BA

Tigers 4 White Sox 3

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The Tigers have held onto first place for another day.

The offense is still MIA. Although they scored four runs, the White Sox tried to give them a big inning in the 7th, but the Tigers refused to take it. That being said, they had a 3-0 lead going into the top of the 9th.

I have to give a partial hat tip to Brad Ausmus. He left David Price pitch in the 9th until the game was tied. I would have done the same thing. Did he have a choice? During BA’s first trip to the mound I thought Price looked winded but a winded David Price is better than ANY option out of the pen.

I only gave BA a partial hat tip because of his unnatural love affair with Joe Nathan. Was Nathan his only option? What in the sam hell did the Tigers acquire Soria for? I rarely see him warm up. This would have been the perfect opportunity to see what Soria is. It wasn’t a save situation so he could have explained away his decision not to bring in his “closer”.

I don’t get it.

I feel bad for Price in that he lost his shutout and win. He was smokin balls all game and in the 9th he just got unlucky.

In the end, despite the lack of relief pitching, suspect defense and inconsistent offense, the Tigers still have Miguel Cabrera. And he might be getting healthy.

On another note, Avisail Garcia continues to the hurt the Tigers. Last year, his off the field shenanigans got Miggy hurt for the stretch, today he drives in two runs in the top of the 9th in a game the Tigers had to have. As far as the Tigers are concerned, Garcia is a low-grade infection that keeps flaring up.

They had to have this game and they got it.

Tigers 3 Yankees 2

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It would have been criminal to lose this game. After the last two call-up starts by Ray and Farmer, Lobstein comes in and gives you six innings and one earned run, you better win.

For a while it looked like the shitty offense wouldn’t come through but key hits from unexpected places, Avila and Davis, were enough to pull this one out in the ninth. Avila actually drove in two of the three runs. In the ninth, it looked like he was looking for the slider on the first pitch.

Is it as painful for anyone else, as it is for me, to watch Miggy this year? I feel bad for him. He’s just not his old self.

The substitutions have become a farce. BA pretty much emptied the bench today. I’m not sure what he would have done if the game went extra innings. Perhaps he would have had the turd catch. In any event, like Sark said, all these moves are just silly.

I’ll take the W.

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Pirates 4 Tigers 2

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For the seventh time in nine road games the Tigers lost.

I feel like an idiot for tuning in every game and hoping for a different outcome.

The Tigers aren’t doing anything well. Perhaps Brad Ausmus should consider playing his best defensive team and seeing what happens. It’s not like the offense can get much worse.

By playing defense first maybe they can help the struggling bullpen. The Tigers can’t afford to give anybody extra outs. Their pitching and offense can’t overcome the defensive miscues that plague this team on a regular basis.

Victor is going to have to sit in NL parks. Ever since his injury he hasn’t been doing much anyway and Cabrera can’t play third. Romine has to play short. I’m not sure what to do at third, maybe DK? Actually, I’m not sure what to do with the outfield either. On queue, the minute I commented on how well J.D. Martinez was playing in the field, suddenly he can’t pick the ball up anymore. Torii is old, I don’t think Davis is much of a fielder and I’m pissed at Carrera.

What a mess.

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

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Blue Jays 6 Tigers 5

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Another series loss.

Don’t let the five runs fool you. Three of the five runs were unearned and they didn’t score after the fourth inning. That’s 14 innings without scoring a run. The Tigers get credit for taking advantage of mistakes but they eventually returned the favor in spades.

Besides Joba Chamberlain, who is turning out to be the guy the Yankees let go, the bullpen was good today. Even Phil Coke pitched adequately, he was hurt by bone head fielding plays from Kinsler and Castellanos.

There is no other way to say this, the Tigers are horrible. Their lead over the Royals is down to 1/2 a game and they are headed for a catastrophic implosion. The offense is almost as bad as the bullpen. The fielding is borderline terrible and the manager sits their like an idiot and does nothing to shake things up.

On another note, did anybody see the Joe Nathan interview after the game yesterday? When is he going to take responsibility for pitching like shit? He’s blown six saves and has a 5.23 ERA. If I’m not mistaken, both his ERA and blown saves are the worst in MLB.

Also, Max Scherzer was covering BA’s ass. You could tell he was lying when he said he had nothing left.

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

Angels 4 Tigers 0

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This game SUCKED. JV pitched pretty well, but when your offense decides to take two games completely off, you can’t pitch well enough to win.

The last two games the Tigers have scored a grand total of one run. Not surprisingly, they’re 0-2.

Other than Jackson, there weren’t even a lot of hard hit outs. The offense BLEW.

It is really unfair to single one guy out when the whole team sucked, but can someone explain why Ausmus runs Avila out there every game including against lefties?

Avila took another ofer and struck out for the 98th time this season. That’s 98 times in 101 games. And BA still runs him out there. I don’t get it.

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

Ricky Deserved Better…

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Through 7 complete, Ricky had given up three runs, struck out 5, walked none, thrown only 77 pitches and trailed 3-2.

Somehow, through a comedy of miscues and a timely Hunter single, the Tigers took a 4-3 lead in the top of the eighth. With the bases loaded and two out it was Ricky’s turn to bat. Then the unthinkable happened. Brad Ausmus pinch hit Rajai Davis for Freeway Ricky.

I don’t have the words to describe Ausmus’s lunacy. After 96 games you know what you have. Regarding the Tigers bullpen, you don’t have much.

For Ausmus’s edification, you have one reliable arm in the bullpen, Joba Chamberlain. You decided he wasn’t available tonight. That leaves you with nothing. And that’s what you got.

After Davis failed to deliver, Phil Coke came in to “relieve” Ricky in the bottom of the 8th. He retired the first batter on a line shot into his stomach then walked the next two batters.

In comes The Amazing, Everyday Al. Al gets a fly ball for out number two then walks the bases loaded.

In comes Ian Krol who surrenders a two run single and game over.

Did I mention Freeway Ricky had only thrown 77 pitches?

You (BA) child.

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

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Tigers 4 Diamondbacks 3

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The same recipe yields the same results. Well almost.

JV lasted 6.2 innings, allowed 3 runs, and got the win. The normal recipe calls for 7 complete but The Amazing, Everyday Al, was able to get the third out in the 7th to preserve the lead and the win.

I’m happy JV got the win. I’m happy the Tigers got the win. But let’s not kid ourselves, JV wasn’t good tonight. The Diamondbacks hit a lot of balls hard but had little to show for it.

A little more honesty, The Amazing, Everyday Al is not good. I cringed when BA brought him in. Almost as much as I cringed when Nathan came on in the ninth. I can’t help wondering if the situation were the same, in a must win game, would BA ask Joba for four outs?

That being said, The Amazing, Everyday Al is as good, if not better, than any other option out of the pen, except Joba.

Freeway Ricky goes tomorrow and God willing I’ll be there again.

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

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