Tigers 6 Royals 5

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I never thought I’d be typing this but more good news from Comerica Park.  For the second straight night, the Tigers beat the Royals in extra innings, making it four wins in a row.  This is the first four game winning streak since starting the season 6-0.

The good news keeps on coming.

Ian Kinsler had the walk off solo shot in the bottom of the 11th.  After a rough start Kinsler is staying hot. He’s hitting .348 since the all-star break and leads baseball in multi-hit games.

Miggy had two more hits and drove in two more runs and all of the sudden Victor’s bat has heated up. Vmart was 2-2 with two walks and a two run-homer.

There is even good news out of the pen. No not Bruce Rondon, who struggled again tonight, but Neftali Feliz and Tom Gorzelanny got the job done in extra innings and held the Royals down until the offense could win it in the 11th.

If you missed the game, the Tigers thought they won in the bottom of the ninth, but for the first time in MLB history, in the re-play era, a walk-off win was reversed.  Kinsler was originally called safe at home on a sac-fly by Andrew Romine but was called out after re-play.

I guess that’s why we continue to tune in, you never know what you’re going to see.

Tigers 5 Royals 4

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Justin Verlander was smokin balls! He pitched a gem. He pitched 8.2 innings and allowed only one earned run. He didn’t get the win but that wasn’t his fault.

More good news, Jose Miguel Cabrera had two hits, a walk and a sac fly to break out of an un-Miggy like 0-20 slump.

I can’t blame BA for taking out JV. Unfortunately, Brad Ausmus is in an Impossible situation. Even when he makes the “correct” decisions his players rarely get the job done.

Nice win. Perhaps a series win? We shall see.

Thoughts on Bryce Harper

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I really hadn’t seen much of Bryce Harper until last year’s playoffs.  After seeing him compete against the Giants in the 2014 National League Division Series, although in a losing effort, it was hard not to be impressed.  He was the only one to come through for the Nationals and he was only 21 years old.

While Harper was hitting clutch home runs his more seasoned counterparts, Jayson Werth and Adam LaRoche, did nothing.  Werth and LaRoche hit .059 and .056 respectively and neither had an RBI.  Meanwhile, at 21 years of age, Bryce Harper hit .294 with three homers and four RBIs.

In past seasons Harper had a hard time staying healthy but he has this year and he’s putting up MVP type numbers.  Last night he hit his 40th home run of the season, making him only the seventh player in MLB history to hit 40 in the season in which he was twenty-two.  The previous six players to accomplish the feat are Alex Rodriguez, Juan Gonzalez, Johnny Bench, Eddie Mathews (twice), Joe DiMaggio and Mel Ott.

Tigers 7 Twins 4

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Daniel Norris looked good in his first start coming off of the DL.  He only gave up one run in 4.2 innings.  It is a shame he was on a low pitch count and had to come out of the game because the pen couldn’t hold his slim 2-1 lead, nothing new here.

The Tigers offense battled, despite hitting into four more double plays, and finally took the lead for good in the top of the 12th.  They also got a huge boost from Ian Krol who picked the entire bullpen up, including VerHagen and Hardy who were not good tonight. Krol pitched three scoreless innings, the 10th, 11th, and 12th, after Bruce Rondon blew a 4-3 lead in the 9th.

Blaine Hardy has been struggling for the last week or so.  Yesterday’s and tonight’s outings may not show up in his numbers but he’s not getting the outs he’s called upon to get and not stranding runners.

J.D. hit his 37th homer of the year and recorded his 95th and 96th RBIs.  With Miggy struggling, I guess J.D.’s quest for 100 RBIs is what I’ll be tuning in for.

Tyler Collins had a good night, he drove in two runs and had a nice outfield assist.

This game meant and series meant nothing to the Tigers but the Twins missed a chance to improve their position in the Wild Card race.

Remembering Bob Probert…

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Hat Tip to Big Johnny.

Bob Probert was probably the best enforcer to ever play the game of hockey.  He played for the Red Wings from 1985-1994.  He was my favorite player of that era and one of my favorite players of all-time.  I still wear his #24 jersey to home games. He was trouble for opponents on the ice and troubled off the ice.  The Red Wings honored him at HockeyFest this past Sunday, 9/13/2015.

Here’s a link to a post on Red Wings dot com.

Kocur wrapped up the event with how he will always remember his best friend.

“How I remember him was the toughest player ever, and I mean ever, to play in the NHL,” Kocur said. “With all the talent he had, he still had to do all that fighting and everybody knew it. If you ask every other tough guy in the NHL, there’s only one name going to the top of that list and that’s Probie.

Bob Probert Memorial Jersey Poster
Bob Probert Memorial Jersey Poster

Tigers 5 Twins 4

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Alfredo Simon pitched well, better than his final line indicated.  He ran into some bad luck in seventh but this was a quality start. Both VerHagen and Simon’s outings would look and feel better if they had a little luck but both pitched well.

Victor Martinez had three hits and should have, should have, had four. This is his first three hit game since July according to Mario Impemba.

James McCann had three hits, raising his batting average to .276. I didn’t realize, he hasn’t made an error all season.  This is a very impressive rookie campaign.

Drew VerHagen and Alex Wilson both looked good out of the pen and the Tigers have a chance for a series win tomorrow night.

The Twins missed a chance to pick up a game on the Yankees and Blue Jays who both lost tonight.

UPDATE: I almost forgot to mention the perfectly executed hit and run and safety squeeze the Tigers pulled off in the top of the ninth inning. These two plays resulted in the fifth and winning run.  My first thought was, bravo.  My second thought was, ‘where has this been all year?’ In any case, I guess it is better late than never.

Don’t Forget About Jack Eichel…

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who was the second pick in the 2015 NHL draft behind Connor McDavid.  I saw Eichel play at the World Junior tournament last year in Montreal and he looked like a fabulous playmaker.  I know Sabres fans were disappointed when they lost the McDavid lottery but I think they are going to be very happy with Jack Eichel.

From the The Hockey News:

At the Sabres’ prospect tournament finale Monday night, Buffalo’s prospect squad took on Boston’s prospects in a contest to determine who the winner of the three-team tournament would be. The Sabres were down 2-0 after the first frame, but cut the lead to 2-1 in the second frame. That’s when Eichel made two special plays worthy of the hype that comes along with being the second-overall selection at the 2015 draft.

In the third, with Buffalo down 2-1, Eichel received a pass on the left wing and walked in to the Bruins’ left-wing faceoff circle before delivering a picture perfect cross-ice saucer pass that landed right on the tape of Brycen Martin. Martin made no mistake, firing home the game-tying goal.