Miguel Cabrera Named American League Player of the Week

Miguel Cabrera won the first American League Player of the Week award for the 2012 season.

Cabrera in 3 games vs the Boston Red Sox hit .455, had an on-base percentage of .533, had a slugging percentage of 1.273 (OPS of 1.806), had 3 Home Runs and 8 RBI as well as scoring 5 runs.

Matt Kemp of the LA Dodgers was named National League Player of the Week.

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Alex Avila Hits a Walkoff Home Run as the Tigers Win in Extra Innings

Miguel Cabrera came up with 2 on in the 9th and hit a 3 run homer to tie the game at 10-10.

Joaquin Benoit gave up 2 runs in the top of the 11th inning. Benoit threw 20 pitches in yesterday's game, and threw 44 pitches today. Benoit seemed to be tired before the 11th inning began, and struggled to locate his pitches in the 11th inning. The game is over, right?

Not so fast.

The Tigers went on to score 1 run in the bottom of the inning on a Delmon Young sac fly, and with 2 outs in the 11th and 2 strikes on him, Alex Avila hits a 2 run walkoff homer to give the Tigers a 13-12 victory!

Todays starter Max Scherzer struggled giving up 7 runs in 2 and 2/3rds innings. Scherzer didn't have much of a problem getting ahead in the count against hitters, but he couldn't put them away. The Tigers had given him a 4-0 lead after the 1st inning, and 5-2 lead after the 2nd inning. Scherzer ended up with a no decision.

Scherzer will have to be much better than he was today, especially with Doug Fister currently on the DL.

Colin Balester came in after Scherzer and went 2 and 2/3rds innings in his Tigers debut giving up only 1 run that came from Daniel Schlereth giving up a 2 run homer to Adrian Gonzalez. Phil Coke, Brayan Villarreal, Octavio Dotel, and Duane Below also made appearances for the Tigers.

The Tigers offense was led by Austin Jackson who had 4 hits, Jhonny Peralta who had a 3 RBI double and Prince Fielder also had a hit in the 1st inning to give him 1,000 for his career; Cabrera had 5 RBI for the game.

The Tigers have an off day tommorrow and play Tuesday when the Rays come to Comerica as Matt Moore will pitch against Rick Porcello.

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Tigers Hit 5 Home Runs to Win 10-0, but Lose Fister to Injury

The Detroit Tigers won the second game of a three game series vs the Boston Red Sox 10-0, hitting 5 home runs; 2 each for Miguel Cabrera and Prince Fielder and 1 for Alex Avila. However, in the process they lost Doug Fister to the 15 day DL list according to Jason Beck.

Fister left after 3 and 2/3rds innings with left side pain. Duane Below came in though and made sure the momentum didn't turn. Octavio Dotel, Phil Coke, and Joaquin Benoit also made relief appearances.

The Tigers finish up the three game series tommorrow with the Red Sox as Clay Buchholz takes on Max Scherzer.

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Tigers Win With a Walkoff Hit

The Detroit Tigers won the season opener against the Boston Red Sox 3-2. Justin Verlander was outstanding today pitching 8 shutout innings with 7 strikeouts and 1 walk while giving up only 2 hits. After a blown save by Jose Valverde in the 9th inning, which was his first blown save in his last 51 chances, the Tigers battled back in the bottom of the 9th to win on an Austin Jackson walkoff Single.

The Tigers next game is Saturday the 7th when Doug Fister will go against Josh Beckett.

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Tigers Put Luis Marte on the DL

According to Jason Beck the Tigers will place reliever Luis Marte on the DL today. Marte who won the final bullpen spot was injured in the Tigers final Spring Training game today. Marte had a left leg injury according to Jaosn Beck.

It's not known who will replace him, but it's likely to be Brayan Villarreal, who was the last pitcher cut in Spring Training.

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Tigers Put Brandon Inge on the 15 Day DL

According to Jason Beck the Tigers have put Brandon Inge on the 15 day DL with a left groin strain.

Inge was trying to win the 2nd base job this Spring after the Tiger signed Prince Fielder and Miguel Cabrera moved to 3rd base. Inge needed to hit well enough to win the job according to manager Jim Leyland earlier this spring after Inge hit .197 in 2011. Inge hit only .180 in 50 at-bats this spring.

It's unclear if the Tigers will release Brandon Inge once he is able to return, however Lynn Henning of the Detroit News brings up an interesting point that the Tigers may have put Inge on the DL to try and buy some time to trade him.

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Tigers Name Drew Smyly the 5th Starter

According to the freep Drew Smyly was told by the Tigers that he will start the season as the 5th starter in the rotation. When asked, Smyly's comments were "I am speechless".

Smyly is entering his 2nd season in his pro career after a successful year in Single-A Lakeland and Double-A Erie where he went 11-6 with a 2.07 ERA and 9.3 strikeouts per inning.

The freep mentioned that Smyly will make 1 start in Triple-A Toledo since the Tigers won't need a 5th starter at the begining of the season.

According to Jason Beck Smyly will make his debut on April 12th.

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