Dailies

A’s Dust Tigers – The Misery Continues

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tonight’s game marked the first time in 56 games that the Tigers have had three consecutive starts of less than 6 innings.  It’s was a good run but now it’s just plain ugly!

It was Doug Fister’s turn to take a dump tonight.  He lasted only 5 innings and looked like he was throwing batting practice to the A’s.

If Fister was bad, the pen was worse.  It didn’t matter who Leyland threw out there, they got shelled.  Check out these lines:

Fister, 5 innings, 13 hits, 7 earned, 0 walks, 2 strike outs.

Alvarez, 2 and 1/3 innings, 5 hits, 5 earned, 0 walks, 1 strike out.  Alvarez is trying to get Phil Coke called up.  He’s been brutal since his call up.

Smyly, didn’t get anybody out.  He pitched 0 innings, 2 hits, 2 earned, 0 Walks.

Finally, Bonderman came on pitched an inning and 2/3, allowed 1 hit, no runs, and struck out 2.

Bonderman and Avila are my players of the game.  Bonderman was the only pitcher that could get anybody out and Alex Avila went 2 for 4 with 2 RBIs.  As I go to sleep tonight he has his batting average at .201, just over the Mendoza line.

Don’t look now but at the start of play tonight the Tigers lead over the Tribe was only 3 games.  And the Indians and Braves are tied at 2.  What this means is that all of the equity the Tigers gained from their 12 game win streak has been wiped out.  The Indians will come in town this weekend with a chance to tie the Tigers for the division lead.

Is this 2009?

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

If you can’t pitch, you can’t win…

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said Peter Gammons on many occasions.  Well the last few games, the Tigers didn’t pitch and didn’t win.

The Tigers lost to the A’s for the second day and for the second straight day, the pitching was horrible.

I’m not sure what to make of JV, to say he sucked tonight, would be an understatement.  He needed 44 pitches to get out of the 1st inning and ended up throwing 104 pitches in 5 innings.  Infante’s error in the 5th didn’t help him much, but he doesn’t look anything like the pitcher of the last two years.   Verlander’s final line was 5 complete, 5 runs, 3 earned, 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, Verlander would be 4th or 5th on my starter depth chart.  I have no confidence when he toes the slab anymore and I’ve lost hope of him getting any better before next year.  Unfortunately, to make a run, this is the JV the Tigers have to expect.

Bruce Rondon relieved JV in the 6th and Seth Smith promptly deposited the second pitch he threw over the center field wall.

Mercifully, this game was called after 6 innings due to rain.  I couldn’t take anymore.

Prince had a walk and drove in his 89th and 90th runs of the year with a bases loaded single in the first.  Other than that, there wasn’t much to cheer about.

Back at it tomorrow.  The Tigers need two in a row to split.

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

A’s 8 Tigers 6

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The bottom line is that the Tigers didn’t pitch well enough to win tonight.  Anibal Sanchez and the bull pen had a rough outing.

That being said, the Tigers had plenty of chances to even the score or take the lead.  They left the bases loaded in both the seventh and eight innings.

As the Tigers head down the stretch, Prince Fielder needs to start coming through or Cabrera will never get a chance to hit in crucial situations.  In the 7th inning, with two out, the A’s walked Miggy to load the bases preferring to pitch to Prince.  Fielder flew out deep to center field to end the inning.

Early in the season, Prince seemed to respond when a team walked Miggy to pitch to him, but he hasn’t lately.

On yesterday’s post, in the comments section, Sark asked, “Could you imagine this team with a good JV?”  I’d like to add to that, how good would the Tigers be if both JV and Fielder were performing?

I’m getting afraid that the team is counting too much on Miggy to get it done every night.  He just can’t come through in every situation, in every game.  That’s why it was so nice see Dirksy get the big hit in yesterday’s game.

Perhaps it’s time to move Fielder down to the 5 spot and Victor up to clean up?

The loss tonight makes the Tigers 1-3 in their last 4 home games.

Besides Fielder not coming through, it was disappointing to see the pitching give the lead back up twice, immediately after the Tigers came back to tie it.  But, really, we can’t complain too much about the pitching.

Torii Hunter left the bases loaded in the 8th when he struck out on 3 pitches.  Not the at bat the Tigers were looking for in that situation.

Coco Crisp was flashin leather tonight.  He robbed Tui of an extra base hit, thwarting a rally in the 8th, after Victor lead off with a solo homer.

Verlander is on the mound tomorrow and I’m not sure what to expect.  Just when I think he’s regaining his form, he goes out and takes a dump.

The Tigers need at least a split of this 4 game series with the A’s.

