Being able to throw Justin Verlander and Max Scherzer at a team in consecutive games isn’t a 1-2 punch, anymore.
It’s a 1-1 punch.
It certainly worked Wednesday to the Tigers’ benefit. Scherzer shut down the White Sox for six innings in a 5-1 victory that sent the Tigers into another off day with a two-game sweep.
Playing golf isn’t really what the Tigers want to be doing on Thursday. They’ll grab their clubs and do so, but they’d rather be adding to the rhythm the season began to get a semblance of after a couple of wins at U.S. Cellular Field.
Granted, any season can look like it’s rolling along with Scherzer, now 3-1, following Verlander, but the truth is the Tigers won more because of Bryan Holaday’s bunt single on Tuesday night than because of the way Verlander threw, so it wasn’t just the starting pitching that gave the Tigers a boost in the series.
But it is a boost that will now be interrupted by the bunker shots that no doubt await most of them.
Wednesday’s victory was nothing if not compact. Before the ninth, when they tacked on a run with a bases-loaded walk, the Tigers did all their scoring the fourth inning against White Sox starter Hector Noesi. He was making his first start this season, but was 2-12 for Seattle in 2012.
Noesi retired nine of the first 10 batters he faced, but only two of the next seven, and those two outs were on sacrifice flies.
The first run was a double-single-sacrifice fly combo from Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera and Victor Martinez, respectively.
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