Inge made all the right moves, but victory 'wasn't meant to be'

The Tigers third baseman was brilliant at the plate and in the field, but one no-call that went against him changed the game's outcome.

By MICHAEL RAND, Star Tribune

Last update: October 7, 2009 - 12:30 AM

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Brandon Inge's knees were hurting as bad as they have in a long time, but his heart hurt even worse. The third baseman's head told him he had just been part of something special, but his thoughts also kept drifting to a series of "what-ifs" that stretched back through the season's final weeks and grew more acute with the 12th inning of Tuesday's tiebreaker game with the Twins.

Inge batted with the bases loaded and one out in the top of the 12th in a 5-5 tie. A pitch from Bobby Keppel appeared to graze Inge's jersey, which would have forced in another go-ahead run. Home plate umpire Randy Marsh ruled otherwise.

"I'm not a guy that's going to try to cheat his way on base. I want to hit, no doubt about it," Inge said. "But when a ball absolutely hits me and that's the [go-ahead] run, I'm going to let him know it hits me. ... Maybe he didn't see it, honestly. It's just a pretty crucial point in the game."

Said Marsh after the game: "The replays that we looked at, to be honest with you, were inconclusive."

Tigers manager Jim Leyland also was adamant the ball struck Inge, who ended up hitting into a fielder's choice when Nick Punto forced out Miguel Cabrera at the plate. Keppel escaped the inning, and the rest is history.

If any game can be a microcosm of a season, No. 163 was it for the Tigers. On the brink of a collapse that seemed unfathomable only weeks ago, the Tigers built an early lead -- only to have the Twins pass them at the last moment.

"We had opportunities along the way to get it closed out, and we didn't do it," Leyland said. "We had a chance today to get it closed out, and we didn't quite do it."

A 3-0 Detroit lead turned into a 4-3 Twins lead. A Magglio Ordonez home run tied the score, and it seemed as if the Tigers could escape.

But a series of miscues and missed opportunities ultimately sealed Detroit's fate. The Tigers put runners on first and third with no outs in the ninth, only to have Placido Polanco strike out looking, followed by Ordonez hitting into a line-drive double play.

After Inge's double in the 10th gave Detroit a 5-4 lead, Ryan Raburn misplayed Michael Cuddyer's fly ball into a triple to start the bottom of the inning to help the Twins tie the score. Inge, who came into the game batting only .186 since the All-Star break while playing on two bad knees, thought he had given his team the final push it needed with that play in the 12th. Instead, he was left to reflect on what he called the greatest game he's ever played in, and a season that had a fitting but painful end.

"I'm telling you," Inge said. "No matter what we did, it seemed like it wasn't meant to be."

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