With a short trip down to Toledo's Fifth Third Field, the Tigers knocked a bit of the flight off their cleats with one final tune-up before opening day. For about four innings, this was entertaining. Then Detroit manager Jim Leyland wisely cleared most of his starters off the field, seemingly every minor-league player in the organization got into the game, and things went a bit down hill from there. But that's OK. The game served its purpose. Earn some money for charity, and give fans in Toledo a chance to see the Tigers.
Delmon Young and Alex Avila both had multi-hit games for the Tigers, and both hit a double. Austin Jackson got in on that double thing, while Ryan Raburn went for a triple instead.
On the other end of things, Rick Porcello allowed three runs in 4 2/3 innings. He gave up seven hits.
Probably the highlight of the game for me came when the Mud Hens chose to bunt toward third baseman Miguel Cabrera. The big guy read it, moved in, made a nice clean grab and threw out the runner at first. Remember all those comments about "teams will just bunt on Cabrera all the time"? Would not advise that. He looks like a real third baseman out there!
We'll have to await news on Gerald Laird's status. The backup catcher, who suffered a knee injury last week, came out of his stride limping while running to first base. He chucked his helmet in obvious frustration at his situation. It sounds like it was a hamstring injury.