Friday, April 14, 2006

Tigers End Four Game Skid

For the first time this week, I got a chance to sit down and watch a full game without interruptions. Lately, I've either been at work or getting home late from the work or the gym. Tonight, I was free to watch the game on TV...well, there was one glitch. Comcast somehow disconnected me from MLB Extra Innings and I had to call them to get it fixed. I missed the top half of the first inning but once I settled in, it was a great game.

The Tigers stopped their 4 game losing streak by defeating the Cleveland Indians 5-1. The home run barrage continued as Brandon Inge hit a pair (I'm sure Samara is celebrating) and Curtis Granderson hit one. The Tigers now have 24 home runs in their first 10 games. Chris Shelton did not hit a home run tonight but collected a double and triple giving him 15 extra base hits for the season.

The one thing the Tigers got tonight which they had not been getting this week was really strong pitching. Kenny Rogers was not dominant but he scattered 7 hits, 3 walks and a hit batsman over 8 innings and only allowed one run. Despite all the base runners, I never got the feeling that Rogers was in big trouble. He seemed to be in command all night. Fernando Rodney similarly closed the game out without making anybody nervous. The pitching was aided by some solid infield defense. Guillen in particular made a couple of nice plays at shortstop.

The one negative was that Dmitri Young strained his quad pulling up at third base in the sixth inning. it's never good to see anyone get hurt but if Young has to sit for a while, he is the most replaceable player in the line-up. The injury indeed looked like one that will keep him out for at least a few games. This should mean more at bats for Omar Infante and Marcus Thames. Hopefully, it will also put an end to Chris Shelton batting sixth.

The Tigers and Indians go at it again tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 as Jeremy Bonderman faces Fausto Carmona. I'm really hoping for a good start from Bonderman. He was a little shakey the last time out and they really need him to come through this year if they are to finish .500 or better.

Maroth Update

Jason Beck is reporting that Mike Maroth is still not 100% but that he still plans to start on Sunday:

"I didn't test it at all today," Maroth said. "I was hoping to feel 100 percent today, and I didn't feel 100 percent."

"It's been a question mark since we started. And I don't want to be a question mark. I want to be a guy that the team can count on. It still could be fine, but at this point you take it day to day."


That does not sound especially encouraging.

1 comment:

  1. As you'll see in today's post, I'm not agreeing with Leyland on this particular issue.

    ReplyDelete

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