Al Alburquerque

Twins 4 Tigers 3

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If you haven’t been worried about Jose Veras now might be a good time to begin.

With the Tigers leading 3-0 going to the bottom of the 8th Veras took over for the Amazing Al.  Jose lasted 1/3 of an inning and surrendered two runs on two hits and a walk.  This forced The Puppet Master to ask Joaquin Benoit to get 5 outs and save the game.

Benoit got two outs to end the 8th but gave up a solo home run to Brian Dozier leading off the 9th.  This was Benoit’s first blown save of the season but a lot of the blame has to fall on Veras.

That being said, it is a sad state of affairs for the offense that only managed 1 run against Twins starter, Mike Pelfrey, who had an ERA over 5.50 entering the game.

I’m very worried about Veras, and he has to take a lot of credit for this loss, but this game shouldn’t have been this close to begin with.  I think the biggest problem is Austin Jackson.  He managed 1 hit today but is 1 for his last 18.

JV was very good today.  The only problem was his pitch count which forced him to exit after pitching 6 scoreless innings, during which he walked 3, and struke out 12.  Verlander had only thrown 107 pitches after 6 so I was surprised he didn’t come out for the 7th.  Instead, Smyly and Alburquerque came in to pitch the 7th.

Besides striking out 12 hitters JV was able to pitch out of a few jams without allowing any runs.  The most impressive was the bottom of the 5th when Verlander allowed a lead off double to Alex Presley but managed to get out of the inning without allowing him to get any further.  This type of pitching reminded me of the JV vintage 2011 and 2012.  This was a very good sign.

The Amazing Al pitched very well tonight again.  After Smyly started the 7th and allowed two singles, AA, was able to get Dozier, Willingham, and Pinto to end the inning and preserve the three run lead.

The magic number remains at 2 and I don’t think it’s a lock by any means.  The Tigers have two more with the Twins but right now the season series is only Tigers 9 Twins 8.  After Minnesota, the Tigers head to Miami where the team isn’t that great but they do have some starting pitching that could give a slumping offense problems.

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

Tigers 7 White Sox 6

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WOW!  Do I feel like an ass for leaving this game in the top of the 9th.

For the first 8.5 innings, I saw exactly what I expected.  After scoring 12 runs last night and facing who I believe to be the best pitcher in the American League, Chris Sale, the Tigers offense did next to nothing.

Chris Sale was dealing.  Except for Miggy, who had two hits against him, the rest of the lineup was completely and thoroughly dominated.

On the Tigers side of the ledger, Fredrick Alfred Porcello was fantastic.  For 6 and 2/3, Ricky was almost as good as Chris Sale.  Almost as good.  This was a match-up between an Ace and an Ace in waiting.  Ricky allowed only 6 hits and 2 runs while walked nobody and striking out 9.

I’m not sure what has gotten into him but Ricky has been getting a lot of swings and misses lately.  He struck out 10 in his previous start and 9 more today.  If Ricky and Iggy can stay healthy, Porcello will make a bid to win 20 games next year with an ERA well under 4, perhaps 3.50.

Tui was flashin leather tonight.   Jose Veras came in to relieve Ricky.  With two outs and the left handed hitting, White Sox catcher, Bryan Anderson at the plate.  The defense was shaded towards right.  Anderson hit a wounded quail to shallow left field and Tui made a fabulous diving catch to end the inning and save a run.

What can I say about Good Ole Dirksy?  He pinch hit for Tui in the bottom of the 9th with two on and nobody out and delivered a 3 run shot to pull the Tigers to within one run, 6-5.  Good for Andy.  It would be great if got to his 2012 form in time for the playoffs.

After Dirksy’s blast Infante walked bringing Santiago to the plate.  Ramon bunted Infante over to second.  I’m not sure how I feel about this play.  Generally, I don’t like bunting a guy from first to second.  In this case I didn’t particularly care for giving the White Sox pitcher an out when he was having trouble finding the plate.  Couple that with the Tigers’ bats perking up and nobody out and my initial reaction to the sacrifice was revulsion.  Looking back on it, however, it was the bottom of the 9th.  The Tigers were trailing by only a single run and it did get the tying run into scoring position.  It worked out this time but I’m still not sure if I would do it again should the occasion arise in the future.

Other than his inability to run, Miggy looked like his old self at the plate today.  He touched Sale for two hard hit singles and singled in the Tigers’ first run in the 9th.  He left the game with groin tightness and is listed as day to day.  It might be time to give him a day off.

