Anibal Sanchez

Tigers Dust Indians 10-5

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The Tigers starting pitching today was better than it has been all week.  Anibal Sanchez lasted 6 and 2/3 surrendering only 3 runs.

Omar Infante had a day, he hit two homers and drove in 5 runs.  He hit a three run shot in the second and a two run shot in the 6th.

The impressive inning for Sanchez was the fifth.  With the Tigers up 4-1, the Indians put runners at the corners with nobody out.  Sanchez was able to get Lonnie Chisenhall to pop out.  He struck out Ian Gomes, gave up an RBI single to Michael Bourne, then struck Nick Swisher out to end the inning.  Sanchez was able to avoid a big inning and keep the Tigers in the lead surrendering only 1 run.

I wasn’t at the game, so I couldn’t see, but was Dirks or Hunter hustling to backup Ajax when he ran into the wall and hurt himself in the top of the 8th?  It looked like it took Dirks a long time to get the ball.

It was also in was nice to see the Tigers come back and put runs on the board in the bottom of the 8th after the Indians cut the Tigers lead to 6-5.

Lead by Austin Jackson’s 2 run triple, the Tigers put up four more runs in the bottom of the 8th to extend the lead to 10-5.

Iggy continues to impress, this time with his offense.  In the bottom of the 8th after Jacskon’s two run triple, Jim Leyland put the squeeze play on with Iggy at the plate.  The first pitch Iggy saw was a fast ball over his head but he found a way to get the bunt down allowing Jackson to score on the play.

Also, kind of under the radar, Brayan Pena has had a really nice season at the plate.  He was 2-4 tonight and his hitting .313 on the season.  This is huge considering the Tigers have gotten relatively little in the way of offense from the often injured Alex Avila.

Jose Veras didn’t look good.  He gave up three hits, two earned runs, and several hard hit balls in his one inning of work.

Verlander gets the call tomorrow as the Tigers go for the sweep.  I don’t know what to expect but I’ll hope for the best.  I’ll take 7 innings with 3 earned runs or less.

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

A’s 8 Tigers 6

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The bottom line is that the Tigers didn’t pitch well enough to win tonight.  Anibal Sanchez and the bull pen had a rough outing.

That being said, the Tigers had plenty of chances to even the score or take the lead.  They left the bases loaded in both the seventh and eight innings.

As the Tigers head down the stretch, Prince Fielder needs to start coming through or Cabrera will never get a chance to hit in crucial situations.  In the 7th inning, with two out, the A’s walked Miggy to load the bases preferring to pitch to Prince.  Fielder flew out deep to center field to end the inning.

Early in the season, Prince seemed to respond when a team walked Miggy to pitch to him, but he hasn’t lately.

On yesterday’s post, in the comments section, Sark asked, “Could you imagine this team with a good JV?”  I’d like to add to that, how good would the Tigers be if both JV and Fielder were performing?

I’m getting afraid that the team is counting too much on Miggy to get it done every night.  He just can’t come through in every situation, in every game.  That’s why it was so nice see Dirksy get the big hit in yesterday’s game.

Perhaps it’s time to move Fielder down to the 5 spot and Victor up to clean up?

The loss tonight makes the Tigers 1-3 in their last 4 home games.

Besides Fielder not coming through, it was disappointing to see the pitching give the lead back up twice, immediately after the Tigers came back to tie it.  But, really, we can’t complain too much about the pitching.

Torii Hunter left the bases loaded in the 8th when he struck out on 3 pitches.  Not the at bat the Tigers were looking for in that situation.

Coco Crisp was flashin leather tonight.  He robbed Tui of an extra base hit, thwarting a rally in the 8th, after Victor lead off with a solo homer.

Verlander is on the mound tomorrow and I’m not sure what to expect.  Just when I think he’s regaining his form, he goes out and takes a dump.

The Tigers need at least a split of this 4 game series with the A’s.

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

Scenes From Comerica Park | 8/21/2013

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Mickey Lolich delivered the game ball to the mound for Anibal Sanchez.

On April 26th of this year, against the Atlanta Braves, Anibal Sanchez broke Mickey Lolich’s, Tiger, single game strikeout record. Sanchez bested Lolich’s 16 by one.

