Blue Jays def. Tigers 4-3 on 3/8/08

March 8, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9		R	H	E
Detroit	0	1	1	0	1	0	0	0	0		3	5	1
Toronto	0	3	0	0	0	0	0	1	X		4	8	1

COMPLETE BOX SCORE AT:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_03_08_detmlb_tormlb_1

03/08/2008 1:06 PM ET
Polanco goes deep against to Jays
NRI Hessman also homers as Bonderman shaky in four
By Chris Girandola / Special to MLB.com

BLUE JAYS 4, TIGERS 3
at Dunedin, Fla.
Saturday, March 8

Blue Jays at the plate: Scott Rolen hit his first home run in a Blue Jays uniform, a solo shot in the second inning. Shannon Stewart went 2-for-3 with two doubles. Aaron Hill went 1-for-2 with a triple that scored two runs in the second inning. Matt Stairs went 1-for-3 with a run scored.

Tigers at the plate: Non-roster invitee Mike Hessman hit a solo homer in three at-bats. Placido Polanco went 1-for-2 with a solo home run. Catcher Max St. Pierre also scored a run.

Blue Jays on the mound: Shaun Marcum allowed two runs, one earned, on one hit and two walks with two strikeouts over three innings. The right-hander, making his second start of the spring, tossed 45 pitches, 28 of which went for strikes. Marcum surrendered a solo homer to Hessman in the second innning and was victimized by an error in the third inning, which allowed the second run to score. John Parrish pitched three innings and, besides a solo homer to Polanco, was masterful. Of the 10 batters he faced, the southpaw struck out seven and recorded two flyouts.

Tigers on the mound: Jeremy Bonderman pitched four innings and surrendered three runs, all earned, on five hits and one walk with two strikeouts. The righty tossed 48 pitches, including 31 strikes. Right-hander Denny Bautista threw one scoreless inning without allowing a hit while recording two strikeouts.

Grapefruit League records: Blue Jays 3-6; Tigers 2-7.

Up next: The Blue Jays travel to Clearwater, Fla., to face the Phillies at Bright House Field on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET for the second spring meeting between the two teams. Right-hander Jesse Litsch will make the start for Toronto, while Philadelphia will counter with righty Kyle Kendrick.

The Tigers travel to Bradenton, Fla., to face the Pirates on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. ET. Left-hander Nate Robertson makes his third start of Spring Training against Pittsburgh lefty Phil Dumatrait.

Chris Girandola is a contributor to MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Detroit	AB	R	H	RBI	BB	SO	LOB	AVG
Granderson, CF	3	0	0	0	0	1	2	.286
-Guzman, Fre, CF	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.400
Polanco, P, 2B	2	1	1	1	0	0	0	.526
-Sizemore, 2B	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	.286
Jones, J, LF	3	0	0	0	0	2	3	.200
-a-Clevlen, PH-LF	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	.529
Cabrera, 3B	3	0	0	0	0	0	0	.143
- Hollimon, M, 3B	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	.167
Thames, RF	4	0	0	0	0	2	5	.278
-Joyce, RF	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.429
Hessman, 1B	4	1	2	1	0	2	0	.313
Skelton, DH	3	0	0	0	0	2	0	.286
-b-Worth, PH-DH	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	.222
St. Pierre, M, C	3	1	1	0	1	0	0	.333
-1-Thomas, PR	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	.188
Santiago, SS	3	0	0	0	1	2	1	.571
Totals	32	3	5	2	3	11	12
a-Doubled for Jones, J in the 8th. b-Grounded into a double play for Skelton in the 9th. 1-Ran for St. Pierre, M in the 9th.
BATTING 2B: Clevlen (2, Chacin). HR: Hessman (1, 2nd inning off Marcum, 0 on, 2 out), Polanco, P (1, 5th inning off Parrish, 0 on, 2 out). TB: Polanco, P 4; Clevlen 2; Hessman 5; St. Pierre, M. RBI: Hessman (1), Polanco, P (3). 2-out RBI: Hessman; Polanco, P. Runners left in scoring position, 2 out: Thames 3. GIDP: Worth. Team LOB: 6. BASERUNNING SB: St. Pierre, M (1, 2nd base off Marcum/Fasano). FIELDING E: Hessman (1, throw). DP: (Polanco, P-Santiago-Hessman).

