Game 2 had Nate Robinson (2-5 with 3.59) on the mound for Detroit squaring off against Burt Hooton (4-0 with 1.53) of LA. And, this figured to be another pitching duel.
Detroit was hoping to wake their bats up – and they struck in the top 1st inning when Infante Singled and scored on a Carlos Guillen Double – and Detroit jumped to a quick 1-0 lead. Detroit struck again in the 3rd inning, when Granderson Doubled and scored on a SAC fly from Ordonez. Hooton had now surrendered 5 hits and Detroit led 2-0, while Robertson held LA scoreless thru 3 innings of play. In the bottom 4th inning, Ron Cey led off with a Walk and Oates followed with a Single. Dusty Baker then Doubled them both in to score. Baker would then score himself on a Reggie Smith Single – and just like that, LA took the lead 3-2 after 4 innings. Hooton had settled down, but gave up another run in the top 6th inning when Inge Doubled and scored on a Casey Single – to even the score 3-3. Detroit was keeping pace with LA. But, in the bottom 6th inning, Cey led off with solo shot to deep left field. Oates then Singled and eventually scored on a Smith SAC fly. With those 2 quick runs, LA led again 5-3 after 6 innings of play – and both Robertson and Hooton 
were done after 6 full innings each. The fate of this game rested in the bullpen for each club. Joel Zumaya came in for Detroit and Charlie Hough – and all the drama he brings to the table – came in for LA. This was considered a risky move by LA considering Hough’s reputation for blowing leads. But, it paid off for LA, as Hough surrendered only 1 hit in 3 innings for the Save and for the Game MVP. Zumaya also did his job and held LA scoreless too – but Detroit could not muster any offense, and LA took Game 2 with a final score of 5-3 and now had a 2-0 Series lead going into Detroit. LA felt pretty confident now, and Detroit was left looking for some answers as they were heading back home.
No comments:
Post a Comment