Detroit Tigers

Make it 8 in a row Tigers beat Astros 3-2

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Pitching and home runs gave the Tigers a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros and made it eight in a row for the TIgers.

Freeway Rick pitched 6 and 2/3.  He allowed two earned runs on seven hits, a little high, he struck out five and walked two.

Ricky turned the game over Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan to close the game out.

What can I say about Joba, he continues to get it done, striking out the side in the 8th.

Joba is SMOKIN BALLS!

The Good:

  • The Tigers got their eight in a row and 20th win of the season.
  • Ricky put in another good outing.
  • Joe Nathan got his seventh save.
  • Joba continues to smoke balls!
  • Miggy and Victor went deep.
  • Rajai Davis stole his 12th base of the season and Don “DK” Kelly stole a base and got two hits.

The Bad:

  • The Tigers managed only five hits but the Houston pitcher, Brad Peacock, had a lot to say about that.  He pitched well for a bad team.
  • Joe Nathan walked a runner with two outs and allowed two stolen bases but was able to strand the tying run at third.

The Ugly:

  • Not much today or lately.  The Tigers have been playing pretty clean and came away with another win in a close game.

Don’t look now but Freeway Rick is 5-1 on the season.  Now if he can lower his ERA by a run he might make me look like Nostradamus.

Also, I liked Miggy’s homer the opposite way, he might be rounding into his MVP form.

Smyly pitches tomorrow afternoon as the Tigers for a four game sweep and ninth in a row.

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

 

 

Tigers Dust Astros Winning Streak at Seven

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Behind 5 and 1/3 ball smokin innings from Tigers newcomer, Robby Ray, the Tigers beat the Astros into a conniption, 11-4, and extended their winning streak to seven. Ray allowed one earned run on five hits.  He walked only one and struck out five.

What impressed me the most about Ray was that he got in trouble early in the first and was able to pitch out the jam without surrendering a run.  It’s a small sample size but perhaps Dave “Double D” Dombrowski knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

The Good:

  • Just when I was beginning to worry about Miggy, he shoved those concerns down my throat.  He was 4-5 today with a homer and four RBIs.  If he returns to form this could be a very formidable Tigers offense.
  • Ian Kinsler had three hits.
  • Alex “A Squared Money” Avila, Nick Castellanos, and “Downtown” Danny Worth had two hits each and Worth had three RBIs.
  • The Amazing Al pitched a shut out inning in relief and struck out two.
  • The Tigers got 18 hits and scored in multiple innings, the first, third, fourth, seventh and eighth.

The Bad:

  • Justin Miller struggled through the ninth.  He allowed three runs, but to be fair, only one of them was earned.

The Ugly:

  • I like the new look offense but really Torii?  You get thrown out trying to steal third with one out and Miggy batting?

I guess we can’t get too excited, the Astros are not good, to say the least but seven straight is seven straight and we’ll take all the Ws we can get.  Also, I like the 18 hit attack and scoring in multiple innings.  This is in stark contrast to last year when the Tigers seemed to score all their runs in only one or two innings.

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

TIgers win 6th in a row beat Astros 2-0

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , ,

The Tigers got excellent pitching and just enough offense to beat the Astros and Jarred Cosart 2-0 at Comerica Park.

The Good:

  • Max was smokin balls.  He pitched eight complete allowed no runs, on three hits, walked one and struck out nine.
  • Nathan got his sixth save.
  • The Tigers won their sixth in a row.
  • Vmart came up big with a solo shot in the eight to give Nathan and Scherzer a two run cushion.

The Bad:

  • The Tigers were baffled, for the most part, by Jarred Cozart but after their 26 run out burst over the weekend we’ll take it.
  • The Tigers managed only six hits.
  • VMart got caught looking for the first time in almost a year.

The Ugly:

  • After looking like he was retuning to form, Miggy looked bad tonight at the plate.  He was 0-4 with a K and really didn’t have many good swings.

A win is a win and the Tigers found a way to get it done.  I can’t complain about six in a row.

I’m looking forward to Robby Ray’s start tomorrow.  The Tigers, and especially Dave Dombrowski, really think a lot of this kid.  Let’s see what he’s got.

