Tigers 6 Mets 1

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers Alex Avila, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Doug Fister, Drew Smyly, Jose Miguel Cabrera, Matt Harvey, Max Scherzer, Miggy, Mighty Miggy, Miguel Cabrera

The Tigers beat the Mets tonight, 6-1, a Citifield.

With the game tied 1-1, the Tigers exploded for four runs in the second for a 5-1 lead. As usual, Doug Fister, put up zeroes and shut the Mets out, with help from his friends in the pen.

The big blast in the second inning, came off the bat of the Mighty Miggy. With two on and two out Miggy took the first pitch from Daisuke Matsuzaka and sent it over the left field wall for his 41st of the season. Torii Hunter hit a solo shot in the first to get the Tigers started and AJax, Austin Jackson, capped off the scoring with a solo home run in the 7th.

This was the first start for Daisuke Matsuzaka in the big leagues in over a year and other than the second inning, I thought he pitched pretty well. He gave the Mets 5 innings, allowed 5 earned runs on 6 hits. He struck out 4 and walked 1. If he could have avoided the long ball, his line would look a lot better. If I were a Mets fan, I would be fairly happy with what Daisuke gave them.

For the Tigers, Fister, was aces. But I think the important thing today was the pitching of Drew Smyly. Smyly relieved Fister with one out in the 7th and inherited runners on 1st and 2nd. Smyly got Eric Young Jr. on strikes and got Daniel Murphy to fly out to right to end the threat. This was big because I thought Smyly struggled, just a bit, in his last few outings but looked impressive today.

Victor Martinez started at catcher tonight for the first time in two years or so and looked pretty good. I’m not sure what I was expecting but Victor didn’t look broken down at all. He actually looks like he’s feeling pretty well. In fact, in the first inning, on the play that the Mets scored their only run, Victor made a nice play at the plate. Don Kelly made a great throw from left field, and Victor received the ball well and did a good job of blocking the plate. Although, the runner was safe, it was a solid play on both ends by DK and Victor and not one I would expect from an ailing catcher.

The Tigers got some bad news regarding Alex Avila today. Apparently, he’s been playing in Toledo and has complained of headaches. Concussions are tricky things and I hope this doesn’t linger. That being said, I think Alex has looked broken down and beaten up since the end of the 2011 season and I think his declining offensive production is directly related to his ailing body. While I hope his concussion problems get solved I think an extended period of rest would the be best for his career in the long term. I think Alex is so beaten up that it will take more than a few months for him to recover. If Victor feels ok, perhaps the Tigers should consider making Pena the starter, let Martinez spell him once a week or so, and just let Alex rest. While I like Alex and wish nothing but the best for him, I think a six months to a year off would do the trick for him. He needs to get healthy not only for the Tigers long term, but for himself.

Scherzer v Harvey tomorrow afternoon.

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

Ranking all the uniforms of Major League Baseball. | SportsonEarth.com : Will Leitch Article

August 23, 2013August 23, 2013 Crippy Baseball Sports on Earth, Uniform Rankings, Willie Leitch

Willie Leitch from Sports on Earth has come out with his uniform rankings. The Tigers, again, finished 6th.

You can view Leith’s article here.

Major League Baseball Uniform Rankings — The classic uniforms of the Los Angeles Dodgers, New York Yankees and St. Louis Cardinals are hard to beat. (USA TODAY Sports)

If anybody cares how I would rank the uniforms, and I assume you might, since you’re kind enough to read Flashin Leather, here are my top six:

Detroit Tigers
Oakland Athletics
St. Louis Cardinals
New York Yankees
Los Angeles Dodgers
Baltimore Orioles

I tip my hat to Flashin Leather reader, and good buddy, William Wallace for pointing the above article out to me.

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

Scenes From Comerica Park 8/22/2013

August 22, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Detroit Tigers Comerica Park, Detroit Tigers, Minnesota Twins

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

Tigers lose game and series to Twins

August 22, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers Austin Jackson, Brayan Pena, Bruce Rodon, Bryan Holaday, Chris Hermann, Jim Leyland, Justin Verlander

This was a disgusting loss. The Tigers fell to the Twins 7-6 this afternoon at Comerica Park and dropped the series 2-1. Since the their 12 game win streak ended , the Tigers have lost series to the Yankees, White Sox and Twins.

I wrote yesterday how shutting down the running game and using the running game on offense were issues for the Tigers. But I can’t fall back on that today. The Tigers didn’t pitch well enough to win today.

Starting pitcher, Justin Verlander, lasted 7 innings but was just short of terrible. He allowed 10 hits and six earned runs while walking 3 and striking out 6. I don’t have the words for JV. In one start he looks like he’s the JV of old, in the next he looks like he’s not going to get anybody out. Today was the latter.

The Tigers were down 6-2 heading to the bottom of the 6th. Bryan Holaday, for the second night in a row, sparked a Tigers rally. With two out, Infate on third and Igelsias on 2nd, Holaday drove in Infante and turned the lineup over for Austin Jackson who tied the score with a 3 run shot.

The scored stayed tied at 6 into the top of the 8th when Bruce Rondon gave up the winning run on a walk and a Chris Hermann double. It looked like Austin Jackson misjudged the ball off of Hermann’s bat but regardless, when you give up 6 runs, you can’t expect to win many games.

In the bottom of the 8th and the Tigers trailing 7-6, Jim Leyland pinch hit Brayan Pena for Matt Holaday. Normally, I wouldn’t have a problem with this move, but Holaday was having a nice game. He was 2-2 with a walk, 2 RBIs, and his first MLB home run. I think he should have played the hot hand and let Holaday bat.

Off to NYC for a weekend series with the Mets.

