| Tigers would play yet another close and exciting game against long time rival, Miami Brewers. Trailing the entire game, the Tigers wouldn't quit, scoring 5 in the bottom of the ninth to get a much needed win. The home team Tigers would send Ray out to the hill to start. But hard hitting Brewers would drop 3 quick runs in the 1st as George, Bengi, Bryan, and Popeye would hit consecutive singles off Ray. Ray would get out of the inning on a 6-4-3 double play, the 1st of three that the Tigers would turn on the day. Facing off against longtime Brewers pitcher, George Kenhan, the Tigers would go down quietly one, two, three in the bottom of the 1st. Then in the top of the 2nd, Tigers would get 2 quick outs, one off of a diving stab at second by Coach Carnevale. But the top of the order for Brewers would do it again as George and Bengi would get back to back hits. Bryan would walk and all runners would be brought home by a bases clearing double by clean up hitter, Popeye. Tigers would get out of the inning looking at a 6-0 deficit, and with the Tigers going down meekly against George in the bottom half, things were not looking good. But Ray would settle down, only allowing 1 more run and that would come in the 6th. In the 5th with a runner on 1st, Carlos would make a sweet sliding catch in right. Then Ray would start the 1-6-3 double play to get out of the inning. In the bottom of the 5th, Tigers would finally break through against George, scoring 2 runs. Ricardo, Carlos, and Andy would each get base hits, and Mike Orris would knock them in with a hit of his own. Then in top of the 6th, George and Bengi would strike again, getting back to back hits. Then with Bryan reaching on an error, the Brewers were in a position to blow the game wide open. But the infield would redeem itself, getting a force at second for the 1st out. Then with a hard grounder to 3rd, Mike would fire to Coach Carnevale for the inning ending 5-4-3 double play! Tigers would then tack on 2 more in the bottom of the 6th. Tigers would face the Brewers hard throwing righty reliever in that inning. Danny and Sneider would rip back to back hits to start the rally. A wild pitch would bring home Danny who had doubled and advanced to third on Sneider's single. But with 2 outs in the inning, it looked like the Tigers would come away with only one run. But with 2 outs and 2 strikes, Coach Carnevale would rip an RBI double down the line at 3rd to bring home Sneider. Max would relieve Ray in the 8th, and despite the Brewers tacking on a run, Max would pitch well to keep the game tight. The Tigers would do nothing in the bottom of the 8th, setting the stage for the 9th inning drama to follow. Scary moment to start the ninth as Big C would get plunked off the top of the helmet. He would be okay and would be replaced by a runner. Then the rally would begin as Danny and Sneider would again get back to back hits. With the bases loaded, Jose would get the Tigers within 2, with a 2 RBI opposite field double to right. Next batter would be Coach Carnevale. Battling the hard throwing righty, Coach Carnevale would foul off several pitches before hitting a hard grounder past the the third baseman for the game tying 2 RBI base hit. With the Brewers left fielder electing to throw home in an attempt to nail Jose, Coach C would wisely head to second to put the winning run in scoring position. Then with the Brewers electing to intentionally walk Adam, Ricardo would come up with a chance to win the ballgame. But the Brewers righty would get a huge strikeout to increase the tension and excitement in the 9th. Stepping up to the plate would be Carlos Fernandez. The big lefty, batting 5th for the 1st time this season, would come up clutch once more for the Tigers, getting a hit up the middle that would score the Coach from 2nd for the winning run! Great game as always against George and the hard hitting Brewers! Tigers look to build on this momentum as we head into next week's match up with Cardinals... |
