--RHP Eddie Bonine used a sharp breaking ball and kept the ball down in the strike zone Friday night to take advantage of slumping Colorado. Bonine went eight innings before turning the game over to RHP Joel Zumaya and was effective in keeping the ball low as shown by five flyball outs and 17 achieved via groundouts, including one double play. Bonine only went to three balls on four batters.
--CF Curtis Granderson extended his career-best hitting streak to 15 games Friday with his second consecutive four-hit game. Two of Granderson's hits were triples, his third and fourth of the season, one to right-center and one to deep right as he continues to spray the ball all over the field. --SS Michael Hollimon earned a second consecutive start Friday thanks to his two-hit Thursday. Hollimon tripled in his final at-bat and scored on a triple by CF Curtis Granderson. SS Edgar Renteria will be back in the Detroit lineup Saturday, manager Jim Leyland said.
--LF Clete Thomas was rewarded with a second start in a row Friday after he drew two bases-loaded walks the day before. Thomas came through with three hits, a single plus a double to left-center and then a single to left his last time up as he took outside pitches the other way for hits.
--RHP Joel Zumaya got an inning of pressure-free work Friday night, the ninth, as he tries to get his fastball under control. Zumaya didn't walk anybody, working with a 7-1 lead, but he did throw a wild pitch to advance a runner from second to third with one out. Two ground balls ended the game without the runner scoring.
--LF Marcus Thames was not in the starting lineup for the second straight game Friday. "His feet got a little quick (at the plate) the other night," manager Jim Leyland said. "He's the left fielder. But I want to slow him down a little right now." The fact OF Clete Thomas is performing well makes it easy for Leyland to back Thames off a little. Expect him back in the lineup Saturday.
--C Dane Sardinha likely will play twice a week until UT Brandon Inge returns to back up C Ivan Rodriguez. Manager Jim Leyland likes the way Rodriguez has played with more rest and will spot Sardinha even though he isn't much of a hitter. "You want to prove yourself, especially knowing that Inge sooner or later is going to come of the DL and I'm probably going to go back down," Sardinha said. "But you just want to leave it in the back of their minds that if it happens again or if September comes, you'll be ready and you can play up here." He is seen as a good defensive catcher with a strong arm, but his bat is too slow for Class AAA pitching, let alone the majors.
BY THE NUMBERS: 10 -- Home runs of the 14 hit by LF Marcus Thames that have come with either the score tied or a one run difference. Half the 14 have come with the score tied after his tie-breaking two-run home run Saturday night.
QUOTE TO NOTE: "One thing about Marcus, he hits big home runs. He doesn't hit them when you're down 10-1; he hits them when they mean something." -- Tigers manager Jim Leyland on LF Marcus Thames, who had hit 12 of his 14 home runs in Detroit wins.
