Bonine and Granderson shine versus Rockies

Eddie Bonine cruised through eight five hit innings as the Tigers smacked the Rockies tonight 7-1 in the opener of a three game series. The best thing about Bonine's performance was that he threw strikes - 69 of 99 pitches went for strikes and he walked nobody. The second best thing was that he got 17 outs on ground balls including one double play ball. He did exactly what a pitcher without dominating stuff needs to do - get the ball over and keep it down.

The Tigers got all the runs they needed in the first inning when they scored two off of Rockies starter Ubaldo Jimenez. Red hot Curtis Granderson led off with a single, stole second and scored on a Carlos Guillen double. Guillen then scored on a single by Miguel Cabrera.

Granderson was involved in quite a bit of the Tigers scoring tonight. He got four hits for the second straight game, including two triples, scored three runs and knocked in another. The internet fan favorite had a slow start to the season but he's back in a big way. Grandy now has a 15 game hitting streak in which he has gone 27 for 61 for a .443 batting average.

Clete Thomas continued his good play going three for three with a double and a walk. The wide eyed but fearless rookie is now batting .325 with a .395 OBP. I was initially not too happy to see him taking at bats away from Thames but Jim Leyland seems to be doing a good job mixing and matching as of late.

Game two of the series is at 7:05 tomorrow night with Justin Verlander facing Jeff Francis.