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

Tigers 9 Royals 4

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

The Tigers swept the weekend series with the Royals.  They got good starting pitching and the offense exploded, scoring 26 runs in three games.

I really like this new look offense.  I know it’s early but we really aren’t seeing the huge swings like we have the last few years.  The ability to, as Nebraska says, getem on, getem over and getem in is nice to watch.

Ok, so I have to complain a little.  JV got the win but I don’t like the three earned runs surrendered in seven innings. Extrapolated over nine innings, that’s a 3.86 ERA, which is good, but not for Justin Verlander.

The Good:

  • The offense is smokin balls!, Davis, Hunter and Romine each had three hits. Could Romine be the solution at short?  He looks like it. Again, it’s early.
  • Hunter and Romine had three RBIs each and Miggy had two.
  • Castellanos had a home run on his only hit.  I like what I see so far out of Castellanos but I’d like to see his average over .250.
  • 16 hits
  • No errors.

The Bad:

  • The Amazing Al gave up a run on two hits in the ninth.
  • OK, I’m nitpicking, but the three runs given up by JV I’m classifying as not good.

The Ugly:

  • Nothing ugly most of this series

Houston comes to Comerica tonight with Max on the hill.

I’ll be in Vegas this weekend so if you want any bets, you know how to get in touch with me.

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

Tigers take first two games against Royals

Crippy Baseball, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Tigers have looked very good in taking the first two games of the weekend series against the Royals in Kansas City.

Last night, Freeway Rick, pitched seven complete innings.  He allowed two earned, struck out 6 and walked none.  The Tigers offense got him eight runs, and the bullpen, Krol and Reed, finished the game.  The Tigers won 8-2.

Tonight, Drew Smyly pitched seven complete, scoreless innings, the offense followed up last nights outburst with nine more runs tonight.  The Tigers won 9-2.

I’m seeing a nice recipe for success.  Strong starting pitching and a new look offense.

I’m getting more encouraged regarding the Tigers offense this year.  As, Eric Karros pointed out on the broadcast this evening, the Tigers aren’t standing around waiting for a three run homer to score.

A great example of this new, Tigers, offense was how they scored their first run.  In the fourth inning, the bases were loaded with Miggy on third, and one out. Castellanos hit a shallow fly ball to gold glove, left fielder Alex Gordon.  Gordon made the catch.  To the astonishment of everybody watching, Miggy tagged up and went home.  Gordon had flipped the ball to the infielder and by the time the ball was relayed to the plate, Miggy scored easily.

It worked this time and I like the new look, but given that situation again, I wouldn’t recommend a second try.

The only sour note of the fist two games was Phil Coke’s ninth inning tonight.  He came in with a 9-0 run lead and gave up two runs.  The most worrisome part of Coke’s pitching was that he got hit hard by left handers.  He gave up a single to Nori Aoki, a double to Eric Hosmer and a double to Alex Gordon.

In Phil’s defense, I thought he struck out Aoki but didn’t get the call.  I guess that how things go when you’re running bad.  If Coke is going to be of any value in the future however, he needs to get lefties out.

JV goes for the sweep tomorrow.

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

Tigers 5 White Sox 1

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , ,

Another good effort today by the Tigers.  They swept a short two game series from the White Sox via their 5-1 victory in the Windy City this afternoon.

The Good:

  • The pitching.  Max lasted “only” six innings but he kept the Sox scoreless, striking out seven and walking three.
  • Five runs should be enough to win most games.
  • Bryan Holaday continues to come up big at the plate.  He was 1-3 with 2 RBIs.
  • Victor is still raking.  He drove in two and went 1-3
  • AJax had three walks.  Can you imagine what his numbers will be if he walks 100 times this season.
  • The Amazing Al and Joba were smokin balls out of the pen.

The Bad:

  • Hunter, Cabrera and Castellanos each struck out twice.
  • Evan Reed allowed a run in the ninth.

The Ugly:

  • The Tigers, as a team, struck out 10 times this afternoon.  I hate strike outs almost as much as GIDP.

