Winning Despite The Errors

After Edgar Renteria hit a grand slam in the eighth inning to give the Tigers an 8-3 lead over the Indians, Tiger fans at Comerica Park was elated and happy as it solidified a victory for their team.

It looked like it was going to be a different story earlier in the game. In the second inning with men on first and second and one out, Franklin Gutierrez hit a ground ball that Miguel Cabrera allowed to get under his glove and into right field. This allowed Jhonny Peralta to score from second base. Kelly Shoppach followed with a ground rule double to center field on which Casey Blake scored. The ball on which Cabrera was charged with an error could have been a double play ball to get the Tigers out of the inning. In the sixth inning Ben Francisco led off with a bunt which Kenny Rogers fielded on the third base side of the pitchers mound in his acrobatic fashion. The Tiger veteran pitcher then did something un-Rogers like when he threw the ball to no one, and the ball dribbled into right field as if it were a single hit in that direction. Francisco reached third on the error, and this setup a sacrifice fly by Ryan Garko to score Francisco.

With a 3-2 lead at the middle of the sixth inning, this was a recipe for another Tiger loss given their track record of not scoring late in games. It would have hurt to lose as a result of the two errors the Tigers committed, but this one had a happy ending. Marcus Thames led off the bottom of the eighth with a home run to tie the game.  Magglio Ordonez then doubled followed by a single by Cabrera to score Ordonez. This gave the Tigers the lead for the rest of the game, and the exclamation point which was Renteria’s grand slam provided the Tigers with what they needed to get an 8-4 win.