The Detroit Tigers returned home Thursday night after a long road trip in which they were able to clinch the AL Central Division for the first time ever. In doing so, they welcomed in the Baltimore Orioles a team that’s been playing very hard the past couple weeks as they try to play spoiler to playoff bound and playoff hopeful teams.
Tonight was no different for Baltimore as they edged out the Tigers 6-5 from Comerica.
In doing so, the Tigers were able to get some good looks at Al Alburquerque, Ryan Perry and David Pauley as the postseason looms.
“I don’t think it’s any secret: We’re looking,” Leyland said. “That’s as simple as it is. There’s no sense in trying to hide that from the players. There’s no sense in trying to hide that from the media, the fans. … We’re looking. It’s that simple. At some point, we’re going to have to decide on a roster.”
Leyland also indicated that he wouldn’t go into too much detail about roster decisions for the playoffs. He did however indicate that there are two spots currently up for grabs. Leyland also mentioned earlier in the week that he will likely go with extra position players over pitchers.
Those two open spots could go to anyone of the Tigers’ relievers tonight.
Al Alburquerque who’s been bothered by a hip injury came in to relieve starter Jacob Turner with runners on first and third and no one out. In turn Alburquerque retired all three batters he faced.
“He was a little rusty to start with, but he picked up the last hitter pretty good,” Leyland said. “He hasn’t pitched that much lately, so we expected him to be a little rusty.”
David Pauley ended up pitching a 1-2-3 fifth inning but gave up one run in the sixth and ended up being tagged with the loss.
Ryan Perry pitched two perfect innings late retiring four of the six batters he faced on ground balls and one strikeout.
“He still needs a little more consistency,” Leyland said. “I liked what I saw tonight. He hung one slider that he got an out on, but he hung it. He’s throwing the ball pretty good. (He’s had) more good outings than not-so-good outings, so that’s encouraging.”
The Tigers are still trying to secure home field advantage during the ALDS and are currently in a battle with the Texas Rangers for that opportunity. After Thursday night both Texas and Detroit remain tied after Texas fell to Oakland 4-3 earlier in the day on Thursday.
The Majors Detroit’s Player of the Game: Adam Jones (2R, 2H, 2RBI’s)
| Baltimore | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Andino, 2B | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .265 |
| Hardy, SS | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 | .265 |
| Markakis, RF | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .283 |
| Guerrero, DH | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .291 |
| Wieters, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .263 |
| Jones, Ad, CF | 4 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .284 |
| Reynolds, Ma, 1B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .222 |
| Davis, C, 3B | 4 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .261 |
| Reimold, LF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .242 |
| Angle, LF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .174 |
| Totals | 35 | 6 | 10 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 12 | .256 |
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .250 |
| Ordonez, RF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .252 |
| Young, D, LF | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | .269 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | .333 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .323 |
| Raburn, 2B | 4 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .254 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .297 |
| Inge, 3B | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .199 |
| a-Kelly, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .241 |
| Santos, C | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .238 |
| b-Avila, PH | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .297 |
| Totals | 31 | 5 | 8 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 11 | .274 |
a-Flied out for Inge in the 9th. b-Grounded out for Santos in the 9th.
HR: Hardy (29, 3rd inning off Turner, 0 on, 1 out), Jones, Ad (24, 4th inning off Turner, 1 on, 0 out).
TB: Hardy 5; Markakis 2; Wieters; Jones, Ad 5; Davis, C 2; Reimold.
RBI: Guerrero (61), Hardy (76), Jones, Ad 2 (82), Reimold 2 (40).
2-out RBI: Reimold.
SF: Guerrero; Reimold.
GIDP: Guerrero.
Team RISP: 1-for-2.
Team LOB: 5.
BASERUNNING
SB: Jones, Ad (12, 2nd base off Pauley/Santos).
FIELDING
E: Davis, C (6, fielding).
Outfield assists: Jones, Ad (Cabrera, Mi at home).
DP: 3 (Hardy-Andino-Reynolds, Ma 2, Andino-Hardy-Reynolds, Ma).
2B: Raburn (21, Britton), Cabrera, Mi (46, Strop).
HR: Young, D (10, 5th inning off Britton, 2 on, 1 out).
TB: Jackson, A; Ordonez; Young, D 4; Cabrera, Mi 2; Raburn 4; Santos.
RBI: Ordonez (29), Young, D 3 (57).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Peralta, Jh 2; Ordonez; Raburn.
SAC: Jackson, A.
GIDP: Young, D; Martinez, V; Peralta, Jh.
Team RISP: 3-for-11.
Team LOB: 4.
FIELDING
E: Cabrera, Mi (13, fielding).
DP: (Turner-Peralta, Jh-Cabrera, Mi).
Turner pitched to 4 batters in the 4th.
Coke pitched to 1 batter in the 9th.
WP: Britton 2.
Pitches-strikes: Britton 78-44, Berken 17-13, Strop 15-11, Gregg 12-8, Turner 64-36, Alburquerque 14-9, Pauley 26-18, Perry 15-12, Coke 4-4, Benoit 9-6.
Groundouts-flyouts: Britton 10-0, Berken 3-1, Strop 1-0, Gregg 2-1, Turner 6-3, Alburquerque 0-1, Pauley 3-1, Perry 4-0, Coke 0-0, Benoit 0-2.
Batters faced: Britton 23, Berken 6, Strop 4, Gregg 3, Turner 17, Alburquerque 3, Pauley 8, Perry 6, Coke 1, Benoit 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Alburquerque 2-1, Benoit 1-0.
Umpires: HP: Paul Schrieber. 1B: Chad Fairchild. 2B: Angel Campos. 3B: Sam Holbrook.
Weather: 72 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 9 mph, R to L.
T: 2:34.
Att: 27,847.
Re: Mlive.com, MLB.com
