Aspersion (n) (as-per-shun) – An attack or criticism directed at reputation or integrity.
Awesuck (adj) (aw-suk) – A state of being that is awesome but also sucks at the same time.
What an awesuck game. It always sucks to lose, but then as Loyals we’re used to it. So what we’ve learned to cherish isn’t the victory so much as the well-played game. And unlike the last two, this one met that qualification ever so nicely.
Justin Verlander was on the mound for the Tigers, so we knew going in that the Royals weren’t going to toss a ton of runs on the board. The main concern was that Detroit would get to Danny Duffy hard and/or early, and we’d be stuck enduring another ugly, lopsided farce.
So the first pleasant surprise of the game was that Duffy threw a heck of a game. He gave up only seven hits and three runs (substantially less than single big innings on Friday and Sunday). Indeed, if he hadn’t slipped on a couple of pitches and given up a one-run homer to Austin Jackson to start the game and a two-run shot to Brandon Inge in the fifth, it might have been an entirely different game. So he deserved the standing ovation he got when Ned Yost replaced him after six and two thirds.
Of course it helped that his teammates gave him some good support in the field. In the top of the fourth Chris Getz made a tricky catch of a pop-up by Delmon Young, and Mike Moustakis charged hard on a weak grounder to rob Ryan Raburn of a single. But the play of the game came an inning later when Alex Gordon made a spectacular, face-to-turf diving catch of a medium fly by Jackson, shutting down what could have been a big inning inspired by the Inge homer the at bat before.
During our times at the plate, Verlander was every bit on his game. Gordon doubled to lead off the bottom of the first, and we played a little station-to-station to bring him around to score. Then we almost got to him again in the fifth.
The big moment came in the bottom of the ninth, excitement of a kind only baseball can deliver. Jim Leyland opted to leave Verlander in despite some signs that he was starting to tire. Billy Butler – one of the few Royals to ever see much success against the young ace – led off with a single. Francoeur and Moustakis both grounded out to second, and though they moved the runner (Jason Bourgeois in for Butler), the bottom third of the order didn’t offer much hope with two outs.
But then Humberto Quintero singled, scoring Bourgeois and making it a one-run game. This actually may have rattled Verlander a bit. He walked Mitch Maier, which might have been a tactical move to get to Alcides Escobar. But then he hit Escobar with his first pitch to load the bases.
Any other pitcher would have been yanked on the spot if not earlier. But even after more than 120 pitches, this guy was still throwing at 100 mph. And he’s only 29 years old. Awesome.
He got Gordon looking to end the game. Even though a win would have been nice, if Verlander had lost it would almost have been a shame. Anyone who can throw that well and that hard for that long deserves a complete game win.
At the start of the season I made myself a silent promise that I was going to focus on the on-field stuff and not cast aspersions on the Royals’ deficient fan experience. With a game as good as this, that’s an easy enough goal to meet. However, we’ve now learned the hard way not to show up more than an hour in advance for weekday games.
The box score:
TIGERS (3) AT ROYALS (2)
TIGERS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI
Austin Jackson 3 1 1 1 Alex Gordon 5 1 1 0
Brennan Boesch 4 0 1 0 Chris Getz 3 0 0 0
Miguel Cabrera 3 0 0 0 Eric Hosmer 3 0 0 0
Prince Fielder 3 0 0 0 Billy Butler 4 0 2 1
Delmon Young 4 0 0 0 Jeff Francoeur 4 0 0 0
Ryan Raburn 4 0 0 0 Mike Moustakas 4 0 0 0
Jhonny Peralta 4 1 3 0 Humberto Quintero 4 0 2 1
Alex Avila 4 0 1 0 Mitch Maier 3 0 2 0
Brandon Inge 3 1 1 2 Alcides Escobar 3 0 0 0
*Jason Bourgeois 0 1 0 0
TOTALS 32 3 7 3 TOTALS 33 2 7 2
TIGERS 100 020 000 -- 3
ROYALS 100 000 001 -- 2
LOB--TIGERS 5, ROYALS 8. 2B--Jhonny Peralta (2), Alex
Gordon. HR--Brandon Inge, Austin Jackson. HBP--Alcides
Escobar. SACB--Chris Getz. SB--Mitch Maier, Alcides Escobar.
TIGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR
Justin Verlander 9 7 2 2 2 9 0
ROYALS
Danny Duffy 6 2-3 7 3 3 1 7 2
Aaron Crow 1 1-3 0 0 0 2 0 0
Greg Holland 1 0 0 0 0 2 0
SO--Prince Fielder, Jhonny Peralta, Miguel Cabrera, Delmon
Young, Alex Avila (3), Brennan Boesch, Austin Jackson, Jeff
Francoeur (2), Mitch Maier, Chris Getz, Alex Gordon (3),
Mike Moustakas (2). BB--Prince Fielder, Miguel Cabrera,
Austin Jackson, Mitch Maier, Eric Hosmer.
Buck Seat – W- (old white guy, Red Cross volunteer)
Color guard – Rangers from the Truman historical site
Anthem – Surprisingly good for a random fan
Time – 7:10
Temp – 64
Umpires
1 – ???
2 – Knight
3 – Winters
H – Bell
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