Galarraga less than perfect in 7-2 win over ChiSox

[June 09, 2010]  CHICAGO (AP) -- Far from perfect this time, Armando Galarraga was long gone when Brennan Boesch and Carlos Guillen hit back-to-back homers in a six-run seventh to lift the Detroit Tigers to a 7-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night.

The centerpiece of a national story when a blown call against Cleveland last week spoiled a perfect game, Galarraga had a relatively uneventful night. He gave up a leadoff single to Juan Pierre in the first after being cheered on his way to the mound and allowed two runs and seven hits in five innings.

Mark Kotsay hit a two-run homer off Galarraga in the fourth, but the Tigers got an RBI single from Guillen against Gavin Floyd in the sixth to pull to 2-1. Then, they knocked around Matt Thornton and Scott Linebrink to get the win after dropping two of three at Kansas City over the weekend.

The Tigers had runners on first and second with one out when Ryan Raburn drove a double to right off Thornton. Gordon Beckham took the cutoff from Carlos Quentin and threw wildly trying to get Raburn at second, allowing Johnny Damon to score the go-ahead run.

Thornton (2-3), who has been scored on in three straight outings, intentionally walked Miguel Cabrera. Boesch then drove his sixth homer over the center-field wall after striking out in his first three at-bats, making it 6-2, and Guillen knocked his third out to right off Linebrink to make it a five-run game.

That made a winner of Brad Thomas (3-0), who pitched two scoreless innings.

Floyd, who has been anything but perfect this season, allowed six hits in six innings while striking out a season-high eight and walking two.

Galarraga was less than spectacular coming off a performance that turned him into an instant celebrity. Who will forget that?

As manager Jim Leyland put it, "It's like a rock band that came out of nowhere -- or the actress or actor that came out of nowhere -- and all of a sudden, there's a lot of attention. ... It's nice. I think he's handled it tremendous."

Galarraga was poised to celebrate the 21st perfect game and third in the majors this season.

Then, in a flash, he was simply smiling at his misfortune and heading back to the mound after first-base umpire Jim Joyce emphatically called the Indians' Jason Donald safe even though replays showed he was clearly out.

What happened after that made it even more memorable.

Galarraga, who was covering first base, refused to lash out at the umpire, and a devastated Joyce apologized to the pitcher in person.

What followed was an outpouring of support for both player and umpire, not to mention calls to expand the use of instant replay.

NOTES: Detroit slugger Magglio Ordonez was a late scratch because of left oblique soreness. Ordonez, batting .312 with eight homers and 41 RBIs, was to bat third and start in right field. Raburn took his spot in the order and started in left, with Boesch shifting from left to right. ... White Sox analyst Ken "Hawk" Harrelson was honored for his nearly 25 years in the White Sox television booth during a pregame ceremony in which he received a crystal microphone. The team announced it will name the broadcast level at U.S. Cellular Field the "Hawk Harrelson Broadcast Level" and place a plaque commemorating his contributions to the organization outside the television and radio broadcast booths. "The more I think about it, the more emotional I get," Harrelson said. "It means a quarter-century of your life has gone by. I don't think there will be 25 more."

[Associated Press; By ANDREW SELIGMAN]

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