Despite a four run first by the Minnesota Twin, Brad Penny and the Tigers were able to weather the storm en route to a 8-4 victory Friday night from Comerica Park. This also marks the Tigers’ 7 straight win and 17th victory in their last 21 games.
Alex Avila added a three-run home run in the second, Santiago a two-run home run in the fourth and Delmon Young added a solo home run in the fifth to help Brad Penny dig himself out of a 4-0 hole after the first inning.
Penny, who often works slow on the mound got a suggestion from his skipper Jim Leyland to speed things up on the mound. Leyland hoped this would help Penny avoid some of the struggles he’s had this season.
“I talked to him a little bit in Cleveland about maybe picking up the pace a little bit just to see if it helps,” he said prior to the game Friday night. “If it doesn’t work, it’ll be my fault. I don’t know if it’s going to happen or not because I don’t know once a guy gets out there if he can do it.”
After Penny was able to get the run support and eventually the win, he became the fourth Tigers pitcher to record 10 wins this season. The last time the Tigers had 4 pitchers with 10 or more wins in a season was 2006 when they ended up representing the American League in the World Series. Kenny Rogers and Justin Verlander each had 17 wins that season.
| Minnesota | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revere, CF | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .251 |
| Plouffe, 2B | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .238 |
| Mauer, C | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .288 |
| Kubel, DH | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 0 | .282 |
| 1-Tolbert, PR-DH | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .202 |
| Valencia, 3B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .249 |
| Parmelee, 1B | 3 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .364 |
| Benson, RF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | .000 |
| Tosoni, LF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .172 |
| Nishioka, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | .226 |
| Totals | 31 | 4 | 6 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 12 | .246 |
1-Ran for Kubel in the 8th.
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | LOB | AVG |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jackson, A, CF | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 1 | .255 |
| Ordonez, RF | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .243 |
| Kelly, RF | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .235 |
| Young, D, LF | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .276 |
| Cabrera, Mi, 1B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .332 |
| Martinez, V, DH | 4 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .326 |
| Avila, C | 3 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .303 |
| Peralta, Jh, SS | 3 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | .307 |
| Betemit, 3B | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | .285 |
| Inge, 3B | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | .190 |
| Santiago, 2B | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .256 |
| Totals | 31 | 8 | 9 | 8 | 2 | 2 | 11 | .275 |
3B: Valencia (2, Penny).
TB: Revere; Mauer; Kubel; Valencia 3; Parmelee; Nishioka.
RBI: Kubel (56), Valencia 2 (67), Parmelee (3).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Tosoni; Plouffe; Benson.
GIDP: Mauer; Valencia.
Team RISP: 3-for-8.
Team LOB: 6.
BASERUNNING
SB: Tolbert (3, 2nd base off Benoit/Avila).
FIELDING
E: Nishioka (12, fielding).
PB: Mauer (4).
DP: (Parmelee).
2B: Avila (30, Mijares).
3B: Betemit (2, Slowey).
HR: Avila (18, 2nd inning off Slowey, 2 on, 0 out), Santiago (5, 4th inning off Slowey, 1 on, 1 out), Young, D (8, 5th inning off Waldrop, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Ordonez; Young, D 4; Cabrera, Mi; Martinez, V; Avila 6; Peralta, Jh; Betemit 3; Santiago 4.
RBI: Avila 3 (72), Betemit (43), Santiago 2 (26), Young, D (50), Inge (21).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Martinez, V.
SAC: Kelly.
SF: Inge.
Team RISP: 2-for-4.
Team LOB: 4.
FIELDING
DP: 2 (Santiago-Peralta, Jh-Cabrera, Mi, Peralta, Jh-Cabrera, Mi).
Mijares pitched to 2 batters in the 8th.
IBB: Cabrera, Mi (by Waldrop).
HBP: Avila (by Slowey), Revere (by Schlereth).
Pitches-strikes: Slowey 59-41, Waldrop 38-23, Mijares 11-5, Oliveros 9-5, Penny 96-56, Schlereth 21-13, Perry 2-2, Benoit 19-7, Valverde 13-8.
Groundouts-flyouts: Slowey 2-4, Waldrop 7-3, Mijares 0-0, Oliveros 0-0, Penny 6-6, Schlereth 2-1, Perry 0-0, Benoit 1-1, Valverde 1-0.
Batters faced: Slowey 20, Waldrop 12, Mijares 2, Oliveros 2, Penny 21, Schlereth 7, Perry 1, Benoit 5, Valverde 3.
Inherited runners-scored: Oliveros 2-1, Perry 2-0.
Umpires: HP: Brian Knight. 1B: Jerry Layne. 2B: Bob Davidson. 3B: Mike Muchlinski.
Weather: 72 degrees, cloudy.
Wind: 8 mph, Out to LF.
T: 2:46 (:51 delay).
Att: 35,996.
Source: Mlive.com, MLB.com, Detroit News