Fresh off a four game sweep of the Reds in the NLCS I was cautiously optimistic about our chances against the Tigers. 18 game winner Francisco Rojas was making the start for Mexico City, and would start off the game by striking out the side in the first inning.
In the bottom of the first we got consecutive singles from Manuel Gallegos and Fernando Ramos, followed by an RBI groundout by Gordon Stewart, and an RBI single by David Noble to put us up 2-0.
Rojas would continue to dominate, striking out eight batters in the first three innings, but he'd run into trouble in the fourth, giving up 3 runs on 3 hits as the Tigers took a 3-2 lead.
You may remember the name Cornell Thompson from earlier in my Mexico City tenure. After going 14-12 with a 2.03 ERA with 264 strikeouts in 226 1/3 innings we were forced to trade the impending free agent because we couldn't afford the 10 year $250 million he was looking for. He found a home in Detroit, signing a seven year $182 million contract. He remembered Mexico City well, and got a bit of revenge today after a shaky first inning, totally shutting down our bats.
Mexico City also couldn't muster a hit off of the Tiger bullpen either, going down quietly in a 4-2 loss.
Rojas certainly didn't pitch too bad, allowing 3 runs on 5 hits and striking out 13 in 7 innings to pick up the loss. Mitch Sheppard was 0-4 at the plate, striking out 3 times as our injury replacement. Ironically Sheppard was one of two players acquired for Cornell Thompson, with the other being (at this point) failed prospect Josh Banks.
