Detroit Tigers 11, Oakland Athletics 4

Kenny Rogers improved his record at Oakland’s McAfee Coliseum to 24-4 on Wednesday night as Detroit rolled to an 11-4 victory to even up the series with Oakland to 1-1.  The Gambler scattered 3 hits and as many earned runs over 7.1 innings en route to his third win of the season.  In his four starts this season (with the exception of his start against Texas 4/9), Rogers has been effective, collected and every bit the veteran presence the Tigers were seeking when they acquired him in the off-season.

Craig Monroe recovered from his stolid Tuesday performance on Wednesday night, going 2-for-3 with a walk and 3 RBI’s in addition to several solid plays in the field.  Recently, Monroe had looked lost at the plate, swinging often at poor pitches and watching too many strikes.  Hopefully, this outing will set a new pace for Monroe, who had entered Wednesday’s contest batting .212.

Despite a good show at the plate (3-for-4, 2 2B, RBI) Carlos Guillen posted his second straight two-error game.  Thus far, Guillen has looked to have recovered significantly or completely from knee surgery he had following the 2004 campaign, which had him limping his way through the 2005 season.  He has showed vastly improved range at the shortstop position and effortless mobility on the basepaths.  Despite all of this, Guillen has already posted 5 errors in 15 games this season.  For comparison, Guillen errored just 17 times in all of his 2004 season with Detroit.

POLANCO BATS A THOUSAND

Placido Polanco hit his 1,000th career hit on Wednesday night in a 4-for-5, 3 RBI performance.  Since joining the Tigers mid-season last year, Polanco has been stellar both at the plate and on the field.

COMING UP

Jeremy Bonderman (1-2, 6.23 ERA) takes the hill against his old team to close out this three game set with the Oakland A’s.  Lefty Barry Zito (1-2, 7.53 ERA) will pitch for Oakland.  Both pitchers have struggled early this season and will look to recover and help their team to take the rubber match of this three game series.  Gametime is 3:35 PM EDT and the game will be televised by FSN Detroit.