The Tigers beat up on the White Sox and their pitching tonight and got Max Scherzer his 20th win of the season.
They jumped on White Sox starter, Dylan Axelrod, early and often. The Tigers put 7 runs on him and got the bullpen for five more.
Scherzer put in a quality start going 6 complete, allowing 6 hits and 3 runs, while walking 1 and striking out 3.
The Puppet Master had Good Ole Dirksy in left field tonight and he paid dividends right away with a two run single in the first to give the Tigers an early two run lead. Dirks would finish the game 3 for 4 raising his batting average to .261.
A few areas of mild concern are Miggy and Jose Alvarez. Miggy was 1-5 tonight and left 6 runners on base. Jose Alvarez pitched one inning and allowed 3 hits and two earned runs. I say mild concern but I’m a little more than mildly concerned about Miggy. I know he’s still hitting .346 but his batting average has been slowly dropping this month and he’s been struggling to drive in runs. I hope it is just a little slump but I can’t help worrying about his nagging injuries. It is going to be hard to make long playoff run with Miggy struggling to drive in runs.
The good news is that the Tigers won, Max got his 20th, and the magic number is down to 3. Hopefully, they can clinch this weekend.
I hope the Tigers saved some runs for tomorrow because they’re going to need all they can get. They’ll face White Sox ace, and Cy Young contender, Chris Sale.
I’m looking for a big game from Ricky tomorrow.
God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Flashin' Leather 
I’m not buying this one.. Good win but that guy Axelrod is the worst pitcher in MLB. He has nothing to get a hitter out with. But I guess it’s better than losing to the worst pitcher. If history is any guide we’ll get shutout tomorrow.
Max was just ok. He was a bit wild with all the 0-2 sliders, and really didn’t have a put away pitch. But good for him to finally get the 20th.
I swear Miggy could hit .400 if he wasn’t so impatient. He has really been expanding the strike zone lately, and I don’t know if it’s injury related or his constant impatience. Pitchers know he likes the first pitch and they’re giving him nothing to hit. He was like that in the World Series last year, and I fear that’s how they’ll pitch him in the ALDS.
I don’t think we will score much, if anything tomorrow against Sale. But I also think Ricky will be up for the challenge.
Chris, you or I could have hit that pitch to Dirks in the finest inning. Glad to see I was able to do a reverse jinx for him with my comments yesterday about he can’t hit with men on base. Nice to be wrong like that.
Sark I am with you on this one…..I just had this feeling in my stomach that something was going to come up any minute and never did. I could write this off on Axelrod & Prucey pretty easy. The Red Sox & A’s look like they are charging to the finish and to me these guys look like a bad drunk coming out of the bar at 2AM. Maybe they navigate their way home ok. Maybe they run into a roadblock and get busted for what they are or they are an accident waiting to happen. After watching two contenders go 18 last night our pen REALLY scares me now. However on an unrelated note go to the Free Press and read the JL piece on his tenure in the D and tell me where you think we are headed.
A few points:
Dirksy’s performance yesterday is going to turn out to be a curse. As those who know me are aware, I don’t root against any Tigers player and I truly wish the best for them but Dirks is bad this year. He’s having a bad season but the Puppet Master wants him to be something he’s not. Dirsburgers Syndrome is similar to the malady that plagued the Puppet Master during Ryan Rayburn’s tenure here. That being said, Dirksy’s performance last night will give the TPM carte blanche to overtly display Dirksburger Syndrome the rest of the year no matter how bad he blows.
Second Ricky can’t allow more than a run tonight or the Tigers won’t win. After scoring 12 last night and Sale on the hill tonight, if the Tigers get two runs I’ll be surprised.