Tonight's game was an emotional roller coaster. From the elation that followed Magglio Ordonez's double to right that scored two and Marcus Thames' homer to make it 5-2, to the frustration that came with Kansas City clawing their way to a 6-5 game, to the feeling of watching Placido Polanco's single rip up the middle to score Omar Infante in the eight, it was up and down all night.
A few major pluses to talk about- first, how about Mags huh? 3-4, 3 RBI, and he's driving the ball to rightfield like he hasn't done since his Chicago White Sox days. For all of his defensive weaknesses in rightfield, this is why he's a weapon and going to be in the line-up every single day- a ferocious cut that can drive the ball all over the park. And that hair. I never conveyed exactly how happy I was on Opening Day to not see a short-haired Mags again. Marcus Thames did a helluva job in a sub role, as did Infante. These types of players, guys that would start on any other team but are back ups here in Detroit, need to impress when they can and they both did; Thames with his power and Infante with his pure instincts out in centerfield. Not Neifi Fucking Perez, though. 0-3 earns you no honors, sir.
Once again, in the end, it was Placido Polanco showing exactly how much he means to this team. 3-5, a homer, and a big RBI to push the winning run across is pretty much what we Tiger fans can expect from this guy at this point. If Guillen is the leader and Pudge is the spark plug (as I said yesterday), Polanco is the foundation of this team- he holds them steady and he comes through whenever he's needed.
One more big shout out from The Light Tower- Gary Sheffield. Huge double to tie the game in the seventh. A lot of people have different opinions on this guy- he doesn't enjoy his job, he's a malcontent or a cancer, he's not a good person. All that is meaningless for me- if he starts coming through like he did tonight on a regular basis, then he can say whatever he wants to the press and feel however he wants. Big hits in late innings are what matters.
Mike Maroth pitched a very Mike Maroth type of game today- he pitched well at points, he didn't pitch well at points, and then, at the end, he put himself in a bad position when he left. Wilfredo Ledezma gets absolutely no blame for letting in the two runs he did in the 6th inning, since Maroth allowed KC to get all the momentum on their side and get back into the game. After that tumultuous (a word I've always enjoyed) sixth, he pitched very well and is now the Tigers' winningest pitcher at 3-0. I've never been a big Todd Jones fan (mostly because he gives me a heart attack whenever he pitches) but he's doing a great job so far this season. He already has seven saves in seven chances and we're not even close to being done with April yet.
It was great to see more resiliency out of these Tigers. They're going to need a ton of that this season. Here's hoping that they can come out tomorrow and finish off the sweep of the lowly Royals.
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