Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 8-18-11

--RHP Brad Penny turned in a gritty six innings, giving up a pair of home runs worth three runs total. Penny showed a sharp curveball at times and it helped him work through trouble in the third and fourth innings. He gave up an opposite field solo home run to DH Jim Thome, his 601st career blast, and was driven from the game by a two-run home run in the seventh. "He left the one fastball right there," manager Jim Leyland said. "The guy showed bunt. He pitched a great game." Penny sometimes loses control of his fastball when he throws in the 95-96 mph range but had it working really well in the fifth and sixth. "That one pitch in the seventh cost us," said Penny, who did not get a decision in the game.

--RHP Jose Valverde may be perfect in save situations but is far less so outside of those. Of course, his own mishandling of a routine bunt didn't help -- the second of two straight Detroit miscues on bunts that loaded the bases. Still, Valverde nearly worked his way out it with two strikeouts. But he fed 1B Justin Morneau a fat 2-0 pitch and it was grounded up the middle for a two-run game-deciding single. "I threw my best pitch, my sinker, and he hit it," Valverde said. Outside of save chances, Valverde has a 5.40 ERA, with the two runs he allowed in taking the loss to Minnesota being unearned.

--LHP Duane Below relieved RHP Brad Penny in the seventh and retired the first batter he faced -- his 23rd in a row since being shifted to the bullpen -- before giving up a single. Below used a sharp curve to keep Minnesota at bay until DH Jim Thome singled off a too-high curve to drive in a run from second in the eighth, giving the Twins a 4-3 lead. Below kept his composure and threw strikes.

--RF Brennan Boesch needed to be one step faster Wednesday. Boesch was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on an RBI single off the wall by 1B Miguel Cabrera. One step quicker to the plate, and his slide would have beaten the throw from right field. "I think we were trying to take a chance. It just didn't work out," Boesch said. "The (AL) Central is all bunched up. Skip (manager Jim Leyland) talks about it all the time; whoever's the mentally toughest team is going to win."

--DH Victor Martinez had three hits, but it's clear his left knee is still causing him problems. Martinez is limited in how fast he can run -- not that he was a gazelle in the first place -- and the day when he can catch and give C Alex Avila a break is not in sight.

--LF Delmon Young was robbed of two run-producing extra base hits by Minnesota CF Ben Revere. He hit a drive to dead center caught by Revere in the first with RF Brennan Boesch on first. He smoked a ball in the gap in right center with runners at first and third in the third that Revere turned into a sacrifice fly with a diving catch. "Delmon Young hit four balls right on the button," manager Jim Leyland said, "and didn't get anything to show for it." Young did get an error changed to a single on a shot to short in the fifth.

--C Alex Avila is going through the dog days of August -- like a greyhound. Avila caught his 13th game in a row and collected a single, keeping his batting average for the month above .400. With DH Victor Martinez unable to spell him due to a bad left knee, Avila knows even before he gets to the ballpark that he'll be in the lineup. And for the past two games, Avila has been batting sixth. "We're in the middle of a pennant race," he said, "and I'm loving it." "It's not so much the fatigue as much as it is getting beat up to go along with the fatigue," manager Jim Leyland said. "But he's in great shape. He's done a good job preparing himself for this. He seems to be craving the challenge. I don't know. The way he's hitting, I don't know if I'm playing Alex enough." Avila, like the rest of the Tigers, gets a day off Thursday.

--CF Austin Jackson, out of the starting lineup to get a couple days of rest, has set a new personal best. He has not struck out in five straight games. Jackson pinch-ran against Minnesota but was pinch-hit for when Detroit needed to go for a home run in the ninth, trailing 6-5. "I've tried to step up my level of concentration and swing at good pitches to hit," Jackson said. "It's kind of tough to do your job if you're not swinging at strikes. So I'm really focusing on getting a good pitch to hit and letting the results take care of themselves." "It's a real simple process that's worked for the last 150 years," hitting coach Lloyd McClendon said, "swing at strikes and take balls. We can analyze all we want. Sometimes we overanalyze. "Austin is an intelligent kid. He's figuring things out. It's been a tough year for him, but he's grinding it out. And he still has a chance to make it a halfway decent year."

--SS Jhonny Peralta ended the second-longest streak of his career without having an RBI when he drove in a run with a single in the fifth inning Tuesday night. He added his 17th home run the next night to make it two straight games with an RBI. Peralta had not driven in a run this month prior to Tuesday and had gone 14 games without an RBI. That was one game shy of a 15-game streak he had with Cleveland in 2007.

--RHP Chance Ruffin, a 2010 draftee who pitched in two games for Detroit this season, was sent to Seattle on Wednesday to complete the deal that brought RHPs Doug Fister and David Pauley to the Tigers. Detroit previously sent OF Casper Wells, LHP Charlie Furbush and 3B Francisco Martinez to Seattle on July 30. Ruffin, 22, son of former major league pitcher Bruce, was selected 48th last June. Baseball rules prevented him from being traded until one year after he'd signed. Ruffin allowed two home runs in his first game but pitched two scoreless innings in his second. He was 3-3 in 31 appearances at Class AA Erie had a 1.84 ERA in 13 appearances for Class AAA Toledo.

BY THE NUMBERS
23 -- Consecutive batters retired in relief by LHP Duane Below until CF Ben Revere singled as the second Minnesota batter to face him. Below, who allowed a run in the next inning, spread the streak over four games.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We're in the middle of a pennant race, and I'm loving it." -- C Alex Avila, who has caught the last 13 Detroit games because DH Victor Martinez can't get behind the plate due to a sore left knee.

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