Dailies

Tigers Top Tribe 6-5. Extend Win Streak to 11.

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Courtesy of a clutch two run double from Prince Fielder in the 14th inning, the Tigers were able to overcome some questionable substitutions, and extend their winning streak to 11 games.

Tigers’ manager, Jim Leyland, seems to have what can only be called an asinine obsession with Andy Dirks.  No matter what, come hell or high water, Leyland has to figure out a way to get Dirks into the game.  Why?  Am I missing something?  Is Dirks some kind of defensive wizard or offensive juggernaut? Tonight, with the Tigers down 3-2, Leyland brought in Dirks to pinch hit for, arguably the best defensive player on the team, Jose Iglesias to lead off the 8th inning.  I understand that Iglesias hadn’t done much against Indians pitcher Danny Salazar but not too many other Tigers had either.  In fact, at that point, Salazar had struck out the best player in the game, Miguel Cabrera, 3 times.

If bringing Dirks in wasn’t strange enough, Leyland wasn’t done tinkering.  Unbelievably, after Cabrera hit a two-run shot to give the Tigers the lead 4-3 in the 8th, Leyland pulled Miggy out of the game for a defensive replacement.  Should Miguel Cabrera ever be taken out of a close game unless he’s injured?  As a result, Dirks went to left field, Don Kelly went to third, Santiago went to short and Hernan Perez, now hitting in Cabrera’s spot, went to second.  If the Tribe tied the game, Miguel Cabrera would not bat again.

The Tribe came back to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th.  Cabrera didn’t bat again.

Luckily the Tigers were able to pull this game out in extra innings, but WOW!  You’re in extra innings, against your closest division rival, and Miguel Cabrera was out of the game.

On the bright side, Bruce Rondon and Jeremy Bonderman were very impressive.  Rondon bailed out the usually lights out Drew Smyly, in the bottom of the 8th.  He inherited runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out.  He blew Ryan Raburn away with a 103 MPH fastball,  He got Yan Gomes to ground out to shortstop, who for some reason was playing back.  The Tigers got the out at first but the tying run scored.  Rondon then got Mike Avilies to pop out to short to end the inning.  He would stay in and pitch a 1-2-3 9th.  This was a big pick-me-up for the usually solid Smyly.

Jeremy Bonderman was equally impressive in his first appearance as a Tiger since 2010.  Bonderman pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit while striking out 3.  Bonderman looked like he did when he was the ace of the Tigers staff back in 2006.

In the top of the 10th, I saw two of the most horrible swings I’ve ever seen in 35 years of watching baseball.  Hernan Perez struck out on a pitch that was three feet outside.  The pitch was so bad it got by Indians’ catcher Yan Gomes and Perez was able to make it to first without a throw.  Next, Prince Fielder, struck out on a pitch that HIT HIM.  That’s right, he swung at the pitch, he missed it, and the ball hit him in the left thigh.

This was a very strange game.  I’m just glad the Tigers came out on top.

Update: I just heard Leyland in a post game interview.  He said the took Miggy out for defensive reasons.  He said Miggy wasn’t moving too well at 3rd so he moved Kelly to 3rd to solidify the defense.  So, remind me again, why you took Iglesias out?

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

10 IN A ROW!

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The Tigers opened up a 5 game lead on the Indians in the American League Central courtesy of their 5-1 victory over Cleveland tonight.

The Tigers needed a big game from Justin Verlander, and the former MVP and CY Young winner didn’t disappoint.  He pitched 8 complete innings, allowing 1 earned run on 4 hits.  He struck out 7 and walked none.  JV delivered!

It wasn’t looking good early, offensively, the Tigers let Justin Masterson off the hook in the second.  They loaded the bases with nobody out but Masterson struck out Alex Avila and Jose Iglesias and got Santiago to ground to second to end the inning without surrendering a run.

