Monday, August 07, 2006

Tigers Club Liriano, Twins

Francisco Liriano came into tonight's game with a Major League leading 1.93 ERA and is a leading candidate for both the Rookie of the Year and Cy Young Awards. Today, the Tigers pounded him for 4 runs on 10 hits in 4 innings as they went on to defeat the Twins 9-3. It was the kind of performance that makes one wonder if the elbow problem which caused him to miss his previous start is more serious than he is saying. I'm glad that he didn't have it tonight but I wouldn't wish a serious injury for an exciting young pitcher on any team.

In all, the Tigers had 13 hits including home runs by Marcus Thames and sizzling Craig Monroe. Monroe had 3 hits on the night and Magglio Ordonez and Placido Polanco added 2 apiece. One can only hope that this game gets Ordonez going as he has been quietly slumping in the second half: .250/.298/.357 in 28 games since July 1. It's hard to find fault with anything the Tigers are doing right now but this is not the kind of production you want from the clean-up hitter on a most likely plaoff bound team.

On the pitching side, Zach Miner allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 6 1/3 innings before yielding to Joel Zumaya in the 7th. Miner, who was left off the 40 man roster during the off-season, has filled in admirably for the injured Mike Maroth. He has compiled a 4.05 ERA in 12 starts.

The win put the Tigers an astounding 40 games over .500 and gave them a 10 game lead over the second place White Sox. Here are the current standings:

AL Central Standings – August 7, 2006

Team

W

L

PCT.

GB

Detroit

76

36

.679

---

Chicago

65

45

.591

10

Minnesota

65

46

.586

10 ½

Cleveland

47

63

.427

28

Kansas City

38

73

.342

37 ½

2 comments:

  1. Apparently, Liriano's elbow will at least land him on the DL. He was almost in tears after the game, talking about the pain (which was different than he'd felt before).

    I'd hate to see the Twins' playoff run determined by injuries. And like you, Lee, I'd hate to see such a promising young talent cut down so early. I just hope it's not (Tommy John surgery?) serious.

    ReplyDelete
  2. yeah, I read about it this morning. It doesn't sound good.

    ReplyDelete

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