First Place, Anyone? Tigers 3, Royals 2

by Ian Casselberry on Apr 26, 2009 9:00 PM EDT in Detroit Tigers News

Armando Galarraga picked up where he left off last year against the Royals this afternoon, allowing just one run and three hits over six innings. The Little Cat also struck out seven batters, leaving K.C.'s Sidney Ponson to wonder where his run support was today. (Especially with the Royals drawing five walks.) In three starts versus Galarraga since he joined the Tigers, Kansas City has scored just four runs in 20 innings.

The bottom half of Detroit's lineup continues to impress, with most of the offense coming from Brandon Inge and Josh Anderson, who hit a combined 4-for-6. Inge hit his seventh home run of the season, currently tied for the second-highest total in the majors. Anderson went 3-for-3, with a stolen base. His speed and left-handed bat has given a much different look to the Tigers' lineup.

With the win, and a White Sox loss to Toronto this afternoon, the Tigers return to Detroit in sole possession of first place in the AL Central.

Whimper:

Maybe we're nitpicking a bit, but closers giving up home runs in the ninth inning never looks good. Fortunately for Fernando Rodney, he had a two-run lead and no one was on base when he threw one too many change-ups to Mike Aviles. That was Aviles's first home run of the season, by the way.

Turning Point:

The Tigers haven't manufactured too many runs during Jim Leyland's tenure. But what turned out to be the game-winning run was generated by an Anderson single, a stolen base, a ground ball to move him to third, and a sacrifice fly to drive him in. Welcome to Tigers Baseball 2009.

Random Thought:

We will not miss the centerfield camera view becoming completely obscured, as winds blew water from the Kauffman Stadium fountains onto the lens. First, the picture looked hazy, then misty, only to eventually become completely smeared away. You could almost hear the director in the TV truck swear out loud each time.

Maybe the winds in K.C. this weekend were just freak occurrences, but did those in charge of the ballpark renovations fail to consider that the fountains might become something of a problem?

Comment of the Day:

After all those years
when we’d be out of it by Mother’s Day, this is much better.
by NCDee

Hey, wanna look at some standings?

AL Central Standings

	W	L	PCT	GB	STRK
Detroit	10	8	.555	0	Won 2
Chicago	9	9	.500	1	Lost 1
Kansas City	9	9	.500	1	Lost 2
Minnesota	9	10	.473	1.5	Lost 1
Cleveland	7	12	.368	3.5	Won 1

(updated 4.26.2009 at 8:12 PM EDT)

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Comments

I know it’s only 3 weeks into the season, but it’s nice to see the Tigers at the top of the heap…I missed that last year…

by ahtrap on Apr 26, 2009 10:22 PM EDT reply actions

This may be the year...

That Inge wins a gold glove… If he keeps hitting like this then he should.

I’m loving Anderson too! He makes baseball more exciting, it brings a National League type of play to the Tigers offense.

by ZWC11 on Apr 26, 2009 11:06 PM EDT reply actions

We'll see

Inge is having a breakout offensive year so far, but his throwing arm has been off to say the least. Still one of the best diving third basemen out there, but if he commits 25-30 errors this year (which isn’t out of the question, and, apart from last season, not out of the ordinary for him) he won’t even be an afterthought in the discussion for a Gold Glove.

…very likely could be an All-Star if he goes into the break hitting .290 or better and keeps up his power stats, though.

by killer_roach on Apr 27, 2009 9:46 AM EDT up reply actions