Phew! Now that’s more like it. Kenny Rogers threw yet another playoff gem to run his postseason scoreless innings streak to an astounding 23. It didn’t come without controversy. Dirtgate, as it’s being called, is on the tip of everyone’s tongue this morning as Rogers defends a brown smudge found below his thumb on his pitching hand. Of course, the fact that he removed it after the first inning and continue to dominate for seven more innings is evidence enough that he doesn’t need any illegal assistance. Still, it is the hot topic for debate amongst the talking heads on this Monday morning. I think we just need to get Grissom and Willows on the case to settle it once and for all.
With two World Series home runs, Craig Monroe has ran his playoff total to five and put himself in a tie with the legendary Hank Greenberg. Monroe has really started to become a favorite player of mine as he has come up big for this team time and again both at the dish and in the field. It really started with his 23rd home run of the season on August 30th that capped off a thrilling comeback against the Yankees in the night game of doubleheader in New York.
Monroe Against New York in August
Courtesy: CBS Sportsline
Monroe in the First Inning Last Night
Courtesy: Yahoo!
Rogers and closer Todd Jones held the first three batters of the St. Louis lineup hitless as they went 0-for-10 with two walks. In fact, Scott Rolen continued his coming out party from game one as the only hitter in the lineup to notch more than a hit. He was again 2-for-4 and scored the team’s lone run. Jones made things exciting by allowing an RBI-double to Jim Edmonds, but closed the door for his fourth save in October.
Carlos Guillen and Magglio Ordonez combined to go 5-for-7 and scored two of the team’s three runs. Guillen’s 3-for-3 performance gives him five hits in seven at-bats for the World Series after hitting just .188 in the LCS against Oakland. Meanwhile, Monroe is 3-for-7 with two home runs and a double in the first two games.
The teams enjoy an off day to travel to St. Louis where the series will pick up on Tuesday for three straight in Busch Stadium. Nate Robertson will face Chris Carpenter and Jeremy Bonderman draws NLCS MVP Jeff Suppan before the rotations start over on Thursday.
Here is a World Series Boxscore followed by a complete playoff boxscore for the Tigers:
| Detroit | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | HR | AVG |
| C. Granderson | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.000 |
| C. Monroe | 7 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0.429 |
| P. Polanco | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| M. Ordonez | 7 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.286 |
| C. Guillen | 7 | 1 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.714 |
| I. Rodriguez | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| S. Casey | 6 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.167 |
| B. Inge | 7 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0.286 |
| R. Santiago | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.200 |
| M. Thames | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| N. Perez | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.000 |
| TOTALS | 64 | 5 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 13 | 2 | 0.219 |
| St. Louis | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | K | HR | AVG |
| D. Eckstein | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| S. Spiezio | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| A. Pujols | 6 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0.167 |
| S. Rolen | 8 | 3 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 0.500 |
| J. Encarnacion | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| J. Edmonds | 7 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 0 | 0.429 |
| P. Wilson | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| Y. Molina | 8 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.250 |
| A. Miles | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| R.Belliard | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0.000 |
| S. Taguchi | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.250 |
| C. Duncan | 4 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.250 |
| TOTALS | 67 | 8 | 12 | 7 | 5 | 15 | 2 | 0.179 |
| Playoff Composite |
||||||||
| Player | AB | R | H | RBI | BB | SO | HR | AVG |
| Granderson | 36 | 5 | 9 | 6 | 0 | 4 | 3 | 0.250 |
| Polanco | 32 | 4 | 11 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 0.344 |
| Casey | 26 | 1 | 8 | 5 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0.308 |
| Ordonez | 31 | 5 | 8 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 0.258 |
| Guillen | 30 | 6 | 15 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Rodriguez | 30 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 0.167 |
| Monroe | 31 | 6 | 8 | 6 | 1 | 5 | 5 | 0.258 |
| Thames | 23 | 3 | 7 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 0 | 0.304 |
| Inge | 28 | 3 | 7 | 3 | 1 | 9 | 1 | 0.250 |
| Gomez | 4 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.500 |
| Santiago | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0.167 |
| Totals | 277 | 38 | 81 | 39 | 15 | 46 | 12 | 0.292 |
Baseball By Paul 
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