Well, It Had to Happen Sooner or Later

The Tigers lost their first game of the Spring today after a quick 3-0 start, falling 11-2 to the Central rival Cleveland Indians in Lakeland.

Tigers' reliever Jason Grilli had an absolutely miserable outing today, as he gave up eight hits, seven earned runs and running his Spring ERA to 47.25.  The Tribe did not need that many runs to win this tilt today, as the Tigers offense was kept relatively quiet -- Craig Monroe's solo shot got things started in the second inning, only to see the Tigers not score another run until the seventh inning when Neifi Perez knocked one in on a sac fly.

AP Photo/David J. Phillip

One relatively positive outcome from today's lousy performance for the Tigers was the outing by starter Nate Robertson.  Making his first appearance of the spring, Robertson had two shutout innings on the mound.

Cameron Maybin, the Tigers OF prospect who got an invite to join the big league club this Spring, made an appearance as CF today late in the game.  Unfortunately for the Tigers, Maybin struck out at the plate in his only at bat of the day.

Today was just a good old-fashioned beating at the hands of the Tribe.  Good thing this is only Spring Training -- although it's always fun to see a win in any game, no matter when it comes about.