Tigers 8, Angels 6: Quintin Berry runs wild

With the Angels wisely choosing to pitch around the heart of the Tigers' order whenever possible and Detroit starter Rick Porcello having a bit of a stumble, credit for the series-opening win against the Angels should squarely be put on the shoulders of some of the team's complementary pieces.

Another way to put that, quoting BYB commenter HighOPS from Twitter: "a recap in which (Delmon) Young and (Brennan) Boesch have positive, central roles."

Proper credit needs to be given to Quintin Berry, too, as he had three hits and manufactured a run of his own with a single and two stolen bases. Boesch's two-run homer in the seventh put the Tigers ahead to stay. Young had a pair of key RBI.

When you add it up, Berry, Young or Boesch played a part in seven of the Tigers' eight runs. Detroit's first run of the day came when Miguel Cabrera knocked in Austin Jackson.

Credit the Tigers, too, for their aggressiveness on the basepaths. The last stolen base by a Tiger was on June 25. They had three. Third base coach Gene Lamont was not gun shy (he seldom is) in sending runners home, either.

Fielder and Young each had two hits. Octavio Dotel picked up the win in relief. Starter Rick Porcello allowed five runs in 5 2/3 innings on the mound.

Detroit has now won eight of its last nine games. It's 2 1/2 games out of first in the division and (barring a dramatic comeback by the Orioles) sits in the second wildcard spot in the AL, if you're keeping track.

A couple of key moments:

Rick Porcello couldn't stop the bleeding in the fifth inning as the Angels teed off again and again. He gave up a 2-1 lead and faced a 5-2 deficit with still just one out. Fortunately he got Mark Trumbo to hit a line drive to Cabrera, who dropped the ball but turned the inning-ending double play.

In the sixth, after Porcello allowed runners to the corners, Octavio Dotel got Mike Trout to fly out to ruin the Angels' threat.

The Tigers answered in the bottom half of the inning after Berry's two-out bunt single off Ervin Santana. Cabrera walked, then Fielder and Young hit back-to-back singles to cut the deficit to one.

With the score the same in the seventh and the Angels using their bullpen, Berry opened the inning with a single before stealing both second and third bases. Young hit a one-out sac fly to knot the game at 5-5, bailing out Porcello. Boesch then clobbered the ball to deep right for a two-run homer and a 7-5 lead.

Joaquin Benoit allowed a home run in the eighth. Dating back to June 30, that makes the sixth home run allowed while throwing just seven innings of baseball. That also made the third home run in five batters. (H/T Dave Hogg of the AP, on Twitter for both stats).

Jose Valverde again allowed a base runner, but picked up the save.

3 ROARS

Quintin Berry - 3 hits, 2 SB

Brennan Boesch - GW HR

Octavio Dotel - 1 1/3 IP, key out

2 HISSES

Rick Porcello - Not all his struggles can be attributed to defense

Joaquin Benoit - What's up with all the home runs?

GAME 89 POG

Justin Verlander, because he pitched