Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes 8-22-11

--CF Austin Jackson has won games with his glove and bat this season, but Detroit's 8-7 squeaker over Cleveland might be the first he's won with his arm. Jackson raced in to catch a shallow fly ball by pinch-hitter Matt LaPorta with runners on first and third and one out in the ninth and gunned down CF Kosuke Fukudome at the plate to snuff out Cleveland's comeback from a 7-0 deficit. "That'll go down as a highlight play of the season," said manager Jim Leyland, who had to watch the last two innings on the clubhouse television because he'd been ejected in the bottom of the seventh for arguing after one of his runners was thrown out at third. "I just let it all hang out on that throw," said Jackson, whose no-bounce rocket arrived about a step before Fukudome slammed into C Alex Avila. Jackson had two hits, one an RBI single, and scored twice for Detroit. Jackson's first-inning strikeout marked the first whiff for him in eight games.

--LF Delmon Young is looking like a good investment for Detroit. Young hit a three-run home run in the midst of a seven-run third inning and later added an RBI single in the fourth that turned out to score the winning run in Detroit's 8-7 win over Cleveland. Young hit a home run in his first at-bat for Detroit when acquired from Minnesota on Aug. 15, a game the Tigers lost. But he's now 8-for-26 with two home runs and six RBI in six games for Detroit. Having 1B Miguel Cabrera hitting directly behind him in the batting order will give Young more good pitches to hit.

--RHP Jose Valverde is now 37-for-37 in saves this season, but his latest was far from a masterpiece. Valverde came out pitching defensively or suffering from lack of control because he walked the first batter he faced and hit the second. After a sacrifice bunt moved the runners up, it took a flyout-throwout from CF Austin Jackson to C Alex Avila to end the game. Valverde nearly walked 3B Jack Hannahan, who was sacrificing all the way and who finally got his bunt down on a 3-1 pitch.

--DH Victor Martinez put the finishing touches on a seven-run third inning with a two-run home run down the line in right. Martinez now has two home runs this week after going more than a month without one. The Tigers say his bad left knee is getting better -- but not to the point where it's going to allow him to give C Alex Avila a game off.

--2B Ramon Santiago singled home Detroit's first run in the seven-run third and also saved at least two runs defensively. Jim Leyland played him when RHP Rick Porcello and RHP Brad Penny started this week because they get more ground balls and the manager wants better infield defense when they are on the mound if possible. Santiago played in four of six games this week, going 5-for-11 with a home run and three RBI.

--RHP Rick Porcello was working from behind most of the time and it contributed to his being unable to hold a 7-0 lead. Porcello faced a dozen batters in the first three innings but had trouble throwing strikes despite keeping Cleveland off balance by working inside and mixing changeups in with breaking pitches. "That's one that Rick's got to nail down," manager Jim Leyland said. After giving up a solo home run between getting two outs in the fourth, Porcello gave up three straight singles plus a two-run double and was removed from the game. "He started getting hurt with his sliders," Leyland said. "He was getting his sinker (hit) down on the ground." Porcello was unbeaten in July but is winless in August, going 0-3 in four starts while allowing 20 earned runs in 19 2/3 innings.

--LHP Duane Below had shown Detroit excellent control in his first six appearances (two starts), but had a lot of trouble throwing strikes in a situation where that's largely what his assignment was. Below came in when RHP Rick Porcello faltered at the start, failing to get the final out of the fourth. Below went to a full count before giving up a single to the first batter he faced and then walked the next on four pitches before getting his first out. A walk on a 3-2 pitch and a single on a full count ended his outing. Below had not walked a batter in his four previous relief appearances since walking three in his two starts.

--3B Brandon Inge returned to Detroit with a bang Saturday night. Two bangs, in fact, for the first time in exactly a year.

Inge hit a home run in his first at-bat and a ground-rule RBI double to center in his second, the first time he had two extra-base hits in the same game in exactly one year against the same team. "I'm just playing baseball again. Loving the game like I'm a little kid again," said Inge, who accepted an outright assignment to the minors when his .177 batting average prompted Detroit to trade for 3B Wilson Betemit. Inge was laughing to himself internally while trotting around the bases on his home run. "It was almost like, 'You dummy, why didn't you do this the whole first half?'" he said.

BY THE NUMBERS
39 -- Seasons since a Detroit pitcher had won 18 games and struck out 200 batters before the end of August until RHP Justin Verlander reached those numbers Aug. 16. It had not been done by a Tiger since LHP Mickey Lolich in 1972.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"We were trying to milk as many outs as we can. We almost ran out of milk to be honest with you." -- Manager Jim Leyland, who used six relief pitchers from the fourth inning on as Detroit staved off a Cleveland comeback after the Tigers scored seven times in the third to grab a 7-0 lead in the final game of their weekend sweep of the Indians.

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