Wednesday, May 08, 2002
Tigers 3, Angels 0
The Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. — Seth Greisinger stood at his locker thanking so many people for his first victory in four seasons, it sounded as though he was accepting an Academy Award for pitching. But the person really responsible for Greisinger's 3-0 victory over the Anaheim Angels on Tuesday night was batterymate Brandon Inge, who guided his pitcher through seven innings of four-hit ball and broke open a scoreless game with a leadoff homer in the eighth.
After averaging 8.4 runs in their previous 10 games, the Angels returned from a 5-1 trip and managed only two hits through the first six innings against Greisinger (1-0), who won for the first time since beating the Chicago White Sox on Sept. 15, 1998.
“There's a lot of people who contributed to my comeback. The Tigers deserve a lot of the credit because they kept me around,” Greisinger said. “I mean, if they were going to give me a chance, I was going to take every chance I was given. (Former Tigers general manager) Randy Smith really stuck by me, and that means a lot. That makes this win that much more special. It feels great.”
The 26-year-old right-hander, one of four former first-round draft picks in the Tigers' rotation, sat out the previous two seasons and most of 1999 after reconstructive elbow surgery.
“I think other people had more doubts than I did, let's put it that way,” Greisinger said. “You can't have any self doubts. And with the support that I had from the Tigers, my friends and my family, I thought that if I worked hard, I was going to come back sooner or later.
“When I first got on the mound in the Instructional League, I thought, "Well, here it is. It might take a while, but at least they got me on the mound.' And my arm has been getting better ever since then.”
Jose Paniagua relieved to start the eighth, allowing a two-out single by Darin Erstad, and Juan Acevedo completed the five-hitter by getting four outs for his second save in three chances.
Inge, in the starting lineup for the sixth time this season, greeted reliever Ben Weber (0-1) with his second homer of the season.
“If we didn't score in that inning, I probably would have sent him back out there. After the way he pitched, I believed that he deserved the chance to get the win,” manager Luis Pujols said. “But when we scored, I felt that 98 pitches were enough.”
Detroit added two more in the eighth on Bobby Higginson's sacrifice fly and Randall Simon's RBI single. Two of the runs in the inning were charged to Weber.
Jarrod Washburn, who has yet to pitch a nine-inning complete game in 72 major league starts, pitched seven innings of one-hit ball to match his longest outing of the season. He struck out seven and walked four.
“He established early that he was going to come after guys,” Angels manager Mike Scioscia said. “But he was matched pitch-for-pitch, and it was a terrific duel.”
The left-hander, who received 26 runs of support in winning his previous three starts, was on the losing end of a shutout for the second time this year and the fourth time since the start of the 2001 season.
“I can't complain at all, not after the way the team has been scoring runs for me,” Washburn said. “The other guy just pitched a heck of a game.”
Washburn issued his second walk with one out in the sixth before leadoff batter Jose Macias grounded an 0-1 pitch cleanly through the right side for Detroit's only hit off Washburn.
Washburn walked Robert Fick, loading the bases, but Higginson struck out and left fielder Garret Anderson sprinted back to the edge of the warning track to make an over-the-shoulder catch of Simon's extra-base bid.
The Angels stranded three in the seventh when Fick caught Bengie Molina's flyout on the warning track in right field.
“My fastball was all over the place tonight, so I just wanted to go with a changeup and see if I could get a lazy fly ball,” Greisinger said. “He kept his weight back pretty well and put a good swing on it, but we had him played in the right spot.
Notes: Anaheim relievers had allowed three earned runs over their previous 20 1-3 before Weber entered. ... In the third, plate umpire Ron Kulpa charged Greisinger with a ball for going to his mouth while on the pitching rubber. That made the count 2-2 against Adam Kennedy, who doubled on the next pitch. ... Tigers 1B Dmitri Young is expected to come off the DL Wednesday after being sidelined since April 23 because of a hernia.
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Tigers 3, Angels 0
