Fighting It Out

Man, was it a long day. I spent half the day waiting for my friend to post info about his new baby on Facebook so I could finally share in the revelry (you can't scoop a guy's story about his son being born, especially if you have all the same friends). Then when that got done, I spent the rest of the day counting down the minutes to tonight's game. I had to leave work a few minutes early because I was so useless by then. Took the dog for a walk and hung out with my niece for a bit.

We went over the Tribe lineup a few times...she hasn't watched a game since Choo was still in. So I had to teach her how to say "Fukudome" (a reasonable "foo-koo") and we worked on Asdrubal some more ("doobal"). He favorite was "Zeke."

I also made a point to seek out the game on television, much like I would with a playoff game. It felt like a playoff game to me. This game made a 2-game difference in the standings. This was the AL's best pitcher versus our nominal ace. This was game could break or extend a 14-game winning streak over the Tigers at home. This game was important.

The title of tonight's post is pretty spot-on. Our team was fighting it out the entire game - literally and figuratively! More in a minute...

First off - Good Fausto showed up. You may think that he gave up 4 runs (3 earned) that that's not "good." Well we scored 10 runs off the Kitties last night. If you think Good Fausto didn't show up you also didn't see him pitch innings 3-7 because he was fucking awesome. His 4th and 5th innings he matched Verlander with 3 up, 3 down. His slider was right down in there, it was great stuff.

He only struck out 6 to Verlander's 10, and gave up 7 hits to Verlander's 3...but he gave up the same amount of earned runs and you know who gave up a homer? Verlander - not Carmona. Just a great start for him and his 3rd great start in a row.

Sipp! and Smith were awesome, each with a strikeout and no runs. They really held tight!

Ok as for the "literal" fighting, Santana missed another play at first, on the first play of the game. Granted, it was Chisenhall who got the throwing error but it was Santana who subsequently got reamed in the dugout by Asdrubal. I wonder if he screamed at him in Spanish. Angry, rude Spanish. That'd be even cooler. Manny Acta and Fausto Carmona had to break them up! Everyone on the TV and on the radio and on Twitter was giving props to Asdrubal for being the "veteran" and slapping some sense into Santana.

Then in the 2nd, Santana got a solo homer so....yeah!

And in the 3rd, both Sweet Lou and Kipnis walked and Asdrubal doubled them BOTH in with 2 outs and 2 strikes. So - YEAH!

That was all the scoring we did (the only other hitting was Lonnie with a single in the 5th) but it was pretty sweet the way it worked out. I am really excited we put together 3 runs against a guy who's ERA is under 3 and is considered the best pitcher in the AL. He's always awesome against us. In fact, I do believe they switched up his schedule to have him pitch us. Then after he left, their 32-save closer came in. So...3 runs? I'll take it.

Winning the series I'll take also. Going against the Twins next while the Tigers take on the O's....well, uh...hey maybe their bullpen is still tired?

We had some nice defense tonight too, in case you think all we had to do was bat well. Fukudome showed some leather to make up for the error in the 1st. This Kipnis-Asdrubal DP really saved Fausto's ass. Zeke was throwing himself around the outfield tonight too.

Speaking of Kipnis - hopefully someone gives him a "you can't be a hero every night" speech tonight, as he was pretty miserable compared to last night. He went 0 for 3 with 2 strikeouts and a walk. Granted, nobody else other than the feisty Latinos to either side of him was hitting tonight, but it's a pretty far fall from 5 hits to 2 strikeouts. Let's not see that again, ok?

No Radio Chatter tonight. I'm glad I didn't listen on the radio, to be honest. I heard some of Hammy's calls in a recap and I think I would have busted my spleen or something when he called Santana's almost-homer in the 6th. Then I may have popped an eyeball with the anticipation he laid on in the 9th, trying to be prophetic about a come-from-behind win. My overall health was greatly improved by laying off the radio dramatics for a day.

I am kinda sad that I forgot my broom at home, tho. I'm sorry if that in any way cost us a win.

Tomorrow Justin Masterson goes for his 10th win against Carl Pavano of the Twins, who may or may not have a creepy mustache. I guess I won't know until some videos are posted.

See you then!