Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 6-9-11

--LHP Phil Coke was a little rusty in his return to action after missing two starts. His arm only missed one start due to a bone bruise in his right foot because he pitched a minor league rehab game. Coke gave up 10 hits and six runs in five innings Wednesday at Texas, but his control was in and out all through his time on the mound. When he had to come in with a strike, or when he made a bad pitch, it got hit hard. "Cokie made a couple of disastrous pitches," manager Jim Leyland said, "one to (3B Chris) Davis 0-2 and one to (DH Adrian) Beltre. He was not all bad coming back, his first start. He made some bad pitches when he had the count in his favor."

--3B Don Kelly had a plus-minus of negative-1. Kelly hit a solo home run in the first inning to give Detroit a 1-0 lead, tucking a fastball just inside the foul pole in right. However, his wild throw home for an attempted forceout on a soft bouncer with the bases loaded and one out in the third let in two runs. Two more followed on a double by CF Craig Gentry. With an accurate throw home by Kelly, who threw on the run off his wrong foot, perhaps due to inexperience at the position, perhaps only two runs would have scored in the inning.

--DH Alex Avila started his second game as a designated hitter this season. It was manager Jim Leyland's way of giving Avila a break from catching three straight nights in the Texas heat. Leyland had his usual DH, Victor Martinez, behind the plate and thus was able to keep two of his hotter hitters in the lineup at the same time. Avila went 1-for-4.

--C Victor Martinez was behind the plate under manager Jim Leyland's plan to give C Alex Avila a break from catching in Texas yet keep both of his hot hitters in the lineup at the same time. Avila served as the DH. Martinez, who went 1-for-4, has hit well above .300 in his primary role as the DH but is under .200 when he catches.

--LF Andy Dirks is in no danger of going back to the minors when RF Magglio Ordonez returns to the active roster and is doing his best to ensure he's not forgotten in terms of playing time. Dirks got a start and reached base two of the three times he went to the plate, on a walk in the second inning and a single in the fourth. He'll at least be a late-inning defensive replacement because Ordonez and LF Brennan Boesch will get most of the outfield time.

--2B Ramon Santiago started at second over 2B Ryan Raburn as manager Jim Leyland loaded his lineup with left-handed hitters against RHP Alexi Ogando. Santiago singled to left his first time up. Leyland likes to get Santiago two to three starts per week; he feels he's most effective when used that way.

--RF Magglio Ordonez (right ankle weakness) is now eyeing a Monday return to the Tigers, deciding to continue his rehab assignment at Class AAA Toledo. Ordonez intends to play right field all nine innings in each of the next few games and will decide after that whether to take Sunday off or play that day for the Mud Hens. "Monday, I'll be in Detroit," said Ordonez, who has been put in charge of his own return. Ordonez told Toledo manager Phil Nevin he was sticking around. "(I need) to see more pitches, get more at-bats," Ordonez said. "I don't even have 100 at-bats in the big leagues. I need to get more at-bats. I think I'm driving the ball really good. Every time that I hit it, I'm hitting the ball with authority. But I've got to get the timing, see a lot of pitches."

BY THE NUMBERS
16 -- Road victories by Detroit this season in 33 games away from Comerica Park. Last year, the Tigers won just 29 road games.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"This place is dangerous. I'm glad we have only three games here. It's a beautiful ballpark, but a real dangerous place. The ball flies here. They get out of here in a hurry. You're uneasy here until the last out. That's just the way it is." -- Manager Jim Leyland, glad his team was finishing up a three-game series at Texas, in which Detroit won two of the three.

Copyright (C) 2011 The Sports Xchange. All Rights Reserved.