Game 27

The Tigers started their May off with a win and are looking to sweep the Orioles this afternoon. If they win, the Tigers will have their longest winning streak of the season, at 4 games. The Tigers send arguably their best pitcher of the past month, Nate Robertson, to get the job done today. Getting the day off is Carlos Guillen who will look to rest his ailing shoulder. Starting in his place will be Omar Infante. Sean Casey's go-ahead RBI single last night, seemed to cure his flu bug, and he returns to the staring line-up today.

Line-ups:
Detroit (15-11)
C Granderson CF
P Polanco 2B
G Sheffield DH
M Ordonez RF
I Rodriguez C
S Casey 1B
C Monroe LF
B Inge 3B
O Infante SS

Baltimore (12-15)
B Roberts 2B
J Payton LF
M Tejada SS
R Hernandez C
M Mora 3B
K Millar DH
N Markakis RF
C Gomez 1B
C Patterson CF

Pitchers:
Tigers - Nate Robertson LHP (2-1, 2.43 ERA)
Orioles - Steve Trachsel RHP (1-2, 4.13 ERA)

Post-game:

Tigers 3 Orioles 2

It appears that Gary Sheffield and the Tigers bullpen are back. Both played big roles in today's victory. Gary Sheffield hit another home run, one of his four hits, and drove in two of the Tigers runs. The bullpen (Jason Grilli, Fernando Rodney, and Todd Jones) allowed only one baserunner (via Rodney walk) and struck out 5 in 2 1/3 innings to secure the win for Nate Robertson. The bottom of the order each went 1 for 3 with Craig Monroe hitting his third home run of the year (all vs. the Orioles). Magglio Ordonez extended his hitting streak to five games, while Placido Polanco went hitless for only the fifth time all year.

Tiger Hero:
Gary Sheffield. His 4 for 4 performance lifted his average from .191 to .226; and he leads the team in stolen bases, walks, and runs scored.

Tiger Zero:
Pudge Rodriguez. Not much went wrong today for the Tigers, minus giving up two runs in the third. Pudge gets it by going 0 for 4 . Granderson and Polanco also went hitless, but Granderson drew a walk and scored on a Sheffield single, and Polanco didn't get a strikeout.

Tigers Record:
W - L
16 - 11
2nd place in the AL Central
1.0 GB of Cleveland