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

Good Ole Dirksey

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Paced by seven strong innings from Rick Porcello and a 3 RBI day from Andy Dirks, the Tigers beat the Mets and swept the weekend series at Citifield.

With the Tigers down 3-2, Andy Dirks hit a two run homer in the top of the 6th, to give the Tigers the lead for good.

It was a one run game going into the 9th but the Tigers exploded for 7 runs to put the game out of reach and give Porcello his 10 win of the season.

Good Ole Dirksy drove in another run in the 9th when he drew a bases loaded walk driving in the Mighty Miggy.

Speaking of Miggy, he was 3-4 and drove in 2 on his 42nd home run of the season to get the Tigers started in the 1st.

Ricky gave the Tigers 7 good innings. He allowed 3 earned on 4 hits, struck out 4 and walked 3.

The A’s are at Comerica tomorrow for a four game series.

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

Tigers Win, Scherzer 19-1

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Despite only scoring 3 runs on 15 hits the Tigers managed to beat Matt Harvey and the Mets 3-0.

Max Scherzer was cruising along and looked like he would go deep in the game but two at bats in the bottom of the 5th significantly shortened Max’s start.  Juan Lagares led off the inning and worked Max for a walk on 12 pitches.  John Buck followed and made Scherzer throw him 8 pitches before flying out to right field.  Max needed 35 pitches to get out of the 5th but kept the Mets off the board.

Scherzer’s final line was 6 innings, 3 hits, 11 strikeouts and 4 walks.  The 4 walks are a season high for Scherzer.  Max is only the third player in MLB history to start a season 19-1.  The last to do it was Roger Clemens in 1986.  Before Clemens, Rube Marquard, went 19-1 in 1912 for the New York Giants.

This game should have been a blow out but the Tigers lack of speed, coupled with their lack of extra base power today, kept the Mets in the game.  In the seventh, the Tigers looked like they would open the flood gates but failed to score on 4 consecutive singles. With one out, Infante and Cabrera singled, bringing Fielder up with runners on first and second.  Fielder delivered a single to left and Tom Brookens sent Infante home.  This was one of the worst sends by a third base coach I’ve ever seen.  Infante was out by 45 feet.  Tui then followed with another single to load the bases.  Torii Hunter, who didn’t start the game, came in to pinch hit for Andy Dirks, who was 3-3, and grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning and keep the score at 2-0.

The Tigers scored 2 runs off of Matt Harvey on 13 hits.  The 13 hits allowed are a career high for him.

The Tigers go for the sweep tomorrow with Rick Procello on the mound facing Dillon Gee.

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

Tigers 6 Mets 1

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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

Tigers lose game and series to Twins

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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

Tigers Beat Twins 7-1 – Even Series

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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

Lethargic…

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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

Jose Miguel Cabrera!

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in the words of John Kruk, “he’s just better than everybody else”.

Miggy started today’s game the way he ended yesterday’s.  He took the first pitch he saw from Royals’ starter, Bruce Chen, and deposited it over the left field wall for his 40th home run of the season.  Miggy’s blast gave the Tigers a 2-0 lead and the Tigers never looked back.  MIggy drove in another run with a single in the 3rd and finished the day 2-3, with a homer and 3 RBIs.

Here’s an animated GIF of Miggy’s 40th courtesy of the Bless You Boys Blog at SBNATION.

Miggy's 40th
Miggy’s 40th

After today’s game, Miggy is hitting .360, has 120 RBIs, and 40 home runs.

A bit over shadowed my Miggy’s performance was Max Scherzer.  Max picked up his 18th win of the season.  He pitched 8 innings allowed 2 earned, struck out 4 and didn’t give up a walk.  He and Roger Clemens are the only pitchers since 1919 to pick up 18 wins in their first 19 decisions.  He should be the runaway winner of this year’s Cy Young award.

Miggy was intentionally walked in the 5th.  The thing I’m wondering is, how long will any team continue to pitch to Cabrera?  I know if I was an opposing manager, I would pitch to him rarely especially while Prince Fielder isn’t hitting as well as his track record shows.  Additionally, teams really can’t pitch around Miggy, via the unintentional intentional walk, because he’s proved time and again that he can and will expand his strike zone and do major damage.

Tigers fans, you are seeing on a regular basis, the best hitter in baseball, and probably one of the best of all time.

Behind Miggy and Scherzer, the Tigers took the rubber game of this 5 game series and welcome the Twins to Comerica Park this Tuesday.

Update: Cleveland Indians second baseman, Jason Kipnis, tweeted this after the game, “Dear Miggy… You’re making the rest of us look bad.. Knock it off! – MLB Hitters”.  Hat Tip to Sark for pointing out the Kipnis tweet.  I’ve retweeted it and it can be seen on the right side of this page.

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