Year: 2013

Tigers, JV Head Into Break On High Note…

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with win this afternoon over Texas.

The Tigers took the rubber game of the series 5-0 today.  JV pitched 7 strong, allowing only 1 hit, and striking out 3.

Smyly and Benoit came in and recorded the last 6 outs.

Verlander actually had a no-hitter with two outs in the 6th before Mitch Moreland broke it up with a double in the gap between right and center.

For as much as I’ve complained this year, I’m actually pretty satisfied at the break.  The Tigers are 10 games over .500 and have a 3 game lead in the central.

Here’s what I’m hoping for in the second half:

  1. The offense gets more consistent, with better at-bats late in games.
  2. Victor continues his recent pace.
  3. JV looks like the JV of the last two years
  4. Someone else in the bullpen steps up to help Smyly and Benoit
  5. The Tigers end their 29 World Series drought

Is that too much to ask for?

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Lincecum No Hits Padres…

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San Francisco’s one-time ace, Tim Lincecum, threw his first career no-hitter Saturday, shutting out the San Diego Padres 9-0.

Lincecum, who has struggled for the last season and a half, was un-hittable tonight in San Diego.  He threw 148 pitches, struck out 13, walked 4 and allowed no runs or hits as the Giants beat the Padres tonight 9-0.

I’m happy for Lincecum and I hope this helps him get back to his ACE status.  I just hope they aren’t the Tigers’ opponent again this year in the World Series.

Here‘s a link to the story on MLB.

Tim Lincecum No-Hitter
Tim Lincecum No-Hitter

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Miggy’s Approach…

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Loyal reader and contributor, and all around good guy, Nebraskaknows, sent me a link to this article about Miguel Cabrera.  It is basically an interview with Miggy regarding his approach to hitting..

For what it is worth, I’ve watched a lot of baseball, I like to say I’m married to baseball but hockey is my girlfriend but I digress, and Miggy is the best hitter I’ve ever seen.  Even though he’s a righty, his swing is still pretty.

This is an opposite field, solo shot, Miggy hit in Tampa Bay, on June 28th of 2012.

Here is a link to My Approach: Miguel Cabrera, the aforementioned article.

Thanks for another solid Nebraska!  You’re aces Pal!

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Rangers Stop Scherzer’s Winning Streak

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The Rangers ended Max Scherzer’s 13 game winning streak by handing the Tiger righty his first loss of the season.  Max went 6 innings allowed 4 earned, struck out 6 and walked 2.

It was another lack luster game on this home stand, similar to game 1 of the White Sox series.  The offense didn’t threaten much as Ranger lefty Derek Holland had his back foot slider in full motion tonight.  Holland kept the Tiger hitters off balance all night.

Holland did walk 5 and the Tigers had their chances but this game was really decided in the bottom of the 4th.  The Tigers were trailing 3-0 coming to bat in the 4th. Peralta led off with a single and stole second.  Tui walked which brought Pena to the plate with 2 on and nobody out.  This was not a good time for one of the worst at bats I’ve seen him have.  As usual, Leyland didn’t have Pena bunting but Pena didn’t even look like he was trying to move the runners up.  He swung at the first pitch from Holland, a 92 MPH sinker, and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

I’m not even going to bitch about Leyland not having Pena bunt.  Pena is a professional hitter.  He has to know that at the very least he needs to move the runners over even if is not a true sacrifice.  Nope, he pounds the first pitch he sees into the ground for a rally killing 6-4-3.

There were a few bright spots.  First, rookie second baseman, Hernan Perez, followed Pena’s double play with a single driving in the Tiger’s only run and his first MLB RBI.

The second bright spot was Phil Coke.  He came in to replace Luke Putkonen in the 7th and got A. J. Pierzynski to ground into an inning ending double play.  I was happy for Coke.  He’s been struggling, and it’s nice to see him have a little success that hopefully he can build on for the second half.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to like about tonight’s game.  Alburquerque pitched the 9th and was horrible.  It looks like he’s doing all he can to get back to Toledo.

