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BOX
Key stat:
Brad Penny's final line: 8 runs, 7 hits, 4 walks in 4 1/3 innings
Key play:
Yankee Russell Martin hits a 3-run home run off Brad Thomas in the fifth inning after Detroit cut the score to 6-3 in the top half of the inning.
Key highlights:
Austin Jackson hit his first home run of the season. He had two last year. Maybe he'll have more power this season after all.
Victor Martinez hit his first home run as a Tiger.
Brandon Inge had two more hits to get his average to .571 after two games.
Brayan Villarreal made his major league debut for the Tigers. He also had his "welcome to the big leagues" moment when Alex Rodriguez homered off him.
Key thoughts:
That was definitely not how Brad Penny or the Tigers anticipated his season opening. But I wouldn't rush to any conclusions. Not saying the situation is exactly the same, but a lot of people were freaking out after Max Scherzer gave up 5 runs to the Royals in his second game last year, too. But no denying it. Blech debut.
But man does he pitch slow. Starting to understand why those Red Sox - Yankees games last four hours.
The Tigers' defense has most definitely been shaky these first two games. Ugly, actually. Hopefully they get that cleaned up a bit.