Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 8-11-11

--RHP Rick Porcello turned in his worst start in six weeks, allowing eight runs on 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings in Cleveland's 13th straight win over Detroit at Progressive Field. He had gone 5-0 in July and did not get a decision in his first August start.

"I got out of rhythm," said Porcello, who was missing with all of his pitches and had to throw too many hittable fastballs. "I guess mentally I wasn't in the right frame of mind to go after them. It was a poor effort on my part. I have to bounce back from it for sure."

Acknowledging the teams' 14-inning game the previous night, manager Jim Leyland said, "Both sides really needed their starting pitcher to be good. Theirs was, ours wasn't. Rick just was not sharp. His secondary stuff was not good. He probably got away from what he does best a little too much. He made some bad choices of pitches, what he was trying to do to some hitters. He just wasn't sharp."

Like many teams, Cleveland loaded up with left-handed hitters, who were hitting .318 off Porcello entering the game, and they went 10-for-18 against him.

--C Alex Avila, who worked all 14 innings of Detroit's Tuesday-into-Wednesday 3-2 loss at Cleveland, caught all nine innings of Detroit's 10-3 loss in the middle game of the series. "I can't take a chance with Victor's knee right now," manager Jim Leyland said of backup catcher Victor Martinez, "so I don't really have any choice." Avila wasn't too tired to get a single and a walk in four plate appearances.

--LHP David Purcey cleared waivers and was assigned outright to Class AAA Toledo. Purcey was designated for assignment Aug. 2 when Detroit acquired RHPs Doug Fister and David Pauley from Seattle. He was 1-2 with a 7.23 ERA in 19 appearances for the Tigers this season. Including his time with Toronto and Oakland, Purcey was 1-2 with a 5.61 ERA. Detroit obtained him from Oakland in a trade for 2B Scott Sizemore. Purcey allowed six earned runs and seven walks in his last four outings for the Tigers, not recording an out in two of them.

--CF Andy Dirks, who had two hits in the previous game, started in place of CF Austin Jackson, who went hitless in six at-bats Tuesday. Dirks was chasing down line drives all night. The only time he reached base was on a fielder's choice grounder in the third. Dirks could start in left in place of Brennan Boesch on Thursday.

--DH Victor Martinez is gutting it out in the lineup, but his sore left knee won't let him relieve C Alex Avila behind the plate at this point. Martinez was limping to first base after singling to deep short in the fourth inning, and he was really hobbled running from first to home on 2B Ryan Raburn's triple.

--LF Brennan Boesch was taken out of the game with a sore right thumb, which he said he hurt in his second at-bat Tuesday night. He was sent for precautionary X-rays, which showed the thumb was not broken, and he will have an MRI exam Thursday. "We'll just have to find out more," manager Jim Leyland said. "If Brennan Boesch comes out of a game, he's hurt."

Boesch was 2-for-18 in the five games on Detroit's current road trip, and he came out after striking out in his first at-bat.

--RHP David Pauley, losing pitcher in the 14-inning, rain-delayed game Tuesday night, rescued Detroit's bullpen with a 2 2/3-inning performance Wednesday. Pauley threw a season-high 52 pitches and allowed two runs. "I knew I was going to be the first guy up," Pauley said. "I wiped away (Tuesday) night, came out clear-headed."

BY THE NUMBERS
10 -- Hits by left-handed hitters off RHP Rick Porcello in 18 at-bats during Cleveland's 10-3 victory. Porcello was being roughed up by lefties for a .318 average entering the game.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"I didn't want to come out of the game," he said, "but it's too swollen and I can't really swing. Can't help the team, you've got to get someone else in there who can. I thought I was good enough to play; it didn't turn out that way. I'm not too concerned about it. I just want to get the swelling out of it. The thumb is kind of crucial to hitting." -- LF Brennan Boesch, who may miss a game or two because of a swollen right thumb that forced him out after one at-bat.

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