Tigers#1
09-24-2006, 10:00 PM
Tigers top KC, clinch playoff spot
Detroit to play in postseason for first time in 19 years
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
http://www.mlive.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/mlive/images/4042/20060924clinch01_champagne_spraying.jpg
KANSAS CITY -- The "best worst team in baseball," as Matt Anderson put it three years ago, now has a chance to be the best, period. Craig Monroe's three-run homer punctuated a nine-run second inning Sunday, clinching the Tigers' first playoff berth since 1987 with an 11-4 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
The Tigers extended their lead over second-place Minnesota to two games in the American League Central with six games to play, pending the Twins' game against the Orioles.
As difficult as a 19-year playoff drought was on the Tigers, losers of 90 games for five straight seasons until this year and victims of 119 losses in 2003, their last two victories to seal a berth in this year's postseason were relatively easy. After knocking out Mark Redman with a 10-run first inning Saturday night, Detroit used Sunday's second-inning surge to send Runelvys Hernandez to the showers.
Before Monroe's 27th home run of the season sealed the win, his leadoff double earlier in the inning started the damage after Hernandez (6-10) stranded the bases loaded in the first. Twice the Tigers tried to bunt Monroe over to third. Both times, they ended up safe -- Brandon Inge on a hit by pitch, Omar Infante on a Jeff Keppinger error.
After Curtis Granderson's sacrifice fly plated Monroe, Ivan Rodriguez singled to reload the bases. Ordonez hit a two-out bouncer through the middle before Carlos Guillen and Matt Stairs slapped RBI singles. Monroe launched his drive to left on Hernandez's final pitch. Only one of the eight runs off Hernandez was earned.
Inge promptly greeted Todd Wellemeyer with a first-pitch solo homer, and the countdown to a celebration was on. Rodriguez's RBI double in the fifth stretched Detroit's lead. Stairs connected on a solo homer in the sixth, his first long ball as a Tiger.
Justin Verlander (17-6), all but guaranteed of an end to his personal two-game losing streak, cruised over five innings. David DeJesus' two-run double in the third accounted for all his scoring damage among his six hits allowed.
More than 200 bottles of champagne awaited the Tigers in the clubhouse after the game. Though they could celebrate again if they hold off the Twins for the American League Central crown, manager Jim Leyland wanted his players to appreciate what they've accomplished in simply ending Detroit's October drought. As he put it, many players don't even get this far.
The last time the Tigers were in the playoffs, there was no Wild Card spot to win. For that matter, many of their players weren't even teenagers. They smiled as if they had long memories, foremost among them the players who were around for the losses three years ago.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
Detroit to play in postseason for first time in 19 years
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
http://www.mlive.com/cgi-bin/prxy/photogalleries/nph-cache.cgi/cache=3000;/mlive/images/4042/20060924clinch01_champagne_spraying.jpg
KANSAS CITY -- The "best worst team in baseball," as Matt Anderson put it three years ago, now has a chance to be the best, period. Craig Monroe's three-run homer punctuated a nine-run second inning Sunday, clinching the Tigers' first playoff berth since 1987 with an 11-4 win over the Royals at Kauffman Stadium.
The Tigers extended their lead over second-place Minnesota to two games in the American League Central with six games to play, pending the Twins' game against the Orioles.
As difficult as a 19-year playoff drought was on the Tigers, losers of 90 games for five straight seasons until this year and victims of 119 losses in 2003, their last two victories to seal a berth in this year's postseason were relatively easy. After knocking out Mark Redman with a 10-run first inning Saturday night, Detroit used Sunday's second-inning surge to send Runelvys Hernandez to the showers.
Before Monroe's 27th home run of the season sealed the win, his leadoff double earlier in the inning started the damage after Hernandez (6-10) stranded the bases loaded in the first. Twice the Tigers tried to bunt Monroe over to third. Both times, they ended up safe -- Brandon Inge on a hit by pitch, Omar Infante on a Jeff Keppinger error.
After Curtis Granderson's sacrifice fly plated Monroe, Ivan Rodriguez singled to reload the bases. Ordonez hit a two-out bouncer through the middle before Carlos Guillen and Matt Stairs slapped RBI singles. Monroe launched his drive to left on Hernandez's final pitch. Only one of the eight runs off Hernandez was earned.
Inge promptly greeted Todd Wellemeyer with a first-pitch solo homer, and the countdown to a celebration was on. Rodriguez's RBI double in the fifth stretched Detroit's lead. Stairs connected on a solo homer in the sixth, his first long ball as a Tiger.
Justin Verlander (17-6), all but guaranteed of an end to his personal two-game losing streak, cruised over five innings. David DeJesus' two-run double in the third accounted for all his scoring damage among his six hits allowed.
More than 200 bottles of champagne awaited the Tigers in the clubhouse after the game. Though they could celebrate again if they hold off the Twins for the American League Central crown, manager Jim Leyland wanted his players to appreciate what they've accomplished in simply ending Detroit's October drought. As he put it, many players don't even get this far.
The last time the Tigers were in the playoffs, there was no Wild Card spot to win. For that matter, many of their players weren't even teenagers. They smiled as if they had long memories, foremost among them the players who were around for the losses three years ago.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.