JV is on the hill for the series and first half finally tomorrow.  I think it is very important to win the game tomorrow.  A win would give them a series win and even their record at 3-3 on this current home stand.  Losing two series in a row, at home, heading into the break, will leave the first half on a down note.  The Tigers really need JV to have a good start and we need better offense than we got tonight.

This team is so irritating.

On another note, I was watching part of the Yankee game before the Tiger game.  The announcers were talking about how Joba Chamberlain is a highly prized commodity that a lot of team are interested in.  Really?  I wonder what teams are interested in Joba?  Are the Tigers one of them?  Joba has a 5.24 era this season.  I guess, if you look at his career stats, they’re not bad.  He has a career 3.81 era and 2.57 K/BB ratio but I wouldn’t be willing to give up top prospects for him.  He’s not going to start.  He’s a power arm coming out of the bullpen who has occasional control problems.  I guess he’s probably better than most of the guys in Tiger bullpen.  But what would the Tigers have to give for him and how much would then have to pay him?  Any thoughts?

Did I mention how irritating the Tigers are?

Oh, Sark, I’ve been thinking about what you said about signing Sanchez.  The more I think about it.  The more I agree with you.

Did I mention how irritated I am right now?

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Tigers Shanghai Rangers Early…

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The Tigers scored 7 runs in the first two innings tonight, beat the Rangers, and took the first game of the last series before the 2013 All-Star break.

Doug Fister pitched fairly well, but struggled at times with his control.  He pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 earned, struck out 5, walked two, and threw 106 pitches.

The bullpen looked good, especially Bruce Rondon, who recorded 4 outs on 10 pitches including 2 Ks.

If I can complain or worry about anything, which you know I can, it is that the Tigers didn’t do much offensively after the 2nd inning.  In fact, Joseph Ortiz replaced Russ Grimm and allowed only 1 hit, a Prince Fielder, infield single, in 3 and two thirds.

What made the lack of add on runs troubling is that the Rangers had chances to come back and make a game of it.

In the 4th inning with two runs already in, the Rangers had the bases loaded with two out and were one swing of the bat away from making a game of it, but Fister got David Murphy to strike out to end the threat.  Also, in the 9th, the Rangers had two on with two out but Benoit was able to strike out Nelson Cruz to end the game.

Another thing that vexes me is the this Tui/Dirks platoon.  Why does Dirks come in for Tui late in games when right handers are brought in but not the other way around.  Dirks was 0-4 tonight and didn’t have a decent at-bat or swing the entire night.  With the way Tui has been swinging the bat, and the way Dirks hasn’t, I thought it would be nice to bring Tui in when Ortiz, a lefty, replaced Grimm. It seems like this platoon thing is mostly a one way street and I don’t get it.

Back at it tomorrow.  A series win would be nice.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Words of Wisdom from Jack Morris…

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This piece is from the FREEP.

Thanks for the solid Nebraska!

Verlander, who turned 30 in February, said he recently discovered that his shoulder angle has been different this year compared to video from 2011.

“The reality is the older you get, the harder you have to work, and it’s hard to do it,” Morris said. “You’ve had success. It came relatively easy at times. I know it has for him, at times.

“Every day from here on out he’s going to have less and less stuff. That’s life. That’s called the circle of life. He’s not going to get stronger. He’s not going to throw 110 (miles per hour) next year. He’s going to have to get by and learn more and be smarter with less stuff than he did when he was younger. That’s the way life is.

Read the entire post here.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

 

Random Thoughts

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Did you know Miggy’s real first name is Jose?  Here‘s a link to his bio on MLB.

Former Tiger prospect Jacob Turner is pitching well for the Marlins.  He has started 8 games.  He is 3-1 with a 2.33 earned run average.

Did anybody else find it comical that Luke Putkonen didn’t look the least bit worried or frightened when Ramirez acted like he was going to charge the mound?

This is the image of Reggie Jackson that in ingrained into my mind.  When I think of Reggie, this is the picture that appears.

