Sports
Palisadian Homers in Detroit's First Win of the Season
Former PPBA player Brennan Boesch has four hits as the Tigers beat the New York Yankees, 10-7.
Ex-Palisades Pony Baseball Association star is showing no signs that he'll have a "sophomore slump" this season. After going one-for-four with a run scored in his debut Saturday, Boesch went four-for-four with a home run to power the Detroit Tigers past the New York Yankees 10-7 on Sunday at Yankee Stadium.
Detroit was leading 5-4 with a runner on base and no outs in the top of the fifth inning when Boesch, the designated hitter, belted a pitch by New York reliever Bartolo Colon into the right field stands to increase the Tigers' lead to 7-4. The 6-foot-4, left-handed-hitting Boesch had four RBIs as Detroit improved to 1-2.
Boesch sat out Thursday's season opener, but has started off red hot at the plate. In his first two games, he has five hits and five runs scored in eight at-bats with a 1.000 slugging percentage and a .625 batting average. The key will be how long he can sustain his productivity at the plate.
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As a rookie last year Boesch batted .342 with 12 home runs before the All-Star break. He cooled off in the second half, batting .163 and slugging .222. Overall, he played in 133 games with 119 hits, 14 homers, 49 runs scored and 67 RBIs. He clubbed his first major league homer--a grand slam--off the Anaheim Angels' Joel Piniero on April 30 and was voted the American League's Rookie of the Month in May.
Detroit manager Jim Leyland has not said where or how often Boesch will play, but early indications are that he will split time in left field with Ryan Raburn.
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Boesch was born in Santa Monica but grew up near and was a standout in and the . He was an All-CIF player at Harvard-Westlake High, batting .490 his senior year, then played years at UC Berkeley, making the All-Pacific-10 First Team as a sophomore and Honorable Mention as a junior in 2006 when he had 10 home runs, 42 RBIs and 35 runs scored.
Boesch, who will turn 26 on April 12, was added to the Tigers' 40-man roster in 2010 and started that season with Triple-A Toledo before being called up April 23 to replace then left fielder and three-time All-Star Carlos Guillen, who had suffered a hamstring injury.
