Narrowing nipping
posted in 2007 season, Minnesota Twins |Tigers 1, Twins 0
It doesn’t get much closer than a 1-0 game when the run is unearned, does it? Nate Robertson and Matt Garza went toe-to-toe for seven inning, each dominating for periods and each getting into a bit of trouble.
Jason Bartlett’s fielding error on a ball of Brandon Inge’s bat led to the difference maker when Curtis Granderson walked and Magglio Ordonez drove Inge in with two outs. The run was unearned.
I don’t know if Robertson truly had a ‘tired’ arm or what, but this is his best performance since coming off the disabled list. In seven innings, he gave up two walks, three hits and had five strikeouts. Macay McBride — still proving me wrong — walked the first batter he saw in the 8th inning, but got out of it when he induced a shallow fly out, then a double play. Todd Jones worked an easy ninth, which was fortunate, because in a 1-0 game like that, my heart could neither have taken the intensity of baserunners nor the heartbreak of blowing said 1-0 game.
Brandon Inge played some nice defense.
Grandy did great at at the plate, adding another extra-base hit (a double) and going 3-for-3 with a walk. He leads the American League in extra-base hits, but he trails Chase Utley by two for the MLB lead.
Still, a discussion at Motown Sports points out Granderson has a shot at getting 20 steals, 20 doubles, 20 triples and 20 home runs, a feat done just twice in history, once by Willy Mays. He’s also on pace for 100 extra-base hits. That may not be an MLB all-time record, but Hank Greenberg leads the Tigers with 103 in 1937.
With a .604 winning percentage, the Tigers now lead the MLB (.02 over Boston).
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