Well, after the 15-2 fiasco, I wondered what the Rangers would do. More of the same, or bounce back. Well, they did neither. They were further shut down. It seems odd to say that when they scored more runs than the previous game, but we were totally shut down, despite actually scoring three runs. That, in and of itself was a miracle.
The Rangers had just two hits all day. But they were very well placed hits. The first one was a solo home run by Hank Blalock that actually put us in the lead, making you feel good. However, it didn’t last long, the Rangers gave up two in the bottom of the second. The Rangers didn’t get their lone other hit until the fifth. We had a walk and a couple of errors which loaded the bases. Josh Hamilton singled, scoring Chris Davis & Elvis Andrus. And that ended the Rangers offense for the day. That was it. The bizarre line of three runs on two hits. There’s nothing else to say about our offense, as that was the extent of it.
Great throw by Elvis Andrus doing the Jeter move from deep DEEP short (even shorter than Jeter), and only missing Gerald Laird by half a step. Any other catcher, it would have been an out, and been a season highlight. Great play.
Pitching wise, Matt Harrison made his first start of the season, and was “eh”. Had moments where he looked good, and others where he didn’t – pretty standard for a guy his age. 5.2 innings, nine hits and five walks (not good, really) for all four earned runs the Tigers got. Not a lot to say except that he only gave up three doubles, and no home runs. CJ Wilson & Jason Jennings looked good out of the pen (for their 2.1 innings). Jennings in particular struck out Cabrera & Ordonez, a good bit of pitching itself.
Comerica Field during the day there looked freakin fantasic in high definition. :)