Baseball roundup - The Blue Jays muster an attack to pounce on the Tigers in the 11th
The Toronto Blue Jays have been on the rise in the recent days. Their loss to the Detroit Tigers in the last fixture in the Rogers Centre ball park didn’t go well with the fans. The team has a habit of mustering up an inconsistent performance pattern. Much of the problem lies with the hitters and day before yesterday’s match proved to be a similar situation in the making as both ball clubs managed minimal hits throughout the innings. It wasn’t till the 4th inning that a run came.
The Tigers have been in good form lately. Prior to the match, the ball club availed a series win over the Kansas City Royals. Their last encounter with the Blue Jays resulted in a victory but things were not going to repeat themselves in the same way the Detroit club expected. For the most part, manager Jim Leyland has been under the microscope for the last few weeks. The lacklustre outcome produced over the last two months has been one of the reasons. The team lies 3rd under the Chicago White Sox in the American League Central Division and the expectation from fans and spectators has been that the roster should be fighting for the top spot. Unfortunately, keeping the pace has been hard in recent days.
The Central Division ball club brought on Justin Verlander for pitching duties and it wasn’t a bad choice, from the perspective of the fans. The player with an earning run average (ERA) of 3.58 has won 14 games and lost 8. It was expected to be a tough battle between two versatile pitchers, as the Jays brought on Shaun Marcum for their team. The Tigers’ experienced ball thrower didn’t get the job done in the night, however, his efforts were later on denied by the Bullpen’s concession on a run, late in the 11th inning. The ace man converted 127 pitches for 8 strikeouts in his 8 innings of play. All the while, he conceded 2 walks, 5 hits and 2 runs in the fixture.
The Blue Jays were looking to get some consistency under their belt. Being 4th in the American League’s East Division doesn’t help the situation for the players and the manager. The pitchers either do too well or concede a lot for the hitters to save the match. But, that has not been the complete story so far. The same applies to the batters. So the fixture with the Tigers was a critical encounter to grasp on. The team needed a win, having lost the previous game and it came, thanks to an Aaron Hill run-hit in the 11th.
Shaun Marcum came in for the pitching duties. The player has an ERA of 3.61 and his inclusion to the side provided decent cover for the match as the ace man took out 4 hitters and allowed 8 hits, 1 run and 2 walks in his 6 innings of play. Apart from him, the bullpen converted well as well for the remainder 5 innings of play.
The Tigers started the play but Jose Bautista opened the scoring in the bottom 4th, as he pulled a massive 405-feet homer to the left to bring up the first run of the match and the Blue Birds. The second run of the match came in the top 6th. This time, Tigers’ Miguel Cabrera got into the show with 344-feet homer, which he banged through to the left side of the park. Another homer came later on and it was the Jays’ Adam Lind who bashed a 420-feet scream to the centre of the park, availing the second for the Toronto side.
With the Jays leading the Tigers, 2 to 1, the Detroit side recalled their luck in the top 9th when Austin Jackson scored off Johnny Damon’s single to the right. With the game locked on even scores, the fixture went into sudden death. The Toronto got lucky with the win as Aaron Hills single to the centre and got John McDonald to score the 3rd run for the team. Much to the delight of the fans in the Rogers Centre, the Blue Birds came out with a sound victory.
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