Dailies

Phister Was Phantastic…

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Behind 8 phabulous innings from Doug Fister, the Tigers took game one of the weekend series with the Phillies, 2-1.

Fister allowed only 3 hits, struck out 6, walked 1, allowed only 1 unearned run, and lowered his ERA to 3.67 tonight at Comerica Park.

The Tigers had a patchwork lineup today, with Torii Hunter, Miguel Cabrera, and Omar infante all out with injuries.  There wasn’t much hitting to speak of, the Tigers only managed 6 hits off of Philly pitching.  All the damage was done in the 5th inning when Hernan Perez walked with one out.  Ramon Santiago followed with a double putting runners at second and third.  Alex Avila then drove in both Perez and Santiago when he pounded a double into the gap in left center giving Fister a lead he wouldn’t relinquish.

Joaquin Benoit came on in the 9th to earn his 10th save of the season. allowing only a lead off single to Jimmy Rollins.

The Tigers and Phillies are back at it tomorrow night when Scherzer goes for his 15th win of the season.

I’m getting very concerned about Infante’s injury.  If he can’t come back, that gives the Tigers a hole at second and left field.  I know it is a small sample but I don’t think Hernan Perez is an everyday second baseman, at least not yet.  He made an error tonight that led to Philly’s only run.  I guess the bigger concern is if Miggy is out for a while and Fielder doesn’t hit, this could get ugly, soon.

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

Tigers Lose 7-4. Dirks Embarrassing!

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JV wasn’t great but he deserved better than what happened to him this afternoon.

The story of this game was written in the 4th inning. The Tigers scored 2 in the top of the 4th to tie the game at 2, but the White Sox came back in the bottom with 4 runs, thanks largely to the efforts of Tiger left fielder Andy Dirks. Dirks’ play in left field, makes ex-Cleveland left fielder Albert Joey Belle, look like a gold glover.

With one out and two on, White Sox catcher Tyler Flowers hit a 92 mph JV change up hard to left field that Andy Dirks completely misplayed. In fact, it looked like the ball went off of his glove, but miraculously, the official scorer gave Flowers a double and an RBI.

If Dirks makes the catch off of the bat of Flowers, Verlander and the Tigers probably get out of the inning still tied at two.

The Andy Dirks love affair has to come to an end.  He’s in a platoon role right now and I think that is too much playing time for him.  He’s not hitting much to speak of, he was 0-4 today with 2 strike outs, and his fielding is atrocious. I won’t even mention his pathetic attempt at a catch in the bottom of the second off of the bat of Conor Gillaspie.  All I can say is WTF?

IMHO, give Tui the left field job and let him play until he plays himself out of it. If/when that happens, bring Avisail Garcia back up and repeat the process. Let him play until he proves he can’t. Last time I checked, Avi was hitting over .400 in Toledo.

Next, when Infante comes back, Santiago has to go. He is an automatic out and adds no value. Let Perez back up Infante. On top of not hitting, Santiago can’t even move runners over with a productive out. He is absolutely on my last nerve now.

I understand that everyone is trying their best and nobody wants to suck but Dirks and Santiago have become embarrassing. The least Leyland and the Tigers can do is show some consideration for the fans by not running these shit birds out there on a regular basis.

This afternoon’s game was a shitty way to end this Chicago series.

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

Tigers Win 4th In Row on Road

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Courtesy of their 6-2 victory this evening over the Chicago White Sox, the Tigers have now won four in a row on the road and assured themselves of winning this four game series in Chicago, regardless of what Verlander does tomorrow.

Anibal Sanchez pitched 6 complete allowing six hits, 0 runs, walking 1 and striking out 5.  The offense was powered by a Prince Fielder 3 run shot, solo home runs by Jackson and Hunter, and would you believe it, an RBI single from Alex Avila

As Avila walked to the batter’s box for his third at bat, I was thinking of how bad he’s been struggling.  I haven’t researched the numbers but he seems to get caught looking an awful lot.  And when he does, he walks away with a blank look that seems to be saying, ‘I don’t have a clue’.  Fortunately, he singled and drove in the 6th run.

The last few games I’ve been impressed with Hernan Perez.  He had two more hits tonight and was robbed of a third on a great play by White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie.  If he keeps this up, the Tigers might have a hard time sending him down when Infante gets back and keeping Santiago on the bench.

