Detroit Vs. Oakland game 1

**Todd** · 05-13-2003, 02:47 PM

Time: 7:05 p.m. EST Venue: Comerica Park

GAME: Oakland Athletics (23-14) at Detroit Tigers (8-27).

TIME: Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. EDT.

After beating up on the best team in baseball, the Oakland Athletics look to take advantage of baseball's worst when they visit the Detroit Tigers for the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park.

The Athletics posted a 5-2 win over the New York Yankees on Sunday, for their sixth win in the last eight games. Oakland took two of three from New York for the second straight weekend, and it is off to its best start since going 25-12 on the way to the AL West title in 1990.

Part of Oakland's recent success can be attributed to the play of outfielder Eric Byrnes, who leads the team with a .320 batting average. Byrnes comes into the game riding a hot streak, going 6-for-14 with a homer, three RBIs, three doubles and four runs scored over the last four games.

"Byrnes has definitely impacted a lot of games," Oakland manager Ken Macha said. "He's seized the opportunity."

The Tigers also come into the game with some momentum, after going 4-2 on their recently completed six-game road trip. Detroit doubled its win total for the season by winning four games on the trip.

"We ended a nice little road trip, and now we can look at some positive things," Tigers manager Alan Trammell said.

Detroit's 9-2 win over Tampa Bay on Sunday marked the second time on the road trip that the Tigers scored nine runs in a game. Before the trip, the most runs Detroit had scored in a game was six, and the team had been averaging 2.5 runs per game.

The Tigers enjoyed a torrid trip from outfielder Dmitri Young, who was 12-for-25 with two homers and nine RBIs over the six games. Young was a home run shy of hitting for the cycle in Sunday's win.

"Today, I think we were a little mad," Young said Sunday. "We ended up the road trip 4-2, and that is a positive step. We just want to go out there on Tuesday and play the way we played this week. We have made tremendous improvements."

STANDINGS: Athletics - tied for 1st place, AL West. Tigers - 5th place, 14 GB, AL Central.

ATHLETICS PROBABLE STARTER: Ted Lilly (2-2, 4.10 ERA). Lilly was hit hard in his last start on Wednesday, when he took an 8-4 loss to the White Sox. The left-hander allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks in just 3 1-3 innings, while striking out one. Lilly is 0-1 with a 5.91 ERA lifetime against the Tigers.

TIGERS PROBABLE STARTER: Mike Maroth (0-7, 5.40 ERA). Maroth pitched well in his last start against Baltimore on Tuesday, though he did not earn a decision in Detroit's 7-6 win. The left-hander allowed three runs on just three hits and two walks in seven innings, while striking out two. Maroth is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA lifetime against Oakland.

OFFENSIVE LEADERS: Athletics - Byrnes, .320 avg.; Eric Chavez and Miguel Tejada, 8 HRs; Erubiel Durazo, 29 RBIs and 23 runs; Chavez, 3 SBs. Tigers - Bobby Higginson, .260 avg., 18 runs and 4 SBs.; Dmitri Young, 5 HRs and 18 RBIs.

SEASON SERIES: Athletics, 2-1.

STREAKS AND NOTES: Athletics - OF Jermaine Dye, on the DL with an injured knee, will accompany the team to Detroit as he continues with his rehab. Dye began swinging off a tee Saturday and will maintain a hitting schedule under the supervision of hitting coach Thad Bosley. ... SS Tejada, 14-for-41 in his last 11 games, finished Sunday's game hitting over .200 for the first time since April 14. ... 3B Chavez missed Sunday's game with swelling in his left hand after getting hit by a line drive Saturday. Tigers - Detroit pitchers have allowed 34 homers in 35 games, third fewest in the AL behind the Yankees and Royals. ... RHP Kenny Baugh, Detroit's first-round selection in the 2001 draft, made his third appearance since missing the entire 2002 season because of shoulder problems Saturday night. He pitched seven innings, allowing three runs on seven hits for Class A Lakeland. ... The Tigers scored three times in the first inning Sunday against Tampa Bay, the first time this season they've scored more than one run in the first.

ROAD/HOME RECORDS: Athletics - 7-9 on the road; Tigers - 2-12 at home.

INJURIES: Athletics - OF Dye (knee), 15-day DL. Tigers - RHP Danny Patterson (elbow), 15-day DL.

