Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season review – Part 25
On May 24, 2012 the Detroit Tigers were beaten by the Cleveland Indians in the finale of the series as well, which helped the Indians secure a rare series sweep against their American League Central Division rivals.
Indians’ starting rotation, once again, played a big part in deciding the outcome of the clash. Starter Justin Masterson had one of the career best outings as he gave up just one run in seven solid innings while striking-out four batters.
Relief pitchers Vinnie Pestano and Chris Perez also made valuable contributions as the Indians held on to their slim lead to complete a deserving series victory.
"This is huge for the team," said Perez. "We played good ball these last three games. I said when I made the comments that I was just going to go out and do the job. Luckily, I've been able to come through."
For the Tigers, ace Justin Verlander pitched with great control and accuracy, allowing just two runs on six hits in eight sharp innings. Striking-out seven batters, he created all sorts of problems for Cleveland’s batting line-up. However, the Tigers’ offence
was unable to post enough runs on the board and Verlander ended up taking his second loss of the season.
After the Indians took the early lead, third baseman Miguel Cabrera grounded out to shortstop in the third inning to keep Tigers in the hunt. However, the night belonged to the Indians with Jose Lopez driving in the tie breaking run against Verlander.
"I wasn't trying to send a message," Verlander said. "I was trying to light a spark. I thought if I could dominate an inning and get our guys back in quick, maybe something would happen."
"You can only say it's early for so long," Verlander said. "We've got to get it turned around."
A humiliating series sweep against the Indians damaged Tigers’ win-loss record to 20-24. Manager Jim Leyland asked his men to be more consistent to put together some kind of winning streak. Tigers did not disappoint the skipper as they swept the Minnesota
Twins in their next three match series, improving their record to 23-24.
In Game 1 on May 25, 2012 the Tigers dominated the Twins in almost all aspects of the game. In an offensive outburst, the Tigers posted a huge total on the board. To their credit, Twins put up a solid fight but their effort was not enough to stop the Tigers
from earning a deserving victory.
Brennan Boesch, Alex Avila, Quintin Berry and Ryan Raburn all displayed top quality hitting skills to give Tigers in impassable 6-2 lead in the fourth inning. Prince Fielder and Delmon Young also made useful contributions to help their side secure a much
needed victory.
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