Mickey Lolich
Mickey Lolich delivers game ball to mound for Anibal Sanchez

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

Tigers Beat Twins 7-1 – Even Series

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Behind 6 and 2/3 strong innings from Anibal Sanchez, the Tigers beat the Twins 7-1, at Comerica Park tonight.

This was a frustrating game to watch for 6 and half innings.  The Tigers offense seemed like it could do nothing against Twins’ starter Kevin Correia, despite having 6 hits entering the 7th inning.

The problem with the Tigers’ offense is their lack of speed.  Cabrera, Fielder, Martinez and Infante can’t run at all.  While none of these guys are burners, injuries have slowed them further.  Additionally, as a team, they steal very few bases and rarely take an extra base on singles, especially going first to third.  Given this lack of offensive speed, the Tigers have two ways of scoring.  First, and most difficult, is to play station to station and string together 3-4 base hits.  The second way is to hit home runs, and extra base hits in the outfield gaps.  When they aren’t getting the extra base power their offense fizzles and looks lethargic.  Today’s game was a case in point, for 6 innings, and there was no better example than Victor Martinez hitting a ball off the right field wall and settling for a single in the 4th.

On defense, the biggest problem the Tigers have is stopping, or slowing down, the running game.  I hate to sound like a broken record but every team the Tigers play runs on them at will.  In the top of the 7th, I thought the story of the game was going to be a 1-0 Tiger loss and a wasted quality start from Anibal.  With two out in the 7th, Sanchez walked the Twins’ number 9 hitter, Pedro Florimon.  Florimon promptly stole second and scored on a Brian Dozier single giving the Twins a 1-0 lead and chasing Sanchez.

Luckily, the Tigers’ offense exploded for 4 runs in the 7th and 3 in the 8th.  The big hit came in the 7th.  With two out, and nothing really to cheer about, Bryan Holaday extended the inning and turned the lineup over with a single.  Austin Jackson followed with another single and Torii Hunter doubled in Jackson and Holaday to open the flood gates and give the Tigers the lead.

An oddity in Today’s game was the pattern Sanchez fell in to.  In the first four innings, Sanchez retired the first two hitters easily.  However, with two outs he would give up base runners.  In fact, it wasn’t until the 5th inning that Anibal had his first 1-2-3 inning.  I’m not sure what this means, or if it means anything, it just struck me as a little odd.

Jose Iggy Iglesias continues to impress.  In addition to his stellar defense, he had two more hits tonight raising his average to .324, not too bad for a guy known for his glove.

Verlander pitches tomorrow afternoon.  This is a win the Tigers must have.  (It sounds like I say that a lot.)

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

GOOD OLE DIRKSY!

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After struggling mightily this season, especially on the last road trip, Andy Dirks started in left field tonight and batted lead-off, while Jim Leyland rested Austin Jackson.  Dirksy paid dividends right away.  He led off the bottom of the 1st with a single and ended up going 4-4 with 2 singles and 2 doubles.

I’ve been hard on Dirksy this year but I thought he had some good at bats Tuesday in Chicago and was on the verge of coming out of his funk.  Today was a good start.  Hopefully, he can keep rolling and the Tigers won’t have to worry about what to do in left field anymore.

Prince Fielder, almost on queue, hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first and that was more than enough for the Tigers pitching staff tonight.

After a very rough first inning, Anibal Sanchez, gave the Tigers 7 1/3,  allowing only a first inning run.  He struck out 5 and walked one.  What makes this start more impressive is that Sanchez needed 30 pitches to get out of the 1st inning.  It looked like it was going to be a short night, but he composed himself, and pitched into the 8th while throwing 115 pitches.

What’s even more interesting, in regard to Anibal’s start, was that Jim Leyland allowed him to throw 115 pitches, which is usually reserved for only Justin Verlander.

Bruce Rondon relieved Sanchez with one out in the 8th and continues to impress.  He recorded the last two outs.  I was hoping he’d come out for the 9th to preserve Benoit for the rest of the series.  But it was not to be.  Benoit came on in the 9th and recorded his 16th save.

