PREGAME: So the Tigers already have a pattern in this young season. Drop the series opener, and then come back and take the rest of the games in the series. So make of that what you will as Detroit opens a new series in Toronto.
Has a dome ever looked more appealing? Gone will be the talk of cold impacting hitting and fielding and everything else. Let’s just hope the turf doesn’t effect any extremities.
If the offense responds tonight, the temperature will be given the credit. However, the Tigers showed signs of life last night. Despite the 11 scoreless innings, they did have 18 baserunners – they just couldn’t get the big hit until the 12th.
For the Tigers it will be Mike Maroth who will look to extend the 14 1/3 inning scoreless streak put up Tigers starters the last 2 nights.
Tomo Okha will take the mound for the Blue Jays. The Tigers as a team haven’t faced Ohka since 1999. But some of the current Tigers have had success in very limited at-bats.
Gary Sheffield and Magglio Ordonez will swap duties tonight. Maggs will shelter his knees from the artificial surface while Sheffield will try to get into the flow of the game playing right field.
It will also be the first start for Mike Rabelo. He’ll be hitting 8th. And as a switch hitter will bring another lefty stick to the lineup.
Game Time 7:07
And great job everybody last night in the game thread. That was fun.
POSTGAME
Nice win tonight. The Tigers got enough offense, and some help from the Toronto defense, to push across 5 runs. It was especially nice to see Brandon Inge swing the bat the way he did. He put the ball in play each time up, which was a win. Plus, 3 of the 4 balls were hit hard. It didn’t even look like the same guy at the plate as last night.
Mike Maroth somehow managed to hold the Blue Jays to 2 runs despite allowing 9 hits (5 for extra bases) in 6 innings. They were tough innings, but he helped protect a bullpen short on arms. The double play by Troy Glaus may have been the difference in the game.
Granderson struggled in his 2nd straight game, this time picking up 3 strikeouts.
Jose Mesa was about what I expected. He made some nice pitches, but then he walked Jason Smith on 4 straight. Joel Zumaya came on and looked quite awesome. Though the baserunners scored, the second one was on a jam shot.
Thanks for stopping by!