A nearly epic collapse today at Comerica Park. The Tigs jumped out to a 9-0 lead and looked ready to cruise through the rest of the game. The bats were hitting everything, the top of the line-up in Granderson and Polanco was hitting everything in sight for singles, doubles, even a triple and a grand slam. Nate Robertson was mowing people down, rolling through the Blue Jays line-up. It all looked too easy.
And then Jim Leyland put Jason Grilli in.
Now, a little background. I used to have a theory about recently-departed Tigers pitcher Jaime Walker that whenever he came into the game, bad things happened. This was supported by numerous occasions over his tenure as a Tiger. Thankfully, this era came to an end during the off-season. However, last year Jason Grilli started to, little by little, take on the Jaime Walker role, having everything go to shit when he came into games. He was eventually nicknamed "The Right Handed Jaime Walker" by me and my father. He earned that damn nickname today. Coming in during the 6th inning after Robertson gave up a home run, Grilli gave two solid innings of work. Then he fell apart in the eighth, allowing five runs and getting yanked for Fernando Rodney. Who reeeeeally didn't fare much better, barely getting out on the inning with a one run 10-9 lead intact.
Why is it that now, in the first two games of the season, the one sure-fire strength of the Tigers pitching staff, the bullpen, has thrown away one game and nearly did the other? The game is supposed to be over with a lead and the guys from the pen coming in. Yet, Rodney blew the game Monday with an awful performance in the tenth and then the combined fucktard performance of Grilli and Rodney nearly did the same today.
But on the positive side, the lethal Tigers' lineup was on full display today. Chasing AJ Burnett in the third inning with the bases loaded and none out was simply demoralizing for the Blue Jays. It's not often a team blows that much money on someone and has him get knocked out of his first game of the second season in a team's uniform. It was good to see Pudge get back to doing what he does best, taking the ball the other way, after watching him go 0-4 yesterday, trying to pull everything to left. Granderson also had a fantastic game, hitting a triple and a grand slam and driving in five runs. Polanco continued the hot streak he got in during spring training, going 3 for 5. All the Tigs need now is for Craig Monroe and Brandon Inge to get on track (hitting a combined .000, even though Monroe drove in two runs today without a hit) and this line up will really be going.
Check back tomorrow for the last game of the homestand before Detroit heads to Kansas City on Friday.
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