The Tigers losing streak, that is. Though the Devil Rays made things interesting and led through the middle of the game after a 3-run homer by BJ Upton off of Justin Verlander in the fifth inning, the Tigers were able to make a comeback to escape with a 6-4 victory. In what seemed to be a rare occurrence in recent weeks, Detroit’s bullpen managed to shut down the opposition, with McBride pitching to the first three batters of the seventh and retiring two of them. Zach Miner pitched the final 1/3 of the seventh and received the win. Fernando Rodney struck out one batter in a perfect eighth, and Todd Jones had a quiet, uneventful outing to rack up his 29th save of the season. But enough about the pitching. Even with a solid bullpen outing, the Tigers would have been lost without being able to string together a rally. In the bottom of the seventh inning, the team exploded for four runs, starting with a lead-off solo blast by Sean Casey. Magglio Ordonez followed it up with an amazing swing, taking a pitch way inside the other way for a single and was promptly driven home by Carlos Guillen’s RBI triple. Ryan Raburn singled to knock Guillen home, and Rabelo singled. Omar Infante got a single to load the bases back up before Brandon Inge’s routine fly ball fell between Carl Crawford and BJ Upton in the outfield, scoring a run and earning a force-out at second base (Infante retreated to first, expecting the catch), which made the play a fielder’s choice. Inge got to keep his RBI as a souvenir.
A big explosive inning could be just what the doctor ordered for the Tigers. In the recent stretch the team simply had not been able to string together any good fortune. Even if some hits were racked up, they were spread out in separate innings — no good for run support. Without Ivan Rodriguez (sore foot) and Gary Sheffield (sore shoulder) in the lineup, the team did well. Omar Infante went 3-for-4 on the day filling in for Guillen at short while Carlos DH’ed. Carlos picked up career hit number 1000 in the contest. Perhaps more important is the fact that the win gave the Tigers a 1/2 game lead in the Wild Card over the Yankees.
Rally keeps Tigers in Wild Card lead [Tigers.com]
Around the Bases:
- Today I noticed an interesting article claiming that the armor that Barry Bonds wears on his left elbow gives him an unfair advantage. The argument is logical, and worth a look at the very least. While it allows him to lean over the plate without fear of the inside pitch, the author claims it also has a hinge, something I never really considered before. As a hinging joint, it allows his front arm to release at the same point every time, producing an almost mechanical, scripted swing each time. It certainly is something I just never thought about, but it is true that if there were a piece of this type of equipment designed just right, it could certainly give you an advantage while hitting, making every swing textbook and consistent. Since his 73-homer season in 2001, Barry’s “apparatus” has changed very little. [Editor & Publisher via Digg]
