Detroit Tigers Notes And Quotes
--1B Miguel Cabrera was shaking his right hand after taking a bad throw by 3B Brandon Inge in the seventh inning. The injury was not believed to be serious. Cabrera remained in the game after Inge's throw stayed down and skipped sideways enough to strike the first baseman on the back of the right hand on a grounder by Yankees C Russell Martin. Cabrera remained in the game, taking a third strike on a 3-2 pitch leading off the eighth.
--LHP Phil Coke's first appearance of the season was an unsuccessful outing from the bullpen instead of an appearance in the rotation. Coke seemed to transition successfully back to the rotation this spring but opened in the bullpen because Detroit won't need a fifth starter until April 9. He relieved RHP Justin Verlander to open the seventh in a 3-3 game and served up a tiebreaking home run to left-handed-hitting CF Curtis Granderson, who jumped on a high 2-0 fastball. "He got behind Granderson and left no doubt what was coming," manager Jim Leyland said.
--SS Jhonny Peralta didn't have an RBI in spring training, but he drove in a run in his first plate appearance of the season. Peralta hit a sacrifice fly to center in the second inning to drive in the Tigers' first run of the season. He went hitless in his three at-bats, however.
--RHP Justin Verlander didn't get off to as strong a start as he wanted to, but he showed some signs his spring training emphasis on avoiding a bad first month has a chance to pay off. He allowed a three-run home run in the third but no other runs in the six innings he worked in Detroit's season opener in New York. Velander struck out eight and walked four while giving up three hits. "We had a chance," he said after his no-decision. "I really like our ballclub and the way we fought."
--C Alex Avila, a left-handed hitter, was not impressive in the first Opening Day start of his brief career. Avila fanned his first two times up against Yankees LHP CC Sabathia, flied out in his third plate appearance and struck out against RHP Mariano Rivera to end the game. In addition, Avila looked shaky behind the plate on a curve that bounced in the dirt and got through his legs. Avila will face few lefties, but he is Detroit's regular catcher entering the season. Manager Jim Leyland may also have been thinking that his throwing, stronger than DH Victor Martinez's, could help control the running game if LF Brett Gardner and SS Derek Jeter got on base.
--DH Victor Martinez, the Tigers' major free agent acquisition between seasons, singled in his first at-bat with Detroit to set up his new team's first run of the season. Martinez lined a hit just past SS Derek Jeter after 1B Miguel Cabrera had singled to start the second. Cabrera advanced on a walk and scored on a sacrifice fly. Martinez did not catch even though New York threw a lefty at the Tigers. He will catch against most left-handers this season but manager Jim Leyland elected to have the regular catcher, Alex Avila, behind the plate for the season opener.
--OF Brennan Boesch will get his first start of the season Saturday, hitting sixth in Detroit's second game of the season. Manager Jim Leyland rewarded Boesch by keeping him on the team after a solid spring and a good first half to last season when he was called up in May. Boesch will see action in left and right fields and could also DH on occasion. Leyland said when he kept Boesch that he felt he could get him enough playing time to offset the benefits he would have received from playing every day in the minors.
BY THE NUMBERS
0 -- RBI during spring training by SS Jhonny Peralta, who had a sacrifice fly in the second inning Thursday to drive in Detroit's first run of the new season.
QUOTE TO NOTE
"I felt like in the early going I got away from what I was doing in spring training a little bit, which was really tough and cost me some pitches." -- RHP Justin Verlander, who concentrated all spring on making this the first good April of his career. He struck out eight and walked four, also giving up a three-run home run, but throwing more than 30 pitches in the first inning contributed to him having to leave after throwing 114 pitches through six innings.
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