Detroit Tigers, 61-54, 2nd place, 2 back.
Detroit had last night off, instead donning clown suits for a hilarious charity exhibition game. Brennan Boesch was a hit with his huge shoes and big floppy glove, and the performance was capped off by the always funny bit where the whole bullpen piles into a tiny car.
Unfortunately, Brayan Villarreal probably shouldn’t have been taking part in that particular stunt: turns out he has actually had a problem with his elbow for the past week, and is now on the ever-popular day-to-day list.
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The Toledo Mud Hens put on a different sort of exhibition Saturday night. In the 2nd inning Durham’s Will Rhymes hit a two-run home run, and admired it a bit, much to the chagrin of starter Drew Smyly, who plunked the next batter, leading to ejections (Smyly and manager Phil Nevin), and warnings.
Not to be left out of the fun, when reliever Bruce Rondon faced Will Rhymes in the 7th, he threw behind him, Rhymes charged the mound, and both benches cleared. Not to excuse anybody here, but I think Wee Willie Rhymes needs a bit of leeway for home run admiration; it’s not like he gets them every day. And Rhymes charging Rondon is probably its own punishment.
At any rate, suspensions have been handed down to Rondon (5 games) and Smyly (3 games).
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The Tigers travel to Minnesota tonight to finish the mini Stars loop road trip (random hockey reference).
Detroit will face the always tough Rookie Pitcher Guy, this one a righty named Samuel “Cy” Deduno (3-0, 3.27).
The Tigers hand the ball to Anibal, as we all wonder how many more times we will be able to use that phrase.
Stat of the Day: The Tigers now lead the American League in pitchers who bomb, turn out to have a physical problem nobody knew about, and become classified as “Day-to-Day.”
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Omar Infante. After a bit of a slow start, Infante has hit .375 with power (6 extra base hits, 9 RBI) in his last 13 games.
Today’s OK-Your-Turn-To-Try-5th-Alex Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Andy Dirks LF
- Miguel Cabrera 3B
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Alex Avila C
- Delmon Young DH
- One-Pitch Boesch RF
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Omar Infante 2B