Angels 4, Tigers 5
When I went to sleep last night, the Tigers were leading 5–4 as the top of the sixth began, and I assumed that a whole lot of offense would happen to four innings of relief pitching — Matt Palmer had been pitching for the Angels since the 3rd inning, after all. In the end, all that happened were lots of LOBs. Joe Saunders served up hit after hit, and eventually adapted by walking two of the last batters he was allowed to face. Not an impressive showing from the Angels nominal number 5 starter.
Bobby Abreu committed a baserunning gaffe, getting doubled-off first on a looping line drive to right field with a runner on third; thus, a probably run was lost. That run was given back, however, when Carlos Guillen pulled a hammy or something — what do you call suddenly collapsing to the ground after rounding 3rd base, gingerly standing up, and finally submitting to being tagged out 45 feet from home without contest or forward locomotion?
This AP article also describes the injury as a hamstring pull. I double-took as I first read the writer’s connecting last night’s bad luck with Guillen’s history of injuries: “The three-time All-Star spent almost three months on the disabled list last season because of inflammation in his right shoulder.” One can’t help but imagine that his shoulder was inflamed because one of those Star Trek 2 bugs had penetrated his serratus anterior; then, gradually over the course of the year, the little guy progressed down Carlos’s anatomic highway, finally arriving at his hammy during a 90-foot sprint to home plate. Let’s hope the veteran is alright.
Some good news: Mike Napoli threw out the only attempted base-stealer of the night, and contributed a hit and a walk as well. Welcome back to the starting lineup, big guy.
