Dan Dickerson's Game Recap 6-4-11
Justin Verlander and Miguel Cabrera came up big in the late innings - and the Tigers evened up their series with the White Sox in Chicago with a 4-2 win. The Tigers took a 2-0 lead in the first on a Brennan Boesch home run - his 5th of the year. But the Tigers missed opportunity after opportunity against Edwin Jackson - leaving eight men on in the first four innings - and the game was still 2-0 going to the fifth. That's when Gordon Beckham hit his 5th home run - a 2-run shot - and tied the game 2-2. Verlander was in little trouble throughout the night - until the 8th, when the Sox had runners at the corners with one out, and their leading RBI man - Carlos Quentin - at the plate. But Verlander struck out Quentin on a 100MPH fastball, and then got AJ Pierzynski to ground out - making a fine back-handed stop to get him - and the game stay tied at two. Austin Jackson lead off the ninth with a triple, but was still at third with two outs, when Cabrera launched a home run right off Jesse Crain to give the Tigers a 4-2 lead. Jose Valverde then closed it out in the bottom of the ninth. Verlander gets the win - his 6th (6-3), the save for Valverde was his 15th. The Tigers improve to 30-27 - move to within 3 1/2 games of the Indians in the Central, and put the White Sox 3 1/2 games behind them, in third place. The series wraps up this afternoon at US Cellular Field - Brad Penny goes against Jake Peavy.
Listen below to Justin Verlander striking out Carlos Quentin
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Listen below to Justin Verlander making a run saving out in the 8th
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Listen below to Miguel Cabrera's game winning 2-run HR
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