Marcus Thames had just one hit, but it was a big one.  After Julian Tavarez walked Sean Casey to load the bases, Thames made them pay by belting a grand slam into the left field seats on a 1-2 pitch.  Earlier in the game, he had driven in a run on a sac. fly.  Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco each had three hits and Ryan Raburn belted a pinch hit RBI single in his season debut.  The last (and first) time Raburn saw action at the big league level was back in 2004 when he got a cup of coffee with the team that September.

Andrew Miller had a fantastic start.  He gave up just a single run on three hits and four walks with six strikeouts in seven solid innings.  The win pushes his record to 4-2 on the season.  Chad Durbin gave up a run in two innings to close out the game in what was effectively mopup time.

Tonight, it’ll be Jeremy Bonderman going up against Kason Gabbard.  Kason Gabbard is a lefty, so we may see a bit of shuffling in the lineup but we’ll see.  This will be only his third start this season and he’s been okay in a couple (and managed to pick up wins) and not so good in another.  Expect some strikeouts, but if the Tigers keep their head on, they’ll be able to draw their fair share of walks in this one too.

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