The Tigers went back to their arms to pull out the win in this one as they took care of the Rays 6-2 at Comerica Park. Porcello won his eleventh game of the season with a really nice start. He gave up one run on four hits and two walks with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings. He left in the sixth after giving up his first run and stereotypical start for Porcello with nine ground outs and three fly outs. Brandon Lyon also had a nice outing with two perfect innings. Bobby Seay got into trouble in the ninth and he gave up a run before Leyland went to Fernando Rodney out of the pen to get the final out.
Gerald Laird was the hitting star in this one and he went two for three with a double, a run and two RBIs. Curtis Granderson doubled, singled and drove in a run while Brandon Inge singled, scored two and he hit his 25th home run of the season.
The White Sox lost and the Twins won so it’s Minnesota who’s now in second, 4 1/2 back (five in the loss column) of the Tigers. Nate Robertson makes his first start of the season and he’ll go up against the Rays former number one pick David Price. Price hasn’t quite lived up to the hype yet but he’s had decent starts in four of his last five outings. He just turned 24 earlier this week.