What the French?

courtesy of photobucket

Had you told me a month ago that the Royals would come to Comerica Park in early July to face the Tigers, well, that I would have believed, it was on the schedule after all. BUT….had you suggested that Zack Greinke, ace, stud and all around gunslinger this 2009 would fall victim to a guy with one major league start under his belt, well, the words lunatic and moron would have been used with some regularity.

Sometimes strange things happen. There is a reason as people say that the games are not played on paper, where Greinke came in with a 10-4 record, a 1.95 ERA and 114 K’s vs 18 walks. Lucas French on the other hand had 7.2 innings of major league baseball to his credit. Sounds like a fair fight. It certainly didn’t turn out to be, for Lucas French was just too good.

Don’t get me wrong, Zack Greinke was fantastic for about five innings, the problem was he pitched six. The Tigers jumped out to an early lead when Curtis Granderson scored on a Marcus Thames ground ball. Newly returned Clete Thomas made sure he announced his presence with authority by following with an RBI single to plate Placido Polanco. The Tigers stretched their lead to 3-0 in the very next inning when Josh Anderson reached second base on a ground rule double, followed by a Gerald Laird sacrifice bunt that turned into a hit and a Ramon Santiago sacrifice fly.

Entering last nights game the Tigers were 9-28 when they scored three runs or less this season. Lucas French apparently didn’t read that statistic.

French didn’t have the dazzling nine strikeouts that his counterpart posted, but he bested him in the one category that truly counts – he allowed one run. Alberto Callaspo took French deep in the sixth inning for the Royals lone run. It was one of four extra base hits allowed by French, Billy Butler had three doubles, all of which turned out to be harmless.

French now has two major league starts under his belt. In both cases he faced a staff ace with 10 wins. Both times the Tigers came away with a victory. It may be too early to shout from the rooftops that this team has found the answer to the back end of the rotation issues that have plagued them all year, but it certainly looks promising thus far.

Perhaps it’s the lack of familiarity on the part of opposing hitters that is helping Lucas get the job done so far, perhaps it’s proper preparation, good coaching and natural ability. It might even be adrenaline and the ignorance of youth. It’s probably all of these things. Whatever it is, I hope it keeps happening.

The victory pushed the Tigers record to 46-38 and kept their AL Central lead over the White Sox (who also won last night) at two games. The Twins fell to the Yankees 4-3 to slip three and a half games back. The Tigers have now lead the AL Central for 66 days.

After the off day today the boys in the Old English D will welcome the cellar dwelling Indians to the COPA for three games before the All-Star break. Edwin Jackson is expected to oppose defending AL Cy Young winner Cliff Lee friday night in what is shaping up to be a classic pitchers duel. Jackson is currently second in the league with his 2.59 ERA while Lee comes in at number 12 with his 3.45.

BRANDON INGE UPDATE

As of this morning Inge remains in the lead for the final AL All-Star spot in the final fan vote. Voting ends at 4 PM today. You can cast your votes here.

Want to meet Curtis Granderson?

He’ll be taking pictures with fans at Randy Wise Buick/GMC this afternoon from 2-3:30 PM. The dealership can be found at 2530 Owens Rd in Fenton, MI. There will be NO AUTOGRAPHS.

Tags: Alberto Callaspo, Billy Butler, Brandon Inge All-Star, Curtis Granderson, Detroit Tigers, Gerald Laird, Josh Anderson, Kansas City Royals, Lucas French beats Zack Greinke, Marcus Thames, Placido Polanco, Ramon Santiago, Tigers lead AL Central by two games