Penny Paying Off For Tigers

Detroit signed Brad Penny to a $3 million base contract for this season figuring if his season flamed out like it did last year in St. Louis, it would only be on the hook for the guaranteed amount it took to lure him away from the competition.

He made just nine starts for the Cardinals last year, very good ones, before a balky back muscle put him out of action for the rest of the season.

The pot-sweetener for the veteran right-hander, though, was another $3 million in performance-based incentives. They have not been disclosed but are probably based on things like starts and innings, the Tigers figuring if he can get through most of the season, he'll win enough games or give the club enough chances to win games to make the bonus payments worthwhile.

Penny made his eighth start for Detroit his third winning outing in his last four, going 7 2/3 innings and giving up just two runs in the Tigers' 5-2 victory over the host Toronto Blue Jays.

In Penny's first four starts, he gave up 20 earned runs in 21 1/3 innings, losing twice. In his last four, Penny has allowed six earned runs in 27 2/3 innings, with four of those runs coming in an April 28 loss that followed seven innings of one-hit shutout ball.

"He's been pitching well lately," manager Jim Leyland said. "It's kind of gone unnoticed. What you saw is exactly why we wanted to get him. We felt he could pitch games and eat innings."

Penny was touched for seven hits by Toronto but five came in the first three innings and the two runs he allowed were because of a 3-2 fastball to Jose Bautista that leaked back over the plate and landed in the left-field seats for the slugger's 10th home run.

"That was a bad pitch," Penny said. "All of my home runs this year have come off bad pitches."

He's doing a much better job of keeping his fastball down in the strike zone and moving side-to-side. His curve has been sharper and his split-finger fastball gives him another quality off-speed pitch.

Earlier in the season, Penny was getting his fastball too high in the strike zone. He could get away with that when he first broke into the majors but no longer, not since his fastball has diminished to the low-90s range.

"He gave us some innings," Leyland said. "He gave us a chance to win the game."

If he continues to do that, Detroit won't mind paying the bonuses.

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