Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 5-24-11

--LHP Charlie Furbush looked sharp in relief while getting a victory in his major league debut. "I was just trying to keep myself on an even keel," Furbush said. "I tried to attack the hitters, keep the ball down in the strike zone." Furbush walked the first Rays batter he faced as an emergency replacement when starter LHP Phil Coke suffered a right ankle injury, but he showed off his good slider while striking out the next two batters to snuff out a threat. He allowed leadoff hits the next two innings but retired the side in each without allowing a run. Furbush, a starter in the minors, will work out of the bullpen for Detroit. He led the International League with 55 strikeouts when he was called up. "He didn't have time to think a couple of days about his first major league start," manager Jim Leyland said. "He just came in and pitched."

--LF Andy Dirks hit his first major league home run and also was walked intentionally for the first time in his seven big-league games. Dirks yanked a low changeup over the right field fence in the fifth inning to create a 1-1 tie. "I don't know for sure when I hit one out," Dirks said.

--LHP Phil Coke injured his right ankle coming off the mound for a bunt in the fourth inning. He had looked sharp with his fastball, slurve and changeup while retiring the first nine batters he faced. Coke appeared to slip coming off the mound toward third base trying for a bunt single that followed a walk, a single and a sacrifice fly. He was immediately removed from the game for rookie LHP Charlie Furbush. The severity of the injury was not immediately known. "I have a bone bruise," Coke said.

--1B Miguel Cabrera reminded Joe Maddon why the Tampa Bay manager was among the first to refuse to pitch to Detroit's cleanup hitter last year. Cabrera came up in the sixth with RF Brennan Boesch on second and two outs. He lined the first pitch he saw into right for an RBI single.

--RF Brennan Boesch showed the value of hustle in the sixth inning. Boesch ripped an 0-1 fastball into extreme right field with two outs and was running for a double right out of the box, just beating the throw. 1B Miguel Cabrera rifled the next pitch into right, and Boesch took off immediately, evading a tag by Rays C Kelly Shoppach and slapping home plate to break a 1-1 tie. He has good speed, deceptive speed, for someone who is 6-foot-6.

--RHP Joaquin Benoit, newly reinstalled as Detroit's setup man after a run of ineffectiveness, worked a scoreless eighth inning. It wasn't exactly clean, but it was scoreless. Benoit got two outs, walked a batter on a 3-2 pitch, then closed out the inning with a flyout to left. "We needed that," manager Jim Leyland said. "Obviously we've got to get back to that. If we can get back to that, then we can get our bullpen in some kind of organized (fashion), in some kind of sync." Benoit was throwing 95-96 mph with his fastball and mixing in some changeups or split-fingers.

--RHP Brayan Villarreal, whose major league future lies in the bullpen, will make some starts in the minors to speed his development. "He's going to be a top-notch major league relief pitcher, but he needs to go pitch," manager Jim Leyland said. "They're going to build him up with starts so he can throw his changeup and breaking ball." Villarreal was optioned to Class AAA Toledo on Sunday after going 1-1 with a 6.46 ERA in 14 games with the Tigers. "It forces them to throw pitches," Leyland said of having Villarreal start. "When you come in as a relief pitcher, you're going to pitch one inning. You've got three pitches and you probably throw only two of them."

--LHP Brad Thomas has no major problems with his sore left elbow, an MRI exam showed Monday. He was placed on the disabled list retroactive to May 11. "Once the swelling goes down, I'll work on the range again and then work back up to when I can play catch," said Thomas, still unable to flex his arm due to dye injected for the exam. He is 0-1 with a 9.00 ERA in 12 appearances this season. The elbow locked up Friday while he was warming up, mystifying Thomas. "I've thrown for seven years every day and I haven't missed a day, and I've thrown on the mound 95 percent of those days," Thomas said.

BY THE NUMBERS
8 -- Consecutive games in which Detroit had scored three runs or fewer until the Tigers erupted for four runs in the eighth inning Monday to earn a 6-3 victory over Tampa Bay.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"He didn't have time to think about it. He just came in and pitched." -- Manager Jim Leyland on the impressive 3 2/3 innings of two-hit, shutout relief turned in by LHP Charlie Furbush, who earned a win in his first major league appearance.

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