Armando Galarraga brings down Indians again as Tigers win 6-0
Armando Galarraga is an enigma. Against most of the teams out there in the American League, the player is a good pitcher. Coming up with an Earning Run Average of 4.21 is a modest achievement. However, in this season, one thing baffles many spectators and sports analysts around America. Why can’t the Cleveland Indians get a run off the Venezuelan right hander? The previous encounter between the Detroit Tigers and the Wahoos was back in June. The 28-year-old ball thrower started in the second game between the two, only to miss a no hit chance through a wrong call by Umpire Jim Joyce.
Now, after more than two months, the teams faced off again. ‘This time things are going to look different’, was the thought harboured by most fans and critics in Comerica Park. However, Detroit City was going to view a short highlight of the previous game as Armando’s bid for a no hitter escalated to the 5th inning till Jayson Nix knocked a pitch for a double, just over the glove of left fielder, Don Kelly. Most Tigers’ fans were hanging by the edge of their seats through the whole endeavour looking for a repeat of things from last time. For Cleveland fans, it was a horrible night once again. Galarraga received a standing ovation from the 33,936 spectators chanting in the stands after the hit was made. The ball thrower matched his career high of 8 strikeouts. The veteran walked off with a 5.12 ERA in 12 starts for the home team against ‘The Tribe’.
Armando featured in 9 innings, while allowing no run off 3 hits and no walks. The player pitched a 100 times in the match. For the Tigers, they won the fixture after a three game losing streak. This marked an encounter for the Detroit side to rebound on as the team’s morale was at stake.
The Indians were, on the other hand, the worst of the two sides. Having won just 50 of their games in 121 outings, they ranked last on the Central American League table. Being far from equally strong, the tribe was always going to be dubbed the underdogs for the fixture. They brought in James Masterson for the encounter. Already suffering from a bad record in the season with 4 wins and 11 losses, the 25-year-old was not going to come out on top in the match against the likes of Miguel Cabrera in the strike zone. The ball thrower pitched 113 times in 6 innings managing 5 strikeouts while allowing a walk, 11 hits and 5 runs.
The Indians couldn’t score during the night but, Detroit had power hitters who went to work on the pitchers in style. The first run came in the bottom 1st off Austin Jackson who ran from the second base to the third on Will Rhymes bunt single to the catcher, Lou Marson. The catcher made a throwing error subsequently, allowing Jackson to clear the last base for the first Tigers run. Rhymes scored later in the innings when Cabrera singled to the deep right.
Brandon Inge scored the 3rd for the Tigers in the bottom 2nd when Gerald Laird singled to the left. Don Kelly followed Inge for the fourth as Jackson banged a single to the left. The Detroit gained a 4 run lead in the early hours of the game. It wasn’t much of a surprise now that the team was heading for a win. Don Kelly stretched the lead to 5-0 in the bottom 4th when Rhymes singled to the right for a convenient sprint to the first base.
With Armando restraining the Indians’ batting line up, the score remained at 5-0 till the bottom 8th when Don Kelly got back on the strike zone for the Tigers to get the last run of the match. Inge was the scorer as he ran from the third base as Kelly banged a double to the right. That brought up an aggregate of 6 runs for the Detroit side. The Indians eventually crashed out with no response and that marked the end of the game.
With the series already spelling out to be a Tigers’ set, it must be up to the Indians to change their circumstances and they somehow need to perform above the threshold level and take the game to the Detroit club.
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