DETROIT --
The 9-5 Tigers have won four in a row since their season resumed Friday in Pittsburgh after a four-day layoff last week for their postponed series against the Cardinals. They have concerns, especially at first base after a ground ball hit
\n\n"It's my wife's birthday today," Michael Fulmer said, "and I told her I'd pitch well."
— Jason Beck (@beckjason) August 11, 2020
Fulmer averaged 94.3 mph on his fastball on Monday, a full mph harder than he averaged with it two weeks ago against the Royals. He mixed in a dozen or so each of his slider, changeup and sinker, and he flipped in a couple first-pitch curveballs to mess with hitters’ timing.\n\n“This day was going to eventually come. I’m glad it came now,” Fulmer said. “\\[Pitching coach\\] Rick \\[Anderson\\] and I have been working quite a bit these last two weeks, and I give him credit for helping me with some things that hopefully will continue forward.”\n\nFulmer tossed three scoreless innings on three hits with two strikeouts before Norris followed with a 94 mph fastball, two scoreless frames and two more strikeouts. But it was his mad dash and flying tag to retire Danny Mendick that stood out as the lasting image.\n\nIt was a quick reaction from Norris after he saw Cron fall over and stay down.\n\n“It happened really fast,” Norris said. “I see it hit off C.J., I saw him go down and the ball pop up. So I’m running over thinking maybe it’s closer to him and he can flip it to me or vice versa. And then I saw him still down grabbing his knee. I saw the ball stopped, so I’ve gotta glove it instead of a bare hand. I scooped it and looked at the runner and thought I could make a play, so I laid out for it.”
Not until Mendick tripled and scored in the seventh inning did Chicago plate a run to make it a 2-1 ballgame, with
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