After winning the first two against Boston I thought the Tigers were going to turn it around. Instead they proceeded to lose two in a row.
The Tigers don’t have a closer. Nathan hasn’t been good and Joba failed a test on Sunday, giving up three runs in the ninth to take the loss.
They followed that debacle up with a loss to the White Sox yesterday. Ricky pitched horribly and I’m getting worried he’s not going to have the season I thought and hoped he would.
Perhaps today’s rain out is a good thing. Maybe it will break the bad mojo.
The one thing that perplexes me is why the Tigers can never seem to find a closer. In contrast, the A’s never sign a closer and always seem to find someone to pitch the ninth inning. Maybe DD should take a look at what they do.
In any case, all we have now is to hope this team can somehow put it together.
Maybe it can start with a ball smokin performance from JV tomorrow.
We’ll see.
“God I love baseball.” Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Flashin' Leather 
Well the rain out means Drew misses another start more rust or rest I don’t know…..IF I believe everything I read in the papers today Nathan is our closer until he “finds” himself. I’ll loan him a map. Championship teams have players that stand up. We have seen these guys win. Either they want it or they don’t. As you note we’ll see!
If they don’t want after a 30 year drought, when are they going to want it?
Until they start pitching better they’re dead in the water. And I mean the starters. This whole mess began when Ausmus decided RP needed extra days rest after he smoked the Red Sox in Boston. That meant they had to keep Ray for one more start, in which he got lit up, and meant they were a guy short in the bullpen for almost a week. They have been playing catchup ever since. I’ve been easy on Ausmus so far, but he is starting to do some of the same things Leyland did that frustrated me. Such as batting DK in the same lineup spot as the person he is replacing. Last night he had him #2.. Now I am firmly in the DK camp, and he is invaluable as a super sub. But there is no situation on this team where he should be hitting #2. The other day Nathan did not come in because he had pitched 2 nights in a row. Well so did Joba, and it showed in his performance. The kid at SS has been a shot in the arm so far, but it hasn’t resulted in any wins. Offense isn’t their biggest problem, starting pitching is.. Until that changes this team is going nowhere. I agree that Nathan is useless. His stuff is garbage and very hittable. I would not be surprised to see him take a stint on the DL soon, so he can ‘find himself’. In my opinion this team still needs a Billy Martin type of manager. As in screw the long-term and better health of my players, I’m going to win now. This type of manager probably doesn’t exist anymore. Enough ranting. Hope your back is feeling better Chris.
Ya know Sark you hit it out in the first sentence pitching. Bingo Good Job!