The Tigers Beat the Braves 10-4 With 16 Singles

Tommy Hanson had another rough start, his second in as many outings. He lasted only 3.2 innings, the same amount as his last game, and allowed 5 earned runs despite allowing no extra base hits. The Tigers opened up the scoring in the first, but due to a Hanson error the run was unearned. Justin Verlander didn't have his best stuff either, but managed to throw 7 innings with 117 pitches. In what was expected to be the best pitching match-up of the series, both pitchers struggled and were very hittable this afternoon. 

Not many balls were hard-hit off of Hanson,  and he seemed to be on pace for a respectable outing until the top of the fourth inning. Hanson allowed five singles and two walks in the inning and was charged with five earned runs. The Braves were able to put some runs on the board in the bottom of the fourth and fifth innings, but each time the Braves scored the Tigers countered.

Christhian Martinez was pretty awful in relief, throwing two innings and allowing four runs, including Brennan Boesch's 12th home run which was the only extra base hit for the Tigers. Jesse Chavez and Eric O'Flaherty combined to throw 3.1 scoreless innings, which is good to see, but the damage had already been done. 

Every Tiger's position player had a hit while the Braves were only able to muster up seven of their own. Martin Prado stayed hot and had two hits, including his 23rd double. Potential All-Stars Troy Glaus and Brian McCann added RBI doubles. 

The Mets and Phillies both won, shrinking the Braves lead to only 0.5 ahead of the Mets and 2.5 over the Phillies.

Up next is a three-game set against the Washington Nationals, featuring a tremendous pitching match-up of Tim Hudson (7-3, 2.54 ERA, 4.37 xFIP) and Stephen Strasburg (2-1, 1.78 ERA, 1.35 xFIP) to open up the series.