Detroit Tigers outclass Houston Astros 4-2 – MLB Spring Training
Detroit Tigers outclassed Houston Astros 4-2 at the Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Florida on Sunday, April 1 in their Grapefruit League encounter of the 2012 Major League Baseball Spring Training Session.
The Tigers have looked in terrific touch since the start of 2012 Spring Training. Although they lost their way a bit in the middle of spring season, they have bounced back strongly in the closing stages. Winners of 2011 American League Central division title,
the Tigers are considered as one of the favourites to win the World Series finals.
Considering their 19-7 spring record, it is easy to see why many national writers and analysts have kept the Tigers in their talks. It will be interesting to see if Dave Dombrowski’s team can live up to the hype to win their first World Series title since
1984.
There were some bright spots even in a loss for the Astros’ as Jason Castro hit a home run in his team’s 4-2 loss to the Tigers. However, in some ways the outing proved to be a very disappointing one for the Astros. Centre fielder Jordan Schafer and shortstop
Jed Lowrie were unable to make their way onto the field due to their injuries.
Both players are expected to stay on the disabled list until the start of 2012 regular season. According to sources, Astros’ manager Brad Mills wanted Schafer and Lowrie to have a couple of at-bats but the players looked in extreme pain during the practice
session.
"There's no doubt that the anxiousness mounts each day," Mills said, "because it shortens the at-bats that he's going to get before the season starts."
"It's one of the fun things we get to do," general manager Jeff Luhnow said. "We brought `em all into Brad's office to let them know. They were all thrilled, as you can imagine."
Lowrie and Schafer’s injuries have provided the likes of Jose Altuve, J.D. Martinez, Brian Bogusevic and Marwin Gonzalez an excellent chance to break into the Astros’s big league roster. It will be interesting to see if the Astros can live up to the expectations
without some of their premium players.
Tags: