Maroth has tough day against Royals
Ordonez leaves game early due to dizziness
DETROIT -- Magglio Ordonez left with dizziness Wednesday, but the Royals left
Mike Maroth's head spinning.
A year ago, Maroth lost three of four starts against Kansas City despite a
2.96 ERA. This year, the Royals started off Maroth's season by picking him
apart for 11 hits, sending the Tigers to a 7-2 loss Wednesday afternoon at
Comerica Park.
The top third of the Royals order -- David DeJesus, Tony Graffanino and Mike
Sweeney -- combined for seven hits and three runs against Maroth (0-1), who
gave up the second-highest hit total of his career. He surrendered 12 hits
last July 3 at Colorado. His 3 2/3 innings marked his shortest outing since
lasting two innings at Seattle on April 25, 2003.
For Maroth, who threw 86 pitches, it seemed a lot longer than that. The
normally efficient left-hander never found a rhythm.
"Not at all," Maroth said. "I think it showed, throwing a lot of balls and
going deep on hitters. I'm a guy who likes to get them to put it in play
early in the count, and I wasn't able to do that today."
Maroth needed 46 of those pitches to get through a first inning that featured
three full counts, including two out of the first three hitters he faced as
the Royals didn't flinch at close pitches. DeJesus, the leadoff hitter, set
the tone in that regard, falling behind on a 1-2 count before lining a
full-count delivery into right field.
Two batters later with runners at the corners, Maroth had Sweeney in an 0-2
hole. A 1-2 breaking ball bounced in the dirt and ricocheted off Sweeney's
foot towards the backstop, scoring DeJesus and bringing Graffanino from first
to third. With the count full, Sweeney fought off a good pitch and blooped it
into short center field for an RBI single to put the Royals on the board.
"It's pretty safe to say he wasn't sharp," manager Alan Trammell said.
For many pitchers, that would've been the point where the start unraveled.
Maroth survived by inducing popouts from Eli Marrero and Emil Brown and
striking out Matt Stairs, again on a full count. When the smoke cleared --
literally, as a nearby fire sent a hazy smoke over the ballpark early --
Maroth had a 2-0 deficit.
He nearly entered the fourth inning with a lead thanks to the Tigers' only
rally off of Royals starter Runelvys Hernandez. An infield single sandwiched
between two walks loaded the bases with no one out for the top of the order.
Omar Infante drove in Carlos Pena with a sacrifice fly, then Carlos Guillen
loaded the bases again with a single off the mound.
Hernandez escaped through the heart of Detroit's order, retiring Ivan
Rodriguez on a popup to second base and Ordonez on a fly ball to center.
"We didn't score there," Trammell said, "and they came back with three in the
fourth. Looking back, that was the whole key to the ballgame right there."
Instead of waiting out Maroth in the fourth inning, the Royals went for
pitches they wanted. Stairs hit a one-out double to right-center on a 3-1
pitch and scored two batters later when Mark Teahen pulled a 1-0 delivery
into the right-field corner for an RBI triple and his first Major League hit.
"A lot of times I was missing down," Maroth said. "I wasn't missing by a lot.
I need to be a little more aggressive in the zone early in the count, and I
think that's what I failed to do today. And they were patient, so I ended up
getting behind them and all of a sudden I've got to bring the ball into the
middle of the zone, and they get a good pitch to hit."
Three consecutive batters reached from there, including Graffanino's third
hit on a comebacker that bounced off Maroth's left shin. Maroth stayed in the
game, but Sweeney's single up the middle three pitches later ended his
outing.
Maroth still had the sink on his pitches. Stairs and Teahen had the only two
extra-base hits off of him, and two of the five hits that weren't ground
balls. But his command was similar to his Spring Training finale last week
against the Indians.
"I've got to look at my performance and not really evaluate the hits that
they got," Maroth said. "What it comes to is I've got to get ahead of
hitters."
Teahen's triple is believed to be the play where Ordonez felt the most
light-headed, since it sent him running into the right-field corner. It's not
certain whether the condition is related to the diverticulitis that has
bothered him for nearly two weeks.
Once Hernandez (1-0) escaped the third, he found his rhythm. Detroit managed
just two more hits off him in four remaining innings en route to his first
victory since Aug. 10, 2003. He missed last season at the Major League level
due to Tommy John surgery.
"He had great command today," Rondell White said. "That split was nasty. If
he stays healthy, he'll be a good one."
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