Justin Verlander allowed one hit and one walk through eight, and entered the ninth under 90 pitches, with a two run lead.
Jeff Keppinger, after freezing on the bench all day, pinch hit a single to open the inning. Your baseball blogger wondered if anyone was throwing in the pen. (Nope.)
After a groundout, Desmond Jennings singled Keppinger to third. YBB would have had someone warming up in the eighth, and brought him in now.
Carlos Pena walked, Evan Longoria grounded a single past Cabrera -- a ball that Hinge would have turned into two -- and Verlander came out with the score tied at two.
Papa Shut 'Em Down finally entered the game, and allowed both inherited runners to score. Keppinger, the leadoff pinch hitter, batted twice in the four run inning. In the press box, leads written before the ninth inning were quickly deleted, and new ones describing a loss that should have been a win were hurriedly composed.
"You could see he was fighting it out there," The Resident Managerial Genius said after the game. (Then why was he still out there? YBB also wonders, if getting JV through the ninth was so vital, why he wasn't allowed to finish on opening day.)
No bottom of the ninth magic this day for the home nine, either. Fernando Rodney retired the heart of the batting order, Cabrera-Fielder-Peralta, game over. Too bad he didn't do that more often when he pitched for the Tigers.
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