Game 20

Jeremy Bonderman heads to mound still in search of his first win of the season. Historically he has pitched well against the Angels, with a 2-0 record in 4 starts. In those starts he struck out 26, allowed 7 runs and held hitters to a .194 average. So it's reasonable to think that Bondo's streak of quality starts will continue. To get him the win, Tiger batter will be facing another Angels pitcher coming off of the DL. Kelvim Escobar is making his first start since leaving a game vs. Oakland on April 8th. In two starts this year he has not made it through the 6th inning. If the Tigers can run up the pitch count like they did against Weaver, it could be a long day for Halos pitching.

Line-ups:
Detroit (11-8)
C Granderson CF
M Thames LF
G Sheffield DH
M Ordonez RF
C Guillen SS
I Rodriguez C
S Casey 1B
B Inge 3B
N Perez 2B

Los Angeles (9-10)
G Matthews CF
O Cabrera SS
V Guerrero RF
G Anderson LF
C Kotchman 1B
K Morales DH
M Izturis 3B
J Molina C
E Aybar 2B

Pitchers:
Tigers - Jeremy Bonderman RHP (0-0, 2.25 ERA)
Angels - Kelvim Escobar RHP (1-1, 3.18 ERA)

Post-game:

Tigers 8 Angels 9

A wild one in Orange County today. The Angels got to Bonderman early, racking up seven runs early on him. Bondo and the Tigers fought back, however, with Bonderman not allowing a hit after the first three innings, and the Tigers scoring 7 to take the lead in the ninth, before a Todd Jones blown save (mostly aided by a misplayed breaking ball by Pudge) allowed the Angels to tie it up in the bottom of the 9th. Jones didn't need any help getting the loss, with a poorly made throw to first, reminiscent of the fielding in the World Series, that put a runner in scoring position with no one out. A sac bunt and a high chopper later, the Tigers had lost. It should be noted that Fernando Rodney pitched two perfect innings striking out three, and Sean Casey also added a two hit game. All in all the Tigers fought back in a game they should have been out of, but just couldn't finish it out. Hopefully all the offense generated in these past to games will find its way to Chicago.


Tiger Hero:
Magglio Ordonez. 3 for 3, with 3 RBI, 3 runs, 2 BB, and the go ahead HR in the top of the 9th.

Tiger Zero:
Todd Jones. Whether or not Pudge should of blocked that pitch in the 9th is debatable. What isn't is that Jones threw away the game literally with his errant toss in the bottom of the 10th.

Tigers Record:
W - L
11 - 9