NewsTigers get Raburn, Inge grand slams
Jackson allows one run over seven innings in rout
By Jason Beck / MLB.com
05/16/09 1:59 AM ET
DETROIT -- Edwin Jackson entered Friday with the lowest run support in the American League. As he tried to keep his arm loose in the clubhouse tunnel while spring storms soaked Comerica Park, he had to wonder if he could even get any weather support.For that matter, so could Ryan Raburn.
As long as Jackson could keep his arm loose, the Tigers weren't going to let a rain delay deny him a win after Raburn's grand slam. Once Jackson came back, Brandon Inge added another slam. Detroit's third two-granny game in franchise history wasn't really necessary for Jackson, but he wasn't about to turn down Friday's 14-1 romp over the A's.
"I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to go back out," Jackson said. "When they decided to let me go back out, that was a great feeling. You get to go back out and finish the game that you started."
Jackson didn't finish it, but he came a lot closer than many thought he would.
"I thought he had better stuff after the delay," catcher Gerald Laird said.
He wasn't the only one.
Not since Jim Northrup hit two grand slams on June 24, 1968, at Cleveland had the Tigers had two in a game as a team. That outburst helped earn Denny McLain his 13th of 31 wins that year. Jackson isn't looking for nearly that much; he could just use the support.
Five times in Jackson's previous seven starts this season, he entered the seventh inning with one run or none allowed. Jackson had earned the victory just twice, in no small part due to Detroit's offense.
This outing was different from the outset. Four Oakland errors -- one from each of the infielders -- in the first three innings helped the Tigers take command. A Bobby Crosby error, Magglio Ordonez infield single and hit-by-pitch to Inge scored a run and loaded the bases with two outs for Raburn's second career grand slam in the opening inning. Two more runs each in the third and fourth padded Detroit's advantage.
The Tigers had scored 13 runs over Jackson's previous five starts combined. They had a 9-1 lead when a downpour stopped play after the fourth. And after back-to-back dropped leads in a series sweep at Minnesota, Detroit needed a win to stop the slide.
It made for a tricky situation. It took an hour-long delay before Friday's game even started. Then after four innings, the two clubs were stopped again, three outs shy of the game being official.
"If you're on one end of this, you want the rain to continue," manager Jim Leyland said. "If you're on the winning end, like we were, you're hoping for the rain to end."
The game would not have been suspended. Had the game been called, the two teams would've had to start over from scratch. The lead would've been erased, and the stats -- including Raburn's grand slam.
"I'll tell you what, I'll bet you that felt like the longest rain delay in Raburn's history," Inge joked.
Jackson's end of it could literally be a no-win situation. Even if the game resumes, a delay much longer than an hour usually means the end of the night for the starter. Normally, a pitcher has to last five innings to automatically qualify for the victory.
Jackson threw in the tunnel every 10 minutes or so to keep his arm from stiffening up. The rest was out of his control.
"The only thing you can do is ask to go back out," Jackson said, "but it's the coaches' discretion at the end of the day. The only thing you can do is roll with the decision they make.
"Anytime you go, you always want to get back on the mound. [Pitching coach] Rick Knapp said, 'We're going to try. We're going to fight to get you back out there.'"
Simply resuming the game was tricky. At one point, the grounds crew had just removed the tarp when another downpour hit. But once the fifth inning began, the rain had ended for the rest of the evening.
Jackson, meanwhile, was just getting started. He needed just eight pitches to retire the side in order in the fifth, firing fastballs at 96 mph. He was strong enough to stay out for nine-pitch sixth inning, then finish out the seventh.
"He was impressive," A's manager Bob Geren said. "He was throwing even better after the rain delay, which you almost never see."
Inge saw the same thing.
"If he's similar to how I am," Inge said, "the longer you wait, the more loose you feel. I think he felt better the second go-around."
Inge certainly felt strong. After back-to-back singles from Clete Thomas and Miguel Cabrera and a walk to Ordonez, Inge centered a Dan Giese pitch well enough to put it into the shrubs beyond the center-field fence, an estimated 427-foot blast that sent Detroit into double digits.
Jason Beck is a reporter for MLB.com. This story was not subject to the approval of Major League Baseball or its clubs.
