Tigers blow six-run lead, lose AL Central title in extras
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| Regular Season Series |
| Detroit leads 14-4 (as of Sun 10/1) |
| Mon 4/3 |
DET 3, @KC 1 |
Recap |
| Wed 4/5 |
DET 14, @KC 3 |
Recap |
| Mon 5/1 |
@DET 3, KC 2 |
Recap |
| Tue 5/2 |
@DET 4, KC 1 |
Recap |
| Mon 5/22 |
DET 8, @KC 0 |
Recap |
| Tue 5/23 |
DET 8, @KC 5 |
Recap |
| Wed 5/24 |
DET 6, @KC 3 |
Recap |
| Thu 5/25 |
DET 13, @KC 8 |
Recap |
| Thu 7/13 |
@DET 6, KC 4 |
Recap |
| Fri 7/14 |
@DET 10, KC 9 |
Recap |
| Sat 7/15 |
@DET 6, KC 0 |
Recap |
| Sun 7/16 |
KC 9, @DET 6 |
Recap |
| Fri 9/22 |
DET 7, @KC 3 |
Recap |
| Sat 9/23 |
DET 15, @KC 4 |
Recap |
| Sun 9/24 |
DET 11, @KC 4 |
Recap |
| Fri 9/29 |
KC 9, @DET 7 |
Recap |
| Sat 9/30 |
KC 9, @DET 6 |
Recap |
| >Sun 10/1 |
KC 10, @DET 8 |
Box Score |
| · Complete Schedule: Tigers | Royals |
| Scoring Summary |
| KAN | DET |
 | 2nd | I Rodriguez singled to center, M Ordonez scored, C Guillen to second. | 0 | 1 |
 | 3rd | M Ordonez doubled to deep left, C Monroe scored. | 0 | 2 |
 | 3rd | C Guillen singled to left, M Ordonez scored, C Guillen to second advancing on throw. | 0 | 3 |
 | 3rd | I Rodriguez reached on infield single to third, C Guillen scored. | 0 | 4 |
 | 3rd | B Inge homered to left, I Rodriguez scored. | 0 | 6 |
 | 4th | E Brown doubled to deep left, E German and D DeJesus scored. | 2 | 6 |
 | 4th | P Phillips hit sacrifice fly to center, E Brown scored. | 3 | 6 |
 | 5th | E German hit a ground rule double to left, A Sanchez scored, J Gathright to third. | 4 | 6 |
 | 5th | I Rodriguez tripled to deep center, C Guillen scored. | 4 | 7 |
 | 8th | J Keppinger singled to center, E Brown and M Maier scored, P Phillips to second. | 6 | 7 |
 | 8th | A Sanchez safe at first on throwing error by third baseman B Inge, P Phillips scored, J Keppinger to second. | 7 | 7 |
 | 8th | D DeJesus reached on infield single to second, J Keppinger scored, A Sanchez to third, E German to second. | 8 | 7 |
 | 8th | M Stairs homered to right. | 8 | 8 |
 | 12th | E German singled to right, J Keppinger scored, A Sanchez to third, J Gathright to second. | 9 | 8 |
 | 12th | E Brown walked, J Gathright scored, E German to third, D DeJesus to second. | 10 | 8 |
| · View complete Play-By-Play |
| Game Information |
| Stadium | Comerica Park, Detroit, MI |
| Attendance | 40,155 (97.3% full) - % is based on regular season capacity |
| Game Time | 4:37 |
| Weather | 71 degrees, sunny |
| Wind | 10 mph |
| Umpires | Home Plate - Jim Joyce, First Base - Paul Schrieber, Second Base - Doug Eddings, Third Base - Dana Demuth |
DETROIT (AP) -- The Detroit Tigers head to Yankee Stadium for the
playoffs, knowing all too well how close they were to winning the
AL Central title and opening at home.
| Second-Half Slippage |
|
A month-to-month tracking of the Tigers' season (team ERA in July and September had something to do with the Twins and White Sox making it a race in the Central). The Twins clinched Sunday with a win and Detroit getting gobbled up at home by the Royals. The Tigers open the postseason Tuesday at Yankee Stadium as the wild-card entrant. |
|
Month
|
Record
|
Average
|
ERA
|
|
April
|
16-9
|
.264
|
3.22
|
|
May
|
19-9
|
.264
|
3.85
|
|
June
|
20-7
|
.274
|
3.32
|
|
July
|
15-10
|
.294
|
4.53
|
|
August
|
13-16
|
.263
|
3.75
|
|
Sept./Oct.
|
12-16
|
.268
|
4.38
|
|
Season
|
95-67
|
.274
|
3.84
|
Needing one more victory to clinch the division, the sagging
Tigers lost their final five games of the season. They wound up
with the wild card after Sunday's disappointment -- wasting a
six-run lead and then watching All-Star starter
Kenny Rogers lose
in relief 10-8 to the last-place
Kansas City Royals in 12 innings.
