Strike First and Win

According to the Tigers Game Notes for May 27, the Tigers are 21-9 when they score first in games, and only 4-10 when the opponent gets on the board first.  I kind of hate knowing that.  Now I'll be having gastric convulsions when we fail to score the first run.

Now the Os are on a bit of a high after coming back in dramatic fashion to sweep the Jay birds last night.  They were down 8-3 in the bottom of the eighth and scored five runs in that frame to tie it up.  Things were then knotted up until the 11th when the Jays scored two runs to spark a glimmer of hope that they'd end their eight game skid.  Not so fast, Blue Jays.  The Orioles plated four runs to win 12-10, capped by a walk-off 3-run Nolan Reimold jack.

Os hurler David Hernandez, 23, will be making his major league debut tonight, going up against embattled Tiger Armando Galarraga.   Also debuting this series (Friday to be exact) for Baltimore is key prospect Matt Wieters at catcher.  No pressure young man, you're just being thrust into the starting catcher's role in the bigs, ousting veteran Gregg Zaun.  Actually, the Os have been very careful with Wieters over the past two years, so they feel he's definitely ready.

On the Tigers side, we'll be collectively holding our breath (especially those first couple innings) to see how Galarraga performs.  Must be a little hard for him being the "weak link" in the rotation this year after being the lone bright spot last season.  Also on the line is Magglio Ordóñez' 13 game hitting streak.  It hasn't been exactly a tear, more like 1-4 and the like, but I'll take that for starters.  Beat the streak!!