Oh No Not Again – Justin Verlander had never won a season Opening Day in his career and was fueled with excitement coming off his record-breaking five-year extension just a few days before. The Detroit Tigers pitcher, who quickly got out to a 2-0 lead off of Miguel Cabrera‘s ground out and Prince Fielders double, cruised through 5.0 innings of three-hit ball while striking out seven and only walking two. With a 3-0 lead and 91 pitches already under his belt, the Tigers Jim Leyland figured it was time to pull Verlander as it was only the first game of the season and the weather conditions were so brutally cold that he did not want to risk injury to his Cy-Young caliber star.
Things started going south quickly though as Drew Smyly struggled in his 1.1 innings, allowing six base runners and two earned runs, one of which was given to him when Al Alburquerque failed to hold Joe Mauer on base as Ryan Doumit singled to left. Alburquerque quickly settled down and struck out the only two hitters other hitters that he faced in the inning, the last on a 3-2 count. Joaquin Benoit and Phil Coke finished out the last two innings with solid backend pitching, allowing Verlander to pick up the first Opening Day victory of his career.
Last season Verlander looked to finally have gotten the monkey off of his back by pitching eight strong, shutout innings, but Jose Valverde imploded leaving the Tigers ace still searching for his first Opening Day victory.
Game Changer – With the bases loaded and 2-out in the seventh, Al Alburquerque was brought to a full count by the Twins Chris Parmelee. Undoubtedly bringing every Tigers fan that was watching to the edge of their seats, sweating as the reality of another blown Verlander masterpiece was in sight, Alburquerque went to his windup and threw his slider, widely considered one of the best in the game, and got Parmelee to bite. After that the momentum was lost by the Twins.
On Deck – April 3, 4:10 PM ET at Target Field.
The Detroit Tigers Anibal Sanchez (0-0) takes on Kevin Correia (0-0)
