.500! Tigers 7, Rockies 6

by Ian Casselberry on Jun 28, 2008 11:08 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Yes, I know the photo is from 300, which isn't .500. But really, doesn't that image look more fearsome? You can imagine all those bodies strewn across the ground as NL West teams. Or maybe this is how it looked in the Comerica Park stands after Todd Jones blew the save in the ninth by giving up four runs on five hits.

(Wasn't the heavy booing - or cheers for Leyland when he came out of the dugout to replace Jones - a bit harsh? Yes, blowing a three-run lead is brutal, and it was the kind of implosion that we've been dreading from him. And the prospects of not reaching .500 after fighting so hard to get there seemed hugely disappointing. But that was Jonesy's first blown save of the season, folks.)

This walk-off stuff is pretty fun, eh? The Tigers have pulled it out in the bottom of the ninth in three of their last four games. Remember earlier in the season when it seemed like they could never overcome a deficit? I'm pretty sure I called this team mentally weak more than once. But not anymore. Push these Tigers into a corner and they fight back. And they've clawed back all the way to a 40-40 record just before the halfway mark of the season.

The Golden Tiger Claw goes to Ryan Raburn, who replaced the oblique-tweaked Magglio Ordonez (he, Brandon Inge, and Gary Sheffield can form a new club) and gave Detroit a major boost off the bench. First, he brought his big boi bat in the fourth inning for a grand slam that broke the game open - at least until the ninth inning. But in that ninth, Raburn drew a walk that made him the lead run. And he officially became the game-winning run when Miguel Cabrera blasted a double into the right-center field gap to send the Comerica Park crowd home happy.

Roll Call

Saturdays aren't often a big night in the GameThreads, but those who stayed felt like champions when this one was over.

Thanks to MSU4LIF, Boney (Boney!), rock n rye, dettigionswings'stons, Juskimo, ThaWalrus9 (Next time I'll post the roller coaster pic sooner if you're not around), LosTigres, densogirl (Gum Time!), tplants, ahtrap, rossjohnson87, Wingz, DtownsMurdersRow (Welcome!), HavocRox, and spotstarters for hanging in for another thrilling night of baseball.

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seriously, watching the top of the ninth, I thought I’d jinxed it by stopping by the game thread and declaring that I was off to see the dawn of the .500 era….but….maybe it was because of the past week’s heroic, maybe it was because I’ve had Brian Fuentes on my fantasy team before, I wasn’t feeling like the game was over, and the Rockies had it made. It was more like, “I wonder if Gary Sheffield is coming up this inning,” and isn’t that a sweet, and unexpected thought to have in its own right?

I was tasked to go grab a refill of pop right as Raburn was at bat, and I totally missed seeing him get on base, even though I kept peeking around the post to the TV that had the Tigers game on….

And so when Miggy got the hit, I wasn’t even aware that there were two on, I thought Scrub had tied it up, and was going to be on second with one down, and hey we might win this thing….and then everyone comes pouring out of the dugout, and I’m seriously slow to react thinking, whoa, can they get an interference penalty or some sort of out via some obscure rule for celebrating a tying run like that….and then it dawns, finally, and it’s all good….

Like I said in the game thread, celebrating a friend’s birthday today….she never actually made it to the bar, as we’d been drinking and hanging out poolside from like 1 to 7:30….between splashing around all day, the copious amount of libations, and the Tigers winning in exhilarating fashion (plus still being tired after going to see Rush in concert last night (two word review: BLEEPing amazing!), I’m going to sleep very well tonight.

by ahtrap on Jun 29, 2008 12:51 AM EDT reply actions

BIG BOI bat indeed,

Raburn was the big boi tonight. HAM (Heart Attack Man) proved that he IS spending all his money on life insurance plan. I watched this game at a bar in the GR, and let me tell you HAM was public enemy numero uno. Just as the guy beside states, “lets see if Cabrera is actually worth all that money”, he drives into the gap…we look at each other…no words needed to be exchanged. Another great win.

by Zappatista on Jun 29, 2008 1:33 AM EDT reply actions