The teams in the American League Central didn’t exactly set the world on fire in their first series of June. The mid-week matchups saw Cleveland and Minesota get thumped in their own parks, while Chicago suffered a two game sweep on the west coast and Kansas City fought Detroit to a stalemate in D-town.
In Cleveland, the Indians, who had previously won their last four, suffered a two game sweep at the hands of a pitching-deficient Rangers squad. In game one of the series Rod Barajas continued with his knack for the dramatic as he homered in the top of the 12th inning to give the Rangers the extra innings victory. The Indians roller coaster bullpen was the story of the brief series as in game two the bullpen that gave up three hits in 6 innings the night before saw Rafael Betancourt give up the two winning runs in the 9th inning. Cleveland now swings out West for a 4 game series with Anaheim.
Minnesota did not look like the team many picked to win the division as they dropped 3 of 4 to Tampa Bay at the Metrodome. Ultra-prospect Joe Mauer returned to the lineup Wednesday for Minnesota, but that did not help as they could only manage 4 runs in the final 18 innings as the Twins had no answers for Doug Waechter (the best pitcher that nobody knows) and Mark Hendrickson of the D Rays. The Twins get ready for a pivotal series with the Tigs, as fans in Detroit will get their first chance to see what all the Joe Mauer hype is about.
The White Sox suffered an odd two-game sweep in Oakland that saw both games end on walk-off home runs for the A’s. Bobby Kielty hit one Tuesday to end it, and Mark Kotsay ended it Wednesday with his first homer as an A. The White Sox got two pretty good starts from Mark Beuhrle and Esteban Loaiza but it wasn’t enough as yet another sub-par AL Central bullpen blew two games in a row.
The good news comes to the Royals and Tigers as their split series in Comerica Park actually gained them both ground in the division. Kansas City travels home to host a road-weary Red Sox team and the Tigs travel to Alan Trammell’s least-favorite park, the Metrodome. Detroit will send Mike Maroth, Gary Knotts and Nate Robertson to the mound against Kyle Lohse, Seth Greisinger and Carlos Silva.

Permalink | Posted in 2004 Tigers