Round of applause for Zach Miner. Yes, it's just one game, but the lack on control that lead to his demotion to Toledo, was not in effect tonight. Only one walk and 56 of his 88 pitches were strikes. They need someone to step-up in the starting rotation, and Zach certainly did a great job tonight.
Not that he really needed to. It seems that the Tigers might have taken issue with being shut out twice, while going 0-6 to the Royals this year. They asploded for 19 runs tonight. 10 of those coming in the 8th inning where poor Jimmy Gobble just couldn't do anything right. The Tigers started the inning with 6 straight hits. Then added a couple walks, including one with the bases loaded, and ended up bringing 15 batter to the plate. Miguel Cabrera and Matt Joyce went berserk. Going a combined 9 for 12, they drove in 11 runs with Joyce a double away from the cycle. 9 walks tonight put a lot of Tigers in scoring position, and 18 hits will score you some runs. Carlos Guillen also returned to the line-up with a good night. He went 3 for 4 with 2 walks, 2 RBI and 5 runs scored.
The Royals pitching was just feasted on tonight. Starter Luke Hochevar was run off in the 5th. Then the Tigers made the next three pitchers to combine for 103 pitches over the next 3 innings. The best pitcher of the night for the Royals was SS Tony Pena, who recorded a 1-2-3 inning in the 9th on 12 pitches. Add it all up, 208 pitches for the Royals tonight. 19 runs on 18 hits for the Tigers. And best of all both the White Sox and Twins lost, bringing the Tigers one game closer to both
Tigers 19 Royals 4
W: Miner (4-3)
L: Hochevar (6-8)
Tigers Record:
W - L
50 - 49
3rd Place AL Central (5.5 GB Chicago)
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