In the series opener Detroit won 5-4. Brad Penny scattered 4 runs on 7 hits in 5.1 innings pitched. The bullpen pitched shutdown baseball, and Penny improved his season record to 8-9 on the year.
Phil Coke, Joaquin Benoit, and Jose Valverde combined to pitch 3.2 innings of 1 hit ball. Coke struck out 3 of the 5 batters he retired. Valverde struck out 2 of the 3 batters in the 9th to make it 34-for-34 in saves.
Wilson Betemit was 3-4 with his 2nd home run as a Tiger, and 5th of the season, and 2 RBIs. Andy Dirks went 4-4 with a double and an RBI. It was the first 4-hit game of his career.
Austin Jackson was 2-3 with a double and an RBI. Miguel Cabrera was 2-4 with an RBI.
In the second game of the series, Detroit scored 5 runs in the 6th inning to come back from the hole dug by Baltimore's 5 run second inning of Max Scherzer.
4 of those runs off Scherzer were earned but he allowed no other runs and 7 hits in 7 innings. He struck out 10 and went 7 innings to end up getting his 12th win of the season when the offense arrived. Scherzer is 12-7 on the year, tying his career high in victories, set last season.
Miguel Cabrera hit a 2-run homer, his 23rd of the season, and 3 RBIs overall. Ryan Raburn capped off the 6th with a 2 run single. Alex Avila also drove in a run. Phil Coke was perfect in another inning of relief. He's finding last season's form. Jose Valverde made it 35-for-35 in the save department.
The 6-5 win was Detroit's 8th straight win by 1 run. That sets a new franchise record and is the longest string of 1 run games since the St. Louis Cardinals in 1994.
The good news is that Detroit is winning alot of 1 run games. They also play a ton since a few of their recent losses were also by 1 run. The bad news is that they're playing in a ton of 1 run games. Hopefully needing Jose Valverde seemingly every victory doesn't wear him down in about a month.
Yesterday Doug Fister allowed 8 runs, 6 earned, on 12 hits in 5.2 innings of work. At list David Pauley .struck out 2 and allowed only 1 hit in 1.1 innings. Hopefully he's settling in.
Detroit tried to come back but lost 8-5. Baltimore's left fielder made a running catch on a slicing line drive by Brennan Boesch near the line with the bases loaded to end the game.
Ramon Santiago hit his 2nd home run of the season and had 2 RBIs for Detroit. Magglio Ordonez had an RBI, but it was a groundout in the 9th instead of the big hit. Alex Avila walked with the bases loaded in the 9th to bring in a run, as did Santiago right after him for his second RBI. Austin Jackson also drove in a run.
It was a 4 run 8th but so close to a huge inning. This is the second time this season that Boesch has ended a game with the bases loaded on a ball that was well-hit but found a glove (line-out double play against the Rockies in the other case).
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