"We got beat," Tigers center fielder
Curtis Granderson said.
"Kansas City played great. They outhit us, they outscored us and
we ended up getting swept by them."
Detroit will open the playoffs on the road Tuesday night against
the Yankees.
"Once we get to New York, we'll be ready to go," first baseman
Sean Casey said. "It's a new season come Tuesday night."
Nate Robertson will start for Detroit in Game 1 and rookie
Justin Verlander (17-9) is scheduled to pitch Game 2.
"It's a lot easier to beat them three out of five than four out
of seven," Tigers manager Jim Leyland said. "We needed our
pitchers to give us more than we got in the last five days. If we
keep pitching like this, nothing else is going to matter."
Rogers (17-8) will start Game 3 at Comerica Park and
Jeremy Bonderman (14-8) will pitch Game 4, if necessary. Rogers and
Bonderman both worked Sunday.
Minnesota wound up as the Central champion, and will start the
playoffs at home against Oakland.
"Congratulations to the
Minnesota Twins. I take my hat off to
them, they did a great job this year," Leyland said.
| Elias Says |
|
The Tigers were the 18th team since 1900 to fall out of first place on the final day of the regular season. Detroit was the first to so by losing a game in which it led by more than three runs (the Tigers led the Royals, 6-0) and the second to do so by losing to a last-place team. The other was the 1944 Tigers, who were defeated by the last-place Senators on the final day of the season and overtaken for the American League pennant by the St. Louis Browns.
• For more Elias Says, click here
|
If the Tigers had won, they would've finished with an identical
96-66 record as the Twins -- and Detroit would've won the division
crown because of its 11-8 mark against Minnesota.
The Royals, tied with Tampa Bay for the worst record in the
majors, completed their first three-game sweep in Detroit since
1980.
"It was neat to see our kids play and fight hard," interim
Royals manager Bill Doran said. "Maybe they can learn something
and grow from what they did this weekend."
Detroit loaded the bases with one out in the 11th, but
Brandon Inge and Granderson both struck out.
"We had a chance, we were in the driver's seat the whole time.
All we can do is blame ourselves," Granderson said.
In the 12th,
Esteban German's RBI single and
Emil Brown's
bases-loaded walk off Rogers won it for the Royals. Rogers made his
first relief appearance since 2003 as the Tigers played to win,
having seen the Twins' victory over Chicago posted on the
scoreboard.
Jimmy Gobble (4-6) was the winning pitcher.
"It nice to be on the winning side, but you can't take anything
away from the Tigers, they had a great season," Gobble said.
The Tigers rushed to a 6-0 lead behind Bonderman, scoring five
times in the third.
Craig Monroe,
Magglio Ordonez and
Carlos Guillen all doubled before Inge hit his 27th home run.
Down 7-4, the Royals rallied for four runs in the eighth. A
throwing error by Inge from third base set up
David DeJesus'
infield single off
Todd Jones, putting Kansas City ahead 8-7.
Matt Stairs, who isn't eligible for the postseason roster, tied
it with a pinch-hit homer in the Tigers eighth off
Scott Dohmann.
The Tigers tried to win it in the 11th. Magglio Ordonez hit a
one-out single,
Carlos Guillen also singled and the runners moved
up on right fielder Mitch Maier's throwing error.
Reliever
Joe Nelson intentionally walked
Ivan Rodriguez to load
the bases, then struck out Inge. Gobble then came in and fanned
Granderson.
Angel Berroa started the Royals 12th with a single. One out
later, Angel Sanchez singled and
Joey Gathright walked to load the
bases.
German hit a go-ahead single and after DeJesus grounded into a
forceout at the plate, Rogers walked Brown to force home the 10th
run.
The Royals began their comeback from a 6-0 deficit when Brown's
two-run double keyed a three-run fourth.
In the fifth, a fan interfered with German's RBI double down the
left-field line, finishing Bonderman, who exited to a standing
ovation.
Joel Zumaya pitched two scoreless innings in relief.
Rodriguez hit an RBI triple in the fifth that made it 7-4.
Game notes
Leyland said OF Marcus Thames was recovering well from a
throat infection. But the manager is concerned about playing Thames
in Tuesday night's playoff opener after missing nearly a week of
playing time. ... Guillen scored his 100th run, the first Tigers
player to reach the mark since Bobby Higginson in 2000. ... The
game was played before a sellout crowd of 40,155.