Today has not been a very good day for me personally, but it was great to see the Tigers put some passion into their game tonight against the Indians. Bonderman allowed a two-run shot to Sizemore in the first inning but held the Indians scoreless after that. In fact, Jeremy broke his 0-4 streak in his last four starts with his no decision today. He was stellar, going seven innings and allowing just two runs — he struck out eight Indians. The Tigers managed two runs of their own through the first nine innings, which set the table for the bullpen. Tim Byrdak walked two batters in the eighth inning, but was rescued by an amazing diving catch by Curtis Granderson in center to end the inning. Fernando Rodney continued his revitalization in the ninth inning, despite making things interesting by allowing a double. He came back to strike out the side.
The bullpen managed to hold the game even into extra innings, and then the Tigers put their bats into action. Gary Sheffield drove in a run with a solid base hit, and Magglio Ordonez followed it up with a three-run blast to clear the bases, making it a four-run 10th inning for the Tigers. Todd Jones allowed a walk & a hit, but held on for the save.
It really lifted my spirits to see the Tigers just battle back in Cleveland. Winning a game started by ace CC Sabathia is no small feat, especially when the two teams are battling so closely in the standings. Tonight’s win puts the Tigers a game up on the Tribe, and is a huge relief to all of us. The weekend against Oakland was fine, but I had my doubts as to whether the grass was getting any greener after a very ugly game on Monday night. The Tigers will have to string together a few more games before they are officially back on track — not an easy task against the Indians and Yankees — something they certainly can do if the team plays with the fire and consistency that it did tonight.
On a side note, Rick Porcello’s contract is actually $7.28 million over four years, not $7.7 million as originally reported.
Win in extras puts Tigers back in first [Tigers.com]
1 Comment
August 17, 2007 at 12:26 pm
The saying in Boston is something to the effect of “I Support two teams: The Red Sox and whoever beats the Yankees.” Go Tigers.