Stars Defeat Monarchs on Inge Blast.

The Detroit Stars defeated the Kansas City Monarchs tonight on a dramatic 10th inning homer by Brandon Inge. It was a wild game which saw the Stars leading the whole way until Todd Jones allowed 2 runs in the top of the 9th to make it 8-8. In the bottom of the 10th frame, Sean Casey reached first with a one out base hit to center field. Then Brandon Inge followed with a line drive homer to left and was met by a mob scene at the plate. It was the second time this week that Inge won a game with a hit in extra innings. The other one was on Thursday versus the Twins.

Despite the final line of 5 runs in 5 2/3 innings, Justin Verlander actually had some great stuff tonight. A combination of some wicked movement and Pudge Rodriguez not doing a great job blocking the plate led to 3 wild pitches and a passed ball. At least 3 and perhaps 4 of the runs would not have scored if not for the wild pitches and passed ball.

The Tigers have been getting pretty solid relief performances from their patchwork bullpen in recent weeks but today it got a bit sloppy. Jason Grilli got them out of the 6th despite throwing another wild pitch. Macay McBride gave up another run in the 8th to make it 8-6. Todd Jones, then entered the game in the 9th and allowed 3 singles and 2 runs for his 5th blown save of the year. Jones receives a lot of criticism from Stars fans but he had been unscored upon in 9 previous appearances before tonight. Thankfully, Chad Durbin kept the game tied with a perfect 10th giving the Tigers the opportunity to win it in the bottom of the inning.

There were other hitting heroes besides Inge for the Stars tonight. Craig Monroe who had been slumping badly for about 2 months returned from a back problem today to get a double, a homer and 4 RBI. The homer was his first since June 1. Ryan Raburn hit his Major League homer leading off the first inning for the Stars and Placido Polanco added a solo shot in the 7th. Gary Sheffield had 3 hits on the night.

The series finale will take place tomorrow afternoon at 1:05 with Nate Robertson opposing Brian Bannister.