**Tramfan** · 05-13-2003, 03:31 PM

>>>After beating up on the best team in baseball, the Oakland Athletics look to take advantage of baseball's worst when they visit the Detroit Tigers for the opener of a three-game series at Comerica Park. <<<

I resemble that remark! ;-) I'll out go way out on a limb and say we take at least one game in the series, maybe more. How's that for taking a chance?

Go Tigers!

**OldTimey** · 05-13-2003, 04:15 PM

They will win tonight because I'm going to be there.

**Ranger** · 05-13-2003, 04:57 PM

Originally posted by OldTimey
They will win tonight because I'm going to be there.

Last time you were at the A's-Tigers game, Lima was lit up and we got killed.

(That is assuming you didn't go to the Sunday game and only the MotownTigers game)

**cruzer1** · 05-13-2003, 06:14 PM

Did the A's stop scoring yet from that game?

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 06:56 PM

MUNSON IS PLAYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!AGAINST A LEFTY SP.........GO ERIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!YAYAY!!!!!!!!

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 06:59 PM

Lineups

Oakland (23-14)

Ellis, 2B
Byrnes, CF
Tejada, SS
Durazo, 1B
Hernandez, C
Piatt, LF
Gant, DH
Long, RF
Menechino, 3B
Lily, P

Detroit (8-27)

Torres, CF
Infante, SS
Higginson, RF
Young, DH
Monroe, LF
Pena, 1B
Halter, 2B
Munson, 3B
Inge, C
Maroth, P

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:15 PM

Ellis flyout to center, Byrnes groundout to second, Tejada reaches on error by Munson, Durazo groundout to second.

Mid of 1

Tied 0-0

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:19 PM

Torres flyout, Infante groundout to SS, Higginson groundout to second

End of 1

Tied 0-0

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:25 PM

Hernandez groundout to second, Piat strikes out looking, Gant pop out to second

Mid 2

Tied 0-0

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:31 PM

Young flyout to left, Monroe groundout to third, Pena called out on strikes

End of 2

Tied 0-0

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:41 PM

Long lines out to second, Menenchino walks, Ellis flyout to right, Byrnes rbi triple to right center, Tejada grounds out to SS

Mid 3

Tigers down 1-0

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:44 PM

Halter leadoff HR!!!!!!

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:50 PM

Halter homers to left, Munson reaches on error, Inge strikes out looking, Munson steals second, Torres groundout to SS (Munson to third), Infante groundout to second

End of 3

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 07:58 PM

Durazo double to right, Hernandez flyout to right (Durazo to third), Piatt groundout to SS, Gant groundout to SS

Mid 4

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:02 PM

Higginson groundout to SS, Young flyout to left, Monroe groundout to third

End of 4

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:10 PM

Long groundout to SS, Menechino singles to right, Ellis grounds into FC Menechino out at second, Byrnes line out to third

Mid 5

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:17 PM

Pena pop out to first, Halter strikes out looking, Munson grounds out to first

End of 5

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:19 PM

This has been a fast moving game........an hour and ten minutes into it and already the 6th inning.

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:25 PM

Tejada strikes out swinging, Durazo flyout to center, Hernandez singles to left, Wild Pitch (hernandez to second), Piatt flyout to right

Mid 6

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:33 PM

Inge flyout to center, Torres pop out to SS in shallow left field, Infante single to center, Higginson flyout to center.

End of 6

Tied 1-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:51 PM

Gant singles to center, Long flyout to center, Menechino walks (Gant to second), Ellis walks (bases loaded), Sparks in to pitch for Maroth, Byrnes pops out to first, Tejada 2 run double, Durazo intentionally walks, Hernandez grounds out to second.

Mid 7

Tigers down 3-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:57 PM

Young flyout to right, Monroe strikes out swinging, Pena lineout to left

End of 7

Oakland leads 3-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 08:58 PM

Through 7 innings only 2 hits!!......a Halter HR and an Infante single.........Cmon guys this is Ted Lilly not Hudson, Mulder, or Zito. Start hitting the ball

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:01 PM

Piatt flyout to center, Gant strikes out swinging, Long groundout to second.

Mid 8

Oakland leads 3-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:15 PM

Halter double to left, Munson flyout to center, Bradford in to pitch for Lily, Kingsale hits for Inge, Kingsale singles (Halter to third), Torres grounds into a double play

End of 8

Oakland leads 3-1

**Franks151** · 05-13-2003, 09:17 PM

Damn! That call at first was awful. Torres could have stolen second and if Infante comes through with a big hit this game could be tied.

