Sunday, September 03, 2006

Tigers Lose Series to Angels

The Tigers lost 2-1 tonight and also lost the weekend series 2 games to 1 to the Angels. The Tigers got more good pitching tonight, this time from starter Wil Ledezma and relievers Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney. Ledezma allowed just 2 runs on 3 hits and 6 innings just 4 days after holding the Yankees to 2 runs in 5 2/3 innings. Ledezma now has a 2.08 ERA over 17 1/3 innings in 3 starts. Zumaya followed with 2 perfect innings including his token strikeout of a superstar - Vladimir Guerrero. Fernando Rodney pitched a 1-2-3 9th.

As has so often been the case over the past month, the offense did not offer any support. Kelvim Escobar and Francisco Rodriguez allowed just 3 hits with the only run scoring as the result of an error by shortstop Orlando Cabrera. The run actually scored when Magglio Ordonez singled with the bases loaded in the third scoring Ramon Santiago. It looked like they might score 2 runs on the hit but Craig Monroe was cut down at the plate on a perfect throw from Juan Rivera.

Speaking of Santiago, the Tigers had the old 2003 keystone combination of Omar Infante and Santiago starting tonight. With the injuries to Placido Polanco and Carlos Guillen, the Tigers are now scrambling to fill the middle of the infield. They added Kevin Hooper before the game and he appeared as a pinch runner in the 9th inning. Guillen thinks he will only be out 3-4 games but there are no guarantees. Indications are that Polanco is still a couple of weeks from returning.

The good news today was that the Twins lost to the Yankees and the White Sox lost to the Royals. Thus, the Tigers lost no ground over the weekend. They are still 4 1/2 ahead of the White Sox and 5 ahead of the Twins with 4 weeks to go. .

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