Summary
Tigers came out in full force in both offense and defense to pick up their second straight sweep and seventh win in a row. This one started a bit late due to the rain and it rained off and on throughout the game. Magglio Ordonez sat this one out, going 0-for-4, with every other Tiger starter getting a hit and eventually hitting home plate.
Chad Durbin pitched a two-hitter through seven innings and was pretty spectacular allowing no walks and striking out three. By the eighth inning each team had put in most of the bench players with the starters getting a bit of rest.
Break out the broom, yet again, and get ready for a series at home against the Seattle Mariners starting on Tuesday evening.
Pitching
Chad Durbin replicated his start against the White Sox on April 25th going into the eighth inning dominating the opponent before starting to wear down. He was very efficient with his pitches, throwing 87 total, as well as changing up his stuff to just not give the Royals anything to hit.
Lopez, who was brought up this morning due to Zumaya’s DL stint, was brought in to finish off the game and had a rough time of it. I’m sure a bit quicker outing would have been welcome on both sides as the rain was coming down and lightning was moving in.
Hitting
Here’s one thing I’d never though I would see: Neifi Perez was the FSN Player of the game. He deserved it as well with his hitting (double, 3-run home run, 4 RBI) as well as on the field turning two double plays, one of which was very impressive. The bottom four in the lineup combined for 9 of the hits.
Pretty much everyone got into this game with a total of six doubles, four home runs and a triple with a total of 17 hits. With all the offense it is notable that the team drew a single walk. Curtis Granderson came close to hitting for the cycle with a homer, triple and a single. The third inning saw 3 Tiger two-run home runs against Grienke.
You’ll really need to just look at the box score to figure this one out. I hope they saved a bit of this offense for the coming week.