This was more the game I was expecting two days ago: occasional offensive threats but little scoring.
The Tigers moved Miguel Cabrera as far as third base in the first, but two lead-off strikeouts meant a fielder’s choice by Delmon Young killed the scoring opportunity. Aside from a single here and a walk there, that’s about all either team managed to accomplish for another four innings.
In the bottom of the fifth the Royals finally put some hitting and running together. Mike Moustakas led off with a double, and Jeff Francoeur briefly emerged from an epic hitting slump to advance the runner to third with a single. A wild pitch, a walk, a fielder’s choice, and at least we managed to score one.
In the next inning Alex Gordon led off with a home run to right center (or center right if you prefer). Billy Butler doubled and advanced to third on a single by Salvador Perez. And then things got interesting. Darin Downs, fresh from the Detroit bullpen, sank a wild pitch that went all the way to the backstop. Butler tried steal home and was gunned down at the plate. In his post-game press conference, Ned Yost said the ball made an unusual ricochet off the backstop and that a more typical trajectory would have given Butler plenty of time to score. Personally, I’m more inclined to think that any play dependent on Butler’s speed on the basepaths is more likely to be a case of either gutsy offense or plain stupidity depending on how charitable you’re feeling.
With first base open, the Tigers opted to intentionally walk Francoeur and pitch to Eric Hosmer. Apparently this is a trick more and more teams are trying against us. It’s sad to think that Hosmer is so terrible at the plate that he’s a better risk than Frenchy. But the strategy does appear to be working.
In the eighth three singles brought Prince Fielder across the plate, leaving us all thankful for Gordon’s insurance homer a couple of innings earlier. The Tigers threatened again in the ninth but couldn’t quite pull it off. We swept them, which made me feel a little bad. They’re in a close race with Chicago, and of course we’re in a close race with nobody.
A quick technical note: I left my glasses at home, so I couldn’t see the fine details of the iScore system. For the most part it wasn’t a problem, but somehow I managed to record Tim Collins as our starting pitcher instead of Jeremy Guthrie. That was a real shame, too, because Guthrie threw a great game and deserved proper recognition in the box score.
The box score: TIGERS (1) AT ROYALS (2) TIGERS AB R H BI ROYALS AB R H BI Austin Jackson 5 0 0 0 Lorenzo Cain 3 0 1 0 Andy Dirks 5 0 2 0 Alcides Escobar 4 0 0 0 Miguel Cabrera 5 0 2 0 Alex Gordon 4 1 2 1 Prince Fielder 4 1 3 0 Billy Butler 4 0 2 0 Delmon Young 4 0 1 0 Salvador Perez 4 0 1 0 Brennan Boesch 3 0 0 0 Mike Moustakas 4 1 1 0 Jeff Baker 1 0 0 0 Jeff Francoeur 2 0 1 0 Jhonny Peralta 4 0 2 1 Eric Hosmer 2 0 1 0 Omar Infante 4 0 1 0 Johnny Giavotella 3 0 0 1 Gerald Laird 3 0 1 0 TOTALS 38 1 12 1 TOTALS 30 2 9 2 TIGERS 000 000 010 -- 1 ROYALS 000 011 00x -- 2 LOB--TIGERS 11, ROYALS 7. ERR--Salvador Perez. 2B--Prince Fielder, Billy Butler, Mike Moustakas. HR--Alex Gordon. TIGERS IP H R ER BB SO HR Rick Porcello 5 8 2 2 2 4 1 Darin Downs 1 0 0 0 1 0 0 Brayan Villarreal 2 1 0 0 0 2 0 ROYALS iScore error on pitcher records Aaron Crow 0 1-3 0 0 0 0 0 0 Kelvin Herrera 1 1 0 0 1 0 0 WP--Rick Porcello, Darin Downs. SO--Jeff Baker, Austin Jackson (2), Andy Dirks, Jeff Francoeur, Billy Butler, Alex Gordon, Lorenzo Cain, Mike Moustakas, Salvador Perez. BB--Gerald Laird, Jeff Francoeur, Lorenzo Cain, Eric Hosmer. LOCATION: The K CONDITION: Dry WEATHER: Hot, Clear Buck seat: W- (Charity executive) Guard: Leavenworth JROTC (mostly girls) Anthem: Just sing it Umpires H: Gonzalez 1: Gibson 2: Cuzzi 3: Barrett Time: 7:11 Temp: 97
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