If you listened to Mario Impemba and Rod Allen consistently complain about the Tigers' late departure out of Anaheim last night and early arrival in Kansas City, you would think the team was barely awake tonight against Zack Greinke. Surely, the Tigers weren't the first major league team to ever fly out late and arrive near dawn, but a full eight hours of sleep might not have helped, anyway.
In any case, Greinke made sure the Tigers would get back to their hotel rooms early. He zoomed through the Tigers' lineup, giving up just three hits in a 97-pitch, complete game performance. And the whole thing took just two hours and six minutes.
Detroit did, however, become the first team to score a run against him this season, but thanks to a throwing error from Mike Aviles, the run was unearned. So Greinke still gets to carry that "zero point zero" into his next start.
Whimper:
Did we mention Detroit's lineup got only three hits? And two of those were by Gerald Laird.
Rick Porcello wasn't bad, yielding four hits in six innings of work. Unfortunately, he served up two homers that resulted in three Royals runs. (And Greinke didn't need any more run support than that.) It also must be noted that one of those K.C. homers was hit by Alberto Callaspo. You know how many homers Callaspo had coming into tonight? Zero. For his career.
As was mentioned in tonight's GameThread, Porcello has now allowed home runs to Ronny Cedeno and Alberto Callaspo in his three major league starts. He makes slap-hitting middle infielders look like sluggers. Nick Punto can't wait to face him when the Twins play the Tigers.
Turning Point:
Apparently, it was when the Tigers arrived in Kansas City at 5 a.m. local time this morning. Or when Greinke stepped onto the mound this evening.
Comment of the Night:
by explosivo2k2