Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season review – Part 41
Detroit Tigers secured a comfortable 4-2 win in Game 2 of the series against the Colorado Rockies and they were looking to continue the good work in the finale.
Showing great character and mental toughness, the Tigers outclassed their opponents in finer details of the game on June 17, 2012. It was an important win for the Tigers as they entered the series with a poor 30-33 record.
Starting pitcher Max Scherzer produced another outstanding performance as he allowed seven hits in eight solid innings. Striking out 12 batters, he created all sort of problems for the Rockies’ batting lineup. With his win, Scherzer improved his record to 6-4.
Relief pitcher Brayan Villarreal also had a great time on the mound as he pitched the perfect ninth to help the Tigers complete a deserving shutout victory.
"This was extremely important for me," Scherzer said. "It was especially big to go eight, because we've got a lot of tired arms in our bullpen."
"You never think about going 5 for 5," said Quintin Berry. "It is just something that happens."
"It actually turned out to be a strained right knee," Colorado manager Jim Tracy said. "He did it running sprints to get ready for the game. They had already played the national anthem and the umpires were on the field when our assistant trainer told me that CarGo couldn't play. Right now, it is day to day. We'll have to see."
Colorado’ starter Jeremy Guthrie paid the ultimate price for his errors on the mound as he conceded eight hits and four runs in three innings, allowing the Tigers to take complete control of the situation.
Guthrie looked out of sort right from the start of the contest and the Tigers took complete advantage of that. Relief pitchers Guillermo Moscoso, Matt Reynolds, Matt Belisle and Red Brothers combined to toss up five scoreless innings for the Rockies but the Tigers had no problems in holding on to their five run lead.
Catcher Gerald Laird could not have asked for a better outing as he doubled to deep left in the second inning to break the deadlock and put Tigers on the board. Slugger Prince Fielder continued his excellent hitting streak as he added a double to deep right centre in the third inning to double the lead to 2-0.
Ramon Santiago stretched the lead to 4-0 with a singled to centre in the third. Third baseman Miguel Cabrera ended the game strongly for the Tigers as he doubled to left in the sixth innings. Rockies had several scoring opportunities but they were not prepared. It will not be wrong to say that the contest turned out to be complete one sided at the end.
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