Jose Valverde Notches First Win of 2012

No grumbling… stay positive! The Tigers are undefeated after defeating a strong opponent in the Boston Red Sox 3-2. Justin Verlander pitched an impressive 8 innings in a bid for his first opening day win against Jon Lester, but it was not meant to be. On the bright side… Jose Valverde retired former Tiger Cody Ross on a rocket to short to preserve a 2-2 tie going into the bottom of the 9th. The Red Sox threw their best remaining bullpen arms at the Tigers in Melancon and Aceves, but couldn’t seem to get anyone out – and the rest is boxscore. This one looked to be a pitchers duel and a pitchers duel it was.

The hero of the game would have to be, I suppose, Austin Jackson (not Verlander – who as already mentioned did not get a W) who tripled and scored in the 8th and drove in the game-winning run with a single off Aceves in the 9th. To be frank – I didn’t like Leyland’s decision to allow Jackson to face Aceves in that situation. Not because that was a favorable righty-on-righty matchup for Aceves (Aceves does just fine against lefties) but because Jackson tends to either strike out or hit balls hard on the ground. Hard grounders with 1-out and the bases loaded are a recipe for disaster – even for a guy with Jackson’s speed. It turned out well in the end, but even in retrospect I’d still have put Dirks in there.

Tomorrow will be an off day for our Tigers, Saturday will see the resumption of the series with another great pitching matchup in Fister vs. Beckett (barring injuries, etc…)