Tigers come out slugging to top Indians
Thames shines, with grand slam and diving outfield catch
DETROIT -- Marcus Thames can rest easy, as difficult as that sounds in his situation.
He's no longer fretting over his tenuous situation on Detroit's roster, not publicly anyway. Instead, he's simply trying to produce. If Saturday's third-inning grand slam, which helped propel the Tigers to an 11-1 win over the Indians, doesn't put his mind at ease, his grand total of less than two hours sleep should help.
"I'm just playing baseball," Thames said afterwards. "I'm just going up there, having fun."
The last time Thames batted in a Tiger uniform, he delivered with the bases loaded, and was sent to Triple-A Toledo later that day. Despite three home runs in a week and a bases-clearing triple last Thursday against the Indians in Florida, he had already become one of the toughest victims of Spring Training cuts. Manager Alan Trammell had already made his decision before that game to send Thames down in favor of Bobby Higginson, which gave sports talk shows and columnists enough fodder to carry into
Opening Day.
On Saturday, Thames provided an even better storyline. When the Tigers decided after Friday night's game that Ramon Martinez's sprained left thumb warranted a stint on the 15-day disabled list, they quickly chose to bring back Thames, who received the call sometime around 1 a.m. He had a 4 a.m. wake-up call in order to catch a 6:30 a.m. flight from Durham, N.C., to Detroit Metro Airport, arriving soon after 8 a.m. From there, he caught a ride to Toledo so he could retrieve his truck.
"I needed a way to get home," he said.
Not until he was on his way to Comerica Park did he receive a call from teammate and close friend Nook Logan, who told him he was in the starting lineup. Instead of sitting in the dugout on short rest, he was playing.
"I was like, 'OK, I'll be ready to play once I get there,'" Thames said.
After grounding into a fielder's choice to end the first inning, Thames came up again with the bases loaded. This time, he took a Jake Westbrook delivery deep on a 406-foot track into the left-field stands.
As Thames rounded the bases on his three-bagger last week, Trammell groaned in his mind about the irony. He knew watching him stroll home Saturday that it was going to come up again.
"I know that it's going to be a hot topic," Trammell said. "We made the decision because I felt like I wanted him to play. I think I was a man of my word, that if something was to happen, that he'd be the first guy [called up]. And he was. We know he has a chance to do a good job with us, being a role player last year. Who knows how much playing time he's going to get, but you know what, it's a good start for him."
In essence, Saturday's performance continues Thames' hot start in Toledo. He went 5-for-5 with a game-tying home run Thursday night at Durham, then slugged another homer Friday to improve to 6-for-8.
Thames was clearly upset with the decision when it happened last week, almost as much as teammate Dmitri Young was. Soon after, though, a talk with his family and time to think reminded him not to sulk.
"I told myself I still have spikes on my feet," Thames said. "I still have a chance to play the game that I love. ... I talked to my mom and she said, 'Marcus, you worked hard enough this offseason. Just keep playing. Something good is going to happen.'"
Thames' second career grand slam continued a string of seven consecutive baserunners to reach safely in a five-run third inning off Westbrook (0-2), who surrendered seven runs in two-plus innings to the Tigers on Saturday after yielding 11 runs in 29 innings to them last year.
Saturday's beating came 10 days after the Tigers roughed him up for seven runs in two innings in the Spring Training finale in Lakeland, Fla. The Tigers still saw the characteristic sink in Westbrook's pitches. Having seen him so recently, though, they knew it was coming.
"He's a great pitcher," said Brandon Inge, who tripled and doubled off Westbrook in consecutive innings. "He's got unbelievable sink, as he proved last year. But confidence is crucial in baseball, and if you don't have it, nine times out of 10 you're going to be in trouble. Maybe we've just got a better offensive team this year. But facing him in spring did help."
All of Detroit's scoring came in the first four innings before Cleveland relievers retired Detroit's last 13 batters in order. Inge tripled, doubled and singled in consecutive innings, while Carlos Guillen scored in each of his first three at-bats with a hit-by-pitch, double and single. Carlos Pena added a two-run, opposite-field home run in the opening inning.
Several Tigers, including Trammell, said they needed a game like this after Indians pitching thrwarted two scoring attempts with the bases loaded and two outs in Friday's 4-3 Tiger loss.
"We needed a game like this to go out and really make a statement," Craig Monroe said. "Yesterday, we felt like we let them off the hook a couple of times. And today, to have Marcus come in and hit a grand slam, to have Carlos [Pena] go opposite field, you get everybody start to feel a little better. I think as time progresses, we're going to see everybody start to hit, and it'll be contagious."
Thames already feels better. He'll be even moreso once he gets some sleep.
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