Shane Costa
Detroit Tigers starter Mike Maroth was almost perfect in Thursday’s game against the Kansas City Royals. Shane Costa was the only man who stood between Maroth and perfection, perfectly awful that is. The lefty pitcher didn’t even have to take a post game shower as he wasn’t around long enough to work up a sweat. Royal fans probably thought their hitters were still taking batting practice as the Striped Cats spotted KC six runs in the 1st before coming back to beat the hopeless Kansas City club 13-8. Esteban German got a leadoff single to left, Shane Costa popped to short, Reggie Sanders doubled German to third, Emil Brown’s double to center plated two, Tony Graffanino hit a two run homer to left, Angel Berroa hit a solo shot to left, Doug Mientkiewicz went yard to right-center, and Maroth was mercifully removed from the game. Ivan Rodriguez wasn’t supposed to start for Detroit, but backup catcher Vance Wilson stepped on a baseball before the contest and couldn’t answer the bell. IRod sealed KC’s fate driving in five runs in the last two innings with a two run triple and a three run homer.