Rapid Reactions: Tigers Can’t Scratch Out Enough Offense, Fall to M’s

Mariners 3, Tigers 2 (box score)

• Brad Penny gave the ball club a pretty good start — 7.0 IP with only three runs allowed — but the bats didn’t back him up. The Tigers could only manage five hits and two runs, both of which came on a Victor Martinez home run.
• The bullpen was also great for the Tigers. Charlie Furbush pitched a perfect eighth inning, and when he allowed a double to the leadoff batter in the top of the ninth, Al Alburquerque entered the game and made sure the runner stayed put.

• Al Al now has 37 strikeouts on the year. That’s one fewer than Rick Porcello and one more than Brad Penny.
• There was simply nothing cooking for the Tigers offense tonight. Besides the Victor Martinez home run, the Tigers didn’t ever really threaten to score. They only had three at-bats with runners in scoring position, and two of those came with two outs in the inning.
• Magglio Ordonez homered today in his rehab with Toledo, but I’m not holding my breath that he’s “back”. A slugging Ordonez would be a huge boost to the club, but I think the return of Singlio is about the best we can hope for. Still, Singlio with a nice OBP would do wonders in front of Miguel Cabrera.
• The loss means the Tigers will have to put off claiming a share of the division lead for at least another day. The Indians currently trail the Yankees 11-2, so it looks as if Detroit will remain one game back in the standings.

Like what you see here and want to stay informed on the happenings at MCB? Make sure to follow me on Twitter, friend us on Facebook, or grab our RSS feed.