Fulmer-Norris Duo Strikes Again, Tigers Lose Jones
For the third time this season, the Fulmer-Norris Duo (I like to call them Ful-Nor) chalked up a win for the Tigers. A 12-1 victory over the Brewers combined with a Blue Jays loss to the Marlins brings the Tigers just half a game back of the playoffs.
Ful-Nor Strikes Again
Talk about a three-inning grind. Fulmer’s command was a bit sporadic at times, but he got the job done.
A 65-pitch outing from Fulmer generated two walks, three hits, and a season-high six strikeouts. The Brewers pestered the 2016 AL Rookie of the Year in the first inning, forcing him to throw at least five pitches in each plate appearance.
Fortunately, Fulmer left the first unscathed, then comfortably cruised through the second on just 14 pitches.
It took 22 pitches to exit the third with a defensive assist from Christin Stewart, but Fulmer eventually departed with one of his best starts of the season.
Daniel Norris prevailed over the lefty-heavy Milwaukee lineup as well.
Norris, one of the many improved big leaguers on the Tigers roster, also had himself a day.
Although allowing four hits, one being a Christian Yelich home run, Norris had some electric stuff.
Five of his seven outs were via strikeout, and the 4th and 5th innings were both 1-2-3. Norris endured a problematic 6th inning, but Bryan Garcia wrapped it up, inflicting Eric Sogard and Orlando Arcia to pop out.
The backend of the bullpen in Jose Cisnero, Kyle Funkhouser, and Rony Garcia was as valuable as anyone, shutting down the Brewers in the end, allowing just a combined two hits in three innings.
Tigers Hitters Take Advantage of Lindblom
Lindblom came into the game with one of the lowest ground ball rates, highest line drive rates, and highest fly ball rates, and it showed.
The Tigers grounded out just twice and struck out four times versus the Brewer. Opportunities were at a surplus for Detroit as they continued to grind out at-bats all night by fouling off pitches, waiting for the light to shine through.
The light eventually did shine through multiple times as the Tigers knocked out Lindblom after five innings on 101 pitches.
It didn’t stop there though; the Tigers were triumphant over every Brewer pitcher tonight, knocking in runs against everyone who took the mound.
Victor Reyes dominated at the plate tonight, with an RBI single in the 3rd and the 4th, skyrocketed one to center field in the 6th, and capped it all off with a slick double down the left-field line in the eighth.
Willi Castro followed Reyes in the hit parade as well. He doubled in the second to eventually come around on a bases-loaded walk to give the Tigers a 2-0 lead.
Later, he tripled in the 4th to bring Jacoby Jones in to score to make it 3-0. Many others chipped in as well, and you get a few hits here, a few hits there and badda-bing, badda-boom you eventually score 12 by the end of it all.
Forcing Gardenhire’s Hand
First, it was Schoop, then Jones, and finally, Bonafacio. A pitch drilled each of them on Tuesday night, all in the hand/wrist area, Jones getting the worst of it all.
Jones immediately exited the game with a left-hand fracture and is likely out for the season.
Unfortunately, this forces manager Ron Gardenhire to make some moves in the outfield, one way or another, a day after trading outfielder Cameron Maybin.
Possibly rumored to make his way to the bigs is Derek Hill, a first-round draft pick of the Tigers back in 2014. Reportedly, his glove is major league ready, but his bat is far from it.
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