Entering the 5th inning, the Tigers trailed 1-0, but then the bats exploded.  Miguel Cabrera doubled in the go ahead run, his 100th RBI of the season.  Prince followed with a ground out moving Cabrera to third.  Masterson hit Victor to put runners at first and third with 2 out.  Then DK, Don Kelly, stepped to the plate and on the third pitch he saw delivered a three run homer giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead which was more than enough for JV.

Jose Veras pitched a scoreless 9th and the Tigers recorded their 10th consecutive win.

DK, Don Kelly, had a day.  He was 3-4 with the three-run homer in the 5th and was also flashin leather.  He robbed Lonnie Chisenhall of extra bases with a fine running catch in the bottom of the 8th.  The time truly has come for DK.

With Fister and Scherzer pitching the final two games in Cleveland the Tigers might be able to sweep and leave Ohio with a 7 game lead.

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

A SQUARED MONEY!

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Things weren’t looking good for the Tigers.  This was a pitcher’s dual but going into the 9th inning the Indians had managed to scratch out 2 runs against Anibal Sanchez and led the first game of this crucial, 4 game, series 2-1.

The Tigers had some base runners in the first two innings but couldn’t push across any runs.  From then on, they were dominated by Indians starter Corey Kluber.  Kluber pitched 7 and 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 6 hits, striking out 6 and walking one.  He was ahead of Tigers hitters all night.

The Tigers ran themselves out an inning in the 8th when Austin Jackson got thrown out at second.  After Torii Hunter singled, Ramon Santiago was held at third by Tom Brookens.  Apparently, Jackson didn’t see Santiago getting held up and rounded second.  Right fielder, Drew Stubbs threw behind Jackson and instead of the bases loaded with 1 out, the Tigers had runners and first and third with two out.  Miggy grounded to second to end the inning.

The Indians brought in closer Chris Perez to pitch the 9th and the Tigers pounded him.  He gave up all four Tiger runs and didn’t record an out.  The big hit was a three-run homer off of the bat of Alex “A Squared Money” Avila.  Alex has had a tough year at the plate but he’s had some big hits.  None bigger, at this point, than this homer.

Anibal Sanchez pitched well today. He went 7 and 2/3, gave up 2 earned on 4 hits, struck out 11 and walked two.  Although he didn’t get the win, it is fantastic that this performance wasn’t wasted.

The Indians Jason Kipnis was flashin leather tonight.  He robbed Dirks and Iggy of base hits.

Coincidentally, it was a year ago to the day, August 5th, 2012, that Indians closer, Chris Perez, had a meltdown in a Sunday, afternoon, game at Comerica Park.  Last year, Miggy hit a big home run off of him.  Tonight, it was A Squared Money!  Perhaps he should take the 5th of August off in the future.

IMHO, Miggy looks like he’s still not 100%.  It might be a good idea to put him on the 15 day DL and get him nice and healthy for the final stretch?  I’m not sayin’.  I’m just sayin’,

JV is on the hill tomorrow.  Tomorrow would be a nice time for him to return to his form of the last two years.

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

Tigers Complete Perfect Homestand, Sweep White Sox 3-2.

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Behind 7 and 2/3 strong innings from Rick Porcello, the Tigers beat the White Sox 3-2, swept the series and finished the current home-stand 8-0.  And, they needed the win, as the Indians keep rolling.

Ricky allowed only one run, a home run to Adam Dunn, on 8 hits.  He struck out 4 and walked 1 while throwing 93 pitches.

The Tigers were leading 2-1 going into the top of the 9th.  Smyly came on to relieve Porcello with 2 out in the eighth and struck Adam Dunn out to end the inning.  In what can only be called an interesting move, Jim Leyland sent Smyly out for the 9th.  The first batter he faced in the 9th was right handed, power hitter, Paul Konerko.  Konerko hit Smyly’s second pitch, a 91 mph hour fast ball into the seats to tie the game.

The Tigers were unable to score in the bottom of the 9th so on they played into extra innings.

