The Sports Pages: Brennan Boesch, Joaquin Benoit, and Doug Fister Among Notable Debuts

“I always turn to the sports pages first, which records man’s accomplishments. The front page has nothing but man’s failures.” – Earl Warren

Detroit Tigers reliever Joaquin Benoit had a rough outing on Tuesday, allowing three earned runs on a pair of long balls to the Texas Rangers. The Tigers won the game when Brennan Boesch ended an epic, eight-pitch-in-the-driving-rain at bat against Mike Adams by driving a tie-breaking solo homer into the right field grandstands. Boesch called it one of his two best at bats of his still young career. Jen Cosey of Old English D was at the game and has a wonderfully entertaining look at her evening at the CoPa, complete with teenage problems and an obnoxious husband. At least she got the last laugh.

Boesch’s swat gave Benoit a win for his efforts, but many a fan was quite upset with the right hander. Matt Snyder of Detroit Jock City says we shouldn’t be so quick to pile on a guy who’s pitched much better than his numbers indicate. For what it’s worth, Benoit redeemed himself a bit last night when he entered the game with the tying run on base and no one out in the eighth. He got a double play ball from Michael Young and a groundout from Nelson Cruz to preserve the lead.

This has been a big week for debuts with the Tigers, with newcomers David Pauley and Doug Fister making their first appearances with Detroit in the past two days. The most notable debut, however, might have come last Saturday when prized prospect Jacob Turner took the hill against the Angels. Turner took a loss when the go ahead run came across after he left the game, but his six strikeout, three earned run performance certainly provided a glimpse into what should be a very bright future for Turner and the Tigers.

But were the Tigers right to bring the right hander up for a spot start? Wally Fish at Seedlings to Stars doesn’t necessarily think so.

Getting back to Fister, Lee Panas of Tiger Tales points out that 73 of his 99 pitches last night were thrown for strikes. The tall right hander didn’t record a strikeout in his seven innings, but also didn’t allow a walk. Two defensive miscues cost him a pair of runs last night, but his offense provided enough support, something that rarely happened in Seattle. Even including a 13-run effort (against the Tigers in April), Mariners batters gave Fister only 2 runs of support per game over his 21 starts. He got five runs last night and came away with the win.

Still wondering is Fister will be a good fit in Detroit? Samara Pearlstein of Roar of the Tigers has the final word, or if a picture is truly worth it, the final thousand words.

As for the two big leaguers that went to Seattle in that trade, Charlie Furbush was perfect through four innings in his first start with Seattle yesterday, en route to a 7-4 Mariners win. Casper Wells knocked in a pair of runs in support of the southpaw and in 4-for-11 with a homer and three RBI since the trade.

The early returns haven’t all been great on deadline deals, however. The Rangers brought in two prized relief arms to solve their late-inning bullpen woes, but both Mike Adams, who yielded the Boesch blast on Tuesday, and Koji Uehara, who allowed Ryan Raburn to go deep last night, gave up crucial runs in their Texas debuts. Steve Gardner of USA Today has more, including Edwin Jackson’s brutal effort for St. Louis.

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