Tigers Notes And Quotes: 'That's what it's all about' Coke says

--LHP Phil Coke threw 52 pitches to earn his first save of the season on a night manager Jim Leyland didn't want to use him. Coke had pitched Saturday and Sunday against Cleveland and Leyland wanted to give him two straight nights off, if possible. But that didn't materialize as giving RHPs Joaquin Benoit and Jose Valverde a game of rest became a priority. Leyland called on Coke for the eighth and ninth innings and in both innings, the manager showed enough confidence in Coke to issue intentional passes that put the potential go-ahead run on in the eighth and the possible winning run on in the ninth. "That's what it's all about," said Coke, who chalked up his 11th straight appearance without allowing a run despite giving up a double in each inning. "That's what makes it so fun. Our two big guys were down so somebody had to do it."

--RHP Brad Penny dodged more bullets than Eliot Ness as he allowed just one run in 6 1/3 innings despite pitching from behind nearly all night. It was the third inning before Penny had thrown a first-pitch strike and he only threw a first-pitch strike to three of the 26 batters he faced. "I was behind all night," Penny said. "Fortunately I didn't give in, like I did some last time." Where Penny excelled was throwing strikes, good strikes with movement, when he got in trouble. He allowed eight hits but only walked one batter, another key. "Penny was terrific," manager Jim Leyland said. "He gave up some leadoff hits but was able to get out of it. He went to some other pitches late in the game, curveballs and changeups. That's what we needed because we knew (LHP David) Price was going to be stingy." Penny only threw 55 strikes of 101 pitches.

--C Alex Avila got a key single to drive in the tying run and set up the winning run to keep his amazing August run going. Avila lined a 1-2 pitch to center for a single in the seventh that tied the score, 1-1, and sent hobbled DH Victor Martinez to third, from where he ran home with the winning run on a sacrifice fly. "Alex has turned into a real professional hitter," manager Jim Leyland said. "He knows when to turn on one and knows when to go the other way. He knows how to take what's there and take what the pitcher gives you." With a double to left his next time up, Avila kept his August average way above .400.

--DH Victor Martinez returned to Detroit's starting lineup after missing a game due to lower back spasms. He entered the game 7-for-14 against LHP David Price and doubled his first time up against the Tampa Bay starter but his slowness on the bases, exacerbated by a left knee sprain, kept him anchored at third on a grounder to short with one out and the infield back in the second. He did, however, score from third on a sacrifice fly to center as the second of two runs the Tigers got in the seventh.

--RHP Ryan Perry got a critical out in the seventh, inducing 3B Evan Longoria to fly out to center with the bases loaded and two out in a one-run game. Perry threw one slider out of four pitches but the location on his 2-1 fastball was excellent -- low in the strike zone -- and resulted in a flyout to center to end the inning. "My whole plan going out there was keep the ball down, go for the ground ball," Perry said. "My fastball location has been a lot better." "I hope that was a confidence builder for Perry," manager Jim Leyland said.

--SS Jhonny Peralta started the month slow but has been picking up speed over the last week. Peralta jumped on the first pitch for a two-run single Monday night and went first-pitch again in the second game at Tampa Bay for a sacrifice fly that brought in Detroit's second run in the seventh inning of a 2-1 win. Over his last seven games, Peralta is now 11-for-24 with two home runs and six RBI.

--RHP Justin Verlander called his mother, Kathy, to see if she was okay following the 5.9 magnitude earthquake whose center was just miles from the family home. Mrs. Verlander told the Detroit Free Press she thought the "washing machine's out of alignment" when she first felt the quake, then realized there was no laundry in the machine and the family's three dogs "went berserk" and "a couple of things flew off the cabinet." "I thought, 'It's either an earthquake or the car just blew up,'" she said. The epicenter of the shortly-before-2 p.m. earthquake was placed about four miles southwest of Mineral, Va., near Verlander's hometown. "The epicenter is less than 10 miles from us, as the crow flies," Kathy Verlander said. "Justin just called. I asked, 'Did you feel it in Florida?' He said, 'No. I'm calling to make sure you're OK.' I took the dogs and went into the pantry."

BY THE NUMBERS
1 -- Saves earned by Detroit pitchers this season not named Joaquin Benoit or Jose Valverde. LHP Phil Coke earned his first save of the season by throwing 52 pitches (eight intentional balls) over the last two innings of Detroit's 2-1 victory at Tampa Bay.

QUOTE TO NOTE
"It's huge. We know we can do the job and it gives a boost to the entire team." -- RHP Ryan Perry, after he and LHPs Daniel Schlereth and Phll Coke combined over the last 2 2/3 innings to blank Tampa Bay and preserve a 2-1 victory for starter RHP Brad Penny. Manager Jim Leyland had declared before the game he would not use either setup man RHP Joaquin Benoit or closer RHP Jose Valverde.

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