I almost saw my first no-hitter in person this afternoon. I took my son Devin to the Lugnuts game and Lansing pitcher Joel Carreno had a no-hitter going until he gave up a single with one out in the eighth. He came out after that and Jason Roenicke finished the one-hitter up. I’m going to write more on this in my Hardball Times column this week, but I’m really learning to love Minor League Baseball. My son (who’s five) made it through his first game (when it’s just the two of us) to completion and I got to watch probably at least 2/3 of the game.Â
The news on the Tigers’ front wasn’t nearly as good as the Tigers were beat down. Armando Galarraga gave up eight runs in 5 2/3 innings in an 11-1 loss. Casey Fien was also bounced around and the lone pitcher to get the job done was Fu-Te Ni, who threw 1 2/3 shutout innings to close out the game. Ni now has 15 strikeouts and just three walks in 13 1/3 innings. This guy looks like he was a find.
The Tigers hitters made Carl Pavano look like a Cy Young winner and they managed just six singles. Curtis Granderson went two for four while Gerald Laird went one for three and he scored the lone Tigers runs.
It’s Dodgers and Braves tonight. I’ll have it on while I’m cranking out some tax returns (yes, we still do tax returns well into the summer). The White Sox and Twins both lost as well so the Tigers keep their 1 1/2 and 3 game leads respectively heading into their four game set with the Orioles. It’s Justin Verlander going up against Chris Tillman, who’s making just his second big league start. The White Sox take on the Angels and the Twins face the Indians in the weekday series.