5-0
The Tigers beat the Texas Rangers for the 3rd time in as many nights on Saturday,extending their American League best record to 5-0. Only the Milwaukee Brewers could match the Tigers record in all of baseball. The Tigers have started the season 5-0 for the first time since they did it way back in 1985, a year after they won it all.
The fast start is great for the Tigers, however, I still think it’s too early to proclaim the Tigers “the team to beat.” Even Tigers manager Jim Leyland doesn’t put a whole lot of stock in the 5-0 start, although he admitted that it was a good confidence builder for the team. The real test will come when the Tigers lose 3 or 4 games in a row. How will Leyland keep his players focused and confident.
How much longer can first baseman Chris Shelton continue his torrid pace? He leads the league with 5 home runs through Saturday and is hitting right around .700! On Satruday, he hit two triples! What a mistake it was for the Pittsburgh Pirates to give up on this guy. Their loss is our gain as this Rule 5 pick is turning out to be something special.
You gotta love Big Red! Last season he hit a few homers and had a high average, going opposite field all the time. Now he is just swinging for power, and it’s working. With all of the home runs the Tigers had been relying on, it was good to see a game yesterday where some of the runs were scored on singles or doubles (or triples). One more game against Texas – then the home opener!
too bad they lost yesterday… i almost expected them to win, but you can’t win ’em all… i think today will be a better test of whether or not they’re any good…