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

Scenes From Comerica Park | 8/21/2013

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Detroit Tigers Anibal Sanchez, Mickey Lolich, Tiger Single Game Strikeout record

Mickey Lolich delivered the game ball to the mound for Anibal Sanchez.

On April 26th of this year, against the Atlanta Braves, Anibal Sanchez broke Mickey Lolich’s, Tiger, single game strikeout record. Sanchez bested Lolich’s 16 by one.

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

Tigers Beat Twins 7-1 – Even Series

August 21, 2013August 21, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers Anibal Sanchez, Brian Dozier, Bryan Holaday, Iggy, Jose Iglesias, Jose Miguel Cabrera, Kevin Correia, Miguel Cabrera, Pedro Florimon, Prince Fielder, Victor Martinez

Behind 6 and 2/3 strong innings from Anibal Sanchez, the Tigers beat the Twins 7-1, at Comerica Park tonight.

This was a frustrating game to watch for 6 and half innings. The Tigers offense seemed like it could do nothing against Twins’ starter Kevin Correia, despite having 6 hits entering the 7th inning.

The problem with the Tigers’ offense is their lack of speed. Cabrera, Fielder, Martinez and Infante can’t run at all. While none of these guys are burners, injuries have slowed them further. Additionally, as a team, they steal very few bases and rarely take an extra base on singles, especially going first to third. Given this lack of offensive speed, the Tigers have two ways of scoring. First, and most difficult, is to play station to station and string together 3-4 base hits. The second way is to hit home runs, and extra base hits in the outfield gaps. When they aren’t getting the extra base power their offense fizzles and looks lethargic. Today’s game was a case in point, for 6 innings, and there was no better example than Victor Martinez hitting a ball off the right field wall and settling for a single in the 4th.

On defense, the biggest problem the Tigers have is stopping, or slowing down, the running game. I hate to sound like a broken record but every team the Tigers play runs on them at will. In the top of the 7th, I thought the story of the game was going to be a 1-0 Tiger loss and a wasted quality start from Anibal. With two out in the 7th, Sanchez walked the Twins’ number 9 hitter, Pedro Florimon. Florimon promptly stole second and scored on a Brian Dozier single giving the Twins a 1-0 lead and chasing Sanchez.

Luckily, the Tigers’ offense exploded for 4 runs in the 7th and 3 in the 8th. The big hit came in the 7th. With two out, and nothing really to cheer about, Bryan Holaday extended the inning and turned the lineup over with a single. Austin Jackson followed with another single and Torii Hunter doubled in Jackson and Holaday to open the flood gates and give the Tigers the lead.

An oddity in Today’s game was the pattern Sanchez fell in to. In the first four innings, Sanchez retired the first two hitters easily. However, with two outs he would give up base runners. In fact, it wasn’t until the 5th inning that Anibal had his first 1-2-3 inning. I’m not sure what this means, or if it means anything, it just struck me as a little odd.

Jose Iggy Iglesias continues to impress. In addition to his stellar defense, he had two more hits tonight raising his average to .324, not too bad for a guy known for his glove.

Verlander pitches tomorrow afternoon. This is a win the Tigers must have. (It sounds like I say that a lot.)

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

Scenes from Comerica Park 8/20/2013

August 21, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Detroit Tigers Prince Fielder

This was my highlight from the Tigers / Twins game.

Prince Goes Deep — Prince rounding third after homer against Twins

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

Lethargic…

August 20, 2013August 21, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers Brayan Pena, Comerica Park, Jose Iglesias, Jose Miguel Cabrera, Justin Morneau, Miguel Cabrera, Mike Pelfry, Phil Coke, Prince Fielder, Rick Porcello, Ricky Porcello, Victor Martinez

is the best way to describe the game tonight. The Tigers looked flat and disinterested and I got that feeling the minute I walked into Comerica Park.

Rick Porcello was good for 3 innings but, for the second straight outing, fell apart in the 4th.

Ricky only lasted 4 and 1/3, striking out 6, walking 2, and allowing 5 earned runs on 7 hits.

With one out in the 5th, Phil Coke relieved Porcello to pitch to lefty Justin Morneau and surrendered a two run double. That is the last batter Coke will face in a Tiger uniform for a while as he was sent to Toledo immediately after the game. Jose Alvarez was called up to replace him.

I’m sorry to see Coke go but I can’t make excuses for him anymore. After struggling this year he was basically used as a left handed specialist for the last few months but couldn’t get lefties out. I guess the Tigers have just decided that they’ve seen enough and can’t afford to use a roster spot for a lefty that can’t get out lefties.

The offense didn’t look that good today, and they did their best to make Mike Pelfry and his 5.19 ERA look like a Cy Young contender. Even the Mighy Miggy didn’t really have good at bats today. He ended the night 1-5 and ended the game by striking out with the tying runs on base. But the Tigers can’t count on him to bail the them out every game.

The at bats, as a team, got better in the late innings but they just couldn’t get the big hit to get them back in the game.

On the flip side, Prince had a homer and two RBIs tonight. And Victor Martinez, Brayan Pena and Jose Iglesias each had two hits.

Let’s see if they can get back to winning tomorrow. It would bad to lose this series to the Twins.

Update: Here is a link to the Freep regarding Coke’s demotion.

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

Tigers Uniforms Rate 6th Best in Baseball by Uni Watch

August 19, 2013 Crippy Baseball, Detroit Tigers Detroit Tiger, Paul Lukas, Uni Watch

Here is what they had to say about the Tigers uniform.

Fun fact: The Tigers’ pants have more belt loops than any other team’s. Been that way for decades. No real reason for it — it’s just one of those team-specific quirks (although it no doubt comes in handy for Prince Fielder’s uni).

Here is a link to the article.

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