Final
Galarraga sharp as Tigers survive Indians
Jun 8, 2008 - 10:01 PM DETROIT (Ticker) -- Rookie Armando Galarraga pitched 5 2/3 strong innings and Curtis Granderson homered to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 5-2 win over the Cleveland Indians on Sunday.Galarraga (5-2), who made his Tigers debut on April 16 with a win at Cleveland, allowed four hits and two runs while walking two and striking out four. He also had his sinkerball working, inducing 10 groundouts against just three flyouts.
"I feel pretty good out there," Galarraga said. "Every time I go out there, I feel positive that I can do something to help us win the game. My sinker and slider were really good today, but the defense made it a lot easier. When they play like they did, I can relax."
"I wasn't a good day for us," Cleveland manager Eric Wedge said. "We had poor at-bats and the kid (Galarraga) threw really well. He was able to put the ball where he wanted."
The righthander was staked to an early lead when Miguel Cabrera singled in a run in the first and Granderson made it 2-0 when he drove the eighth pitch he saw from Cleveland starter Jeremy Sowers over the left-center field wall.
It was Granderson's eighth homer of the season but just the first off a lefthanded pitcher. Dropped to ninth in the order with Sowers (0-1) on the mound, Granderson notched just his third hit of the season and second RBI in 15 at-bats against lefthanders.
"I really had a tough time against (lefthanders) last year, but I need to grind away at it," Granderson said. "I don't care about the numbers, I'm just trying to get some good swings against everyone."
Grady Sizemore got a run back for the Indians with an RBI single in the third, but Detroit responded with three more in the fourth on RBI singles by Ivan Rodriguez and Placido Polanco to put the game away.
"We got some two-out hits today, and we need to do that on a consistent basis," Granderson said.
Sowers was knocked out after the fourth, allowing all five runs and seven hits in his third major league start of the season. The 25-year-old was recalled prior to the game to take the rotation spot of Jake Westbrook, who will be undergoing "Tommy John" surgery and will miss the rest of the season.
"I just couldn't get the batter out with runners in scoring position," Sowers said. "I just didn't pitch well today."
Detroit's embattled bullpen held up as well, snuffing out a bases-loaded threat in the eighth. After Casey Fossum retired Grady Sizemore to open the frame, Zach Minor issued a walk, hit a batter and allowed a single without retiring anyone before Freddy Dolsi struck out Jhonny Peralta and Ben Francisco.
"Dolsi threw the ball outstanding," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "He's got a great arm, and he's going to be a good one. He's a prime-time prospect and he's got a chance to pitch late in games."
"I really wasn't looking for the strikeout, all I wanted was a ground ball for a double play," Dolsi said.
Todd Jones pitched a scoreless ninth for his 10th save.
- AL
FINAL
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
- - - - - - - - - - - -
CLEVELAND 0 0 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 5 0
DETROIT 1 1 0 3 0 0 0 0 x 5 8 1 (FINAL)
BATTERIES: CLE - JEREMY SOWERS, SCOTT ELARTON (5TH), EDWARD MUJICA (8TH) AND
VICTOR MARTINEZ
DET - ARMANDO GALARRAGA, CASEY FOSSUM (6TH), ZACH MINER
(8TH), FREDDY DOLSI (8TH)
Jun 8 4:15 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY RYAN GARKO SCORED GRADY SIZEMORE.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, R GARKO ON FIRST, V MARTINEZ ON SECOND, 1 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 2
DETROIT 5 TOP, 6TH
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: J PERALTA (.233, 0-FOR-2)
Guardians 2, Tigers 5 Top 6, 0 OutsJun 8 3:07 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY PLACIDO POLANCO SCORED IVAN RODRIGUEZ AND BRENT
CLEVLEN.
SITUATION: 3 RUNS IN, P POLANCO ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
DETROIT 5 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: M THAMES (.258, 0-FOR-1, BB)
Guardians 1, Tigers 5 Bot 4, 0 OutsJun 8 2:25 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY IVAN RODRIGUEZ SCORED CARLOS GUILLEN.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, I RODRIGUEZ ON FIRST, 0 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
DETROIT 3 BOTTOM, 4TH
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: B CLEVLEN (.000, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 1, Tigers 3 Bot 4, 0 OutsJun 8 2:14 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY GRADY SIZEMORE SCORED SHIN-SOO CHOO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, G SIZEMORE ON FIRST, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 1
DETROIT 2 TOP, 3RD
DUE UP FOR CLEVELAND: F GUTIERREZ (.256, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 1, Tigers 2 Top 3, 0 OutsJun 8 1:51 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SOLO HOME RUN BY CURTIS GRANDERSON (8) TO LEFT WITH 2 OUT
IN THE 2ND OFF JEREMY SOWERS.
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0, DETROIT 2
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: E RENTERIA (.270, 0-FOR-1)
Guardians 0, Tigers 2 Bot 2, 0 OutsJun 8 1:43 PM - AL
AT DETROIT - SCORING UPDATE
SINGLE BY MIGUEL CABRERA SCORED PLACIDO POLANCO.
SITUATION: 1 RUN IN, M CABRERA ON FIRST, M THAMES ON THIRD, 2 OUT
CURRENT SCORE: CLEVELAND 0
DETROIT 1 BOTTOM, 1ST
DUE UP FOR DETROIT: C GUILLEN (.303, 6 HR, 29 RBI)
Guardians 0, Tigers 1 Bot 1, 0 OutsJun 8 1:25 PM
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