Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes

--RHP Justin Verlander became the 15th Detroit pitcher to reach 1,000 strikeouts for his career with his eighth and final strikeout of the game. Verlander threw 117 pitches and more than 50 were clocked at 95 mph or above. He topped out at 100 mph in the fourth and was throwing 98 in the seventh. "Any time you send him out there you feel good about your chances of winning the game," manager Jim Leyland said. "He came through against a real powerful hitting club." About half his pitches were fastballs but he spots his curve and changeup at opportune times. One of his strikeout victims was LF Juan Pierre, one of the hardest players in baseball to fan. The three runs Verlander allowed were solo home runs.

--2B Ryan Raburn might be breaking out of his slump. Raburn, his batting average sinking to the .200 mark after a good start, hit a two-run home run and a two-run single and didn't strike out once while batting behind leadoff hitter CF Austin Jackson. "He's a versatile guy," manager Jim Leyland said, "and that's why we try to get him in there, for some punch. That's one of the reasons you want him at the top of the lineup." He had struck out 16 times in eight games to assume the league lead at 25 entering Friday's action. Leyland has indicated Raburn will play second against some right-handers as he tries to boost the offense by getting more outfielders into the lineup.

--C Alex Avila got two hits off LHP Mark Buerhle, then drew the first intentional walk of his career when a right-hander came in to pitch for Chicago. Avila went the other way on the first pitch Buerhle threw him in the fourth and stroked a ground-rule RBI double over the left-field wall. "With Buehrle," he said, "you just have got to get a good pitch, and that just happened to be the first pitch. Sometimes the best pitch to hit is the first pitch.' Avila's two-out double to extreme right in the sixth drove the White Sox starter from the game. Avila was walked intentionally by RHP Tony Pena with a runner on second and two out in the eighth.

--SS Jhonny Peralta is drawing the job of hitting behind cleanup hitter 1B Miguel Cabrera against the left-handed pitchers Detroit has drawn since DH/C Victor Martinez went on the disabled list earlier in the week. OF Brennan Boesch flips with him against right-handed pitchers. Peralta got an RBI triple in the second inning, then scored on a Boesch sacrifice fly to get Detroit off to a 2-0 start. Peralta's line single to right leading off the eighth started a three-run inning that put the game out of Chicago's reach. Peralta worked a lot on hitting to right in spring training but seemed to have gotten away from it lately as pitchers keep working him inside. It was an inside pitch he roped to right for his base hit.

--RF Casper Wells plays almost exclusively against left-handed pitching and has a six-game hitting streak when he starts. Wells hit an off-speed pitch to center for an RBI single in the sixth and yanked a changeup near the line in left for an RBI double in the eighth, a hit that came off a right-hander. Getting Wells in the lineup is one of the reasons manager Jim Leyland has put 2B Ryan Raburn back into the infield.

--LF Brennan Boesch is showing some maturity as a hitter, continuing to drive in runs without trying to hit home runs. Boesch has just one home run, on opening day, but ranks second on the team in RBI to 1B Miguel Cabrera. His second-inning sacrifice fly to center on the first pitch gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead. He pulled a 2-2 offering from LHP Mark Buerhle past first for a one-out single in the fourth, eventually scoring on a double by C Alex Avila. Boesch started in left but was pulled for defensive reasons in the seventh with Detroit holding a 6-1 lead.

--RHP Jose Valverde pitched in a non-save situation, although that wasn't the case when he began warming up for the ninth inning. Detroit held a 6-3 lead entering the bottom of the eighth but scored three times, prompting manager Jim Leyland to ask his fully warmed up closer to sit down in favor of rookie RHP Brayan Villarreal. But Villarreal didn't have time to get fully loose while the last out of the eighth was being made so Valverde was brought in.

--CF Austin Jackson struck out two more times but also had a key double as he continues to slump. Manager Jim Leyland has no plans for anything other than just letting him continue to work his way out of it. "I just think you let him play," Leyland said. "He had a pretty good day the other day. He swung the bat pretty good. Hopefully, he's coming out of it. I think you just ride it out and see what goes on." Jackson has 26 strikeouts and just a dozen hits this season.

BY THE NUMBERS
1,000 -- Strikeouts compiled by RHP Justin Verlander in his career after fanning eight Chicago White Sox. He is the 15th Detroit pitcher to reach four figures in career whiffs.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I think it's good for baseball as long as it doesn't get too crazy and too watered down. It's never going to get to a point where if you show up, you get into the playoffs. But I think it's good for baseball. To me, baseball is like any other business: You try to give your customers what they want." -- Manager Jim Leyland, commenting on Commissioner Bud Selig's announcement that baseball's playoffs could expand to 10 teams as soon as the 2012 season.

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