The Baltimore right-hander hadn’t pitched since August 20 because of right shoulder bursitis.
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Baltimore Orioles catcher Matt Wieters (32) tags Detroit Tigers’ Ian Kinsler (3) out at home plate after right fielder Mark Trumbo caught a Victor Martinez fly ball during the third inning of a baseball game in Detroit on September 9, 2016.
Detroit Tigers left fielder Justin Upton catches a Baltimore Orioles’ Manny Machado fly ball in the seventh inning of a baseball game in Detroit, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2016. “Not too often a pitcher can do that”.
The Birds have now reclaimed sole possession of the second wild card spot in the American League with the win – for now. Detroit DH Victor Martinez’s game-deciding home run in the eighth inning on Friday was the 12th go-ahead home run of his career in the eighth inning or later. The New York Yankees are also two back of the Orioles and Blue Jays.
Zimmermann returned from the disabled list Saturday (neck strain) and threw his worst outing of the season, giving up six runs on four hits to the Orioles before he was pulled with no outs in the second inning. He allowed just three hits while throwing 103 pitches with one walk, a hit batter and five strikeouts. You get kind of bored and frustrated sitting on the bench that long and not being able to help the team.
Orioles closer Zach Britton improved to 41-for-41 in save situations by closing the game out with a scoreless ninth inning, in the process taking over as the saves leader in the American League.
Going into Sunday, he had put together a career-best streak of 11 quality starts, and he only missed by an inning against Baltimore.
MINNEAPOLIS – Mike Napoli hit a mammoth home run on the first pitch of the fifth inning to give Cleveland the lead, and the Indians hung on to beat Minnesota and maintain its six-game lead in the AL Central.
WASHINGTON – Trea Turner hit his second home run of the game with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, a solo shot that gave Washington the win. This before Detroit’s Aybar grounded into a fielder’s choice-RBI in the last of the fourth to give them their second run.
Cabrera went 0 for 4 and failed to hit the ball out of the infield. And they didn’t, but they did get to Verlander for three runs and knocked him out after five innings, which is about as good as you can ask for. Gausman struck out Miguel Cabrera, then Ian Kinsler was thrown out trying to score on Victor Martinez’s flyout.
“In all the years I’ve been in this game, I have never seen a third-base coach get hit twice in the same night”, Showalter said. It felt playoff atmosphere, if I knew what it felt like, but it was fun.
Trumbo didn’t have much to say about it after the game. He instead will throw a simulated game on Wednesday, Tigers manager Brad Ausmus said after Detroit’s 3-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday. The same can’t be said about Jordan Zimmerman. “We need to win games, and we’ll decide how we think we can best do that”.
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And in the less than four months since that fateful game against Baltimore, this seems like a different type of Tigers team, one that plays with moxie rather than a sense of fatalism, one more lively than listless. LHP Daniel Norris (2-2) takes the mound for the Tigers on Monday night against Ervin Santana (7-10).