In the bottom of the 12th inning Miggy came in to pinch hit for Ramon Santiago and lead off with a single. Tui pinch-ran for Miggy and Jackson sacrificed Tui over to second with one out.  Torii Hunter stepped to the plate and delivered a single which scored Tui, ended the game, and gave the Tigers a perfect home-stand.

What was interesting about Leyland’s decision to leave Smyly in for the 9th, is that I thought this was the situation the Tigers got Veras for.  Benoit was unavailable today, so I wrongly assumed that Veras would be used to close the game.  Instead he left Smyly in to face the right handed hitting Konerko?  To make things more confusing, Veras was immediately brought in to replace Smyly and retired the next three White Sox in order.  I guess my question is, why not bring Veras in to start the 9th especially with a righty leading off?

Anyway, Veras pitched scoreless 9th and 10th innings and Bruce Rondon was money as he pitched the 11th and 12th allowing only 1 hit, striking out 3 and the big number, he walked 0, and got the win.

Two things really impressed me.  The first was Miggy’s ability to step to the plate after not playing for almost 5 games and deliver a lead-off single.  The second, was Bruce Rondon’s pitching.  For a guy who had problems finding the strike zone, he had nice command today.

A big series with the Indians starts tomorrow.  Perhaps the Tigers can break their will with a series win?  We’ll see.

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

Pitching, Defense, and Solo Homers…

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not quite the formula advocated by the late Earl Weaver, but it is a formula that powered the Tigers to their 7th straight win, and Max Scherzer to his 16th win of the season.

Scherzer improved his record to 16-1 tonight as he blanked the White Sox 3-0 at Comerica Park.  Scherzer pitched 7 and 2/3 scoreless innings, limiting the Sox to 3 hits.  He struck out 6 and walked 3 on 107 pitches.

Jose Veras got the last out in the 8th and Joaquin Benoit recorded his 12th save by pitching a scoreless 9th

The offense was supplied by solo home runs from Torii Hunter, Jose Iglesias, and Jhonny Peralta.

Iglesias played third again tonight for the ailing Miguel Cabrera and looked excellent.  His fielding looks like it comes naturally and his hitting, to this point, is better than advertised.  We still need Miggy back, although the Tigers are 7-1 without him in the lineup.  The rumor is that he won’t play tomorrow either but will suit up for the Indians series.

Despite the torrid pace the Tigers are on, 7 in a row and 10 out of the last 11, they can’t distance the Indians.  The Indians won again tonight and remain only 3 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central.  And, don’t look now but the Royals are only 7.5 back.

On a different note, today was Mexican heritage tonight at Comerica Park.  Before the game, the Tigers honored former pitcher, Juan Berenguer.  Much like retiring Willie Horton’s number to be politically correct, it seems like the Tigers were in dire need of a Mexican player to honor, and they must have pulled Berenguer’s name out of a hat, or more precisely, a BIG hat.  This whole ceremony was asinine.  Berenguer pitched parts of 4 seasons for the Tigers, hardly a track record that would warrant a ceremony.  In any case that’s my take on it.

The Tigers go for the sweep and a perfect home stand tomorrow afternoon with Ricky on the hill.

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

Fister, Tigers Keep Rolling! Win 6th Straight At Home!

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Behind a fantastic performance by Doug Fister, the Tigers beat the White Sox 2-1 tonight at Comerica Park to win their 6th straight on the current home-stand.

Fister was dealing.  He pitched 8 complete, allowed only 1 earned run on 7 hits.  He struck out 2 and walked none on only 88 pitches.

Benoit came in and closed the game out pitching a scoreless 9th.

The offense was led by Prince Fielder, Jose Iglesias, who played 3rd for the ailing Miguel Cabrera, and Austin Jackson.

In the Tigers’ half of the fourth, Prince Fielder led off with a double and moved to 3rd on a Victor Martinez fly out.  Jhonny Peralta followed Martinez with a fly ball but it wasn’t deep enough to score Fielder.  That brought Iglesias to the plate with two out and Fielder at third.  In his first game as a Tiger, Iglesias delivered a line drive, base hit, to right that gave the Tigers a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the 5th Austin Jackson hit a solo shot to give Tigers a 2-0 lead and Fister and Benoit made it stand up.