I was also impressed with Bruce Rondon.  Even though he gave up a run on two hits I thought he showed some composure.  The single that drove in the run was a bloop hit off the end of the bat.  Instead of getting flustered, Rondon got the next batter to ground into an inning ending double play.

Benoit was brought in, again, tonight to get the final two outs in a non-save situation.  I didn’t get it yesterday.  I still don’t get it today.  Is he the closer or not?  As Sark commented yesterday, he probably won’t be available should he be needed tomorrow.

On a different note, the White Sox look horrible.  They look a lot worse than they did a few weeks ago when they took 2 out of 3 at Comerica Park.  I’m wondering if they have quit on Robin Ventura.  Let’s hope we see more of the same tomorrow.

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

Porcello, Perez Lead Tigers Past White Sox

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Ricky Porcello pitched 7 scoreless innings and Hernan Perez had two hits including a triple to pace the Tigers to a 6-2 win tonight in Chicago.

After the first inning, Ricky looked strong.  He recorded 9 ground ball outs, walked 3 and struck out 1.

I was a little worried in the first as I thought Porcello was getting squeezed on the inside corner to lefties and the outside corner to righties.  In the bottom of the first with two out, Alex Rios singled and stole second.  Then it looked like Ricky struck out Adam Dunn but didn’t get the call and Dunn went to first base.  The same corner gave Porcello problems when Konerko was at the plate.  Konerko walked to load the bases.  At this point Porcello could have come unglued but held it together and got Jeff Keppinger to ground out 5-3.

From then on, Porcello really didn’t face anymore trouble.  He left the game after 7 innings and 93 pitches.  Keep in mind that he threw 25 pitches in the first inning.

Al Alburquerque came on in the 8th and retired the Sox 1-2-3.  Leyland sent him back for the 9th and he walked the first two batters he faced.  This brought Benoit into the game who gave up a two run double to Konerko but retired Keppinger, Gillaspie and Viciedo to end the game.

A few things have me scratching my head.

  1. Tuiasosopo started and was replaced by Dirks again. I heard Leyland in an interview say he was trying to protect Tui from getting “eaten up” by a tough right handed pitcher.  But what about Dirks?  He’s not exaclty tearing the cover off of the ball.
  2. If Benoit is the closer, why is he being brought in when the score is 6-0?  The only thing I can think of is that Leyland wants him to get used to pitching the 9th.
  3. Jackson and Fielder are struggling.  If those two don’t hit, the Tigers can be in a lot of trouble.
  4. What is going on with Alex Avila?  I had hope after his 3 hit game a few nights ago and he did have two walks today but his other at bats were horrible.  He got caught looking both times and seemed like he didn’t have a clue on what was going on.
  5. It looks Alburquerque is a one inning pitcher.  When he came out for the ninth he couldn’t find the strike zone and this seems to be his MO.
  6. The Tigers need Miggy back.

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

Scherzer Goes to 14-1. Tigers Beat Sale, White Sox 7-3.

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Max Scherzer improved his record to 14-1 tonight as the Tigers beat Chris Sale and the White Sox 7-3.

There was a lot to like about tonight’s game, not the least of which, is that the Tigers beat White Sox ace, and arguably the best pitcher in the American League this year, Chris Sale.

True, the Tigers were helped by three White Sox errors but good teams make other teams pay for giving them extra outs.  Additionally, the Tigers who had a hard time scoring after the sixth inning before the break, scored one in the seventh and three in the ninth to seal the deal.

Both pitchers pitched well. Scherzer went 8 innings, allowed four hits and two earned runs while striking out 5 and walking none.

Sale pitched 8 innings as well, he allowed 4 runs but only 2 of them were earned.  He struck out 11 and walked 3.

The Tigers bullpen was pretty good tonight as well. Phil Coke came on to start the ninth and got Alejandro De Aza to ground out to second base.  That was the only batter he’d face as Jim Leyland brought in Bruce Rondon to relieve Coke with one out.

Rondon got Alexei Ramirez to ground to short for the second out but then had a hiccup.  He allowed a double to Alex Rios.  Rios took third on a wild pitch and scored on a balk.  But Rondon struck out Adam Dunn to end the game and give the Tigers the first game of the series.

Victor Martinez continued his torrid pace with 4 more hits and 3 RBIs raising his batting average to .270.

Torii Hunter had two hits including a solo shot off of Sale in the 7th.

The big concern is the health of Miguel Cabrera.  As I wrote yesterday, something seemed amiss with the reigning AL MVP, and apparently there is.  It looks like he has a back/hip injury.  Let’s hope it’s nothing serious.