Austin Jackson is struggling.  He was 0-5 with a walk tonight.  He had two hits last night, going 2-6, but he was 0-5 in the final game against the Mariners.  That makes him 2-16 in the last three games.  He needs to get on base so Miggy and Prince have a chance to drive in some runs.  That being said, AJax is a streaky hitter so hopefully he’ll go on a hot streak in time for the postseason.

The Amazing Al pitched well tonight.  He pitched two scoreless innings, the 11th and 12th, and got the win.  He allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out two.

Paul Konerko flashed some leather tonight as well.  He made a game saving, temporarily at least, backhanded pick in the 12th, on a throw in the dirt from third baseman Conor Gillaspie

The magic number is 2.

Sanchez is on the mound tomorrow.

It would be nice if the Astros could help the Tigers out tomorrow but I’m not counting on it.

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

Mariners 8 Tigers 0

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The Tigers scored 6 runs yesterday so I hope you weren’t expecting much today because not much is just what you got.

Hisashi Iwakuma completely dominated the pathetic Tigers offense.  He breezed through, statistically, the second best offense in baseball, and I can’t imagine he broke a sweat.  Iwakuma needed just 105 pitches to get through 8 complete innings.  He allowed four hits, walked 2 and struck out 6.  I’d like to say ‘tip your cap to a great pitcher’, but it seems like the Tigers make anybody look like a great pitcher.

On the flip side, the offense did absolutely nothing.  They didn’t have good at bats, they didn’t drive the pitch count up, and when they had runners on couldn’t get a clutch hit.

JV was JV vintage 2013.  He allowed 3 run in 7 innings of work.  He gave up 4 hits, walked 3 and struck out 6.  If the Tigers plan on winning any future games JV starts, they better plan on scoring 4 runs or more.  Tonight is what the Tigers should expect from Verlander.  That being said, this offense makes every pitch and every inning a stressful one.  As I’ve state several times previously, it seems any deficit is too much to overcome.

I could sit here and tell you Phil Coke is done, but then if you’ve been watching this team, you probably already figured that out.  Coke wasn’t good today but I don’t think he was expected to be.  When he came out to pitch the 8th inning it was actually Jim Leyland waving the white flag and conceding the game.  Coke wasn’t good yesterday, he hasn’t been good all season, so why would the Tigers expect anything different today.  They didn’t and they weren’t disappointed.  Coke actually retired two of the first three batters he faced.  By the time the switch hitting Kendrys Morales came to the plate Coke had thrown 7 pitches all for strikes.  Not bad for a guy who has had trouble finding the strike zone.  So what was the Tigers’ next move, they decided to have him intentionally walk Morales.  This might not have been a bad plan if they planned on relieving Coke, but they left Phil out there to completely implode, and that’s exactly what he did.  After the IBB to Morales, he surrendered a single to Justin Smoak, a double to Michael Saunders and then intentionally walked the .216 hitting Nick Franklin.

The Amazing Al finally relieved Coke and after giving up a wild pitch and making an error on a throw from Avila while covering the plate, he mercifully got Henry Blanco to fly out to end the inning.

If the game wasn’t over when the top of the 8th started, it was by the time it ended.

For as bad as Coke was, the pitching is not the issue. This offense blows and they can’t expect the pitching staff to shut down every team in every game.

Fister is on the hill for the finale.

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

Tigers 6 Mariners 2

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After three typically, pathetic innings, the Tigers offense woke up and scored single runs in the 4th, 6th, and 7th, then blew the game open with three in the bottom of the 8th to give the Tigers their 6th win in 7 games.

Sanchez was good tonight and the bullpen was even better.  Anibal threw 125 pitches.  He lasted 6 and 1/3, allowed 2 earned runs, walked two and struck out 10.

The Amazing Al did an excellent job of clutch pitching.  Alburquerque relieved Sanchez with one out in the 7th, runners at second and third, and the game tied at 2.  He got Abraham Almonte to pop out to Jose Iglesias at short, who flashed some leather making a nice running catch in shallow left.  The Amazing Al then struck out Franklin Gutierrez to end the inning and keep the game tied.

In the top of the 8th it was Jose Alvarez’s turn to come up big.  Phil Coke started the 8th and got Kyle Seagar to ground out to first base.  Prince Fielder showed he can flash leather as he made a nice diving stop on the bullet hit off of Seagar’s bat.  Coke then got into some trouble.  He walked Raul Ibanez and got Justin Smoak to hit what looked like an inning ending double play ball to the left of second base.  Unfortunately, the sure handed Jose Iglesias couldn’t handle the ball and everyone was safe.  The last batter Coke would face was Michael Saunders who he walked to load the bases on five pitches.  So in comes Alvarez to relieve Coke.  Alvarez battled Mike Zunino in an 11 pitch at bat but finally got the Mariner catcher to ground into a 4-6-3 double play to end the inning.

