Another RBI double, by Carroll. Let's hear it for the getaway-afternoon-game-after-a-night-game-getting-out-of-town-soon-and-resting-the-regulars lineup!
Dough-mitt walks. Now time for a Parmelee bomb. Sanchez at 32 pitches. - ok, I'll settle for the RBI-producing single with the runners moving to 2nd/3rd.
Holy Crap! Now I'm totally sucked in. 1-0 Twins, Morneau on second w/ two outs. 24 pitches already for Sanchez. That whole swinging-at-ball-four thing must have worked...somehow.
I try to be optimistic, but my hope for this series really plummeted when Pelfrey came out for the 6th. Verlander was expected. Now two strikeouts to start the game. I'm kind of scared to watch today.
Apparently Mauer has an OBP in the high .400s against Verlander, so maybe this gets him going again. Hard to believe I said that facing Verlander would get someone going, but hey let's see if it works.
Who cares about who we got? What did we give up? A guy who cost the Sux some games down the stretch. Big deal. That alone was a win for us. Anybody who thinks the Sox won this trade, after the fact, is just looking for justifications for their pre-existing beliefs. Just look at all the teams racing to sign Liriano once he hit free agency. The Pirates are probably already sorry.
I like Smalley quite a bit, but Coom's ok. Tigers get 2 hits, including a triple, but no runs thanks to double play. Pelf is doing well. Think he comes out for the 6th, or does Gardy turn it over to the pen?
Pelfrey's had good movement on his pitches, and seems to be changing speeds pretty well. Speeds on the last few pitches: 81, 85, 91. And another 1-2-3 inning. He's channeling his inner KC.
Very pleased. Way above expectation, especially since the strike zone for Scherzer seems to be at least an inch lower than for Pelfrey. Parmalee really hit that ball, short-hopped the wall in center. Let's drive him in.
Florimon dropped an easy ball but threw a flame to get the runner. Pelfrey out of the inning without a baserunner. Whatever voodoo Brunansky is workin'...I like.