Does it seem like there are a lot of two game series this year?

Off to Kansas City.

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

Tigers 4 White Sox 3

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , ,

This was a nice come from behind win.  After the Sox put up three on JV in the third the Tigers battled back to tie.

In the top of the ninth, with two out and AJax on third, Bryan Holaday put down a bunt single that scored Jackson and gave the Tigers the lead for good.  Holaday’s bunt looked like the final inning scene from Major Leagues.

The Good:

  • The Tigers fought back after falling behind and found a way to win.
  • The Tigers scored the winning run on an unconventional play rarely seen by a Tigers team in recent history.
  • Joba Chamberlain continues to get it done out of the bullpen.
  • Joe Nathan recorded his fifth save.

The Bad:

  • Not too much today.

The Ugly:

  • Rajai Davis took the golden sombrero, striking out four times and generally looking off balance all night.

Max is on the hill for tomorrow’s finale, a 2:10 EST start.

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

 

 

Twins 5 Tigers 3

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , ,

The Twins were able to even up the series with a 5-3 over the Tigers today.  Anibal Sanchez started but only lasted 2 2/3.  He had to come out of the game because of a blister problem.

The bullpen was a nightmare, Miggy was disappointing, the Tigers lost and it wasn’t pretty.

The Good:

  • The Tigers scored two early runs staking Sanchez to an early 2-0 lead.

The Bad:

  • After the first inning the offense made Phil Hughes look like Greg Maddux.

The Ugly:

  • Fours were wild for Jose Ortega, who was an abject nightmare.  He “relieved” Sanchez and couldn’t find the plate.  He allowed four earned runs in one and a third.  He allowed four hits, walked four and and struck out one.

I’m actually not sure what to say about Phil Coke.  His final line isn’t that bad.  He pitched two and two thirds.  He didn’t allow a run, struck out two, walked two, and gave up two hits.  I guess twos were wild for Phil.  Perhaps he was only half as bad as Ortega?   I guess the problem with Coke’s pitching today is that he couldn’t strand any inherited runners.  Like I said, I’m not sure what to say about Phil but he doesn’t past the eye test.

Miggy.  It is hard to pick on the back to back MVP but I was horrified with his at bat in the eighth.  He came up with bases loaded, one out, and the Tigers down by two.  All the Tigers needed was one of his patented hits to right field.  Instead, the suddenly pull happy Cabrera, hits a low, inside fastball, to third base.  The Twins turned an easy double play and the inning was over.  Again, I don’t have the words.

Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

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

 

 

Tigers fans, we have a problem…

Crippy Baseball, Dailies, Detroit Tigers , , , , , , , , , , ,

it’s called the bullpen.  Although, to be fair, Freeway Ricky wasn’t much better.

The Tigers put up 10 runs and jumped out to a 10-1 lead but Tigers pitching and Twins resilience made this game more interesting than it needed to be.

The Good:

  • The Tigers picked up their 12th win with a 10-6 victory over the Twins.
  • Nick Castellanos had three RBIs, two hits, including a two run homer.
  • Andrew Romine flashed some leather at shortstop today.
  • Brian Dozier made an nice running, over the shoulder, basket catch in the top of the ninth and robbed Austin Jackson of a lead off hit.

The Bad:

  • Ricky gave up four earned runs in five plus innings.  He left in the sixth with two on and nobody out.  Justin Miller came in and couldn’t preserve Ricky’s line.  He gave up a single and a double to score the inherited runners.
  • Joe Nathan had to come in for the ninth in a non-save situation.

The Ugly:

  • While the bullpen only gave up one earned run, the Tigers needed five relief pitchers to close out the Twins.

On another note, while Miggy had two hits and an RBI, his ground out in the third was my favorite at bat.  The score was 2-1 entering the third.  Torii Hunter lead off with a double.  Miggy got an inside fastball and was able to pull his hands in and ground out to second allowing Hunter to advance to third with one out.  A week or so ago, he might have pulled that to short and Hunter would probably not have advanced.  It’s early but the little things add up during the course of a 162 game season.

Sanchez goes tomorrow.

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