:format(webp)/cdn.vox-cdn.com/photo_images/3847530/123089748.jpg)
KEY STAT
Doug Fister opened the game with six perfect innings, but unfortunately couldn't get the win because the Tigers managed to score just one run during the first nine innings. But his team won in the end, so that's what counts.
KEY PLAY
Ramon Santiago (!) hit a walk-off home run (!!) in the 10th inning.
KEY THOUGHTS
Let's start with a thought from Big Al, who tweeted almost as soon as Santiago's hit arrived in the stands:
Thank you for saving us from 24 hrs of sports talk radio misery, Ramon!
Indeed. The Indians won and the White Sox are winning, so one can only imagine the reaction if Chicago picked up three games in three days. As for the Indians? Well, who cares about the Indians? They're not the threat the White Sox are.
Now let's use a tweet from MLive.com's (and SBNation's MAC blog), Matt Sussman:
Last 10: Detroit 7-3, Chicago 6-4, Cleveland 5-5 #collapses
So there you have it. For all the talk about how hot the White Sox are, the Tigers are doing pretty good too. They ran off seven wins in eight games only a few days ago. Do people out there forget that or something? Or do they just choose to ignore it because it's Detroit?
Anyway, Fister totally dominated for most of his time on the mound. Even in the seventh inning, when his perfect game was broken up by a double off the bat of Alex Gordon, Fister needed just eight pitches. (Maybe the Royals can be thanked, as a pair of sacrifices helped Detroit get two of the outs.)
Unfortunately, the win stat is a rather weak one. So Fister doesn't get credit in the W column for his wonderful performance. Must have felt like he was still playing in Seattle until the Tigers finally scored that second run to get the win.