In the business of English majors -- which I was for exactly one semester of my life -- we call today's game thread introduction "foreshadowing." In the fourth inning, the Tigers got to Indians starter Aaron Laffey for five runs and chased him from the game. Of course, that's where my foreshadowing ended, as Tigers left fielder Ryan Raburn made a crucial error in the top of the fifth, on a fly ball that was charitably deemed a double. The teams traded punches for the next five innings, but a two-run home run by Curtis Granderson in the eighth inning made the difference and snapped Detroit's three-game losing streak. Joel Zumaya picked up the win, pitching two innings of relief. Fernando Rodney notched his fifth save.
Roar
Tigers No. 9 hitter Adam Everett had the bases loaded for him in the third second inning, and grounded out lightly. He had the bases loaded for him again in the fourth inning, and gave the baseball a ride over the Tigers bullpen in left field and into the first row of the seats. It was the second grand slam of his life, and hisfirst home run since Aug. 11, 2008. ... Granderson's home run was his eighth of the season. ... Everett now has as many RBIs (10) as Magglio Ordonez
Whimper
Does this one go to Raburn or the official scorer? Zach Miner cruised until the long layover in the fourth inning during which the Tigers scored five runs. Then he struggled a bit in the fifth, but appeared to escape unscathed when Angel (edit: wrong sport!) Asdrubal Cabrera hit a fly ball to left field. Whoops. Raburn stumbled, then ran back to make the catch. Which he promptly dropped and got lodged against the wall. Three Indians runs score on a double?! Ordonez later in the inning made a patented sliding catch attempt, only to allow a triple to Shin-Sin Choo, making the game 5-5. ... Bobby Seay allowed two runs in the seventh for his first blown hold of the season.
Turning point
Trailing 7-6, the Tigers came out in the eighth and pinch hitter Josh Anderson led of with a single, setting up Granderson's game-winning home run.
Comment of the day
Judging by this comment, MrPants20 had the same reaction as the rest of us to Everett's grand slam:
I JUST SCARED THE CRAP OUT OF MY DOGS!
Update 5/3: The official scorer changed Cabrera's double to an error (as it should have been all along) today saving Miner five earned runs.