ACES WILD AS TIGERS MAUL ANGELS 10-6
Eternal Baseball
DETROIT – The Tigers and Angels sent their aces to the mound on the first day of Spring Training and both walked off a little shell-shocked.
On a day when Detroit’s Ed Killian surrendered six runs in five innings of work, Los Angeles’ Nolan Ryan was even less effective – getting hammered for seven hits and eight runs in just two innings as the Tigers notched a 10-6 Opening Day win over the Angels.
Ryan breezed through the Tigers’ top four hitters in the first inning, and the Angels handed him a 1-0 lead thanks to Brian Downing’s RBI double in the top of the second. The second inning was a completely different story for the Angels’ ace. Charlie Gehringer led off with a sharp single to right field, and walks to Al Kaline and Alan Trammell (sandwiched around Sam Crawford’s flyout) loaded the bases.
Lance Parrish earned a walk which scored Gehringer, and Harry Heilmann’s sacrifice fly drove in Kaline to give Detroit a 2-1 lead. Ty Cobb followed with an RBI single which scored Trammell and allowed Parrish to rumble over to third base. Miguel Cabrera’s grounder skipped off first baseman Wally Joyner’s glove and enabled Parrish to cross the plate, pushing Detroit’s lead to 4-1.
After Killian retired the Angels in order to start the inning, the Tiger hitters erupted in the bottom of the third. Charlie Gehringer beat out Jim Fregosi’s throw to earn an infield single, then stole second and advanced to third base on Al Kaline’s single. Sam Crawford delivered an RBI single before Alan Trammell ended Ryan’s night with a booming two-run triple to the left field corner. Scot Shields took over for Los Angeles, and allowed just Lance Parrish’s RBI groundout to end the inning with Detroit leading 8-1.
Los Angeles fought back in top of the sixth inning, opening with a single from Shohei Ohtani and consecutive walks to Mike Trout and Bobby Grich. Wally Joyner’s grounder eluded the usually sure-handed Alan Trammell, allowing Ohtani to score and leaving the bases loaded. Troy Glaus’ comebacker was knocked down by Killian but his throw home pulled Lance Parrish off the plate as Trout slid in safely.
Sparky Anderson had seen enough, and took the ball from his starter, handing the game over to his bullpen and Mike Henneman. The reliver provided no immediate relief, as Brian Downing met him with a bases-clearing double off the left field wall. Henneman worked his way out of the inning with no further damage, but the Angels had cut the Tigers’ lead to 8-6.
The Angels’ Chuck Finley had delivered a scoreless fifth inning but encountered trouble in the sixth. Miguel Cabrera took a one-out walk and scored on Hank Greenberg’s scorching triple to the left field corner. Charlie Gehringer followed with a sacrifice fly, scoring Greenberg to stretch Detroit’s lead to 10-6. John Hiller relieved Mike Henneman and provided two and 1/3 scoreless innings to wrap up the game.
Nolan Ryan (0-1) took the loss with an uncharacteristic line (2 IP, 7 H, 8 R/7 ER, 4 BB, 2 K) while Ed Killian (1-0) was carried to his first win by the Tigers offense, as his line was rough as well (5 IP, 3 H, 6 R/5 ER, 5 BB, 2 K).
Tuesday night brings game two of this pre-season opening series. Detroit sends right-hander Bill Donovan to the mound to face Los Angeles right-hander Andy Messersmith. First pitch from Comerica Park is at 7:05 PM EST.
Photo credit: Comerica Park by Chris Short
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