Detroit Tigers Shut out Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0

Apr 14, 2015; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Shane Greene (61) delivers a pitch against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the second inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

The Detroit Tigers defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0 in a very clean game. Shane Greene, marvelous defense, clutch hitting, and an uneventful bottom of the 9^th were the stories of this game.

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Shane Greene got the start for the Tigers and he was very good. Greene was not afraid to pitch to contact which kept his pitch count down, much like his start against the Minnesota Twins. It seemed that Greene was ahead of every batter along the way. His final line was 8 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 3 K on 81 pitches with 56 strikes. The only reason Greene was pulled was Jose Iglesias hit a double with one out in the 8^th with Greene’s spot in the order coming up.

Victor Martinez pinch hit for Greene and promptly stuck out and looked like he may have aggravated something along the way.

If Greene can continue to be effective even close to the way he has been in his first two starts, the Tigers may have found a heck of a pitcher.

The Tigers also played nice defense behind Greene tonight. Jose Iglesias put on his usual show in which he fielded multiple ground balls that an average shortstop would not have gotten within 20 feet. He only threw out the batter once of those three times, but they were still all fantastic plays to watch.

After six scoreless innings from both sides, the Tigers got on the board in the 7^th. Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias both worked walks to put two on with one out. The only thing Greene could not to tonight is hit (which is not his fault because he had not hit since he was a freshman in high school), and he struck out.

Rajai Davis, who got the start over Anthony Gose because of his history against A.J. Burnett, delivered with a two out single up the middle scoring Avila, giving the Tigers the 1-0 lead.

The Tigers extended their lead in the 9^th. As I said above, Iglesias hit a two out bloop, hustle double where he got to second because Andrew McCutchen was slow getting to the ball. Victor struck out and Rajai Davis walked to put runners at first and second with two outs. Ian Kinsler then hit a ball between the third baseman and shortstop to score Iglesias giving the Tigers the 2-0 lead.

Joakim Soria relieved Greene in the 9^th and induced two ground balls to the pitcher and a fly out to right field to give the Tigers the 2-0 win. The Tigers will play the Pirates tomorrow at 7:05 in the rubber match of their series with Alfredo Simon and Francisco Liriano getting the starts.

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