Allow me to quote myself on the Twins, written earlier today:
We want to beat them. We want to see their pitchers hang their heads in shame and their batters look perplexed as they head back to the dugout after being rung up.
Thank you, Tigers! We got just that. Francisco Liriano looked bewildered, wiped his brow, hung his head and eventually left to quite an ovation from the opposing fans. All within the first two innings of the game, as the Tigers had hit after hit, scored run after run until a football score -- 7-0 -- hung on the board.
We watched as Denard Span was picked off, as Joe Mauer struck out.
Schadenfreude reigned.
That was fun. Really fun.
Of course it would be a bit more fun if the White Sox would lose a few games. A three game lead on Minnesota would be a lot more fun if the White Sox weren't just 1/2 game behind. But, hey, I'm pretty sure we saw this plot last season too, and we know how that turned out.
Getting back, some things of interest tonight.
- Verlander had two pickoffs.
- Robbie Weinhardt was called into a high-tension, bases loaded situation in the sixth inning. He got a ground ball for a double play to end the threat. Then he recorded his first career strikeout the next inning.
- Magglio Ordonez had three hits, three RBI.
- Brennan Boesch added two more hits and got his 48th RBI.
- Austin Jackson saw his 11-game hitting streak end, but did walk twice, steal a base and score a run.
The only real unfortunate occurrence was that Ryan Perry couldn't close out the Twins in the ninth, so Detroit needed to use closer Jose Valverde in a game that should have been easily in hand.
But hey, beating the Twins is beating the Twins. You know you enjoyed it.