Game Recap
Box Score
WPA Graph
Earned His Tiger Stripes: Miller 6.0 IP, 4 H, 2 K, .293 WPA
That Miller Kid is Alright
22 year-old Andrew Miller picked up his third win of the season tonight with an excellent outing against the Braves in front of a national television audience. With the six shutout innings pitched tonight against a struggling Atlanta lineup, Miller dropped his ERA to 2.70 -- not bad considering he's learning as he goes (tonight was only his 12th major league appearance).
The hitting, on the other hand, is a different story. Miller, after going 0-3 with three strikeouts tonight, has K'd in all five of his at bats for the year. Thank God for the DH rule.
Now THAT'S What I Call a Road Trip
8 wins, 1 loss. 66 runs for, 32 runs against.
The nine game road trip in NL parks turned out to be a great momentum builder for this team, who has now won seven straight games and taken first place in the AL Central. With this Atlanta series being the last of interleague play for the Tigers this season, the 14-4 mark against the NL they were able to put together looks pretty darn good.
The "Big Innings" Keep On Coming
Tonight's sixth inning was the difference maker, as the Tigers put together four runs on four hits. On Friday night the Tigers scored five runs in the sixth. Against Washington on Wednesday night the Tigers scored five in the sixth. The night before they scored five in the fourth inning. The night before that, sixth in the fifth inning.
This explosive offense has been living up their reputation as of late ... here's hoping they keep it up.
The Newest Member of the Bullpen
Chad Durbin made his first appearance out of the Tigers' bullpen tonight, having been put in the role with the return of Kenny Rogers on Friday.
Tonight he earned his first save of his career, pitching the seventh, eighth and ninth inning. The addition of Durbin to the bullpen looks to be an instant upgrade. If he continues to pitch as efficiently as he did while in the starting role for this team, I'd say the Tigers have gotten a pretty good long reliever in the pen.
And he can hit too; Tonight he picked up his first career RBI as well with a sacrifice fly.
Up Next: Tomorrow vs. Texas, 7:05 pm EST