Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season – MLB Review – Part 4
Detroit Tigers secured a comfortable 5-2 win series opener and the Tampa Bay Rays bounced back strongly in Game 2 to keep the Series alive. The stage was set for an interesting finale as the Tigers took on the Rays at Comerica Park on April 12.
In a displayed of complete dominance, Tigers’ starting pitcher Drew Smyly gave up just four hits and one run in four sharp innings to dent Rays’ confidence levels. Relief pitchers Brayan Villarreal, Phil Coke, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde all made their
presence felt as the Tigers’ restricted the Rays to just two runs.
"It's been an exciting week, but I was struggling," Smyly said after Detroit's 7-2 win Thursday. "I couldn't get into a groove, but once I got the bases loaded, I told myself that I had to settle down and get out of it."
"We had the game right there for the taking in the first inning, and we chose not to take it," Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said. "The kid was obviously nervous, so I felt good with Kepp up there.”
Carlos Pena provided Rays with an excellent start as he homered to right in the third inning. Andy Dirks tripled to deep right and Brennan Boesch singled to left in the fifth inning to help Detroit come back from behind to claim a 3-1 lead.
With momentum on their side, the Tigers continued to pressurise their opponents scoring runs at regular intervals. Boesch singled to centre in the seventh and Alex Avila drove in a couple of runs in the eighth to deny the Rays any chance of coming back into
the contest.
"Today was a lot of fun," Boesch said. "It's my birthday, and we're going to have a fun flight to Chicago."
After beating the Rays 2-1 in a three match series, the Tigers headed to U.S. Cellular Field in Chicago, Illinois for a three match series against their American League Central Division rivals.
The Tigers, however, struggled to adjust to the conditions in the series opener, falling to the Chicago White Sox 2-5. Chicago’s starting pitcher Jake Peavy played a big part in deciding the outcome of the clash as he gave up just two runs and two hits in
six plus sold innings. Striking-out eight batters, he made quick work of the Tigers’ line-up.
Relief pitchers Will Ohman, Addison Reed, Matt Thomton and Hector Santiago combined to pitch two plus scoreless innings to help the White Sox hold on to their three run lead.
For the Tigers’, starter Max Scherzer displayed some high quality pitching skills as he struck-out 11 batters in six innings. Delmon Young smacked a two run home-run in the seventh but his effort was not enough to stop the White Sox from taking 1-0 series
lead.
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