The key moment in the game came in the top of the 8th.  With the Tigers leading 2-1, Dayan Viciedo led off with a single.  Jordan Danks came in to pinch-run.  Gordon Beckham came to the plate and with a 3-1 count hit a ground ball just to the right of second.  However, the hit and run was on so Santiago was moving toward second on the pitch.  This was a fortunate break for the Tigers because instead of a single up the middle, Santiago was able to field the grounder, step on second and fire to first for a double play.

I really hope Miggy gets well soon.  I’m not sure how long the Tigers can keep rolling without him.  Also, it is a small sample but the rumors look true regarding newly acquired Jose Iglesias.  He looks very smooth in the field.  His demeanor reminds me of the Orioles Manny Machado.  I’m not sure how much he’s going to hit, but it looks like he can flash leather.

The Tigers picked up a game on the Tribe who got pounded in Miami 10-0.

Scherzer goes for his 16th win tomorrow night.

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

Tiger Dust Nationals! Sweep Two Game Series 11-1!

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The Tigers but a beating on Nationals, southpaw, Gio Gonzalez, this afternoon at Comerica Park.  They touched Gio, who may be joining Jhonny Peralta in the detention room,  up for 10 earned runs on 11 hits.

Justin Verlander got the win improving his record to 11-8 and lowering his era to 3.88.  JV pitched 6 innings, gave up 4 hits, and one earned run.  The lone Nationals run came in the 1st inning.  I wish I could say that after a rough first inning, JV was lights out the rest of the way, but I’d be lying.  Sometimes a pitcher’s final line looks worse than it actually was. Today, IMHO, JV’s line looks better than it was.  He seemed to be in trouble all game and had a hard time finding the strike zone as evidenced by his 5 walks to go along with his 5 strikeouts.  Velander’s velocity looks ok but he doesn’t seem to be able to command any pitch, including the fast ball.  He was behind the Nationals hitters all day and threw 103 pitches in his 6 innings of work.

I don’t pretend to know what happened to JV but I’m not optimistic about him getting right before the end of the season.  I think the best the Tigers can hope for is what we saw this afternoon, 6 decent innings, making him the 4th or 5th man in the rotation.  Hopefully, he can get fixed in the off-season and return to form next year. It is hard for me to believe that he’s on the downside of his career.  I really hope I’m correct.

Alex Avila, has raised his batting average to .200 courtesy of a 2 for 3 day.  He hit a 2 run homer in the 2nd off of Gonzalez, walked and struck out in the 4th, and singled in the 7th.  Slowly, but seemingly surely, Alex seems to be coming out of his 1.5 year slump.  Again, I hope I’m right, I’ve always liked A Squared Money and hate to see him struggle so terribly.

Torii Hunter has a great day and was a triple short of the cycle.

Prince Fielder and Austin Jackson need to pick things up. Both are hitting in the .260s.  Right now, it isn’t hurting too badly because everybody else is hitting, but the Tigers are going to need them if they hope to end this 29 year World Series drought.

Miguel Cabrera was not in the lineup and I’m worried he might be more hurt than the Tigers are letting on.

The White Sox are in town this weekend.

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

Tigers Beat Strasburg, Nationals 5-1

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Aided by Alex Avila’s first career grand slam in the bottom of the 6th inning, the Tigers beat the Washington Nationals 5-1.

This was a pitchers dual until the 6th when Prince Fielder took an off speed pitch the other way to single with one out.  Martinez followed with a double and Peralta walked to load the bases.  After Dirks struck out, A Squared Money, aka Alex Avila, took a 96 mph, Starsburg, fastball out to right field giving the Tigers a 5-1 lead.

Avila finished the night 1-4 and has his batting average up to .195.

