Tigers 17, Cardinals 5. [Boxscore]
Summary: Cats maul Cards behind power surge.
Pitching: Scherzer was the starter for this one, and thanks to his efficient pitching, he lasted 4.2 innings, expending just 56 pitches. He gave up two singles, walked one, and struck out 5.
Watching the game on TV, it looked like he picked up from where he left off at the end of last year - some of his breaking stuff was just
nasty, with his curveball breaking in a clean 12-6 arc almost like it hit a brick wall and fell straight down. As a matter of fact, just about all of his off-speed stuff handcuffed the Cards. If he had no pitch count limits, I could see him easily breaking 10 strikeouts and getting a shutout.
Blaine Hardy, one of the NRI lefties, was considerably less impressive, yielding a single and walk in 2/3 of an inning total. He's not a hard thrower, but at least he keeps the ball in the yard.
Crosby (LHP) took over after one out in the 6th and finished off the inning in his first ST appearance this year. He was all over the map as you'd expect from someone with considerable "rust" who also has a history of control issues. He had a flyout to CF, BB, and K in that order. He'll start the season at Toledo without a doubt, and I hope he gets his control under... control. Heh.
Lobstein (LHP) handled the 7th and 8th, and he didn't do himself any favors with a total line of 2 innings, 4 hits (3 singles and a 3-run HR), a walk, and 3 punch-outs.
The 7th was his trouble: BB, K, K, single, run-scoring single, 3-run HR. In the 8th, two 6-3 grounders, a single, and a 4-6 groundout. Just a sloppy performance.
Jose Ortega finished off the game, and he, too, was a bit sloppy with a double and a walk... and the guy on 2B scored when the walk-issuing final toss turned out to be a wild pitch. Figures. On the plus side, he got 2 K's.
About the only one I was impressed with was Scherzer.
Hitting: Whoa. The Cats came up BIG in this one with 22 hits and 4 walks, and I loved watching every minute of it. It was just... incredible. Here's the long list.
Davis, 3-4, a single and SB (3) in the 3rd, a run-scoring single later in the same inning, and a run-scoring double in the 4th.
Carerra, 1-4, a run-scoring double to LF in the 4th, scored later in the 4th on one of Miggy's 2 homers.
Miggy, 3-4, a single and a pair of 2-run homers (2), one in the 3rd, the other in the 4th. [
Video of 3rd inning homer] [
Video of 4th inning homer]
Holaday, 1-2, a double for his first hit of ST. He shaved the beard he had before and got a hit. Go figure. He looks better without it.
Avila, 1-3, a single, walk, and a run scored.
Albernaz, a minor leaguer, HBP and a run scored.
The donkelly, 1-2, a single and 2 walks, along with a run scored.
Lennerton, 1-2, a single and a run scored.
Lombardozzi, 1-3, a single, walk, and a run scored.
Suarez, 2-2, both of them singles.
Castellanos, 3-4, two singles and a 3-run HR (2) for 4 RBI and 2 runs scored. One single, which drove in a run, was whistled right past Jhonny Peralta. If the guy had a little more range... heh. We all know how that goes with him. [
Video of HR]
Moya, 3-6, a single, double, and triple, along with 2 runs and 4 RBI. He also had 3 K's, but what a day he had!
Worth, 2-4, both hits were doubles, 2 runs scored, 2 RBI.
Defense: DP: 1, 1st inning: (Lombardozzi-Worth-Kelly). Also of note, Castellanos made a barehanded, high-risk play off the infield grass in the first inning for a bang-bang play at 1B that had me cheering, it was flawless. Worthy of an ESPN Web Gem, if you ask me.
Next game: Tuesday, March 11: Blue Jays @ Tigers, 1:05 Eastern. Verlander starts for 1st time in ST.
- Toronto Radio: SN590.
- Detroit Radio: WXYT 1270.