Rapid Reactions: First Inning Runs are Enough to Beat Royals

Tigers 3, Royals 0 (box)

• Jeff Francis looked to be on the ropes early when the Tigers used five first inning hits to push across three early runs. The Tigers wouldn’t score another run and mustered just two more hits, but it was enough. Enough is all I ask for.
• Brad Penny will never be the strike out pitcher he once was but he can still be very effective. He showed that today. Penny kept the ball down sufficiently to force the Royals into a healthy number of ground outs. 2009 was the last time Brad Penny put together an outing of at least eight innings.
• Penny was fantastic but the defense behind him was equally as good. Inge made a leaping catch at the rail in foul territory, Austin Jackson tracked down a fly ball from Eric Hosmer that looked to be well over his head, Casper Wells made a nice sliding catch in right and Scott Sizemore took away a base hit with a diving stop. Defense may have been a concern heading into the season but it certainly wasn’t an issue today.
• Jhonny Peralta’s two-hit afternoon bumped his batting average to .307. I’m not sure anyone believed he had that in him, especially after a forgettable spring. Congratulations to Jhonny for collecting his 1,000th career hit today.
• If it wasn’t already, the Tigers seven game losing streak should be fully out of our minds. Today’s win makes for seven straight wins and gives the Tigers a 10-1 marks since dropping their seventh straight on May 2.
• I typed up this post during the bottom of the ninth. Thank you Jose Valverde, I never could have done that when Todd Jones was closing games for the Tigers

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