|
 And Chicago White Sox manager Robin Ventura is certain to get
roasted in many quarters for passing up a chance to challenge the
ruling that shortstop Alexei Ramirez missed the tag Friday on third
baseman Nick Castellanos' double to begin the ninth inning.
The decision blew up in Ventura's face when catcher Alex Avila
sacrificed pinch-runner Andrew Romine to third and shortstop Jose
Iglesias bounced a single up the middle to give the Detroit Tigers a
2-1 victory over the White Sox.
"I was standing out there (waiting for a call from his coaches
monitoring the replay)," Ventura said. "They said he missed (the
tag). You can't challenge when they say he missed it.
"You've got to go with what your guys say. I guess I could have gone
out (and challenged it) anyway. If you get a 'maybe.'"
Castellano began the inning against lefty Zach Duke (1-1) by hitting
a sinking liner to right that Avisail Garcia nearly caught, the ball
trickling out of his glove as it hit the grass. Garcia recovered in
time, though, to zip a throw to second that got to Ramirez in time
for an out. But Castellanos was ruled to have squeezed his foot onto
the bag before he was tagged.
Chicago had a shift on for Avila -- Gordon Beckham stationed at
third and the only other left-side infielder stationed a few feet
from second -- and the Detroit catcher laid down a perfect bunt that
drew Beckham away from the bag to make the play. Romine made it
easily to third.
"I'm glad it was Duke if it had to be a left-hander," Avila said.
"Usually I get left-handers who throw 97 (mph)."
He was expecting the bunt sign and got it.
"I can bunt," he said. "There were a couple of years there where I
was a finalist in the spring training bunting competition. So I'm no
slouch."
Iglesias fell behind in the count 0-2 and then bounced his RBI
single between the bag and drawn-in second baseman Emilio Bonifacio
to give a win to closer right-hander Joakim Soria (1-0), who pitched
a 1-2-3 ninth.
"I was just trying to put the ball in play," Iglesias said. "I've
been involved in walk-offs before, but I never had one as a hitter."
The teams traded solo home runs for their first scores.
One-time Tiger Garcia smacked left-handed starter David Price's
first pitch of the second inning deep into the right-field seats for
his first home run this year, putting the White Sox up 1-0.
[to top of second column] |
Designated hitter Yoenis Cespedes's first home run with the Tigers
was a blast off Chicago right-hander Jeff Samardzija halfway up the
stands in left. It tied the score 1-1 with one out in the fourth.
Other than Garcia's home run, Chicago didn't have a runner reach
second during Price's eight innings. Price gave up four hits,
striking out nine and walking two.
Samardzija gave up eight hits in eight innings but didn't walk
anybody, and the Tigers stranded baserunners at third four times --
with less than two out in the first and third and with two out in
the fifth and seventh. Samardzija had seven strikeouts.
"You expect a low-scoring game when you have two pitchers like that
hooking up," Ventura said. "Both sides were limited in what they
could do because of the pitchers."
Detroit's nine wins in its first 10 games equal the best for the
franchise, accomplished in 1984, 1968 and 1911.
NOTES: DH Victor Martinez was kept out of Detroit's lineup to give
his left knee an extra day of rest. He tweaked the knee Tuesday
pinch-hitting in Pittsburgh. "He'll be back in the lineup
(Saturday)," manager Brad Ausmus said. ... White Sox RHP Jake
Petricka, out since the end of spring training with a right forearm
strain, pitched a 1-2-3 inning Thursday to begin a rehab assignment
with Triple-A Charlotte. ... Tigers LHP Kyle Lobstein will start
Tuesday in place of disabled RHP Justin Verlander, Ausmus confirmed.
... Chicago LHP Jose Quintana will start Sunday as two days off give
manager Robin Ventura the opportunity to skip a starter, in this
case RHP Hector Neosi.
[© 2015 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.]
Copyright 2015 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. |
