In what had to be one of the strangest games of season Carlos Guillen hit a walk-off 3-run home run in the bottom of the 11th for the Detroit Tigers in a win over the New York Yankees. The blast came at 3:30am after a 4 hour rain delay pushed back the start time of the game until 11:06pm EST.
The umpiring crew decided to delay the game after strong storms swept through Detroit right around the original gametime of 7:05pm, and again around 9:30pm. Yankees manager Joe Torre said he “may have mentioned a doubleheader,” and with today’s gametime of 7:05pm that idea seemed like a good one. The umpires vetoed it though and Tigers pitcher Andrew Miller threw the first pitch at 11:06. Looking out my window at 2:00pm it might have been the right decision since it is raining again here in southeast Michigan.
The game itself was full of storylines and excitement. With both Miller and Yankees starter Roger Clemens (who pitched in his first major league game a year before Miller was born) having poor starts the game came down to the bullpens. The Tigers pen threw 6 2/3 scoreless innings with the Yankees bullpen throwing five before Sean Henn gave up the homer to Guillen.
Tigers CF Curtis Granderson went 4-6 with two triples and three RBIs. He now has 21 triples and is the first Tiger to hit 20 since Ty Cobb in 1917. Granderson may have a shot at becoming the first major leaguer to hit 25 triples since Kiki Cuyler had 26 for the Pittsburgh Pirates in 1925. No one has hit more than 23 since Dale Mitchell in 1949.
Tigers 2B Placido Polanco may have wanted to wait another day as he committed his first error in 147 games in the first inning last night. He broke the record for second basemen earlier in the week.
Whether it was the late night, or the mysterious strike zone of home plate umpire Bob Davidson Yankees catcher Jorge Posada was thrown out of the game for arguing calls in the ninth inning. Both teams had issues with Davidson’s strike zone when an inning later Tigers OF Magglio Ordonez argued two calls in the same at-bat. Magglio must not have said the magic word because he was not thrown out.
About half of the 44,000 fans that sold out Comerica Park were around when Guillen hit his game winning home run. The Tigers needed the win to gain a game on the Cleveland Indians who lost to the Kansas City Royals almost six hours before the game in Detroit ended. Some in the crowd were sent home disappointed though as the stadium announced it would not be holding fireworks after the game due to field conditions and Detroit noise ordinances.
Other News:
- San Diego Padres P Greg Maddux became the first major league pitcher to win 10 games in 20 straight seasons with his victory over the Philadelphia Phillies last night.
- The Cincinnati Reds are retiring Dave Concepcion’s #13 today. The shortstop played 19 seasons for the Reds from 1970-1988.
