Tigers Finish Sweep of Twins

I was out running a 5k followed by a 10k today so I missed most of the game. I did manage to see the last two innings of the combined two hit shutout over the Minnesota Twins by Kenny Rogers and Todd Jones. The Tigers swept the Twins 9-0,18-1 and 6-0 for a combined 33-1 for the three game series. I can’t remember the last time the Tigers dominated a series quite like that. In yesterday’s post, I detailed the 27 run 38 hit attack over the first two games. Today, most of the hitting came from the bottom of the order as Craig Monroe, Marcus Thames and Vance Wilson got 7 of the team’s 9 hits and 5 of the team’s 6 RBI. This included a three run double by Wilson and a two run homer by Thames.

The story of the day though was Kenny Rogers who allowed just 2 hits and one walk in 8 shutout innings. In fact, the story of the past two weeks has been starting pitching. In the last twelve games, the Tiger starters have combined to pitch 82 1/3 innings for a 2.08 ERA while allowing only 52 hits, 25 walks and 5 home runs. The twelve games listed in chart below have included 11 quality starts. The only game which did not qualify came close to a quality start - Mike Maroth allowed 4 runs in 6 innings last Wednesday against the Angels. Not surprisingly, the Tigers have gone 9-3 over this stretch.

Table: Tiger Starters between April 18-30

Date	Pitcher	Opponent	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K
4/18	Verlander	At OAK	7	5	4	3	2	3	7
4/19	Rogers	At OAK	7 1/3	3	3	3	1	2	1
4/20	Bonderman	At OAK	7	5	3	3	0	2	1
4/21	Maroth	At SEA	6	4	0	0	0	3	3
4/22	Robertson	At SEA	7	2	0	0	0	2	4
4/23	Verlander	At SEA	7	4	1	1	0	2	3
4/24	Rogers	At LAA	7	4	2	2	1	3	3
4/25	Bonderman	At LAA	6	3	2	2	0	1	6
4/26	Maroth	At LAA	6	9	4	4	1	3	2
4/28	Robertson	Vs. MIN	7	5	0	0	0	1	7
4/29	Verlander	Vs. MIN	7	6	1	1	0	2	4
4/30	Rogers	Vs. MIN	8	2	0	0	0	1	4
			82 1/3	52	20	19	5	25	45