Kid Rick Helps Tigers Gain Ground

Cleveland 2, Detroit 4 (box)

Jhonny Peralta had a game he’d like to forget as the Indians near the end of a season they’d like to forget.  Cleveland made five errors, the most since 1997, in their losing effort against Detroit last night.  Peralta himself made three of them.

The game began well enough for the Indians’ third baseman as Peralta’s RBI single in the first inning got the Tribe on the board first against Rick Porcello.  In the sixth inning, Peralta made a diving stop and throw to rob Brandon Inge of a double.  The rest of the game, Peralta struggled.

With the game knotted at one in the third, the Tigers put the first two batters on base with a walk and a single.  Inge stepped to the dish and bounced a would-be double play ball to Peralta.  But Peralta bobbled it, then rushed a late throw to second that sailed into right field.

Miguel Cabrera came around to score the go ahead run on the play as Peraltawas charged with two errors.  Wilkin Ramirez then lofted a fly ball to center to score Marcus Thames from third for the Tigers’ second run of the inning.

That was all the support that Rick Porcello would need.  Kid Rick breezed through seven innings on just 78 pitches before allowing a lead off homer to Travis Hafnerin the eighth.  Bobby Seay and Brandon Lyon finished the frame as Porcello was lifted following Hafner’s blast.

Fernando Rodney came on for the ninth, and the Indians mounted a rally, putting the tying runners on base with one out.  But Peralta was unable to atone for his defensive lapses, grounding into a game ending double play.

Cheers for

• Rick Porcello– Porcello won his 12th game of the season, becoming the first Tiger under age 21 to win that many.  Hafner’s home run was the first extra base hit he has allowed in three starts against Cleveland this year.
• Magglio Ordonez– Maggs had three hits to move his average up to .281.  Since August 1, the Big Tilde is hitting .368 with a .938 OPS.
• SeayLyon– Once again, Bobby Seay and Brandon Lyon performed admirably in the eighth inning.  The back end of the Tigers’ bullpen has been one of the best in baseball.  One of the team’s top priorities this off season should be to re-sign Lyon, especially if Rodney leaves.

Jeers to

• Jhonny Peralta– Peralta’s name appears here not for his three error game, but for his gross mis-spelling of his own name.  Perhaps he would have made those plays if he weren’t trying to figure out why his mother put that “H” in the wrong place.  Just sayin’

What’s on tap

The Tigers look for the sweep as they come to the close of a seven game home stand.  Nate Robertson (1-1, 6.84) will make his second start since being activated from the disabled list, but will be limited to about 85 pitches.  Fausto Carmona (3-9, 6.20) goes for Cleveland in a rare September matchup of pitchers with ERA’s northof six.  The Tigers will load the lineup with lefties against Carmona, so expect to see Carlos Guillen, Aubrey Huff, and Clete Thomas get back into the lineup this afternoon.  Placido Polanco will get a day off, so perhaps we will see the debut of Brent Dlugach.  Which would be nice so I can figure out how to pronounce his last name.

Division Update

The Minnesota Twins had a 2-0 lead with the bases empty and two outs in the ninth inning yesterday with Joe Nathan on the mound.  But back-to-back home runs from Gordon Beckham and Paul Konerko tied the game.  Nathan then walked the next two White Sox hitters before being relieved by Matt Guerrier.  Alexei Ramirez singled home the go ahead run and another scored on a wild pitch as Chicago came back to salvage a game of their three game set at the Metrodome.

The loss drops the Twins to 4.5 games behind Detroit, who can extend that lead with another win this afternoon.  Minnesota is idle today as they travel to Cleveland to start a seven game road trip on Friday.