Phil Coke was booed as he left the field.  I hate to see anybody get booed but tonight I felt it was really unwarranted.  I can’t defend him for the walks he gave up.  Walks are enough to drive anybody mad but his defense really let him down.  If Iglesias makes the play on the ball hit by Justin Smoak, like I’m sure he’ll do 99 out of 100 times, Coke gets out of the inning having only faced three batters.  But I guess that’s just how this season has gone for Phil.  Very little has seemed to work for him this year.

Let’s talk about Alex A Squared Money Avila.  It looks like he is getting healthy and his game is starting to show it.  His batting average is up to .225, not bad considering it was down to about .168 as late as June.  What really impressed me today was his triple.  He hit a line drive to right leading off the 7th inning that made it all the way to the wall and left Avila standing on third.  He’s never been a speed demon but he was running about as well as I’ve ever seen him.  Alex also had two walks in this game.  His second base on balls came in the bottom of the 8th.  After falling behind Seattle reliever Carter Capps 0-2, he was able to work a walk and load the bases.  For the last few weeks, Alex has been looking like the Alex we saw in the 2011 regular season.  Let’s hope he stays healthy and continues playing this way.

JV is on the mound tomorrow.

Update: I forgot to include this in the original post, perhaps I was subconsciously blocking it out.  In what can only be described as the most bizarre move I’ve seen in baseball, Jim Leyland, pinch hit Andy Dirks for Jose Iglesias with the bases loaded in the 8th inning.  This move is insane on so many levels I’m not sure where to begin.  I guess lets start with Dirks Blows!  He’s having a terrible season.  Iglesias is hitting .315.  Dirks is hitting .257. Iglesias is the best defensive player on the team, something I thought was important to Leyland, especially in the late innings.  Andy Dirks plays left field like Charlie Marcuse, the now deposed singing, hot dog, vendor.  The only logical explanation for this asinine move is Dirksburger Syndrome.  After lying dormant in the bowels of the Tigers manager for a few weeks, it was bound to flair up again and did.

Oh, yea, true to form, Good Ole Dirksy struck out.

Hat Tip to Sark for reminding me of this abomination.

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

By The Numbers

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John Lowe at the FREEP has another article today documenting two things that we’ve been talking about here at Flashin Leather, the Tigers lack or a run defense and the struggles of the Amazing Al.

Al Alburquerque has played a prominent postseason role in each of his first two seasons with the Tigers. It remains to be seen if he will do any important pitching in any potential postseason games this October.

The right-handed reliever gave up two homers in Boston on Wednesday night and has allowed five this season. He never gave up a regular-season homer in his first two seasons.

His ERA is 5.58. That’s up from 1.87 in his rookie season. It’s up from 0.68 last year, when he appeared in fewer than 10 regular-season games because of elbow surgery.

But most notably, Alburquerque has not been throwing his best pitch, the slider, for strikes consistently.

Keep reading here.

Thanks again to Nebraska for pointing this article out.

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

THRASHED!

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The Red Sox put a beating on the Tigers tonight the likes of which I haven’t seen in a long time.

Rick Porcello was absolutely awful.  He gave up three home runs, walked four, allowed 9 runs, 8 earned in only 5 innings of work.

Not be outdone were the Amazing Al and Jeremy Bonderman.  These two looked like they were a) throwing batting practice b) auditioning to pitch in next year’s home run derby or c) auditioning for the independent league.  My guess is that it was a combination of the three.

It took the Amazing Al two pitches to wipe Ricky’s slate clean and start one of his own. After “relieving” Porcello in the 6th with the bases loaded, Will Middlebrooks took Amazing Al’s second pitch and hit a grand slam over the Green Monster.

Jeremy Bonderman “relieved” the Amazing Al and tried to make us forget how horrible Alburquerqe was.  It didn’t work.

I don’t have the words to describe this abomination.

I guess the only good thing to come out of this game is that Jim Leyland has a pretty good idea who won’t be coming out of the bullpen should the Tigers make the post season.

Did I mention, Iggy got hurt and left the game with bilateral shin splints?

Unfortunately, when Miggy grounded out to short last night with the bases loaded the opportunity for the Tigers to win their first series in Boston since August of 2006 went out the window.  The pitching absolutely imploded.

The only thing we can do is try to forget this one and look at trying to win a series this weekend in Kansas City.

It won’t be easy.

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

Tigers Drop Both Ends of Double Header

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There’s not much to say about either of the games today.  The Tigers only surrendered 5 runs but could only muster 1.