Reggie Jackson
Reggie Jackson Home Run Swing

I’m hoping for a better game tonight against the Rangers.  The White Sox series made me sick.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

Today’s Game Sucked…

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that’s the only way I can describe it.  It was lack luster from beginning to end.  Perhaps it was just one of those days.

The really shitty part is that the Tigers lost 2 out of 3 to the White Sox, at home, and see their lead over the Indians fall to 2.5 games.  This series is almost as bad as getting swept by the Angels a few weeks ago.

Victor continued his torrid pace, Miggy hit a homer and so did Tui.  Which begs the question, why can’t Tui play the whole game.  Does he always have to bring Dirks in late?  For what purpose?  Dirks isn’t hitting and the last time I checked nobody is going to mistake him for Willie Mays in the outfield.  Let Tui play the whole game.

The killer, obviously, was the grand slam Sanchez allowed to Josh Phegley in the 6th.  The Tigers did have their chances to come back but just couldn’t do it today.  Oh well, it is hard to complain about the offense lately.  They can’t be expected to score 7 every game. (Or can they 🙂 )

On the bright side, Victor had another 3 hits today raising his average to .260.

Also, what is the story with Evan Reed?  He made another throwing error today.  Going from memory alone, I believe he has made 3 or 4 errors in his short time in the big leagues.

The Rangers come to town tomorrow.  The Tigers need a good start from Fister.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

I Was Wrong About Victor….

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it looks like I was too quick to pull the plug on Victor Martinez.  Since I wrote my Why Victor Must Go...post he has shoved those words down my throat.

And his tear continued tonight with 3 more hits, another RBI, and has raised his average to .254.

There was a lot to like about tonight’s 8-5 win over the White Sox, not the least of which is the fact that all eight Tiger runs, were scored with two outs.

Ricky looked pretty good.  He went six innings, struck out six, walked none, and allowed three earned.  Ricky’s era is down to 4.80

Smyly and Benoit were good out of the pen.  The only rough spot was that Bruce Rondon got roughed up a bit in the 7th.

Here’s an observation, the next time you hear a Tiger broadcaster say, “Rondon has nothing left to prove in the minors.”, strap yourself in, he’s going to start getting shelled.  Tonight, on queue, after Rod Allen uttered those words, Gordon Beckham hit a home run.

A win tomorrow afternoon would be nice.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural

White Sox Thrash Tigers 11-4

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This was a very strange game.  The offense looked sluggish, which was not all that surprising, considering it was the first home game after a long road trip.

I thought JV looked good for 7 innings.  The odd thing about this start was that Verlander kept getting the first two outs in the inning but then surrendered hits to extend the innings.  I don’t think he had a 1-2-3 inning but through 7 had allowed only 1 run on 100 pitches with 3 strike outs.

With the score tied at 1, I was a little surprised to see JV come out for the 8th.  Especially, with Rios and Dunn coming up.  Dunn hadn’t done much but Rios had a single and a triple off of Verlander.  As the 8th started, Coke was warming up in the bullpen.  I figured Leyland would let JV pitch to Rios and then bring Coke in to face the leftie Dunn.  But that wasn’t the case.

Rios led off with a single.  I looked to the dugout, no Leyland.  Rios stole second.  No Leyland.  Dunn homered to right.  No Leyland.  JV was left in for two more hitters.  He left the game not having recorded an out in the 8th, having surrendered 3 runs, and responsible for the runners at first and third.

Alburquerque steps to the hill to relieve JV and continued his Toledo Mud Hens audition, that began in earnest a few days ago in Cleveland, and promptly served up a three run homer to Dayan Viciedo.

By the time the top of the 8th was over, the Sox had scored 7 runs, blowing the game wide open.

JV’s final line looks horrible.  He pitched 7 plus and gave up 5 earned raising his era to 3.71.

I just don’t get it.  I’m usually the first one to scream about letting pitchers go out for another inning, but his was insane.  Perhaps the bullpen was depleted and JV was just a sacrificial lamb?  I think this was a horrible thing to do, not only to JV, but to any pitcher.  I feel like Leyland hung JV out to dry.  Perhaps the Tigers still would have lost but JV deserved a better fate.

“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural