Rookies pitch 8 innings, Tigers win (finally?)
posted in Baltimore Orioles, Out-of-Town Media, Random, link roundup |
One of the more exciting aspects of Wednesday’s game for any Tigers fan was almost certainly seeing the two vaunted rookie pitchers, Justin Verlander and Joel Zumaya, combine for 8 strong innings. The only snag came in the seventh when Verlander loaded the bases with 1 out, and Zumaya allowed two of the runs to score. But the inning quickly ended, and the Tigers held on for a 6-3 victory. The most exciting part? It was the first time V&Z pitched in the same game. It probably won’t be the last for a long, long time.
“I think it’s good to see for Detroit fans,” Verlander said in the Free Press article. “I hope that’s something the fans at home can see for a long time to come.”
In today’s Washington Post, Baltimore’s Jay Gibbons complimented Verlander’s control.
“For a guy that throws that hard, he had really good control,” Gibbons said. “He made it seem like you were down 0-2 every time.”
Closer Todd Jones picked up his seventh save after a double-play kept the inning from becoming too exciting. And despite the 3-game losing streak, the Tigers still have the second best record in the American League, behind the White Sox.
And in the Balitmore Sun, Orioles manager Sam Perlozzo talks about the turnaround in Detroit.
“They suffered through some years with some good young kids,” Perlozzo said. “We talked about it last year. I felt like they were on the verge of turning things around if they could add a couple of quality players.”
There’s also some talk about Tigers manager Jim Leyland turning things around. I expect this will be a regular theme whenever the Tigers make a first visit to a town. Interestingly, the Sun pointed out three Tigers are in the Top 11Â (actually 10: Maroth, Robertson and Rogers) in the AL in ERA. I hadn’t realized that. Credit is given to Kenny Rogers for helping the younger pitchers improve.
But there is a warning from the Tigers. Don’t worry about them so much. They’re fine. Danny Knobler of Booth newspapers reports on that story. Leyland warns everyone in Knobler’s article: The Tigers can’t win every game. Look at the 162-game pitcher, not a smaller mark. Not bad advice for a fanset so used to losing, they are all waiting for the wheels to come off.
First, Leyland said any losing culture that existed with the Tigers doesn’t exist anymore. Then, he suggested that people have overreacted to the Tigers’ quick start.”God, we’re not the ‘61 Yankees all of a sudden,” he said. “This team was 20 games under .500 last season. You win four or five games, and everyone’s got us the ‘61 Yankees.
I don’t think the wheels are going to come off this team all at once. But it became pretty easy to expect a win every game. But that feeling is needed. That’s the feeling that draws fans to games. Fans don’t want to go to the ballpark expecting a loss.
Knobler also addressed Guillen’s error problem in another article.