Avila is the real deal.