Jim Leyland wins his 3000th game as the Tigers brawl the White Sox to a win
No game could have been special for a manager who has devoted his life to baseball. Jim Leyland, who’s been the manager for the Detroit Tigers for 5 years, led the team to victory against the Chicago White Sox in the U.S. Cellular field. In front of an Illinois
crowd of 25,417 fans, the two ball clubs met and engaged in a thrilling bout which saw 16 runs being scored in 11 innings.
The match was never a one sided affair to begin with. The teams were fighting for honour and pride. The fact that this encounter represented Jim’s efforts to get his to the second spot in the Central division made it that much interesting.
From what was expected to be a strange night for the White Sox, it didn’t seem like it in any way as the side started off strongly with hits at the start of the fixture. Jeremy Bonderman was pitching for Detroit and he paid a harsh price for his team’s earlier
lack of focus. Juan Pierre got to the first base, safe, after baseman Scott Sizemore made an error on the ball. The Chicago batsman went to second base after Alexei Ramirez singled to the centre. He finally scored when Alex Rios singled to the left.
The first inning wasn’t going to end so soon. Paul Konerko’s grounder to the fielder’s choice to third got Ramirez to third and set the White Sox up for another run. Anthony John Pierzynski came in and did the rest, as he hit a sacrifice fly to the third
to get Ramirez through for the second run. Detroit was 2-0 down and Jim Leyland got a jumpy reception from the hosts for his 3000th match.
John Danks was looking impressive for the White Sox but his good pitching worked no wonders on Sizemore in the top 4th when the strong hitter rectified his mistake with a 362 feet homer to the left. With the Tigers going back into the game, Chicago
cogged the advance in the bottom 6th when Rios scored off Pierzynski’s single to the centre. The lead was back in place for the home team but if they thought the visitors were not on the prowl, they were mistaken.
The Tigers roared back into the game with Casper Wells who drove in a 346 feet homer to the left to lead Johnny Peralta into the dugout for two runs. Detroit and Chicago were level, but the visitors were not done yet. Brandon Inge walked and Brennan Boesch
got the hitter to second base with an infield single. That gave Gerald Laird no reason to hold back as he smashed a double to the left to get Inge home with the 4th run.
Austin Jackson then appeared to single to the left and lead Boesch to 5th run for the Tigers. Dank was replaced but the damage was done. The team conceded 4 runs in the inning and things were still left to be dealt with. Jackson made his way to
the second base in the innings when Pierzynski passed the ball. With two men on the edge, Will Rhymes came in for Sizemore and slammed a double to the deep left. The two hitters occupying the base ran home and stretched the score line to 7.
Chicago was looking at a loss and that’s when Jim’s simple night got spicier. The Tigers bullpen were reeling and they were dealt with accordingly as they conceded 4 runs in the bottom 9th. Pierzynski made up for his error earlier when he scored
of Brent Morel’s single. Manny Ramirez then scored his first of the game off Pierre. Morel scored the third on Alexei Ramirez’s grounder to the fielder’s choice to shortstop. Alejandro De Aza then scored the equalizing run after Robbie Weinhardt delivered
a wild pitch to Konerko.
The two teams were locked on 7 each and Leyland finally got his memorable win in the top 11th when the Tigers rallied in for an emphatic win, curtsey Inge, who scored on Gerald’s single to the left. Jackson followed the move up with a double to
the left to get Boesch through for the 9th run. The White Sox were unable to respond in the bottom 11th and that ended the game on Detroit ending at 9 and Chicago with 7.
It meant that Chicago has now lost 10 games in their last 12 and have plunged to a 6 game losing streak. For Leyland this was a special win and he shared his view on the night with: "It's special. It is. Those are things you don't really share with anybody.
It is what it is. I'm going to keep the line-up card. I don't usually keep things like that, but I'm going to keep this one. That's a lot of games. It's about the players; it's not about the managers. I'll leave it at that."
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