Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 9-23-11
--RHP Jacob Turner showed too much rust and too little experience in his third major league start. The second-year pro, the ninth player taken in the 2009 draft, was taken out four batters into the fourth inning following a single, a home run, a walk and an error. He allowed two home runs, accounting for three of the five runs he was charged with, one of which was unearned.
"He couldn't get his breaking ball over the plate," manager Jim Leyland said. "In all fairness to Jacob, you could see the rust. Don't read anything into that at all."
Turner had not pitched Sept. 1. The 20-year-old is given a good chance to make the Tigers' rotation out of spring training next year. He is 0-1, but Detroit has lost all three of his starts. Turner is not being considered for a postseason roster spot.
--LF Delmon Young whacked his 10th home run of the season, his sixth since joining Detroit from Minnesota on Aug. 15, and the three-run shot to left tied the score at 5-5 in the fifth inning. Young went through a lengthy at-bat before lifting the low inside fastball over the fence in left. Young was only 6-for-33 on Detroit's nine-game road trip. He walked in the plate appearance prior to the home run, just his fifth walk with the Tigers.
--RF Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to 15 games with a fifth-inning, RBI single. Ordonez will play again Saturday as manager Jim Leyland gets him playoff-ready.
--C Alex Avila got a game off from catching, replaced in the starting lineup by C Omir Santos, although he did pinch-hit with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Avila hit the first pitch, grounding out to first to end the game. "I think he'll play the rest of the way," manager Jim Leyland said of Avila. "We were late getting in (after a night game in Kansas City), we were facing a left-hander, so I figured this was a good time to give him a day off." Avila has appeared in 135 of Detroit's 156 games.
--RHP Al Alburquerque pitched a scoreless inning of relief in his first appearance since Sept. 14 due to concerns over a right hip injury. Alburquerque showed a good sharp slider (one strikeout) and was able to spot his fastball at the knees (a second strikeout). "He's going to pitch and then I'm going to give him a day off," manager Jim Leyland said before the game. "Then I'd like to see him pitch back-to-back games." It's a test the reliever must pass to make the postseason roster. Leyland said his prized middle reliever looked a little rusty.
--RHP Joaquin Benoit retired all three batters he faced in the ninth inning as manager Jim Leyland tries to set up his prime pitchers for the postseason. Benoit had not worked in a week, so Leyland was expecting a little rust. Benoit will be used on a loose schedule through the end of the season so he doesn't enter the playoffs too rested or overused.
--3B Wilson Betemit is scheduled to start Friday, a week after injuring his knee sliding into home during Detroit's division-title-clinching win at Oakland. Betemit was unavailable Thursday for the series opener with Baltimore, however, and if his knee problem lingers into the weekend, it could compound the roster decisions manager Jim Leyland has to make. At some point, the manager said earlier about RHP Al Alburquerque, you have to play. It applies to Betemit, too.
--RHP Doug Fister will be Detroit's pitcher in the second game of the playoffs, manager Jim Leyland announced. Fister and then RHP Max Scherzer will follow RHP Justin Verlander regardless of Detroit's opponent in the divisional round. Leyland had said earlier in discussing Fister that he would "be working on his fifth day" in his next start. That would be Monday against Cleveland. Fister is 7-1 since joining Detroit. Scherzer has won just one of his past six starts.
BY THE NUMBERS
6 -- Home runs LF Delmon Young has hit since being traded from Minnesota to Detroit on Aug. 15. Young has 10 home runs overall.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're looking, there's no sense hiding that. So we're snooping around. But the most important thing is to take the best roster (for the playoffs)." -- Manager Jim Leyland, on shaping the last few spaces on his postseason roster, some of whom he acknowledged might be influenced by the identity of the Tigers' oppoent.
Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.
