Detroit Tigers humble Tampa Bay Rays 10-1 – MLB news
Detroit Tigers continued to impress the critics as they posted a tremendous 10-1 win against the in-form Tampa Bay Rays at Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday, May 4 in the opening game of their three match series of the 2013 Major League Baseball
regular season.
Starting pitcher Anibal Sanchez enjoyed a great time on the mound as he allowed just four hits and one run in seven solid innings. Striking out nine batters, the right hander played a key role in deciding the outcome of the clash. Relief pitcher Luke Putkonen
and Phil Coke also made useful contributions as they combined to pitch two perfect innings.
“No matter how many runs we score ... I don't want to allow any runs,” Sanchez said. “If we make a lot of runs, the other team can do it, too, so we have to keep the same game.”
“I saw him throw the curveball a couple times, and I saw that he didn't have a feel for that,” outfieldet Torii Hunter said. “This guy has great stuff -- his changeup, his arm action is the same as the fastball, coming out of his arm. Just the fact that
we were able to capitalize on his mistakes -- we have a professional team over here.”
After Rays took the early lead, the Tigers responded fiercely scoring runs at regular intervals. Omar Infante homered to left in the fifth inning and Prince Fielder smacked a solo home run in the eighth to help the Tigers stack up a huge total on the board.
It was an important win for the Tigers, who have been struggled to find consistency in their results since the start of the season. Manager Jim Leyland will very happy with the outcome of the clash but of course he will be expecting his men to continue the
good work in Game 2 to wrap an important series win in the American League Central Division.
Right now, Leyland and company are placed first on the AL Central standings table with a decent 31-25 record but the Tigers will have to improve their game play considerably to pose any threats to the likes of New York Yankees, Boston Red Sox, St. Louis
Cardinals and San Francisco Giants in the playoffs.
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