Kenny Rogers continued to puzzle hitters as the Tigers evened the World Series at one game apiece with a 3-1 win over the Cardinals in Game 2.But what is baseball without controversy over someone’s success? Rogers (3-0) appeared to have some sort of residue on his hand in the first inning. Cardinals hitters saw it, television cameras caught it, even the umpires got a view of it. Home plate umpire Alfonzo Palermo instructed Rogers to clean the substance off his hand. Rogers did as instructed and immediately got back to work. The crafty southpaw held the Cardinals scoreless throughout eight innings only allowing two hits and walking three. Rogers has now thrown 23 consecutive scoreless innings during the 2006 playoffs. The only other pitcher to have three straight scoreless starts in the postseason is Christy Mathewson who tossed 27 in a row for the Philadelphia Athletics in the 1905 World Series. Detroit got on the board almost immediately. Craig Monroe hit his second homer in as many games to make it 1-0. Two batters later, Magglio Ordonez singled to center and later scored on a Carlos Guillen double. Sean Casey added an RBI single in the fifth to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead. Closer Todd Jones entered the game in the ninth to slam the door on St. Louis. He easily retired the first two batters before running into trouble. Scott Rolen singled to right keeping the Cardinals hopes alive. Juan Encarnacion reached base safely after Jones’ fielding error; Rolen advanced to third putting runners on the corners with two out. Jim Edmonds drove in the lone Cardinals run with a double to left. Jones followed that by hitting Preston Wilson and loading the bases, but the Cardinals rally fell short once Yadier Molina grounded into a fielder’s choice for the third out. The series heads to St. Louis for Games 3, 4, and 5 starting Tuesday. If necessary, Games 6 and 7 will be in Detroit. Reigning Cy Young winner Chris Carpenter is scheduled to start Tuesday. Nate Robertson is set to go for the Tigers.

Related web sites:
St. Louis Cardinals Web Site