|
The honeymoon finally came to an end. The Tigers bullpen had been a perfect 11 for 11 in save opportunities on the year. The pen has been so dominant they had not suffered a loss in the first 30 games. Detroit rode the Rollercoaster quickly down for the first blown save of the season. Jones blamed himself for the loss after giving up a triple to tie the game at 6 and a game winning single to Luis Castillo. This was bound to happen at some point and I don’t read too much into this. It will be a good opportunity to see how the Tigers respond to a tough loss. The only thing that makes this a bad situation is Johan Santana is pitching for the Twins tomorrow making it difficult to win the series. For the second consecutive game the Tigers starter struggled, but the offense kept them in the game putting them in a position to win. Bonderman struggled with his control and the bullpen warmed up in the fourth. However, Bonderman hunkered down with the help a couple double play balls and went 6.2 innings. He gave up five runs on 10 hits while walking 3 and striking out three. Despite that he was still in line for the win. Bonderman’s ERA is now 4.40 on the season. Jamie Walker gave up a base hit before Joel Zumaya came on for 1.1 innings and his eighth hold. Unfortunately Jones was not able to come through on this occasion. Magglio Ordonez again powered the offense giving Detroit a chance to win a game they should not have been in. Maggs again went yard for his 8th on the year. Curtis Granderson hit a two-run shot in the fifth. The Tigers scored twice in the top of the seventh to take the lead on RBI hits by Inge and Pudge. Detroit’s offense is showing balance throughout the order. It seems like they are getting production from a different part of the order every night. It is nice that Magglio is starting to look like the All-Star player he was prior to the injuries. The Tigers offense has a tough chore of hitting off Santana in the rubber match of the series. *** OEs 3 Stars of the Game *** #3 Joel Zumaya – Hold (8), 1.1 IP, 0 Rs, 0 Hs, 0 BB, 1 K
#2 Curtis Granderson – 1-5 with a HR and 2 RBI
#1 Magglio Ordonez – 2-4 with 2 runs scored, a HR and 1 RBI  On Tap – Game 32 (20-11) @ Minnesota Twins (12-18) May 7th, 2:10 ET
Mike Maroth (4-1, 1.78) v. Johan Santana (2-3, 3.89) --------------------------------------------------------
Go Tigers!!!
--------------------------------------------------------
|
