Final
Cabrera, Verlander lead Tigers past Blue Jays
Jul 22, 2010 - 8:46 PMVideo
Get to him early.
That's why, even though the Toronto Blue Jays led 2-0 after the second inning Thursday, manager Cito Gaston knew his team probably hadn't done enough.
Toronto left the bases loaded in the first and, after John Buck's two-run homer in the second, couldn't get a runner home from third later in the inning. Sure enough, Verlander didn't allow another run as the Tigers rallied for a 5-2 victory.
"We had more opportunities than we took in the first couple innings, that's for sure," Gaston said. "It's good to get two runs off the guy, but you don't want to miss chances against one of the premiere pitchers in the game."
After giving up two runs on four hits and two walks in the first two innings, Verlander (12-5) only allowed four baserunners in his last six shutout innings.
"This was definitely satisfying, because I was able to abandon my game plan early, completely revamp the way I was pitching, and still have enough success to go eight innings and get us a win," Verlander said. "I went to more off-speed stuff and kept them off balance."
Ricky Romero (7-7) took the loss, giving up three runs on seven hits in seven-plus innings.
"Ricky threw the ball very well," Gaston said. "But they've got Johnny Damon, Magglio Ordonez and Miguel Cabrera in the middle of their batting order. It's tough to get those guys out time after time."
Damon started the eighth with a walk, bringing Shawn Camp out of the Toronto bullpen to replace Romero. Ordonez singled, moving Damon to second, and Cabrera followed with his third hit - a tie-breaking double into the left-center field gap.
Cabrera has reached base in 32 of 33 games and is hitting .347 with 24 homers and 85 RBIs.
"He's one of the best players in the game, and at some point he'll probably go down as one of the best to ever play the game if he keeps his health," Detroit manager Jim Leyland said. "You don't find guys that have that kind of power and that kind of elasticity in their swings. When he's locked in, he's as good as it gets. That's just the way it is."
Ryan Raburn's single gave the Tigers a 4-2 lead, and Gerald Laird added a sacrifice fly.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 20th save as Detroit won its second straight after a season-worst seven-game losing streak. Toronto lost for just the second time in seven games.
Both teams missed several chances to break the game open.
The Blue Jays loaded the bases in the first on a double and two walks, but Verlander got Aaron Hill to pop out and end the inning.
In the second, though, Lyle Overbay led off with a double and John Buck followed with his 14th homer of the season. DeWayne Wise tripled with one out in the inning - Toronto's fourth extra-base hit in the first 10 batters - but was left stranded.
"It isn't like we never did anything the rest of the night," Buck said. "After the second inning, every time we hit something hard, it was either right at someone, or they ran it down."
The Tigers didn't get their first hit until the fourth, when Damon's one-out double started what looked like a promising rally. Ordonez walked, and Cabrera followed with an RBI single that put runners on the corners.
Raburn, though, struck out and Ordonez was easily thrown out when he tried to score after the third strike rolled a few feet away from the catcher.
The Tigers threatened another big inning in the fifth, but only got Austin Jackson's tying RBI single before Ordonez grounded out with the bases loaded.
Toronto also lost a chance on the bases when Yunel Escobar was thrown out trying to stretch a two-run double in the seventh.
"I'm sure our coaches will talk to him about that play," Gaston said. "You can't go for third in that situation unless you know you are going to make it standing up. You can score just as easily from second with two out as you can from third."
NOTES: Blue Jays OF Fred Lewis sat out the game after straining his ankle Wednesday, but is not expected to miss significant time. ... Tigers rookie LF Brennan Boesch got a day off after going 1 for 14 in Detroit's three-game series against Texas. ... The Blue Jays recalled IF Mike McCoy from Triple-A Toledo before the game and sent down starting pitcher Marc Rzepczynski, who lost Wednesday night to Kansas City.
- Tigers 5, Blue Jays 2 - FINAL
TORONTO ab r h rbi bb so lob avg
D Wise lf 5 0 2 0 0 2 1 .243
Y Escobar ss 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 .429
J Bautista rf 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .238
V Wells cf 3 0 1 0 1 0 0 .272
A Lind dh 3 0 0 0 1 1 1 .217
A Hill 2b 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 .203
L Over
Jul 22 3:36 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SACRIFICE FLY BY GERALD LAIRD SCORED MIGUEL CABRERA
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, R RABURN ON THIRD, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
DETROIT 5 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: R SANTIAGO (.271, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 5 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 22 3:25 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN RABURN SCORED MAGGLIO ORDONEZ
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, R RABURN ON FIRST, M CABRERA ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
DETROIT 4 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: S SIZEMORE (.200, 0-FOR-3)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 4 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 22 3:22 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY MIGUEL CABRERA SCORED JOHNNY DAMON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M CABRERA ON SECOND, M ORDONEZ ON THIRD, 0 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
DETROIT 3 BOTTOM,8TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: R RABURN (.203, 0-FOR-3)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 3 Bot 8, 0 OutsJul 22 3:21 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY AUSTIN JACKSON SCORED RAMON SANTIAGO
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, A JACKSON ON FIRST, D WORTH ON SECOND, 2 OUTS
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
DETROIT 2 BOTTOM,5TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: J DAMON (.278, 1-FOR-2)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 2 Bot 5, 0 OutsJul 22 2:31 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIGUEL CABRERA SCORED JOHNNY DAMON
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M CABRERA ON FIRST, M ORDONEZ ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2
DETROIT 1 BOTTOM,4TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: R RABURN (.206, 0-FOR-1)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 1 Bot 4, 0 OutsJul 22 2:10 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY JOHN BUCK (14) TO RIGHT CENTER WITH 0
OUT IN THE 2ND OFF JUSTIN VERLANDER SCORED LYLE OVERBAY.
CURRENT SCORE: TORONTO 2, DETROIT 0
DUE UP FOR TORONTO: E ENCARNACION (.241, 10 HR, 28 RBI)
Blue Jays 2, Tigers 0 Top 2, 0 OutsJul 22 1:26 PM
Related News
- Breaking down the Tigers offensive projections for 2024 Dec 26
- Merry Christmas Dec 25
- Happy Birthday Rickey Henderson Dec 25
- Hall of Fame Poll: David Wright Dec 24
- Hall of Fame Poll: Billy Wagner Dec 23
- Off Topic: What is the worst Christmas song? Dec 23
- Tigers sign RHP Shelby Miller to a one-year contract Dec 22
- Friday Open Thread: Your Tigers Christmas wish Dec 22
- Today in Blue Jays History: Brandon Morrow Trade Dec 22
- Off-Topic: Favourite Christmas Song Dec 21
- Happy Birthday Tom Henke Dec 21
- Today in Blue Jays History: Olerud traded for Person Dec 20