A series of unfortunate events led to Javier Vazquez's demise in the third inning.
The inning started ominously when he threw everything he could at Miguel Cabrera, who eventually earned a walk after a 14 pitches and nine foul balls. He came back to strike out Jeff Larish easily, and then appeared to have a second out when Edgar Renteria grounded to second.
Alexei Ramirez, however, was too creative for Orlando Cabrera. He ranged far to his left, then wheeled around and threw to second. It didn't look like Cabrera expected the throw, and his late attempt at catching the low-but-OK throw glanced off the tip of his glove for an "infield single" (count this among
the errors he's avoided). A first-pitch slider to Marcus Thames later, the Tigers had a 3-0 lead.
Those would be all the runs the Tigers needed, although they added a couple two-out runs later in the game. Contrary to Vazquez, Justin Verlander had an easy time mowing down the White Sox lineup.
(HOW EASY WAS IT?)
It was so easy, Verlander threw fewer pitches in the first two innings (13) than Vazquez threw in the entire at-bat to Miguel Cabrera leading off the third. The Sox's only run came on their only consecutive hits, when Orlando Cabrera doubled and A.J. Pierzynski drove him in with a single to right to cut the lead to 3-1.
Of course, picking up where they left off Tuesday night, Pierzynski was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double, the second consecutive night he's made an out on the basepaths.
Otherwise, the Sox popped plenty of pitches up. Lots and lots of pop-ups.
And for good measure, a bad call thwarted their only other attempt at a rally in the ninth. Brian Anderson led off with a single to left, and slid in safely at second on Cabrera's grounder deep in the hole...
...except the umpire called him out. Minor-league umpire Chris Tiller flat-out blew it, as Anderson was clearly safe at full speed and on the replay. Anderson protested, and Ozzie came out to second before giving Tiller a wave of dismissal before escorting Anderson back to the dugout.
Anderson had a great game, with half of the Sox's four hits and a diving catch to end the eighth inning. He, Cabrera and Pierzynski went 4-for-11; the Sox's No. 3-8 hitters went a combined 0-for-19.
Record: 37-28 |
Box score |
Play-by-play