Indians Four Hit In 1-0 Loss to Tigers
The Indians struggles with soft-tossing starting pitchers continued yesterday, as they were shut down by Tigers pitching, led by seven strong innings from starting pitcher Mike Maroth. The only run of the game was registered by the red hot Chris Shelton, whose solo home run in the 4th inning spoiled an otherwise brilliant outing by Indians starter Cliff Lee.
The win moved Maroth to 4-1 versus the Tribe since the beginning of last season. And the Shelton home run was his 8th in the Tigers first 12 games, making him the first person in major league baseball history to reach eight home runs through the seasons first dozen games.
Joel Zumaya and Fernando Rodney, two impressive looking fireballers, finished the Indians off with two innings of quality relief work. The Tiger win moved them back into a tie atop the division with the Indians at 7-5, where they were also joined by the White Sox yesterday, who defeated the Blue Jays 6-4.
Indians skipper Eric Wedge tallied his first ejection of the year, losing his mind on home plate umpire Paul Emmel in the 5th inning. Wedge, who had been unhappy with the ball and strike calls all game to that point, charged from the dugout and unloaded on Emmel after Ronnie Belliard had a questionable 3-1 pitched called a strike against him … when he was already halfway down the first base line to take his walk. Wedge was ejected while still in the dugout, then proceeded to launch what seemed like several hundred f-bombs at Emmel before heading back to the bowels of Comerica Park, ending his afternoon.
The Indians and Tigers play their final game of the four game set this afternoon in Detroit, with first place in the Central on the line, and Paul Byrd and Nate Robertson on the hill. Game time is at 1:05 PM.