Sports
Detroit Tigers' Relief Pitcher, Area Native Will Sit Out World Series
Luke Putkonen, a relief pitcher for the Detroit Tigers played in 12 games this year, and will not be on the active roster for the 2012 World Series.
The Detroit Tigers begin 2012 MLB World Series play Wednesday night against the San Francisco Giants.
After coming up from AAA play in April to pitch for the Tigers for a dozen games, Wheaton native Luke Putkonen, 26, will sit out for these series.
Putkonen most recently pitched 2.2 innings against the Kansas City Royals Oct. 2 and 3. The Tigers lost the first game 4-2 and won 1-0 the next day, according to ESPN.com.
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Putkonen was perfect in 1 2/3 innings of the Oct. 2 game against the Royals, according to the Detroit Free Press.
He made his major-league pitching debut this year in a Sunday game last April, called up from AAA Toledo the previous Thursday, East Cobb Patch reports.
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Putkonen went to the University of North Carolina and was the third round draft pick by the Tigers in 2007, according to Yahoo! Sports. Since 2007, he has been playing for the Tigers' AAA affiliate, the Toledo Mud Hens.
In 2004, he led his high school team to a championship before attending the University of North Carolina on a scholarship. He reached the College World Series while at UNC, according to East Cobb Patch.
The Tigers play the Giants in San Francisco at 7:07 p.m. (CT) Wednesday, Oct. 24.
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