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:19 PM

Menechino groundout, Ellis groundout, Byrnes strikes out swinging

Mid 9

Tigers down by two 3-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:20 PM

Originally posted by Franks151
Damn! That call at first was awful. Torres could have stolen second and if Infante comes through with a big hit this game could be tied.

Damn umpire!!........why do we always get bad calls from the umps?

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:21 PM

Foulke in to pitch

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:26 PM

Infante called out on strikes, Higginson strikes out swinging, Young pop out to second

Tigers lose 3-1

**Bonderman38** · 05-13-2003, 09:28 PM

Oakland Athletics 3, Detroit Tigers 1

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E

Oakland 0 0 1 0 0 0 2 0 0 3 6 1

Detroit 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 1

Oakland AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Ellis, 2B 4 0 0 0 1 0 2 .255
Byrnes, CF 5 0 1 1 0 1 4 .313
Tejada, SS 4 0 1 2 0 1 1 .209
Durazo, 1B 3 0 1 0 1 0 1 .273
Hernandez, C 4 0 1 0 0 0 4 .315
Piatt, LF 4 0 0 0 0 1 2 .083
Gant, DH 4 1 1 0 0 1 1 .156
Long, RF 4 0 0 0 0 0 1 .252
Menechino, 3B 2 2 1 0 2 0 0 .118
Totals 34 3 6 3 4 4 16

BATTING
2B: Durazo (11, Maroth), Tejada (4, Sparks).
3B: Byrnes (3, Maroth).
TB: Byrnes 3; Tejada 2; Durazo 2; Hernandez; Gant; Menechino.
RBI: Byrnes (9), Tejada 2 (23).
2-out RBI: Byrnes, Tejada 2.
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Tejada, Gant, Piatt, Hernandez 2.
Team LOB: 8.

FIELDING
E: Ellis (5, fielding).
DP: (Ellis-Tejada-Durazo).

Detroit AB R H RBI BB SO LOB AVG
Torres, CF 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 .231
Infante, SS 4 0 1 0 0 1 1 .234
Higginson, RF 4 0 0 0 0 1 1 .252
Young, DH 4 0 0 0 0 0 0 .232
Monroe, LF 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .239
Pena, 1B 3 0 0 0 0 1 0 .198
Halter, 2B 3 1 2 1 0 1 0 .241
Munson, 3B 3 0 0 0 0 0 1 .205
Inge, C 2 0 0 0 0 1 1 .145
a-Kingsale, PH 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 .269
Walbeck, C 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 .065
Totals 31 1 4 1 0 6 7

a-Singled for Inge in the 8th.

BATTING
2B: Halter (1, Lilly).
HR: Halter (4, 3rd inning off Lilly, 0 on, 0 out).
TB: Infante; Halter 6; Kingsale.
RBI: Halter (9).
Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Infante.
GIDP: Torres.
Team LOB: 3.

BASERUNNING
SB: Munson (2, 2nd base off Lilly/Hernandez).

FIELDING
E: Munson (2, fielding).

Oakland IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Lilly 7.1 3 1 1 0 4 1 3.67
Bradford 0.2 1 0 0 0 0 0 3.38
Foulke 1.0 0 0 0 0 2 0 2.75

Detroit IP H R ER BB SO HR ERA
Maroth 6.1 5 3 3 3 2 0 5.27
Sparks 2.2 1 0 0 1 2 0 3.04

WP: Maroth.
IBB: Durazo (by Sparks).
Pitches-strikes: Lilly 100-70, Bradford 5-3, Foulke 13-9, Maroth 101-56, Sparks 34-23.
Ground outs-fly outs: Lilly 8-10, Bradford 2-0, Foulke 0-1, Maroth 8-9, Sparks 4-2.
Batters faced: Lilly 26, Bradford 2, Foulke 3, Maroth 28, Sparks 10.
Inherited runners-scored: Bradford 1-0, Sparks 3-2.
Umpires: HP: Andy Fletcher. 1B: Joe Brinkman. 2B: Derryl Cousins. 3B: Mike DiMuro.
Weather: 68 degrees, clear.
Wind: 10 mph, Out to LF.

