Year: 2015

Tigers 5 Twins 4

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Alfredo Simon pitched well, better than his final line indicated.  He ran into some bad luck in seventh but this was a quality start. Both VerHagen and Simon’s outings would look and feel better if they had a little luck but both pitched well.

Victor Martinez had three hits and should have, should have, had four. This is his first three hit game since July according to Mario Impemba.

James McCann had three hits, raising his batting average to .276. I didn’t realize, he hasn’t made an error all season.  This is a very impressive rookie campaign.

Drew VerHagen and Alex Wilson both looked good out of the pen and the Tigers have a chance for a series win tomorrow night.

The Twins missed a chance to pick up a game on the Yankees and Blue Jays who both lost tonight.

UPDATE: I almost forgot to mention the perfectly executed hit and run and safety squeeze the Tigers pulled off in the top of the ninth inning. These two plays resulted in the fifth and winning run.  My first thought was, bravo.  My second thought was, ‘where has this been all year?’ In any case, I guess it is better late than never.

Don’t Forget About Jack Eichel…

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who was the second pick in the 2015 NHL draft behind Connor McDavid.  I saw Eichel play at the World Junior tournament last year in Montreal and he looked like a fabulous playmaker.  I know Sabres fans were disappointed when they lost the McDavid lottery but I think they are going to be very happy with Jack Eichel.

From the The Hockey News:

At the Sabres’ prospect tournament finale Monday night, Buffalo’s prospect squad took on Boston’s prospects in a contest to determine who the winner of the three-team tournament would be. The Sabres were down 2-0 after the first frame, but cut the lead to 2-1 in the second frame. That’s when Eichel made two special plays worthy of the hype that comes along with being the second-overall selection at the 2015 draft.

In the third, with Buffalo down 2-1, Eichel received a pass on the left wing and walked in to the Bruins’ left-wing faceoff circle before delivering a picture perfect cross-ice saucer pass that landed right on the tape of Brycen Martin. Martin made no mistake, firing home the game-tying goal.

Prince Fielder | Conniption Shot

Crippy Conniption Shot

9/14/2015 – This normally wouldn’t qualify as hitting ball into a conniption but I want to say a few words about Prince Fielder.  I was mad at him for the way he played and acted at the end of the 2013 season and didn’t want him back in a Tigers uniform.  However, being two years removed from the ALCS loss to Boston, and my high blood, down somewhat, I’ve forgiven him.  He went through a horrible ordeal in the Tigers clubhouse in 2013.  I hope everything has turned around for him and his family.  It looks like he’s got his hitting shoes on again.

Twins 7 Tigers 1

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J.D. continues to hit the ball hard and Kyle Ryan looked good in out of the bullpen.  I was really happy with Ryan’s performance because Ausmus had to make another early call to the pen and Ryan delivered 4.2 solid innings.  Ryan and VerHagen just might be long relief options for 2016.

Andrew Romine is a solid utility player that can flash leather at any position and can swing the bat just enough.  I haven’t said enough about him this year.

I’m not sure if anybody else noticed but Nick Castellanos has similar offensive numbers to Minnesota’s All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier.  Nick “The Quick” is hitting, .250, with 15 hrs and 68 rbis.  Dozier is hitting .239, with 27 hrs and 70 rbis.  The homer are way higher for Dozier but he only has two more runs batted in. I know you expect more power from third base but I I couldn’t help it, the numbers just struck me as interesting.

Tigers Split Doubleheader With Tribe

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In losing game one JV pitched better than his line although his two walks and hit batter came back to haunt him. He didn’t get hit hard he just ran into some hard luck when a few bloopers found the outfield grass. Of course the offense and bullpen didn’t help him out either.

In game two Randy Wolf only lasted three innings but limited the damage to two runs and the offense and pen came to his aid, the opposite of what they did for JV in game one.

Basically this doubleheader was a microcosm of the 2015 season.

On another note, Miggy is really struggling. Despite hitting the ball hard a few times he looks bad at the plate. In game two he came to bat with the bases loaded twice and struck out and grounded into a double play. As always, it’s hard to complain about the Mighty Miggy but he’s pretty much one of only three reasons left to tune in the rest of this season so when he’s on a bad run it makes the games even harder to watch.

J.D. just might get to 100 RBIs.