Detroit Tigers beaten by Minnesota Twins 4-6 in series opener – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers were beaten by Minnesota Twins 4-6 at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on Monday, July 2 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2012 Major League Baseball regular season.
After beating Tampa Bay Rays in three out four games in their previous series, the Tigers were hoping to continue their good work on Monday afternoon to get over the .500 win percentage hurdle. Manager Jim Leyland will be very disappointed with what he saw
from the starting pitcher Doug Fister, who gave up six runs and eight hits in just over four innings to take his sixth loss of the season.
"He got rushing in the fourth and just made some bad pitches," Tigers’ manager Jim Leyland said. "He's just not real sharp."
"We haven't really synchronized all year, but the players have done a good job of staying pretty stable," he added.
Fister might be new to MLB but he has been given enough chances already to prove his mettle. His inability to handle pressure situations could cost him a place on Tigers’ big league roster. It will be interesting to see if Fister can put the pieces of the
puzzle together before his next appearance.
Twins’ relief pitcher Anthony Swarzak, on the other hand, displayed some top quality throwing skills to win for the second time this season. Tossing up just over two effective innings, he gave up just a hit and a walk and the Twins held on to take a crucial
1-0 lead in the series.
"We've got some momentum now and we want to keep that going," Josh Willingham said. "We got the early runs, but you knew that offense was going to get them back into the game. Our bullpen's been great and they shut them down tonight."
Third baseman Miguel Cabrera improved his average to .321 as he hit a sacrifice fly to centre in the third inning and Alex Avila scored to put the Tigers 1-0 ahead.
Cabrera doubled to deep left-centre in the fifth and Delmon Young hit a sacrifice fly to centre to reduce Twins’ lead to 4-6. However, apart from Cabrera none of the Tigers’ hitter could convert scoring opportunities.
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