They lost one, they won one, they lost one. The Detroit Tigers went 1-2 against the Los Angeles Angels after sweeping the Texas Rangers. Both series were played at Comerica Park. After clinching his first victory of the season against Texas on April 22, Justin Verlander returned to the mound to take on the Angels. Unfortunately, Verlander hasn’t had a very productive season. He lost his first four games, and unfortunately this game made it number five. The Angels manage to get the best of Verlander as the Tigers lost 2-8.
Justin was able to keep the Angels from scoring throughout the first three innings. The Tigers looked dry the entire day, with very little in the way of hits or any productivity in both an offensive and defensive manner. The first inning had both teams going down 1-2-3. Justin managed to go 5 2/3 innings and his opponent, Jared Weaver went 6 1/3. The only difference is Justin gave up some runs and Jared was more interested in giving up walks.
In the second, Jared walked two Tigers after Justin shut down the Angels (allowing just one hit before retiring three) though the Tigers weren’t able to capitalize on this or even get a hit. The third had Justin walking one though he retired three without much trouble. The Tigers had two walks and both Curtis Granderson and Jacque Jones were out when Granderson was picked off on base and Jones was caught stealing.
In the fourth, Torii Hunter hit an RBI triple, sending Casey Kotchman home to score. Justin was able to keep the score 1-0 in that inning, but not for long. The Tigers got their first hit in the fourth, when Miguel Cabrera singled. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to do much more than that. In the fifth, a sacrifice fly by Erick Aybar led to Maicer Izturis coming home and the Angels now led 2-0. Jared Weaver was able to retire the Tigers in a 1-2-3 inning, in the bottom of the fifth.
In the sixth, Verlander wasn’t able to keep things under control. Under his pitching, Vladimir Guerrero and Gary Matthews Jr. were able to score on a two RBI double courtesy of Torii Hunter. Garret Anderson and Torii Hunter were able to score on an RBI single hit by Aybar. By this point, the score was 6-0 in the Angels favor and Zach Miner stepped in to relieve Verlander. Miner was able to get the Tigers out of the inning without further scoring.
The bottom of the sixth was a 1-2-3 inning for Weaver. Miner was able to get a 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh, as well. The bottom of the seventh is where the Tigers showed a little bit of effort and tried to come back, somewhat. Magglio Ordonez was able to score the Tigers’ first run on a sacrifice fly by Edgar Renteria. This happened right after Justin Speier relieved Weaver. Pudge Rodriguez followed this up with an RBI double, as Carlos Guillen scored, making the score 6-2.
In the eighth, Jason Grilli relieved Miner. He had a 1-2-3 eighth. Scot Shields relieved Speier and he too had a 1-2-3 eighth. The Tigers had only one inning to make their comeback. Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. Jason Grilli closed without giving up another run, but Shields also closed without giving up a run and the Angels beat the Tigers 6-2.
Today is the Tigers only day off. This is their first day off since April 7. Tomorrow they’ll head to New York to take on the Yankees for the first time this year. This will be the last time the Tigers play at Yankee Stadium. The Tigers face the Yanks in a three game series.
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Written by Ashtyn Evans - Visit Website
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