The pitching in both games was good.  Even Coke and the Amazing Al pitched well but you’re not going to win many games, or series for that matter, by only scoring 1 run in two games.

In game one, JV was JV.  He pitched 8 innings, allowed 2 earned, on 7 hits.  He struck out 6 and walked 2.  But it’s hard to win when you don’t score any runs.  The Tigers were no-hit through the first 5 and 2/3.  Miggy broke up the no-no with a two out bullet down the third base line.  Royals’ Emilio Bonifacio got his glove on it but it was hit so hard it still rolled into left field.

Danny Duffy was brilliant for the Royals. He allowed no runs, only the Miggy single, walked three and struck out three.

The only run the Tigers got was a solo shot from Ramon Santiago in the 8th.

In game 2, Alvarez, Bonderman, Coke, and Alburquerque allowed only 8 hits.  Alavarez gave up the two earned his 5 and 2/3.  Bonderman gave up one unearned run aided by his wide pick off throw to first.

In game two the Tigers hit the ball hard but always in the wrong spots. After getting just two hit in the first game, they managed only 4 in the second.  So that makes 1 run and 6 hits in 18 innings.  That won’t get it done.

The only thing I can think of is that during their 12 game winning streak everything seemed to be going the Tigers’ way.  Since they went to New York, things have started to even out, and they’re not getting the breaks.

The good news is that there is still time to win this series, but they’ll wins tomorrow and Sunday to make it happen.

The bats have to wake up and the Tigers have to figure out a way to slow down the running game.  The Royals, like just about everyone else, are running on the Tigers at will.

Back at it tomorrow.

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

Tigers Problems…

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Nebraskaknows pointed out a Lynn Henning article at DetNews dot com that I think is worth a read.  Henning takes a look at issues the Tigers are facing and possible solutions.

First-place Tigers still facing problems down the stretch: You can read the article in full here.

In the space below I use the problem Henning points out and add my two cents.

Problem: Miguel Cabrera can’t run.

FlashinLeather Solution: It’s hard for me to believe that sitting won’t allow Miggy to heal faster.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m not, how could anybody, complain about his production. I’m just afraid that if they don’t let him heal now, he’ll end up battered like Alex Avila was in the 2011 playoffs.  I think a trip to the 15 day DL would be a good idea.

Problem: Left-field offense is killing the Tigers.

Flashin Leather Solution: I don’t think Castellanos is the answer.  Bring him up on 8/31, similar to what the Tigers did with Avisail Garcia last year, and see what he can do, but don’t hold your breath.  Castellanos his only hitting in the .270s in Toledo.  I’m not sure why he would be expected to hit better, or even the same, in the big leagues.

This is going to shock to readers of this blog but I have not given up on Dirks just yet.  He had some good at bats a few night ago and might be ready to break out of his slump.  That being said, I’m still not convinced that his fielding is what everybody else says it is.  I’ve watched almost every game this year, home games in person, and I think he’s closer to Albert Belle than he is Gary Pettis.

Bring Castellanos up and see what he can do but I’m betting Dirksy will be there in the end.

Problem: Alex Avila’s absence hurts the Tigers in multiple ways.

Flashin Leather Solution: I agree with Henning, all the Tigers can do is hope A Squared Money is healthy enough to return soon.

Problem: Phil Coke and Al Alburquerque are coin-flips in late-game situations.

Flashin Leather Solution: I agree with Henning.  The Amazing Al needs to be on the next bus down to Toledo and send Evan Reed back up.  I thought Reed pitched pretty well for the Tigers.  He just needs to learn how to throw to first base.

I think Phil Coke is going to be ok.  The last few hits he’s given up, while important, were flares over a drawn in infield.

Problem: Prince Fielder has one home run in his last 28 games.

Flashin Leather Solution: I think personal problems, read here, can have a devastating and lingering effect on a player in all facets of the game and his life.  I think Prince has hit the ball fairly well, but I would not be surprised if his struggles continue through the end of the season.  That being said, he has driven in 81 runs so far and is on pace for 110.  There is no solution.  They have to ride Prince and take what he can give them.

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

Tigers Avoid Sweep – Beat Sox 6-4

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The Mighty Miggy and Joaquin Benoit bailed the Tigers out and helped to avoid a three game sweep to end the 10 game road trip.

This game looked ugly, early.  Rick Porcello required 37 pitches to get out of the first inning and when he did, the Tigers were down 3-0.

Ricky settled down after the first.  He put up zeroes for the next 5 innings and was able to go 6 complete.  He allowed 3 earned runs, walked 1 and struck out 4.  What is kind of troubling however, is that he surrendered 11 hits and didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning.  In fact, no Tiger pitcher recorded a 1-2-3 inning today.

