CIMPLE – A Curious Introvert's Musings & Photos about Life and Enjoyment

On a gorgeous sunny afternoon the Detroit Tigers moved to a league best 9-1 season start after defeating the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on a walk-off hit by Jose Iglesias matching their previous best starts in their World Series championship years of 1968 and 1984.

 I decided to purchase tickets to the game when I saw that Jeff Samardzija would be the starting Chicago White Sox pitcher against the Tigers David Price.  I became a Jeff Samardzija fan while he was playing football at Notre Dame and began following his baseball career when he was drafted by the Chicago Cubs.  This was Samardzija’s first appearance against the Tigers and Price and Samardzija proceeded to battle through eight innings and a 1-1 tie when they both left the game.

David Price pitched eight innings allowing 1 run, 4 hits, 9 strikeouts and 2 walks.  Jeff Samardzija through eight innings allowed 1 run, 8 hits, 7 strikeouts and no walks.  Both pitchers came out in the eighth inning as strong as the first inning with impressive strikeouts before leaving the game.  Joakim Soria who pitched the ninth inning for the Tigers got the win and Zach Duke had the loss for Chicago.

Each pitcher allowed a home run, with Yoenis Cespedes hitting one for Detroit and former Detroit Tiger Avisail Garcia going deep for Chicago.  Two of the top five batters in the MLB, Jose Iglesias and Miguel Cabrera, went 2-4 with Cabrera providing the excitement in the first inning by hitting a double off the fence (so close to a home run) and Iglesias putting the finishing touch on the excitement with a walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth.

The Tigers will play the White Sox at 1:08 on Saturday with the pitching matchup of the Tigers Anibal Sanchez against Chris Sale and at 1:08 on Sunday with the Detroit Tigers Shane Greene pitching against Jose Quintana.