Tampa Bay 4, Detroit 2
When: 1:05 PM ET, Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Where: Comerica Park, Detroit, Michigan
Temperature:
46°
Umpires:
Home -
Cory Blaser, 1B -
Mark Carlson, 2B -
Ed Hickox, 3B -
Ed Rapuano
Attendance:
28180
By SportsDirect Inc.
Rays 4, Tigers 2: Ben Zobrist doubled in the go-ahead runs in the ninth as visiting Tampa Bay finally got to Justin Verlander and handed Detroit its first loss.
The Rays managed only one hit off Verlander in the first eight innings as the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner and MVP was cruising toward the shutout. But Tampa Bay rallied by sandwiching a pair of singles around a strikeout to put runners on the corners in the ninth.
Verlander (0-1) had Carlos Pena down 1-2 but ended up walking him and unleashing a run-scoring wild pitch with ball four. Evan Longoria followed with the game-tying single to left, ending Verlander’s day.
Daniel Schlereth walked Matt Joyce before closer Jose Valverde came on and surrendered Zobrist’s single to center.
James Shields (1-0) bounced back from a disastrous performance on opening day and allowed two runs and six hits while walking one and striking out five in eight innings. Fernando Rodney tossed a perfect ninth to earn his third save.
Detroit on the board in the bottom of the first. Austin Jackson led off with a single, moved up on a groundout and came in on Miguel Cabrera’s single. Andy Dirks scored from third on a balk to make it 2-0 in the fifth.
GAME NOTEBOOK: Tigers C/DH Victor Martinez will not need additional surgery on his injured knee and could possibly make it back by the end of the season. … Verlander allowed three hits in his first 16 innings and three in the ninth alone on Wednesday. … Longoria has hit safely in every game.
Top Game Performances
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Hits |
HR |
TB |
Avg |
LOB |
K |
RBI |
BB |
SB |
Errors |
| Tampa Bay
|
5 |
0 |
5 |
.161 |
9 |
7 |
3 |
4 |
0 |
0 |
| Detroit
|
6 |
0 |
7 |
.194 |
12 |
5 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
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