Sneaky Power!

Doug Fister threw 6 perfect innings to start the game.  Broken up in the 7th, and trailing by the end of the inning. 1-0, in what looked like might be a hard luck loss for the guy who has struggled mightily to get run support all season.

Magglio Ordonez, who has certainly lost a step or four and is at the twilight of his career, had a clutch, game tying single in the bottom of the 8th to tie the game at 1.  I will be quick to admit that I have said over and over, that Maggs shouldn't be in the lineup on a regular basis.  His offense AND defense are suffering.  But since Brennan Boesch is still nursing a thumb injury, we need him.  And he came through.  Then... Up came Ramon Santiago.

Ramon Santiago, walk off HR.

In the bottom of the tenth, in the game as a pinch runner in the 8th inning, connected off of Aaron Crow and sent the ball over the right field wall, sending 34,000 fans at Comerica Park home very happy.  His first career walk off home run, 4th HR of the year, 2-1 final score.

Great, because for a while it may have turned out to be one of the more egregious losses of the season.  Doug Fister pitched extremely well for his new ballclub, essentially making a mistake to leadoff batter Alex Gordon in the 7th inning, who drove Fister's first pitch into the gap in left center field, for the Royals first baserunner of the game.  He would score on a Billy Bulter sacrifice fly, and the way Royals starter Jeff Francis had started his game, it was looking like another flat performance from what is regarded to be a good offense.  The Royals pitching isn't special.  We saw that tonight, as Louis Coleman worked the 9th inning for Kansas City, walking the bases loaded with 2 outs.  Taking advantage of such an action was apparently a tall order, as Crow came in and struck out Wilson Betemit on 3 pitches to end the threat.

If it weren't for 2 clutch swings of the bat, we might be very angry with how this game could have or would have ended up.  Ultimately, the 2 bats that figured for a winning formula at Comerica tonight were probably the last 2 bats we all expected to clutch-up for the Tigers.  And for that, we thank Magglio, and Ramon... with the hopes that they contribute like that again down the stretch.