Spring Training Game 22 Recap: Washington Nationals 12, Detroit Tigers 10
By Jared Book
Had Team USA beaten Puerto Rico and advanced to the semi-final round, Ryan Perry would have gotten the start yesterday in place of Ross Detwiler who would have been with the American team. That could have made yesterday’s game a lot different as Perry came in relief of Detwiler and allowed five runs in his second inning of work without getting an out. It reminded people of his first outing of the Spring and the adjustment to starter is expected to have some bumps in the road.
Mar 8, 2013; Melbourne, FL, USA; Washington Nationals left fielder Tyler Moore (12) against the St. Louis Cardinals during a spring training game at Space Coast Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports
Detwiler, for his part, pitched very well allowing only a first inning homerun before finishing his day of work with four innings allowing only two other hits against a Detroit Tigers lineup that had most of its big bats in the lineup.
Offensively, the Washington Nationals put up 12 runs with a lineup split with regulars and back-ups against mostly Major League pitching from Detroit. The Nationals used a four run eighth inning off of Tigers set-up man Al Alburquerque to pull ahead for good. Washington also had a 7-1 lead before Perry entered the game when Tyler Moore hit his second homerun of the game in the top of the fifth.
The eighth inning rally was nice to see mainly for who was involved. Micah Owings continued to impress. As did Chris Marrero and Jhonatan Solano. Moore, Owings and Marrero combined for eight of the Nationals RBIs on the day. That’s some nice depth behind Adam LaRoche at first base.
Besides Detwiler and Perry, Jeremy Accardo, Ryan Mattheus and Tyler Clippard got work in among the veterans on the club. Only Clippard came out of hit without allowing a run. Erik Davis pitched the ninth allowing an RBI single to Jeff Kobernus who was taken from Washington in the Rule 5 draft in December.
The win moved the Nationals back to .500 on the Spring at 10-10.