Stars made in Tigers win

The Tigers are now in first place, a spot not held by Detroit since May 1st.

Going into Saturday, the Tigers needed some excellent performances from Rick Porcello and whoever could get a hit off of Chris Sale, the White Sox pitcher who had been unhittable after a Chicago loss.  Turns out, Jhonny Peralta would literally fill that role, with an infield single in the 2nd inning that Sale tried to field with his pitching hand, dinging him up in the process.  Sale came back into the game, but walked two straight to start the 3rd, and never had the commanding pitches of innings 1 and 2.

The day’s other starter, Rick Porcello, crafted a game that fulfilled the expectations of any Tigers fan – 8-plus innings, five hits, one run, no walks, 5 strikeouts.  Two of the hits came in the 9th inning, when he was pulled.  What a game.  Any Tiger fan couldn’t ask for more.  Porcello has had his doubters, but he does have the stuff necessary to fill in the Tigers’ rotation behind Justin Verlander.  With more games like Saturday, his spot in the rotation will rise.

Offensively, two guys led the way, Austin Jackson and Brennan Boesch.  And once again, every run came with two outs in the inning, “back-breakers” according to Jim Leyland.

In the 5th, after Porcello gave up his only run of the day, Jackson knocked in Gerald Laird and Danny Worth with a deep double to right-center.  All of the hits came with two outs, and before Jackson’s hit, the Tigers were able to get regular singles on Sale, but Jackson’s double blew Sale’s confidence.  Once again, the White Sox took the lead and the Tigers responded in the bottom of the inning.  In the 6th, Boesch blasted a three-run shot into the right-field bleachers, finally blowing a game open in this series.  Again, everything happened with two outs, and the lead was finally pushed to a somewhat comfortable margin.  In the 8th, Jackson again delivered with two outs, with a hit to center-field that scored two runs.

The Tigers’ offense has been rolling lately, and Saturday was another example of how this well-built team can continue to do damage.

While this lead could still be lost on Sunday, today’s game was the perfect way to cleanse Tigers fans of any stray negativity towards the first half of this season.
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 Just as last year’s division title helped to erase the memories of late-season collapses in 2006 and 2009, the Tigers are at the same point in 2012 as 2011.  This team might just be a second-half ballclub by nature, improving as the season goes on.  And if this season ends with another division title, that might just be the right formula for Detroit summers.