Verlander would like the Tigers to save some runs for when it counts: Tigers 9, Orioles 5

It's been years since the two clubs played in March, but the Detroiters made the best of the day, as the Tigers cruised to a 9-5 victory on Saturday helped by a surge at the start.

In fact, Clete Thomas was halfway to the cycle by the time the first inning ended after leading off with a home run. It was clearly not Orioles starter Kevin Millwood's day. Also for Detroit, Austin Jackson went 2-for-2 with two runs scored. And Casper Wells hit a home run, too. And great offensive stats can be found all over the box score, really.

On the pitching side, Justin Verlander and Jose Valverde both made their spring training debuts, and Daniel Schlereth bounced back from his first appearance with a one strikeout, no-hit inning.

What did Verlander think of all the meaningless run support? The ever-quotable Jim Leyland told the media (via the Detroit News):

"He got antsy," manager Jim Leyland said of Verlander. "He came up to me and said something about saving the runs for the regular season. I said, 'What do you want me to do about it?'"

Verlander wanted to work on stuff in his first appearance, which lasted three innings.

"I wanted to mix it up a little bit, use some off-speed, but it's spring training. I'm just out there to get my work in and do what I need to get done."

The only blemish on the day were the four runs scored off Jay Sborz, actually. But whatever.

Comment of the Night

TigerDog1 had some fun with the fact people can read too much into spring training:

This team might score 1,000 runs!