Detroit	IP	H	R	ER	BB	SO	HR	ERA
Bonderman	4.0	5	3	3	0	2	1	5.00
Bautista	1.0	0	0	0	1	2	0	0.00
Seay	1.0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0.00
Grilli	1.0	1	0	0	1	1	0	4.50
Lambert (L, 0-1)	1.0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0.00

HBP: Fasano (by Bonderman), Eckstein (by Bautista), Polanco, P (by Marcum).
Ground outs-fly outs: Bonderman 4-6, Bautista 1-0, Seay 0-2, Grilli 0-1, Lambert 3-0, Marcum 5-2, Parrish 0-2, Frasor 2-0, Chacin 0-2, Romero 2-1.
Batters faced: Bonderman 17, Bautista 5, Seay 3, Grilli 4, Lambert 5, Marcum 14, Parrish 10, Frasor 3, Chacin 5, Romero 4.
Umpires: HP: Paul Emmel. 1B: Tom Hallion. 2B: Eric Cooper. 3B: Phil Cuzzi.
Weather: 65 degrees, partly cloudy.
Wind: 27 mph, R to L.
T: 2:32.
Att: 5,510.

Saturday, March 8, 2008
Blue Jays 4, Tigers 3
Bonderman pleased with pitching despite Tigers' loss
Tom Gage / The Detroit News

DUNEDIN, Florida -- He gave up three runs on five hits in four innings. So why was Jeremy Bonderman in an excellent mood on Saturday after his start in a 4-3 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays?

His change-up, that's why.

It's the pitch that will elevate him, in manager Jim Leyland's opinion, from being a good major-league pitcher to something special -- but he has to improve it first.

On Saturday, he improved it.

"I'm not happy about giving up three runs," Bonderman said, "but my change-up was probably the best I've ever had. I'm very happy with the way I threw it."

Said Leyland: "We gave him a few more to throw. That's the only way you're going to learn."

Bonderman couldn't recall how many change-ups he threw, "but I threw it a lot," he said. " I got Vernon Wells with one. I felt really good about it."

Was it good enough to throw in the regular season?

"One hundred percent," said Bonderman, who's impressed Leyland with the way he's approached this spring.

"He's getting smart in his old age (25)," Leyland said. "He's not airing it out or anything. He's building up his arm strength."

The days of Bonderman being "a bull in a china shop" during spring training, as his manager said, appear to be over. "He's making some progress. I was very pleased with him."
About the game

It began with the wind gusting to 42 miles an hour, blowing out from home plate, but the weather wasn't the reason the Tigers lost.

"We didn't have a very good day," Leyland said. "We had some terrible at-bats."

Placido Polanco and Mike Hessman hit home runs, but Hessman's error at first base led to an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth for the Jays that proved to be the difference.

Leyland didn't single out Hessman -- in fact, he said "he's one of the better defenders we have" -- but the manager cited the kind of error it was as an example of what Carlos Guillen needs to learn as an everyday first baseman.

"We've been talking about it," he said, "and there it was."

Guillen's range at first will be good, as is Hessman's, but Leyland doesn't want it to be so good that it turns an easy play for a second baseman into a difficult play for a first baseman who's too far from first.

"That's the exact play we're talking about with Guillen's range. That's a ball a second baseman takes and the first baseman can get back to the bag for an easy play."

Around the horn

• Miguel Cabrera made probably his best play at third base so far on a ball to his left.

"This guy can be a very, very good third baseman," Leyland said. "He can be one of the best of all time.

"He has two things you can't teach: good hands and a strong arm. Plus he works hard. But he's a big guy, kind of the prototype third baseman of yesteryear -- a big strong power hitter on the corner.

"He should be a great, great player," Leyland said.

• Gary Sheffield has missed a couple of games because of cramps in his legs. It's possible he will play Sunday.

• With three rough outings in a row, starting with one against Florida Southern College, Jordan Tata has had a difficult spring.

"It's puzzling to me," Leyland said. "I don't know what the heck is going on. He's just been wild."

• Wilkin Ramirez, the minor-league outfielder who suffered a shoulder injury on Friday, might not miss a significant amount of time. But it looks like spring training is over for him.

"He's sore," Leyland said. "Fortunately, it's not a separated shoulder, but he's pretty much done for camp."

• Leyland doesn't mind the chillier-than-usual weather this spring.

"It's going to be cold in Detroit," he said. "We better get used to it."

•Max St. Pierre was the starting catcher and received some praise for his throw on a pitch-out. "He has a cannon," Leyland said.

St. Pierre did pretty good today!

This article explains what I was wondering about today--was Bonderman working on something new.... the answer was yes!

Quote :

His change-up, that's why.

It's
the pitch that will elevate him, in manager Jim Leyland's opinion, from
being a good major-league pitcher to something special -- but he has to
improve it first.

On Saturday, he improved it.

This is what Kenny Rogers taught him, and Leland wants him to add to be a great pitcher! Was he hit, yes. But when you are throwing mostly your new pitch.... that happens. But he also was able to get someone out with it!

This is what Spring Training is for, TRAINING TO LEARN YOUR SPORT BETTER! And I am GLAD Bondo is trying TO GROW AS A PITCHER!

This is also why I hope they bring Kenny on board as a special assistant when he retires. He has such a wealth of knowledge that will do nothing but help the Tiger pitching staff.

besides, Kenny is cute!