Ryan Raburn hit a 2-out grand slam to highlight a 6 run 4th inning. It was Raburn's 5th home run of the season and first in awhile. His name hasn't come up in any game recaps in quite awhile, other than observations of him playing second base, as Detroit tries to stabilize that position. Andy Dirks also had a 2 out RBI double in the inning.
Prior to the inning, which Austin Jackson led off with a single, Detroit hadn't had a baserunner. Then the floodgates opened.
Victor Martinez had a bases loaded sac fly in the 4th. He hit the ball hard but on a line that was caught near the wall. If he'd have elevated the ball just a bit more he'd have had a grand slam himself.
Miguel Cabrera later added his 12th home run of the season.
The offensive explosion was enough to earn a win for Brad Penny. Penny labored through 5 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 8 hits. He did strike out 5 and worked out of a couple jams to stay in it. Not his best outing, but he improved to 5-4 on the season.
Al Alburquerque pitched the 6th and 7th. It was my first look at him. Impressive arm, impressive stuff. If he can stay consistent he can be dominating, like Joel Zumaya was in 2006.
Joaquin Benoit pitched the 8th and Jose Valverde the 9th. With a 4 run lead it could have been nice to give Valverde an off-day since Detroit has had a lot of save situations lately. Unless the offense starts generating a bit more pop Detroit is likely to play in a whole bunch of close games. But right now I don't know if they have that totally reliable 4th reliever who could have pitched the 6th when the starter goes only 5. Daniel Schlereth was sharp for awhile but has been shaky lately. Ditto for Ryan Perry, who's now in Triple A to work out his delivery problems.
But Detroit rebounded to take 2 of 3 on the road in Chicago. They're now 31-27 on the season, 2.5 games behind division leading Cleveland.
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