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KEY STAT
Andy Dirks was 3-for-5 as the leadoff batter in the Tigers order
KEY STAT 2
Magglio Ordonez hit a home run!
KEY PLAY
I'll go with Jhonny Peralta's inning ending grab and throw in the seventh inning. Kansas City cut the game to one-run difference when Melky Cabrera doubled in a run. From Dan Dickerson's description of the play -- as I had the radio on -- Peralta made a nice backhanded stop and threw out Billy Butler. Dickerson sounded quite surprised that Peralta was able to make a play of of it.
KEY PLAY 2
With bases loaded in the ninth inning, the same Billy Butler was up to bat for the Royals after Jose Valverde had some struggles. He flew out to end the game
KEY THOUGHTS
Detroit's won three in a row now. Ah, American League baseball. I missed you.
Cleveland lost, so the Tigers are back to being 1/2 game out.
Kansas City really fought in this one. Every time you thought Detroit might have an easy day, the Royals would not allow it. The Tigers led 2-0 after Ordonez's home run; but the Royals scored two in the bottom of the first. Detroit led 5-3 after three innings .. but didn't score again until the eighth inning while the Royals cut the deficit to just one.
Then in the ninth inning, Valverde got two of the first three batters out. Then he walked the next two. As the Tigers only had a two-run lead, a hit there would probably have tied the game. An extra-base hit may have ended it in dramatic fashion. Fortunately Valverde finally got out of it, but not before giving us all a scare.
I should mention the other side of the story was the Tigers really wanted to win the game as well. They broke up some double plays that led to runs, and really held their own in the face of the charging Royals. So that was good to see.
David Purcey: Meh. Phil Coke: Yay.
Rick Porcello struck out the side in the second inning. At times, I think you can see the potential in Porcello when he does things like that. It's too early to be giving up on his progress. He finished with 5 strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings, while allowing six hits and a walk.
A win tomorrow or Sunday means the Tigers had a winning record on the road trip. Not too bad.
Reminder: Jhonny Peralta is an all-star!