The burning question in baseball today is; was Detroit starter, lefthander  Kenny Rogers or was he not throwing a “dirt ball” during the Cardinals first inning of Sunday’s World Series game 2 at Detroit’s Comerica Park?
 
Dan Wetzel of Yahoo Sports has some choice words excerpted here;

1. During the top of the first inning, St. Louis Cardinals hitters complained to manager Tony La Russa that there was funny movement on Rogers’ pitches.

2. La Russa then took the complaint to the umpires, although he didn’t formally request an inspection of the Detroit Tigers’ starting pitcher.

3. Home-plate umpire Alfonso Marquez, according to supervisor Steve Palermo, then noticed that Rogers had “a noticeable dirt mark of some sort on his left hand,” which, if it was determined he was using intentionally to mark the ball to cause funny movement, would be cause for ejection.

4. So Marquez had a conversation with Rogers and, according to Palermo, said, “Kenny, that dirt thing that you’ve got on your hand, if you’ll do me a favor and just take it off.”

5. Rogers, according to Palermo, then washed his hands.

But dirt or no dirt on Kenny “the Gambler’s” [nicknamed for singer Kenny Rogers] hands, he pitched 2 hit shut out ball through his 8 innings to earn the win.  He 1 hit the Cards through 7 innings, giving up only 3rd baseman Scott Rolen’s 2 out single to 3rd base in the 1st inning until catcher Yadier Molina’s lead-off single in the 8th inning.  Rogers walked 3 while striking out 5 during his 8 innings.

The Tigers, meanwhile hit the scoreboard in the 1st inning as as leftfielder  Craig Monroe belted a 1 out solo blast to leftfield off of St. Louis starter Jeff Weaver.   Later in the inning, 1st baseman Carlos Guillen belted a 2 out RBI double to left and Detroit was up by 2-0.  Guillen went 3 for 3 for the game.

Weaver, however, lasted through the 5th inning giving up Detroit’s 3rd run on designated hitter Sean Casey’s 2 out RBI single following Guillen’s triple to rightfield.  

Losing pitcher Weaver’s line was 3 runs, 9 hits, 1 walk, 5 strikeouts and 1 homer.  The Tigers left 10 runners on base for the game as they got at least 2 runners on in each of the innings Weaver pitched.  In the 2nd inning, the Cards turned a double-play.  The Tigers left 7 runners on during Weaver’s 5 innings.

Detroit closer Todd Jones replaced Rogers in the 9th inning and ran into trouble on his way to being credited with the save.  With 1 out, Rolen singled to right and stole 2nd base.  Rightfielder Juan Encarnacion reached on Jones’ throwing error.  centerfielder Jim Edmunds doubled to left scoring Rolens as  Encarnacion moved to 3rd base.  Then Jones hit leftfielder Preston Wilson with a pitch to load the bases with 2 out. However, Jones got the 3rd out as catcher Molina grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the game.

For a full recap, box score and play-by-play on Sunday’s World Series game 2, click here.

The two teams have an off-day on Monday as the series changes it’s venue to Busch Stadium in St. Louis on Tuesday for games 3 through 5.

Lefthander Nate Robinson starts for Detroit in game 3 vs. Chris Carpenter for the Cardinals.

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This entry was posted on Monday, October 23rd, 2006 at 2:57 pm and is filed under Real-Time Baseball News and Commentary, All Time Team Highlights, All Time Pitching Highlights, Post-Season Highlights. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.