Box score official statistics approved by Major League Baseball and the Office of the Commissioner

**Tramfan** · 05-13-2003, 10:00 PM

A agree guys what a horrendous call on that dp. Just what need an umpire to create an out and cost us a run and a chance to prolong the inning and threaten further. I can't believe some of the arrogant jerks they have calling baseball these days.

Go Tigers!

**DET Mr Malefic** · 05-13-2003, 10:38 PM

I was at the game today. The Tigers are now 0-4 this season in games that I've attended. I ran into my old baseball coach from 13 years ago at the game.

I had a good time, just wish I could've seen a victory.

I sat in the box seats at CoPa for the first time......it was pretty cool. They did the pre-game show right in front of me before the game, and I could talk to players as they went back and forth to the dugout.....and be heard.

That call in the 8th was terrible, I could see it all the way from the 3rd base side.......I thought Trammell was going to be ejected tonight, the way he came out of the dugout.

I'm glad the Tigers don't have another off-day until May 29th......so when they finally start hitting again, they won't have their rhythm broken for awhile.....this 3-hit performance was awful.

I was pretty shocked to see Shane Halter get 2 hits......2 extra-base hits at that.

That's about all I have to say about the game. I love being at the ballpark, I wish I could go more often. As it is, I've been to as many games this season already as I went to all last year, so I'm happy.

**AceTimbo08** · 05-13-2003, 11:39 PM

Well I was at the game tonight. Not a bad game but not great by any means although it was nice to see my first game of this season with my dad since he couldn't go to opening day. I had a good time aside from two extremely loud and obnoxious drunks that thought they owned the place. They were being very rude to people and yelling obscenities, although no f-bombs yelled out loud so I don't know if they crossed the line in others minds or not. Wouldn't really had bothered me much if there weren't kids around and the lady in front of us wasn't getting offended. Well oh well still had a fun time and the weather was nice, 63 degrees for most of the night, little chilly towards the end but still didn't need a jacket. BTW I was sitting in 118 row 17, where was everyone else who went sitting?

**OldTimey** · 05-13-2003, 11:48 PM

I was there tonight too. That call at first was garbage.

I had a guy who yelled out hilarious comments like "Put in Parrish!" and "C'mon Munson this i the big leagues!" Man it was fun.

**nazrac** · 05-13-2003, 11:54 PM

just got home and watched the tape of tonights game...was anyone else bothered by the fact that no-one came out to check on Maroth in the (I think) 6th? He bounced two, and then threw one to the backstop, his release was really off. It seemed to continue as the next inning was where back to back walks led to his leaving. Anyone else think there may have been a slight injury? Probobly not, but it's strange for Maroth to lose it like that and there wasn't really anything before that that could have caused him to get shaken up.

Just wondering because we've been in the situation a couple of times, if we have a runner on third with less then two outs and Torres up, why not try a squeeze? The confusion at home due to the runner may eleminate any chance the defense has of getting Torres and if they do get him at least the run scores. He has popped a lot of bunt attempts up lately though.

I like that Munson and Pena got to play today but Munson looked lost tonight. Torres did clearly beat the relay in the 8th.

Good outing for Matt tonight in Toledo, sounds like he's attempting to mix up his pitches more.

**Thomas Habitz** · 05-14-2003, 12:01 AM

Joe Brinkman is an embarrassment to baseball. Most of the lazy, old, conceited, think-they're-above-the-game umpires had been weeded out after the flareup of a couple years ago, but Brinkman remains.

Watch him do the plate some time. He kneels down about ten feet behind the catcher.

**zachcadillac** · 05-14-2003, 12:07 AM

I had a guy who yelled out hilarious comments like "Put in Parrish!" and "C'mon Munson this i the big leagues!" Man it was fun.

At a Tigers-Phillies game last year, some guy behind me yelled "This will Easley go out of the park!" every time Easley hit.

I was chagrined.

**DetroitFolly** · 05-14-2003, 06:26 AM

that's a GAME-ALTERING call blown at first base.

Think about it...

instead of down 3-1 going into the ninth, we have a 3-2 game with two outs, and a speedster on base, with the meat of the order coming up...guys that seem to buckle down a bit more in those type of situations lately.

Instead, we go to the ninth with a two run deficit, and watch three uninspired at-bats.

that really, really irked me, especially since it wasn't even a difficult call to make. Torres was CLEARLY safe.