Andy Dirks had two hits including a double in the 4th that drove in the Tigers first run tying the game at 1.

What I was most impressed with today was the defense of Miguel Cabrera.  He made two outstanding plays.  The first, came in the 1st inning with Bryce Harper at 3rd after a lead off triple.  Anthony Rendon hit a ground ball to third that Miggy snagged, keeping Harper at third, and getting Rendon at first.  The second, Flashin Leather play by Miggy, came in the 5th when he robbed Wilson Ramos of a double.  When Miggy first came to the Tigers, his play at 3rd was not good.  However, I thought he turned himself into a good first baseman and since he moved back to third his glove is underrated.  Miggy is a complete player, not just a slugger.  The only downside to Miggy’s leather flashin is that he appeared to aggravate something after his play on Ramos and came out of the game in the top of the 8th.  Let’s hope its nothing serious.

Anibal Sanchez pitched 7 solid innings allowing only 1 run on 5 hits and got the win, improving his record to 9-7.

JV goes tomorrow against Gio Gonzalez.  JV needs a good outing.  Game time is 1:05 pm.

Update:  I forgot to mention, newly acquired, Jose Veras pitched a scoreless 8th and Joaquin Benoit pitched the 9th.  Again, Leyland brought Benoit in, his supposed closer, in a non-save situation.  Perhaps he wanted to get Benoit the work?  He hadn’t pitched since the first game in the Philly series.  I don’t know but I’m not sure I get it.

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

SWEEP!

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The Tigers beat the Phillies 12-4 today sweeping the weekend series.

This was one of the strangest games I’ve witnessed.  The Tigers fell behind early and it looked like they weren’t going to score many runs.  They failed to score after loading the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the third.

What made this game strange?

  • With the bases loaded, two out and Miguel Cabrera at bat, home plate umpire Chad Fairchild, ejected Miggy from the game for arguing balls and strikes.
  • Matt Tuiasosopo replaced Miggy, inherited his two strike count, and got caught looking to end the inning.
  • In the bottom of the 6th and the scored tied at 3, the Tigers scored 8 runs, all unearned, on two hits, and three Phillies errors.

For me the key to the big inning, and the game, was Victor Martinez’s at bat in the bottom of the 6th.  This was one of the better at bats I’ve seen from a Tiger all year.  With three runs already across and two out, Victor worked a walk, driving in the fourth run of the inning with an 11 pitch at bat.  He fouled off 5 pitches with two strikes.  This allowed Jhonny Peralta to step to the plate and hit a grand slam that broke the game wide open and effectively put it out of reach.

Ramon Santiago had 3 hits including two bunt singles.  Prince Fielder is concerning me a little.  He was 0 for 5 with 11 runners left on base and his batting average is down to .261.  This could become a real problem if it continues.

The Nationals are in town Tuesday.

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

Tigers Dust Phillies! Scherzer 15-1!

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The Phillies are down and Tigers had no problem kicking them tonight at Comerica Park.

With Hunter and Cabrera back in the lineup, the Tigers jumped on Cliff Lee’s replacement, Raul Valdes, by putting up a 8 runs in the first two innings.

Miggy started the onslaught with a solo shot, his 32nd, with two out, in the bottom of the first. Fielder, Martinez and Peralta followed with singles and Mat Tuiasosopo capped of the 5 run inning with a 3 run homer, his 7th of the year.

Max Scherzer pitched 6 innings, allowing 1 hit and striking out 7 and improves his record to 15-1.

It might be too early to tell but Alex Avila shows signs of getting right.  He had two more hits today and brought his batting average up to .193.  Let’s hope .200 and above are right around the corner.  Alex has struggled mightily and I’d like to see him come out of it.  He showed so much promise early, it would be nice if he could return to his 2011, regular season form.

There was really nothing to complain about tonight, which is odd coming from me, but the Tigers seemed to click on all levels.

Let’s get Infante healthy and keep this wagon rolling.

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