On another note, I like the way Leyland is using Phil Coke.  It looks like he’s just using him for 1 or 2 hitters to hopefully get his rhythm and confidence back. Let’s hope the recent success continues.

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

Tigers, Fister Salvage Game in KC

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Doug Fister pitched 6 strong innings and the Tigers avoided a sweep at the hands for the Royals with a 4-1 on Sunday.

Fister allowed 1 run on one hit, a home run to Miguel Tejada in the bottom of the second.  He struck out five and walked one in his 6 innings of work.

Miggy started the scoring for the Tigers in the first inning with his 31st homer of the year, a solo shot, to give Fister and the Tigers an early 1-0 lead.

The bullpen was excellent, again, with Smyly, Rondon, and Benoit each pitching an inning to close out the game.  These three are looking very good coming out of the pen.  I might be able to make a case for Smyly as the team MVP at this point in the season.

Offensively, Fielder, Martinez, Peralta, and Dirks had two hits apiece.

Another encouraging sign was that the Tigers were able to add on runs late, scoring 1 in the 7th and 1 in the 9th to extend the lead and give the bullpen a little bit of a cushion.

Don’t look now but Benoit might be the missing, closer piece, as he recorded his 9th save.

On a side note: I know he hit a homer today and he is still batting .360 but something looks, not right, about Miggy.  I’m not sure if he’s just expanding the strike zone too much or his back in bothering him more than anybody knows.  I hope I’m wrong, I just have a weird feeling.  That being said, he did make a really nice play at third on Tejada in the bottom of the 4th.  Like I said, perhaps I’m wrong.  I hope I’m wrong.

The Tigers are off to Chicago tomorrow with Scherzer on the hill.

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

Tigers Lose Two In A Row. Verlander Terrible!

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Well, my predictions from yesterday are already starting to fall apart.

I was expecting Verlander to be lights out in the second half but his first start after the break was nothing short of horrible.

The Tigers lost to the Royals, again, 6-5.

Verlander pitched 5 and 2/3 allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, he struck out 3 and walked 4, including Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the 4th with the bases loaded to force in a run.

With the Tigers down 5-3 going into the 5th, the offense scored two runs to tie the game on an Alex, A Squared Money, Avilla single but Verlander gave the lead up for good in the bottom of the 5th when he allowed a two out home run to Mike Moustakas.

I’m not sure what to say about JV.  His velocity seems ok but his command is terrible.  His curve-ball and slider weren’t coming close to the strike zone.  I guess the only thing to say is what I saw, he looked TERRIBLE.  If not for his track record, you’d think he was a back of the rotation guy auditioning for the bullpen.  If he doesn’t get straightened out, the Tigers are in trouble and my fifth prediction from yesterday is not going to happen.

On the bright side, Alex Avila had three hits and two RBIs.  Prince had two hits.  Victor had three hits.  Alburquerque and Smyly were good out of the bullpen allowing no runs, one hit and striking out three combined.  Also, the Twins beat the Indians again today so the Tigers still have their slim lead.

This is not what I was expecting coming out of the break.

Hopefully, Fister can salvage a game tomorrow.

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

Tigers Bats Still On Break

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The Tigers lost 3-1 in Kansas City tonight and could only muster 3 base runners.

Royals pitcher Ervin Santana pitched 7 and a 1/3 allowing two hits, 1 walk and 0 runs.

Tigers starter Anibal Sanchez was wild but pitched well.  Sanchez pitched 6 innings allowing only 1 run on 2 hits.  He struck out 3 but walked 5.  It seemed like he was in trouble most of the game but managed to get out of jams.

If there was anything to like about this game, Phil Coke went 2/3 of an inning allowing a hit and striking out 1 and Bruce Rondon pitched an inning and a third with 1 strike out.

This was the seventh time the Tigers have been shut out this season.

Kansas City center fielder, Lorenzo Cain, made about 4 good catches in deep center but that was about all the Tigers did to threaten.  Torii Huner flied to center to end the game leaving Miguel Cabrera on deck.  It would have been nice to see the big man come to the plate in the top of the 9th with a chance to do some damage abut Royals’ closer Greg Holland was too good.

Let’s hope JV has a good outing tomorrow and the Tigers start hitting.  This was not how I was hoping the second half would start.

