Detroit Tigers humble Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 – MLB Update
Detroit Tigers humbled Tampa Bay Rays 5-2 at the Comerica Park in Detroit, Michigan on Tuesday, April 10 in their regular season encounter of the 2012 Major League Baseball. The Tigers played an extremely aggressive brand of baseball on Tuesday night.
Rick Porcello, who is playing in his fourth big league season, will be very pleased with the way he conducted himself in a game against the Rays. Throwing seven solid innings on a snowy afternoon at Tigers home, he is showing that he is ready to become one
of the best pitchers in the game.
The 23 year old allowed just two runs and seven hits and he looked extremely comfortable on the mound in the chilly weather. Porcello has an excellent opportunity to prove his mettle this season. If he can perform on regular basis, he might have the chance
to replace ace Justin Verlander someday.
"I don't think I even realized how fast I was going," Porcello said. "I was throwing strikes and I guess wanted to keep that going."
"I liked the lefty-lefty matchup with Prince," Rays’ manager Joe Maddon said. "Prince hit the ball in the perfect spot."
Tigers’ offence did everything right, breaking through in the eighth inning. Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder made useful contributions in deciding the outcome of the game. Cabrera doubled and scored on Fielder’s single.
Jhonny Peralta added a sacrifice fly and Gerald Laird had an RBI single to help the Tigers take three run lead. Phil Coke pitched with great control and accuracy in the eighth inning and Jose Valverde had his first successful save of the season to close
out Porcello’s win.
"He commanded the fastball on both sides of the plate and when he does that, he pitches like he did today," said Laird. "Running sinkers in on them and then sinkers away, they didn't know what to look for. Throwing his offspeed pitches off that, I definitely
think it's a great building point for him."
The Tigers have now an incredible 4-0 win-loss record this season. It will be interesting to see if they can continue their impressive run throughout the season to make their dreams come true.
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