Opening Day

Opening day wasn't to kind to the Tigers this year they lost to the Royals 5-4 in eleven innings. I am not going to blame the bullpen for this one because this game was lost in the first three innings.

The Tiger hitters had chances in the beginning of the game to score runs and they couldn't take advantage of the situations. The Tigers left 10 base runners stranded. Guillen started off the 2nd with a double and got stranded there without ever moving up. Guillen had a big day though with the double, single and his first home run of the season. Cabrera also had his first home run of the season while making his Tiger debut.

I watched the first two innings when Verlander was cruising through the batters and then I had to go back to work. I was listening on the radio when Verlander got into the sixth inning and gave up 4 runs. Grilli came in the sixth and gave up a base hit and got credit for his first blown save opportunity.

After that the bull pen did its job until the top of the 11th when they finally gave up a run. An encouraging sign for Todd Jones was the ninth inning he pitched. He was perfect with a strikout.

All in all a very encouraging day for the bull pen but not the supposedly feared Tigers batting lineup. Next game will be Wednesday afternoon. Let's hope for a better outcome.

When I got home tonight I turned on the Cubs game as they were playing the Brewers. The Brewers were ahead in the bottom of the ninth and the Cubs got the first two guys on base. Fukudome (a Japanese born player that signed with the Cubs over the winter) came up to bat and worked the count to 3-0. The next pitch was a strike which made the count 3-1. Gagne, the Brewers pitcher, was struggling to throw strikes and Fukudome must of been sitting on a fastball because he got one and quickly deposited it in the center field seats. Game tied, crowd sounds like it is the 7th game of the world series.

But in true Cubs fashion they blew it in the 10th inning. Oh well, 0-2 for my two favorite teams on opening day.

On a brighter note the Washington Nationals, my third favorite team, won their home opener last night 3-2 in the bottom of the ninth against the Atlanta Braves. Today the Nats played at Philadelphia and won 11-6 scoring 5 runs in the top of the ninth. Get those tickets early the Nats band wagon is starting to fill up. They will be lucky to finish .500 this year but they already look better than last year. Nick Johnson is back this year and he is going to really help the Nats lineup.