Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season review – Part 26
Detroit Tigers continued their domination in Game 2 of the series as well as they secured a comfortable 6-3 win on May 26, 2012. The pitching rotation, once again, created all sorts of problems for the Twins’ batting line-up.
Starting pitcher Max Scherzer displayed some top quality throwing skills as he gave up six hits and three runs in just over five innings to grab his fourth win of the season. Striking-out nine batters, Scherzer showed the stuff he is capable of.
Relief pitchers Octavio Dotel, Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde all made valuable contributions to help the Tigers hold on to their three run lead.
Twins’ starter Carl Pavano had a forgettable time on the mound as he allowed six runs on ten hits in just over four innings to take his fourth loss of the season.
Third baseman Miguel Cabrera doubled to deep centre in the first inning to put Tigers on the board. Slugger Prince Fielder singled to centre and outfielder Quintin Berry singled to right in the fifth inning to ensure the Tigers were in the driving seat.
"Hopefully we're relaxing a little bit and doing what we can do pretty good," manager Jim Leyland said. "We're supposed to hit pretty good and we can hit pretty good. I'm not going to get carried away with two games, but it's a pretty good sign."
"I'm really pitching well with three pitches: fastball, slider, change," Scherzer said. "I just keep making a couple mistakes every game leaving a pitch in the middle of the plate where they've been able to do damage with it. That's a good problem and a
bad problem at the same time because obviously you're making mistakes."
Andy Dirks and Cabrera also made useful contributions in the fifth to stretch the lead to 6-2. For the Twins, Denard Span smacked a solo home-run to right in the sixth to keep his team’s hopes alive but the Tigers were too hot to handle as they showed nerves
of steel to complete a deserving victory.
Similar flow of play was observed in the finale as well as the Tigers outplayed their American League Central Division rivals in almost all aspects of the game. Starting pitcher Rick Porcello tossed up six solid innings, giving up just three hits in six
innings. Relief pitcher Jose Valverde also pitched with great control and accuracy as he pitched the scoreless ninth for his ninth save of the year.
Cabrera continued his excellent hitting streak as he singled to right in the first inning to put Tigers on the board. Brennan Boesch grounded into double play and Cabrera smacked a two run home-run in the bottom of the ninth to help his side come back from
behind for a memorable win.
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