Braves def. Tigers 2-3 on 3/20/08

March 20, 2008

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

Box score available at:
http://detroit.tigers.mlb.com/news/boxscore.jsp?gid=2008_03_20_detmlb_atlmlb_1

03/20/2008 9:40 PM ET
Verlander shows ace stuff vs. Braves
Polanco, Perez put up the runs for Detroit
By Mark Bowman / MLB.com

BRAVES 3, TIGERS 2
at Lake Buena Vista, Fla.
Thursday, March 20

Tigers at the plate: Placido Polanco's first-inning double scored Curtis Granderson, who had reached when Tim Hudson bobbled a comebacker. Jacque Jones singled in three at-bats to raise his batting average to .205 (8-for-39). Timo Perez knocked in a run in the top of the ninth.

Braves at the plate: Chipper Jones continued his success against Justin Verlander, hitting a fourth-inning leadoff homer and a sixth-inning double off the right-center-field wall. Yunel Escobar had a single in three at-bats and is now hitting .452 (19-for-42). Josh Anderson gave the Braves the walk-off win with two RBIs in the ninth.

Tigers on the mound: Verlander, who threw 42 of his 79 pitches for strikes, allowed just one earned run and three hits in 5 1/3 innings. Closer Todd Jones tossed a scoreless eighth inning after allowing a leadoff infield single.

Braves on the mound: Hudson, who threw 45 of his 75 pitches for strikes, surrendered just the one unearned run and five hits in six innings. Left-handed relievers Jeff Ridgway and Royce Ring, who are both fighting for spots in the bullpen, tossed scoreless innings.

Grapefruit League records: Tigers 11-11-2, Braves 12-9-2

Up next for Tigers: Dontrelle Willis heads to the mound when the Tigers host Toronto on Friday in a 1:05 p.m. ET game at Joker Marchant Stadium in Lakeland, Fla. Right-hander Jesse Litsch is scheduled to start for the Blue Jays.

Up next for Braves: John Smoltz will square off against C.C. Sabathia on Friday, when the Braves host the Indians. First pitch is scheduled for 1:05 p.m. ET.

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