Here’s a few thoughts on the Tiger second half:

  1. Fielder will start to hit and raise his average to over .280
  2. Justin Verlander will return to form
  3. Phil Coke will pitch the way he did at the end of last season. (I just can’t give up on Coke yet.  I’m biased because I’m like him but I have faith in him.)
  4. Bruce Rondon will shore up the bullpen
  5. The Tigers will win the World Series, ending a 29 year drought, by beating the Cardinals in 6 games.

This is my story and I’m sticking to it?  Or at least until they start makin’ me mad again.  🙂

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

Tigers, JV Head Into Break On High Note…

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with win this afternoon over Texas.

The Tigers took the rubber game of the series 5-0 today.  JV pitched 7 strong, allowing only 1 hit, and striking out 3.

Smyly and Benoit came in and recorded the last 6 outs.

Verlander actually had a no-hitter with two outs in the 6th before Mitch Moreland broke it up with a double in the gap between right and center.

For as much as I’ve complained this year, I’m actually pretty satisfied at the break.  The Tigers are 10 games over .500 and have a 3 game lead in the central.

Here’s what I’m hoping for in the second half:

  1. The offense gets more consistent, with better at-bats late in games.
  2. Victor continues his recent pace.
  3. JV looks like the JV of the last two years
  4. Someone else in the bullpen steps up to help Smyly and Benoit
  5. The Tigers end their 29 World Series drought

Is that too much to ask for?

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

Rangers Stop Scherzer’s Winning Streak

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The Rangers ended Max Scherzer’s 13 game winning streak by handing the Tiger righty his first loss of the season.  Max went 6 innings allowed 4 earned, struck out 6 and walked 2.

It was another lack luster game on this home stand, similar to game 1 of the White Sox series.  The offense didn’t threaten much as Ranger lefty Derek Holland had his back foot slider in full motion tonight.  Holland kept the Tiger hitters off balance all night.

Holland did walk 5 and the Tigers had their chances but this game was really decided in the bottom of the 4th.  The Tigers were trailing 3-0 coming to bat in the 4th. Peralta led off with a single and stole second.  Tui walked which brought Pena to the plate with 2 on and nobody out.  This was not a good time for one of the worst at bats I’ve seen him have.  As usual, Leyland didn’t have Pena bunting but Pena didn’t even look like he was trying to move the runners up.  He swung at the first pitch from Holland, a 92 MPH sinker, and grounded into a 6-4-3 double play.

I’m not even going to bitch about Leyland not having Pena bunt.  Pena is a professional hitter.  He has to know that at the very least he needs to move the runners over even if is not a true sacrifice.  Nope, he pounds the first pitch he sees into the ground for a rally killing 6-4-3.

There were a few bright spots.  First, rookie second baseman, Hernan Perez, followed Pena’s double play with a single driving in the Tiger’s only run and his first MLB RBI.

The second bright spot was Phil Coke.  He came in to replace Luke Putkonen in the 7th and got A. J. Pierzynski to ground into an inning ending double play.  I was happy for Coke.  He’s been struggling, and it’s nice to see him have a little success that hopefully he can build on for the second half.

Other than that, there wasn’t much to like about tonight’s game.  Alburquerque pitched the 9th and was horrible.  It looks like he’s doing all he can to get back to Toledo.

JV is on the hill for the series and first half finally tomorrow.  I think it is very important to win the game tomorrow.  A win would give them a series win and even their record at 3-3 on this current home stand.  Losing two series in a row, at home, heading into the break, will leave the first half on a down note.  The Tigers really need JV to have a good start and we need better offense than we got tonight.

This team is so irritating.

On another note, I was watching part of the Yankee game before the Tiger game.  The announcers were talking about how Joba Chamberlain is a highly prized commodity that a lot of team are interested in.  Really?  I wonder what teams are interested in Joba?  Are the Tigers one of them?  Joba has a 5.24 era this season.  I guess, if you look at his career stats, they’re not bad.  He has a career 3.81 era and 2.57 K/BB ratio but I wouldn’t be willing to give up top prospects for him.  He’s not going to start.  He’s a power arm coming out of the bullpen who has occasional control problems.  I guess he’s probably better than most of the guys in Tiger bullpen.  But what would the Tigers have to give for him and how much would then have to pay him?  Any thoughts?

Did I mention how irritating the Tigers are?

Oh, Sark, I’ve been thinking about what you said about signing Sanchez.  The more I think about it.  The more I agree with you.

Did I mention how irritated I am right now?

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