Fister Solid Against Rangers, Wins Debut With Tigers
CBSSports.com wire reports
Aug. 3, 2011
DETROIT -- Doug Fister pitched seven effective innings to win his Detroit debut while Alex Avila and Ryan Raburn homered as the Tigers beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 Wednesday night.
Fister (4-12), acquired from Seattle on July 30, earned his first victory since May 30 - a span of 10 starts. He allowed two earned runs and eight hits without walking or striking out a batter.
Fister became the first Tigers starter to go seven or more innings without a walk or strikeout since Justin Verlander on May 17, 2006.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth for his 30th save in as many tries, despite allowing a solo homer to Mike Napoli.
Matt Harrison (9-8) took the loss, giving up four runs on nine hits and three walks in six innings.
The Tigers scored twice in the second on RBI singles by Raburn and Avila, and added a third run in the third. Austin Jackson started the inning with a bunt single and scored on Miguel Cabrera's double.
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Detroit's defense, though, let the Rangers back into the game. In the fourth, Josh Hamilton doubled and scored on Nelson Cruz's double. Fister should have been out of the inning, but third baseman Wilson Betemit misplayed Napoli's grounder, allowing Cruz to score an unearned run.
In the fifth, the Rangers had runners on the corners with two out when Hamilton hit what looked like a routine double-play ball, but shortstop Jhonny Peralta threw wildly to first, allowing Yorvit Torrealba to score.
Avila gave the Tigers a 4-3 lead in the sixth with his second homer in as many nights. After driving in one run in July, Avila has five in two August games.
Raburn gave the Tigers a two-run lead with an eighth-inning homer before Napoli homered off Valverde.
Notes
The teams complete the three-game series on Thursday afternoon, with Detroit's Brad Penny facing Alexi Ogando of the Rangers. ... Ogando is 2-0 with a 0.61 ERA in two starts against the Tigers, and will be trying to become the first pitcher in the majors to beat Detroit three times this season. ... Penny will be making his 22nd start of the season, with 15 of them coming in day games. ... Magglio Ordonez grounded into double plays in his first two at-bats, then singled and was promptly erased when Cabrera hit into a double play. In his fourth at-bat, he was spared further DP misery by coming up with two outs.
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