Quintin Berry: Detroit Tigers OF Earns AL Best of the Night Award

If Austin Jackson hadn't got hurt a couple of weeks ago, Quintin Berry would probably still be toiling in Triple-A right now. He's in the majors due to necessity.

Regardless, the dude is definitely making the most of his opportunity. The Detroit Tigers are finding out more and more that Berry is a heck of a ballplayer.

Berry had his finest game yet against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Thursday night. He made his presence felt all night long in virtually every aspect of the game.

At the plate, Berry tied a season-high with three hits, one of which was an RBI single in the second inning that scored the Tigers' first run of the evening. He would go on to steal second base, and he eventually scored on an RBI single by Prince Fielder that gave Detroit a 3-2 lead.

Berry scored another run in the fifth inning after he reached on a bunt single and made it to third on a stolen base and a throwing error by Sox catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia. The Fenway Faithful responded with a collective groan.

He notched his final hit of the evening in top of the seventh, and he made an impressive catch in the bottom of the inning to help preserve Detroit's 4-3 lead. Daniel Nava hit a deep fly to center field that Berry tracked down and caught up against the wall. If he hadn't caught it, Nick Punto would have scored from second easily to tie the game.

The Fenway Faithful responded to Berry's grab with yet another collective groan.

That catch more or less spelled the end for the Red Sox, who went on to lose the game 7-3. Presumably, they retreated to their clubhouse cursing that blasted Berry guy.

If you happened to miss any of Berry's standout performance, head on over to MLB.com for the video highlights. 

The tilt between the Tigers and Red Sox was the only game on the American League slate last night, so I unfortunately don't have a lot of options for my daily "Best of the Night" award. That being said, even if there had been other games on the docket, I'd probably be giving the award to Berry anyway. He had a heck of a game.

It's going to be interesting to see what the Tigers do with Berry once Jackson is back healthy. One thing that's for sure is that sending him back down to the minors would be foolish. The nine games Berry has played in represent a small sample size, but he's been awfully impressive in those nine games.

I think Jon Morosi of FoxSports.com said it best:

"

Quintin Berry is a big leaguer. He is proving it.

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) June 1, 2012"

Indeed. The Tigers could use a few more guys just like him.

...That's not a joke.

If you ever want to nominate somebody for the American League "Best of the Night" award, hit me up on Twitter.