Final
Bazardo, Ordonez shine as Tiger rout Twins
Sep 26, 2007 - 3:51 AM DETROIT (Ticker) -- The Detroit Tigers can at least dream for one more day.Rookie Yorman Bazardo tossed seven scoreless innings and Magglio Ordonez homered as the Tigers blanked the Minnesota Twins, 8-0, on Tuesday.
With the win, Detroit (86-72) closed within 4 1/2 games of the New York Yankees (90-67) in the American League wild card race with four games left. New York fell at Tampa Bay on Tuesday.
However, the Yankees still can clinch the wild card with a win and a loss by the Tigers on Wednesday.
"Bottom line we are not going to the playoffs," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "I'm not a idiot. New York is going to win and we are going home on Monday. I'm very proud of this team and happy with the effort they put forth all season. Our job is to keep it going for years to come."
The 23-year-old Bazardo (2-1) was impressive in his second start of the season, yielding six hits with five strikeouts and three walks. It was his first career win as a starter.
"He did a great job," Leyland said. "He used all of his pitches and showed a lot of poise. He was able to keep them off-balance all night. I'm not taking anything away from him, but this time of the year you have to be careful about pitchers the situation is different than earlier in the season."
Ordonez continued his case for AL MVP honors, going 2-for-4 with three RBI, highlighted by his two-run blast in the seventh to make it 6-0. He now has a career-high 136 RBI - the most by a Tiger since Rocky Colavito had 140 in 1961.
"I just want to keep playing hard and see what happens," said Ordonez, who leads the AL in batting with a .359 average. "I don't want to talk about the batting title, I just want to play my game."
With a 1-0 lead in the sixth, Detroit pulled away for good off starter Matt Garza, who allowed an RBI double to Ordonez and a run-scoring single to Timo Perez for a 3-0 bulge.
Garza gave up four runs and nine hits with three strikeouts through 5 1/3 frames.
"Garza was throwing good," Twins manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But he did it to himself again. He lost control of the game again. He's so intense and he gets out of whack. When you're screaming at yourself on the mound, it doesn't bode well.
"He was OK until he got some adversity, but that's when you have to control the game. He's a young man with a great arm, and he'll get there."
Brandon Inge opened the scoring in the second against Garza (4-7) with an RBI double to plate Perez, who also doubled.
The Tigers added two more runs in the eighth, when speedy Curtis Granderson laced an RBI triple to the right field corner and came home on Placido Polanco's single up the middle to create an 8-0 cushion.
"I not really physically or mentally tired," Polanco said. "I've been given a lot of spot rest which helped me a lot. I just want to get good at-bats and see what happens with the rest of the year."
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
MINNESOTA 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 7 1
DETROIT 0 1 0 0 0 3 2 2 x 8 15 0 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: MIN - MATT GARZA, JUAN RINCON (6TH), JULIO DEPAULA (7TH) AND CHRIS
HEINTZ
DET - YORMAN BAZARDO, JOEL ZUMAYA (8TH), CHAD DURBIN
(9TH) AND IVAN RODRIGUEZ
HOME RUNS
Sep 25 9:36 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY PLACIDO POLANCO SCORED CURTIS GRANDERSON.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, P POLANCO ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 8 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: G SHEFFIELD (.266, 2-FOR-4)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 9:25 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
TRIPLE BY CURTIS GRANDERSON SCORED RAMON SANTIAGO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, C GRANDERSON ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 7 BOTTOM, 8TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: P POLANCO (.339, 1-FOR-3, HBP)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 9:23 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
TWO-RUN HOME RUN BY MAGGLIO ORDONEZ (28) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 7TH OFF JULIO DEPAULA SCORED GARY SHEFFIELD.
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0, DETROIT 6
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C GUILLEN (.294, 1-FOR-2, BB)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 9:05 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
FIELDER'S CHOICE BY SEAN CASEY SCORED CARLOS GUILLEN.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, S CASEY ON FIRST, I RODRIGUEZ ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 4 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: B INGE (.240, 1-FOR-2, RBI)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 8:48 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY TIMO PEREZ SCORED MAGGLIO ORDONEZ.
SITUATION: 2 RUNS IN, T PEREZ ON FIRST, I RODRIGUEZ ON SECOND, C
GUILLEN ON THIRD, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 3 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: S CASEY (.298, 1-FOR-1, BB)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 8:42 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY MAGGLIO ORDONEZ SCORED PLACIDO POLANCO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M ORDONEZ ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 2 BOTTOM, 6TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C GUILLEN (.294, 1-FOR-2)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 8:36 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
DOUBLE BY BRANDON INGE SCORED TIMO PEREZ.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, B INGE ON SECOND, S CASEY ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: MINNESOTA 0
DETROIT 1 BOTTOM, 2ND
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C GRANDERSON (.302, 0-FOR-1)
Twins vs. TigersSep 25 7:36 PM
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