There were stars galore in the Detroit Tigers 6-3 win over the Minnesota Twins on Saturday. But Tigers manager Jim Leyland decided to go a different route when deciding who his player of the game was, according to MLive.com.
"The hero of the game, for me, was Octavio Dotel," Leyland said.
Dotel entered the game after a 42-minute rain delay with one out in the sixth inning with runners on first and third and his team up 6-3 and proceeded to retired all five batters he faced including four via strikeouts. He threw 20 pitches (16 strikes).
"That was impressive," Leyland said. "That was not an easy situation to come in there and get both of those guys [the Twins' Josh Willingham and Justin Morneau] like he did and then pitch another clean inning. That was tremendous for us, and we needed it. He picked us up today."
Dotel enjoys such situations and thrives in them.
"I love that," Dotel said. "That's what I'm here for. I love to have that feeling. Sometimes, we don't do it - or I don't do it - but I have to have that feeling."
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