KEY STATS
12: Duane Below got 12 consecutive Indians out, three by strikeout, after entering the game following a nearly two-hour rain delay.
11: Tigers relievers combined for 11 scoreless innings from the third through the 13th innings. The bullpen has been an issue at times so that definitely deserves mention.
0-for-7: Tigers batters with runners in scoring position, resulting in 10 stranded.
KEY PLAY
David Pauley hit Kosuke Fukudome in the 14th inning after loading the bases with a walk, a hit that glanced off Carlos Guillen's glove, and an intentional walk. Game of inches.
KEY THOUGHTS
It's like that song in the 90s by OMC. How bizarre, how bizarre.
How else could this game end but with a walk-off hit-by-pitch almost seven hours after the first pitch? Both teams played ... hard? Well, they played. They didn't play pretty, that's for sure. A two-hour rain delay, a bunted popped up by Ramon Santiago resulting in a double play, a suicide-squeeze bunt by Rob Brantley that resulted in the runner being an easy out, this game had facepalm all over. If you went to bed early, you probably made the right decision. I mean, you know it's bad when the TIgers' two RBI are credited to Austin Jackson and Don Kelly.
In the end, it was one of those games where you're not sure what to think. The Tigers went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position. The Indians were 1-for-4. The Tigers got a few chances to score after the rain delay, the Indians really didn't. Would you rather have chances and fail or just not have that many chances? Academic of course. You'd rather not have to think about the question at all.
But give some credit to the bullpens. Neither Cleveland's nor Detroit's bullpen allowed many scoring chances between the third and 13th innings. Good pitching coupled with rather placid hitting assured that. So we saw Below mow through 12 batters, Daniel Schlereth and Phil Coke eat two innings apiece without losing.
In the end, I was just glad it ended. Now I'm going to bed.