With the Tigers trailing 3-0 in the 3rd, The Mighty Miggy got the Tigers even with a 3 run bomb with Austin Jackson and Bryan Holaday scoring in front of him.

The Tigers got 3 more runs in the 6th to take a 6-3 lead.  With one out, Victor singled then went to 3rd on a Matt Tuiasosopo single.  This was a very encouraging sign because it actually looked like Victor was running well.  Victor scored when Omar Infante singled breaking the tie and giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead.  I was hoping for a big clutch hit from someone else in the lineup, to break the game open, but it never came.  The next two runs were scored on a Conor Gillaspie throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Austin Jacskon.  I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a clutch hit would have been better than a throwing error.  However, with the way things have been going lately, I’ll take it.

In the bottom of the 7th, it looked like Jose Iggy Iglesias chose the wrong time to make his first fielding error as a Tiger.  With two out, Jeff Keppinger, hit a routine ground ball to short that Iggy booted.  Drew Smyly then walked Conor Gillaspie.  When Dayan Viciedo was announced as a pinch hitter for Tyler Flowers.  Jim Leyland countered by bringing in the Amazing Al and I thought the flood gates were about to open.  But, to my and the Tigers’ delight, Alburquerque got Viciedo to fly out and end the threat.

Jose Veras is beginning to scare me.  He came out to pitch the 9th and with one out gave up a run on two walks and a single.  This basically forced Leyland into bringing in Benoit for a 5 out save.  Benoit got Dunn and Garcia on strikes to end the inning and the threat and eventually got the save.

This win wasn’t pretty but it was needed.  It would have been a real downer to end the road trip at 5-5, especially with a sweep at the hands of the White Sox.

The Tigers are back home tomorrow for a 5 game series with the Royals.

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

UGLY! Tigers Fall To Sale, White Sox 6-2.

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What started out looking pretty good turned really ugly, really fast.

The Tigers got on the board in the first with a Miggy solo shot.  Brayan Pena put the Tigers up 2-0 after two with an RBI double, but the Tigers would score no more tonight.

Chris Sale pitched a complete game.  He allowed two earned, walked 0 and struck out 6 on 109 pitches.

Doug Fister started out well but seemed to fall apart in the 4th inning.  With 1 out Gordon Beckham singled.  Fister got Alexei Ramirez to pop out but then walked Adam Dunn and the wheels began to fall off. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third.  A walk to Konerko loaded the bases and another wild pitch scored Beckham and the White Sox were on the board.  Fister got ex-Tiger Avisail Garcia to end the inning but Fister could never really recover.

Fister came out for the 5th, gave up three more runs, and the Sox never looked back,  In Fister’s defense, he ran in to some bad luck.  With one out and runners on first and second, Gordon Beckham hit a ground ball back to Fister, which at first was looking like an inning ending double play, but the ball went off of Fister’s leg past Infante and into right field and the Sox were rolling.

The Tigers had chances to score, they touched Sale for 9 hits but couldn’t get the big knock when they needed it.  A big part of the Tigers’ offensive struggles were that Jacskon and Hunter were a combined 0-8, which meant Miggy was always hitting with nobody on base.

The Tigers left 16 men on base tonight, Omar Infante, back in the lineup, for the first time in over a month was 0-4 with 6 LOB.

I’m starting to worry a little bit.  Since the streak ended, the Tigers have lost 3 of 4 to bad teams, the Yankees and the White Sox.  Everything that seemed to be going so well suddenly isn’t.  Fister was not good tonight.  He wasn’t horrible but he had trouble with the strike zone and didn’t put in a quality start.  Even more concerning is Al Alburquerque out of the pen.  The Amazing Al has been more of an abomination lately.  Tonight, for example, he pitched one inning, gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs.  I don’t think he’s an option out of the pen anymore, he’s a nightmare.  And, where is the clutch hitting?  We could have used a big hit from Infante, but I’ll cut him some slack, since this was his first game back.

On the bright side, Iggy is really flashing leather.  He made an unbelievable play in the 6th. Josh Phegley hit a chopper that got over Fister’s head and looked like a sure infield hit.  But on came Iggy, who dove, barehanded the ball, and threw to first with both feet off of the ground to get Phegley at first.  Iggy also chipped in offensively with an infield single.

Bruce Rondon looked pretty good.  He came on in the 8th to clean up the Amazing Al’s mess.  With runners at second and third and nobody out Rondon surrendered a Texas Leaguer that got over the drawn in infield and a sacrifice fly but got Gordon Beckham to ground into an inning ending double play.  This was not a bad outing for Rondon considering what he inherited.

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