Detroit Tigers 2012 regular season review – Part 44
With momentum on their side, the St. Louis Cardinals had an excellent chance to secure an important series victory at Comerica Park but the Tigers were determined to give their fans something to cheer about.
Starting pitcher Jacob Turner helped them do that as he produced a match winning performance in the finale on June 21. Turner executed his game plan against the Cardinals to perfection, allowing just four hits and one run in five sharp innings. Striking
out batters at regular intervals, he did not let the opponents settle down.
"He did fine. I will say this: He's much improved," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said in a post game interview. "There's no question about that. He's much improved from the last time I saw him, particularly at the big league level."
Relief pitcher Octavio Dotel replaced him on the mound and pitched a perfect inning to confirm Tigers’ advantage. Phil Coke and Brayan Villarreal also made valuable contributions to help the Tigers force the game into the extra inning. Closer Joaquin Benoit
grabbed his first win of the season after he pitched the scoreless tenth.
For the Cardinals, starter Kyle Lohse pitched with great control and accuracy as he conceded just one run in seven solid innings but he was unfortunate to end up on the losing side. Relief pitchers Mitchell Boggs and Marc Rzepczynski showed nerves of steel
under pressure to keep their side in the hunt.
However, closer Victor Marte was unable to get the job done as he gave up three hits and one run in the extra inning and the Tigers held on to secure a memorable win.
Slugger Prince Fielder provided the Tigers with a kind of start they were hoping for as he homered to right in the fourth inning to put his side on the board. Matt Holliday helped the Cardinals come back into the contest as he hit a sacrifice fly to right
in the fifth inning.
Both teams had several scoring opportunities after that but could not capitalize. Tigers’ Quintin Berry had one of his career-best nights as he singled to centre in the tenth inning to help his side wrap up an impressive series win against the defending
World Series Champions.
"I've never had a walk-off before," the Detroit outfielder said. "I showed it out there, jumping around, acting crazy. You don't know what to do with yourself."
"They gave me a good shot, but it's the best feeling you could get, being ripped up a little bit," Berry said. "I'll let them do it every day."
Manager Jim Leyland was also very happy with what he saw from his men, praising Berry’s performance in particular.
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