Verlander Sharp in 6- 1 Tiger Victory over Marlins

Justin Verlander pitched four strong innings, giving up a lone run on three hits, no walks, and added four strikeouts to shut down the Marlins at Jupiter in a rare spring night game on Wednesday.   The Tigers prevailed 6 to1, improving their record in the Grapefruit League to 9 wins against 6 losses, leaving Verlander's spring ERA at just 0.93.

The Tigers were missing the heart of their batting order, with Magglio Ordonez, Miguel Cabrera, and Victor Martinez all sitting out the over night trip to Jupiter, Florida.  Still, the Tigers managed a two run double from Scott Sizemore in the first inning and a three run homer by Brandon Inge in the fifth, to give them a comfortable margin of victory. 

Austin Jackson scored two runs for the Tigers, Ramon Santiago added a pair of hits including a run scoring double, and Andy Dirks added a hit to leave his spring average at a sizzling .483. 

The Tigers also got solid pitching performances from Fu Te Ni, who had a pair of strikeouts in a scoreless inning, as well as scoreless innings from Robbie Weinhardt, Enrique Gonzalez, and John Bale.  Al Albuquerque came on to strike out three Marlins in the ninth inning while giving up two hits. 

Jupiter, Florida is the venue situated farthest from Lakeland on the Grapefruit circuit, and it is quite common for veterans to sit out such road trips.   Ordonez and Cabrera also sat out the three hour bus ride to Port St. Lucie when the Tigers visited the Mets last week.   The Tigers will be on the road again tomorrow against the St. Louis Cardinals.