Tigers (ss) def. Indians 4-2 on 3/11/08

March 11, 2008

	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10		R	H	E
Detroit	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	2		4	11	0
Cleveland	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0		2	8	3

COMPLETE BOX SCORE AVAILABLE AT:
http://mlb.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_03_11_detmlb_clemlb_1


03/11/2008 4:05 PM ET
Larish, Tigers rally past Tribe in 10
First baseman delivers clutch two-run single to break tie
By Anthony Castrovince / MLB.com

TIGERS (ss) 4, INDIANS 2 (10 innings)
at Winter Haven, Fla.
Tuesday, March 11

Indians at the plate: Grady Sizemore has always had power that isn't typical of leadoff hitters, and he certainly showed it off in this installment of the battle for Polk County supremacy. Sizemore ripped two solo homers off Yorman Bazardo -- one in the first inning and another in the third.

Tigers at the plate: The Tigers were quiet until Dane Sardinha knocked home a run with a sacrifice fly in the seventh. They went on to load the bases that inning against Matt Ginter, but couldn't get anything else across. Jeff Larish added a sac fly in the eighth to tie the game, then hit the game-winning two-run single in the 10th.

Indians on the mound: Cliff Lee's bid to grab the last spot in the rotation was aided in his three-inning performance in which he allowed just two hits and a walk with three strikeouts. Lee got into a bases-loaded jam in the second, but he struck out Curtis Granderson looking at a curveball to end the threat. Closer Joe Borowski worked a scoreless fourth.

Tigers on the mound: Bazardo left those balls up to Sizemore, and those were the only two runs he allowed in three innings. He gave up five hits, walked one and struck out one. Denny Bautista pitched a pair of scoreless innings and looked sharp. He struck out four of the 13 batters he faced.

Grapefruit League records: Indians 6-6-1; Tigers 8-5-1.

Indians up next: Staff ace C.C. Sabathia threw in an intrasquad game Tuesday to clear up Grapefruit League innings for guys like Brian Slocum. Slocum, slated for the Triple-A Buffalo rotation, will get the start Wednesday, when the Indians travel to Disney for a 7:05 p.m. ET game against right-hander Buddy Carlyle and the Braves. This will be one of four games the Tribe will play under the lights this spring.

Tigers up next: The Tigers' full squad is back at home on Wednesday to take on the Astros at 1:05 p.m. ET at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. Kenny Rogers will make his third start of the spring opposite Woody Williams. Virgil Vasquez, Aquilino Lopez, Tim Byrdak and Preston Larrison are also scheduled to pitch for Detroit.

Anthony Castrovince is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.

Great come from behind win for the Tigers! And the Indian fans got to see it live on STO (Sports Time Ohio)!

Tuesday, March 11, 2008
Bautista stars in relief for Tigers
Lynn Henning / The Detroit News

WINTER HAVEN, Florida -- Denny Bautista took another step Tuesday toward making himself a front-runner for one of the Tigers' bullpen openings.

Bautista, a right-hander whose fastball can touch 100 mph, struck out four batters in two innings of relief, as the Tigers beat the Indians, 4-2, in a split-squad game at Chain of Lakes Park.

Bautista, 27, allowed only a bloop single during a sparkling performance in which he also avoided any of the control problems that hurt him in earlier big-league stays with Colorado, Baltimore, and Kansas City.

The Tigers scored twice in the 10th to get the victory. Rookie first baseman Jeff Larish's bases-loaded single to right was the big hit on a day when the Tigers hit the ball much harder than their 11 base hits would have implied.

Manager Jim Leyland's team also got decent pitching across the board. Yorman Bazardo, a right-hander who will likely pitch long relief when the team heads north, gave up both Indians runs on two home runs by Grady Sizemore.

Bautista's effort was nearly matched by rookie Rick Porcello, who likely was making his last Tigers appearance ahead of Wednesday's anticipated squad cuts.

Porcello retired all six batters he faced during the sixth and seventh innings.

Timo Perez led the Tigers with two doubles and a single. Larish also had two singles.

Chris Lambert and Preston Larrison finished up for the Tigers, who collectively allowed only eight Indians hits.