Detroit Tigers 7 Boston Red Sox 2 (May 14, 2007)
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0 commentsBehind strong pitching from reigning Rookie of the Year Justin Verlander (W, 4-1) and a big inning from Brandon Inge and major league WPA leader Magglio Ordonez (2.40), the Detroit Tigers (24-14, 1st in AL Central) defeated the streaking Boston Red Sox (26-12, 1st in AL East) 7-2 at Fenway Park on Tuesday. They were the first team to stop Tim Wakefield (L, 4-4) recently, tagging him for 5 earned runs on 9 hits in 7 IP.
| W: | Justin Verlander | (4-1, 2.76, 1.15) |
| L: | Tim Wakefield | (4-4, 2.41, 0.93) |
| S: | N/A | N/A |
The Red Sox led early on J.D. Drew's RBI single in the 1st (WPA +.094, LI 1.58), but things got away from Wakefield in the 3rd. He gave up a one-out solo home run to Inge (+.108, 0.74), singles to Curtis Granderson and Gary Sheffield, and then a huge 3-run home run to Ordonez (+.261, 1.95). The Tigers never looked back and rode Verlander's strong outing (7 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 K, 0 BB) to the victory. Detroit tacked on two more runs off of Brendan Donnelly to win by 5. Ordonez now has a .367/.429/.617 line against Boston in 256 career at-bats.
Aside from Drew's single in the first, the only offense the Red Sox really managed against Detroit was Kevin Youkilis' solo jack in the bottom of the 8th that chased Verlander, but by then they were pretty much cooked (+.006, 0.04). Youkilis continues to lead the club in average at .333. Only three Red Sox hitters had positive WPAs on the game (Drew, David Ortiz, and Eric Hinske).
- Verlander: 65
- Wakefield: 38
Top Performers by WPA:
- Tigers: Ordonez (.231), Verlander (.286)
- Red Sox: Drew (.038), Kyle Snyder (.003)
Coming Up Next: With the series tied 1 game apiece, we move to game three on Wednesday, with Mike Maroth (3-0, 4.69, 0.35) taking on Julian Tavarez (1-4, 6.60, -1.00). The Tigers are 7-0 in Maroth's starts this season, but he is 0-6 in his career against Boston.
Image courtesy of FanGraphs.
Date
May 15, 2007
