Fister pitched well and got his 13th win of the season. The four runs he surrendered is a tad high but three of the runs came on a homer off of the bat of the Ackley Kid.
Smyly got the last out in the 8th and Joaquin Benoit converted his 22nd save of the season to close out the game and give the a Tigers 3-1 series win.
Incidentally, Tigers starters struck out 10 Mariners in 3 of the 4 games this series. The only one with less was Justin Verlander. Is this telling the Tigers something? I’m not sayin. I’m just sayin.
Torii Hunter got the Tigers on the board in the first with a solo shot but Fielder and Martinez did most of the damage this afternoon, they were a combined 5 for 6 with 3 RBIs.
Victor Martinez caught today and I thought he looked great. Oh, and his batting average is now .301.
In the 6th inning, the Puppet Master, Jim Leyland, went to work. He had Good Ole Dirsky pinch hit for Tui. Dirksy didn’t get a hit but he had a hell of an at bat. He bounced out to second base on the second pitch he saw from Mariner reliever Tom Wilhelmson. Tui wasn’t doing much but isn’t there anybody else to pinch hit, like Charlie Marcuse? Oh, wait, the Tigers fired the singing hot dog man a few weeks ago.
Good Ole Dirksy redeemed himself in the bottom of the 7th, with runners at first and third and one out, Dirksy had another grind em out at bat. He struck out on four pitches.
Letting Good Ole Dirsky bat in the 7th, against a good left handed reliever, Charlie Furbush, is a clear indication that the Puppet Master is still struggling with Dirksburger Syndrome.
Austin Jackson had a rough day. He was 0-5 including grounding into a double play.
Iggy got hurt and left the game when he was hit by a pitch in the bottom of the 6th. Luckily, he’s only got a bruised hand. When it happened it looked like it might be broken.
All in all this was a good win. The Tigers’ magic number is 4.
The White Sox come to town tomorrow.
God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Flashin' Leather 
I thought Fister pitched outstanding, other than the one bad pitch to the Ackley Kid. Most of the hits off him were not hit real hard, and he had really good movement on his pitches. His win clinches JV being the worst starting pitcher on this staff – this year!
Dirks – what more is there to say other than he sucks with men on base! JL is so f’ing stubborn about certain players, and that is what drives me nuts with him. Since his 5-5 game what has Dirks done? Nothing! Kelly should always be the first option when it comes to the left side of the plate, or a defensive replacement. I think Dirks lack of production will likely land Peralta on the playoff roster, simply as a more reliable pinch hitter. They really need to sign Granderson this off-season and put him in LF. Please!
I like the pitching matchups this weekend against Chicago. Max vs. some rookie, Ricky vs. Sale, and Sanchez vs. another rookie. I especially look forward to Porcello and Sale hooking up. I think we might surprise in that one.
On the personal side of things, my senior baseball team won our first round playoff game last night 3-2, with a walkoff win in the bottom of the 7th. Yours truly had a rough game, going 0-3, my first game of the year without getting on base. We start of best of 3 series next Tuesday with a doubleheader.
Sark, congratulations on the success of your team. I’m supposed to me in Memphis next week but if things change, I’ll try to swing by your games.
I have discovered a mathematical formula for predicting a Tigers win or loss! Simply take the starting pitchers ERA………add one. This is the MINIMUM number of runs the Tigers must score in order to win. Please note exception: on days when Dirks is in the line up add +3 just ’cause…..
Sometimes I actually feel bad ripping on Dirksy but Sark is right, the Puppet Master just can’t help himself. Realistically, he’s not down Good Ole Dirksy any favors either.