Jarrod Dyson flashed some serious leather in the bottom of the 8th.  Victor Martinez led off the inning by hitting a laser to right-center.  Off of the bat, it looked like a sure double and perhaps even a triple, but Dyson kept gaining ground and made a beautiful running catch.

Here are a few random notes:

  1. It was nice to see Prince hit a home run. I’m not sure exactly how long since his last one, but it seemed like a month or so.
  2. I’m more than a little concerned at the way teams run at will on the Tigers.  It seems to be a combination of the pitchers falling asleep and the catchers not throwing well.  Right now, it hasn’t bitten them to much, but in close games it could be huge.
  3. I’m also concerned about the way the Tigers run the bases.  Dirks and Hunter both made blunders, on the same play, in the bottom of the third tonight.  Dirksy led off with a double.  Hunter followed with a ground ball back to the pitcher.  Dirks got a little too anxious and got caught between second and third.  To make matters worse, Hunter got caught between first and second.  It was very strange double play.  Right now the running game doesn’t look like a big deal, but it could really come back to haunt the Tigers in an important game.
  4. Jose Iglesisas and Omar Infante turn double plays like they’ve been together for years.  As long as Iglesias can hit just a little, his acquisition should turn out to be fantastic.
  5. I hope Dirksy is on a roll and this isn’t just a one game reprieve.
  6. Brayan Pena is raking.  He had two more hits tonight and is batting .313.  That’s a lot more than I expected.
  7. After a rocky start to his big league career, Bruce Rondon looks fantastic.  He has lowered his ERA to 3.68.

There were a few omens that proved prescient for the night Dirksy had.  First, is this sign from a guy in a Tiger striped suit, right behind the Tiger dugout.

Andy Dirks The Andy Man
The Andy Man Can

Second, as Dirks was stepping to the plate to lead off the game for the Tigers, my Dad said Dirksy is going to hit a bullet to right field.  He was correct.  Actually, the older I get, the smarter my Dad becomes.  🙂

The Tigers could use a “JV” performance tomorrow in game one.  It would be nice to take the first two of this 5 game series with TBD slated for game two.

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

Tigers Thrash Yankees 9-3…

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even series at 1.

The Tigers beat up on Yankee pitching early and often.  The 1-2-3 hitters were on fire but the big hit came off the bat of Don Kelly in the top of the 5th.  After a Victor Martinez double, Kelly came to the plate with runners at second and third with two out and delivered a 2 RBI single making it 6-0.

Miggy, Ajax, and Hunter each hit home runs today.  Hunter’s 3 run shot in the 6th, effectively put the game out of reach.

Anibal Sanchez pitched well.  He went 7 complete, allowed 2 earned, struck out 8, and walked only 1.

In the bottom of the 4th inning, Yankee Brett Gardner, went in to second base high and hard on Jose Iglesias to brake up a double play.  He was successful.  Iglesias threw the ball wide and Ichiro was safe at 1st.  This may be considered an acceptable, hard, baseball play, but after what happened to Omar Infante in Toronto, I think the Tigers should have responded and sent the Yankees, Gardner and the rest of the league a message.  In his next at bat, Gardner should have gotten a 95 mph fastball in the ribs but it didn’t happen.  Perhaps tomorrow? Perhaps next year?

As far as I’m concerned, the Tigers have two scores to settle.  The first is with the Toronto Blue Jays and Colby Rasmus.  That little jerk should be given chin music in his next 3 at bats against the Tigers and his in his 4th at bat his ribs need to be light up with a Rondon 103 mph fastball.  As for Gardner, one in the ribs should suffice, Verlander perhaps tomorrow?

Jose Iglesias and Victor Martinez flashed leather today.  In the bottom of the 3rd, Iggy made a nice diving stop on a ball hit sharply, off the bat of Austin Romine, between short and 3rd and Victor made a nice scoop at 1st to complete the play and end the inning.  Iggy also had two hits raising his average to .323.  Not too bad for a guy the Tigers got for his glove.

Tiger manager Jim Leyland had a slight reprieve from his Dirksburger Syndrome.  Andy Dirks was replaced in left field by Don DK Kelly.  Kelly was 2-4 with 3 RBIs.  What’s even more surprising is that Dirksy didn’t even come in as a defensive replacement late in the game.

“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 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

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

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