Brad Ausmus

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 3 Tigers 2

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Put this one on BA. If he doesn’t know this team by now, he’ll never know them.

The Tigers only strength is starting pitching.  Their offense is horrible. Their bullpen is an abomination.

Joe Nathan is horrible.  Joba is returning to the guy that the Yankees gave up on.  Soria, all though he was good today, has not been good in a Tigers uniform.

That being said, let the starters win or lose.   Max had only thrown 106 pitches.  Send him out for the ninth inning. Add this game to the game in Arizona, when he pulled Freeway Ricky in the eighth for a pinch hitter, and Ausmus is directly responsible of two loses in the last three weeks.

This team isn’t going anywhere.

“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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Tigers 4 Dodgers 1

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Impressive, is the best way to describe this win.  Not only did Max break the string of crappy starts, the Tigers beat a pitcher that has dominated them, Zach Greinke.

In yesterday’s post, I asked for at least seven innings with no more that two runs allowed.  Max did one better.  He pitched seven completed and allowed only one run.

Another thing that makes this win impressive is that neither Miggy nor Victor were in the lineup.  Victor still has an issue with his side and apparently, Miggy was just given a day off.

Nebraska told me that Brad Ausmus wanted to get DK in the lineup because he has hit Greinke well.  Coming into the game DK was 3-8 against Greinke, hardly a large enough sample, but Donny went 2-3 with a big RBI.

What I’m happiest about today is the pitching.  Max was great and Joba and Nathan were lights out.  If Tigers starters can go seven innings a lot of the deficiencies can be covered up.

The Tigers go to Kansas City for weekend set-to with Royals. Depending on what team shows, the Tigers could have a nice lead going into the break.

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

Whew!

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The Tigers survived another miserable performance from Ian Krol to take the first of a nine game road trip.

Despite Krol giving up four runs in 2/3 of an inning, the eighth, the Tigers beat the Indians 6-4.

I was at a restaurant, celebrating my birthday, so I was watching the game with the sound turned off. There are a few things that I wished I had an explanation for.

First, why was Don Kelly trying to steal third base in the third inning?  Was this some kind of missed hit and run?  He led off the inning with a double.

I’m a DK fan but WTF?

Second, why did Ian Krol come in to pitch the eighth inning?

Third, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after he gave up back to back singles to lead off the inning?

Fourth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Cabrera hit a three run homer?

Fifth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Santana cut the lead to one run?

Ausmus is beginning to worry me.  While Krol threw batting practice to the Indians, Ausmus had the deer in the headlights look?

Didn’t he go to Dartmouth?

On the bright side:

  • The Tigers have won back to back games.
  • Freeway Rick was great for six innings.  I would have liked to get at least seven out of him but you can’t complain about six scoreless innings.
  • Victor and J.D. Martinez continue to get it done and carry this team offensively.  I’m not sure how long the ride is going to last with J.D. but I hope the Tigers ride it for as long as they can.
  • Miggy FLASHED LEATHER in the sixth, he started and finished, a 3-6-3 double play.  The finish was sweet.  He dove for the ball but kept his foot on the bag just long enough to get Asdrubal Cabrera called out at first.
  • The Amazing Al pitched a clean seventh.
  • Joe Nathan got his second save in a as many games by pitching a scoreless ninth.

One more thing, at the beginning of the season, I was on the DD band wagon proclaiming his genius.  I should have listened to my gut, my first reaction.  Dave Dombrowski traded Doug Fister for three humpty dumpties.  We’re reminded of this every time Ian Krol takes the mound.

The Tigers, for the second game in a row, were able to win in spite of themselves.

I hope the ship has turned in the right direction.

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

Tigers 12 Twins 9

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The Tigers got a win but it was ugly.  They had an 11-1 lead but needed four relief pitchers to hold off the Twins.

Anibal Sanchez pitched 6.1 innings and allowed three earned runs.  He turned the game over to the pen and then the game degenerated into the theater of the absurd.

Ausmus needed Evan Reed, Phil Coke, Al Alburquerque, and Ian Krol to close out the game.

The Tigers are fortunate that Joe Mauer is struggling or this game could have slipped away.  Mauer was 0-5 and left six runners on base.

I wrote briefly yesterday about this team being out sync and it showed again today.  Luckily the offense scored 12 runs because this bullpen is horrible.

The rubber game starts tomorrow at 1:00 pm.

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

Tigers earn split with A’s 5-4

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Despite Joe Nathan’s best effort to blow his third save in the last 10 games, the Tigers found a way to squeak out a 5-4 victory and split the four game series with the A’s.

What makes this win more impressive is that they Freeway Ricky Porcello failed to provide a quality start despite winning his eighth game of the season.  Ricky’s performance was maddening. He pitched in and out of trouble all day long and gave up seven free passes, six walks and one HBP.  What was even more exasperating than the free passes was giving up a two run homer to Nick Punto. NICK PUNTO!?

The last two times through the rotation, Tigers starters, with the exception of Sanchez, have blown.  They better right the ship soon because like Peter Gammons says, “if you can’t pitch, you can’t win.”

With the exception of Joe Nathan, the bullpen was adequate.  However, the Amazing Al walked two in his inning of work.

That brings me to Nathan.  He has three blown saves and has a 5.23 ERA.  I hope Brad Ausmus has a plan B for the closer role.  Additionally, after his post game comments yesterday, I’m beginning to question his character.  I’ll be the first to admit that Castellanos is not good at third but he didn’t give up the home run to Donaldson.  So man up, JACKASS, and accept the fact that you’ve blown this year.  Instead of blaming the rookie start earning your money suck-hole.

On the flip side of the coin, this Tigers team has shown a type of resiliency that I haven’t seen for a long time.  They play for nine innings and on most nights, I get the feeling that they expect to win.  I guess time will tell.

 

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

Time Warp…

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for the sixth time in seven games the 2003 Detroit Tigers have taken the field and the results have been eerily similar, they’re 1-6.

I’ve reprinted the evidence below.  All rights reserved.

  • Horrible pitching
  • Shitty defense
  • Untimely hitting

Perhaps Brad Ausmus can fix the flux capacitor and have the 1984 Tigers show up in Oakland tonight.

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