Jackson Cruises Past Baltimore

GAME SUMMARY

• Final Score: Detroit 3, Orioles 0
• WP: Edwin Jackson (5-3): 8 innings, 2 H, 1 BB, 0 R, 7 K, 101 pitches
• LP: Jason Berken (1-1): 7 innings, 4 H, 2 BB, 1 ER, 2 K
• SV: Fernando Rodney (10)
• HR: Curtis Granderson (13)

Edwin Jackson threw his best game of the season and Fernando Rodney finished off the Orioles as the Tigers hurled a shutout in beating the Baltimore Orioles, 3-0.

Jackson was dominant form the start, retiring the first 11 batters he faced to open the game.  The Tigers took an early 1-0 lead on a Curtis Granderson solo homer and the pitching carried the club the rest of the way.

Jackson continued to get poor run support from the Tigers hitters and giving Miguel Cabrera a day off probably didn’t help.  However, Jackson was so good, he didn’t need more than the one run.

The Tigers are now 28-21 and salvaged a split against the previously red-hot Orioles.  Luke Scott went 0-3 with a pair of strikeouts today as the Tigers finally kept him off the board.

Detroit will have a day off on Monday and start a three-game series with the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.

• Good: Jackson was great today.  He gave up a walk, a single and a double, and nothing else.  His breaking ball was working today and was consistently ahead in the count.  He lowered his ERA to 2.30 with his eight innings of shutout ball this afternoon.
• Good: Jeff Larish had a couple of hits, including a double in the eighth inning the bumped the Tigers lead to two runs.  He finished the game with two hits and a walk.  If Larish can hit .250 and continue to draw walks, he’ll have a spot in the bigs for a some time.
• Good: Gerald Laird went 0-3 with a walk at the plate, but played a nice game behind the plate.  Robert Andino of the Orioles attempted to steal second base and got a huge jump.  However, Laird fired a strike down to second and nailed Andino by a foot or two.
• Bad: I think Ramon Santiago is coming back to earth a bit now.  Santiago went 0-5 batting second today and his average has now dropped to .308  He has no hits in his last nine at-bats.
• Bad: Magglio Ordonez had his 16-game hitting streak stopped today.  However, Magglio drew a walk in the eighth inning and scored from first base on Larish’s RBI double.
• Good: Fernando Rodney picked up his second save in two days as he worked a scoreless ninth this afternoon.  Rodney is not an All-Star closer, but he’s been perfect so far this season.  His ERA is now down to an even 3.00 and is a much better option at closer than Todd Jones was the past couple years.