Brad Penny’s dominant pitching helps Detroit Tigers defeat Toronto Blue Jays 5-2 – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers’ starter Brad Penny had an extraordinary day with the ball as he pitched seven solid innings in the Tigers’ 5-2 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays at Rogers Centre in Toronto on May 8.
Speaking to reporters, Penny said, “I said 'Man, it's like throwing a bunch of changeups coming in after that guy,'”
Penny permitted just two runs on seven hits including two earned runs and one strike-out without giving any walk to the Blue Jays’ batters. He did a great job just like Justin Verlander, who missed the roster to take some rest for the upcoming games of the
current season. Penny had an exemplary season so far as he improved his ERA to 1.95 in the last three starts.
Brad gave away just six earned runs in his 27 innings pitched throughout his baseball career. The Tigers’ Manager Jim Leyland had a huge ovation for Penny as he said, “What you saw today is exactly the reason we wanted to get him. He gave us some innings
and gave us a chance to win the game. He pitched a good game his last start and he pitched a good game today. Hopefully he can get on a little bit of a roll.”
Both teams put their efforts in the first two innings to score a run but were useless. The Blue Jays rallied in the third inning 2-0 when Jose Bautista hit a solo home run against Penny and the Jays’ centre-fielder Rajai Davis singled towards the centre-field
position. It was considered as the 10th homer for Bautista in the current season. Davis went 1-for-3. Aaron Hill did add a run for his team as he connected one ball with the bat.
Aaron Hill said of Penny, “He was just spotting his fastball in and out, the two-seamer in, the four-seamer out there. When [he's] locating them, no matter how hard he throws, it's going to be tough on the hitters.”
The Tigers scored two runs in the fourth inning when Scott Sizemore got a lead-off walk and posted a single run on the double of Victor Martinez towards the centre-field position. The Blue Jays were on top but they missed the catch of Martinez, who then
singled at the plate on the drive of Jhonny Peralta to tie the game two-all.
The fifth and sixth innings were scoreless for both the teams. The Tigers led off the game 4-2 in the seventh inning when Austin Jackson struck a solo home-run to left-field and Brandon Inge completed a single off the right-field area. Miguel Cabrera hit
an RBI single and Don Kelly completed a run to extend the lead 5-2 in the eighth inning.
The Rays’ starter Jo-Jo Reyes was expensive as he gave away five runs on eight hits in seven innings pitched.
Tags: