Armando Galarraga picked up where he left off last year against the Royals this afternoon, allowing just one run and three hits over six innings. The Little Cat also struck out seven batters, leaving K.C.'s Sidney Ponson to wonder where his run support was today. (Especially with the Royals drawing five walks.) In three starts versus Galarraga since he joined the Tigers, Kansas City has scored just four runs in 20 innings.
The bottom half of Detroit's lineup continues to impress, with most of the offense coming from Brandon Inge and Josh Anderson, who hit a combined 4-for-6. Inge hit his seventh home run of the season, currently tied for the second-highest total in the majors. Anderson went 3-for-3, with a stolen base. His speed and left-handed bat has given a much different look to the Tigers' lineup.
With the win, and a White Sox loss to Toronto this afternoon, the Tigers return to Detroit in sole possession of first place in the AL Central.
Whimper:
Maybe we're nitpicking a bit, but closers giving up home runs in the ninth inning never looks good. Fortunately for Fernando Rodney, he had a two-run lead and no one was on base when he threw one too many change-ups to Mike Aviles. That was Aviles's first home run of the season, by the way.
Turning Point:
The Tigers haven't manufactured too many runs during Jim Leyland's tenure. But what turned out to be the game-winning run was generated by an Anderson single, a stolen base, a ground ball to move him to third, and a sacrifice fly to drive him in. Welcome to Tigers Baseball 2009.
Random Thought:
We will not miss the centerfield camera view becoming completely obscured, as winds blew water from the Kauffman Stadium fountains onto the lens. First, the picture looked hazy, then misty, only to eventually become completely smeared away. You could almost hear the director in the TV truck swear out loud each time.
Maybe the winds in K.C. this weekend were just freak occurrences, but did those in charge of the ballpark renovations fail to consider that the fountains might become something of a problem?
Comment of the Day:
After all those yearswhen we’d be out of it by Mother’s Day, this is much better.
by NCDee
Hey, wanna look at some standings?