Dontrelle Willis, Austin Jackson continue to ace the tests

Left-hander Dontrelle Willis has continued to do everything in his power to make the Tigers. And despite appearing to pitch through some pain, he allowed just two baserunners in three innings. One was a hit batter, the other a walk. So again, the control wasn't perfect, but it was actually quite good. I don't know the final strikes-thrown percentage, but the Detroit News' Tom Gage reported he was 14 for 19 at one point.

Rookie center fielder Austin Jackson also impressed today. I managed to catch some of the game. And what I see every time Jackson plays is a batter who is selective with his swings and one who has exhibited a pretty good eye. His second at-bat, for instance, he fell behind 0-2. He battled back to a full count from there, finally ending the at-bat with a ground-ball hit to the left side. From there he went from first to third on a single and later scored. I know it's spring training but I keep finding myself saying, "This is a rookie?"

Another observation from Gage:

(A)s Jim Leyland said, he's not chased bad pitches this spring, which is rare for a rookie. What's really made a good impression, however, is that Jackson hasn't even checked his swing on bad pitches.

That said, the better test will be the big-league breaking balls he'll see from this point on.

In other notables: Brennan Boesch hit the game-winning RBI in the ninth. Ryan Perry gave up a home run. Donnie Kelly went 2-for-2 with a double.

Comment of the Night

OK, it wasn't about the game. But it was about ex-Tiger Casey Fien, who was released by a third team this spring:

Trysdor wrote:

Hey, this guy's pretty good, right?

Ehh, guess not. See ya.

Hey, this guy’s pretty good, right?

Ehh, guess not. See ya.

Hey, this guy’s pretty good, right?

Ehh, guess not. See ya.

Hey, this guy’s pretty good, right?

Ehh, guess not. See ya.

Poor Casey.