Twins 6 Tigers 2

Well, I didn’t see much of this one past the third inning.  However, this was pretty good outing from Simon.  He lasted eight complete and allowed four earned.  Unfortunately, two runs offensively aren’t going to get it done.

The rubber game is this afternoon.

In other news: After hearing rumors that Ron Gardenhire was the next Tigers manager.  After announcing Brad Ausmus would be fired after the end of the season. New Tigers GM, “Big” Al Avila has changed his mind.  BA is staying.

http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2015/09/watch_al_avila_announce_that_b.html

I will take issue with one thing Big Al said in the video above. How exactly do the Tigers work on base running?  Perhaps they should stop.

One more thing, they need a new third base coach.  It’s hard to see how anybody other than Tom Brookens could be worse than Dave Clark.  The Tigers lead baseball in runners thrown out at home.  The only advantage Clark has on Brookens is that Clark gets runners thrown out by 10 feet whereas Brookens got runners thrown out by 30 feet.

Rays 8 Tigers 0

The Tigers failed to complete their first three game sweep since very early in the season.  The Rays absolutely mutilated Tigers pitching and the offense did nothing.  The game was pretty much decided when Miggy struck out in the bottom of the fifth with the score 3-0, with runners on second and third and two out. After that, the Rays added on and the Tigers never threatened again.

I heard a rumor.  Supposedly Ron Gardenhire will be the next Tigers manager. Again, supposedly, it is a “done” deal and will be announced shortly after the season is over. The comments are not too complimentary of the former Twins manager on the site the rumor is posted on.

I’m not sure what to think to think anymore.  Gardenhire was one of my favorite managers for a long time but Sark made me rethink that position. Paul Molitor seems to have done a good job with the same team Gardenhire had problems with. Also, I’m not really sure what to think about the job Ausmus has done. The Tigers have had horrible injuries to key players with no farm system. Ausmus can only call on who he has available.  What else is he going to do?

After the first two months of the season, the Tigers have had two reliable arms out of the pen, Wilson and Hardy.  They had 1.5 reliable starters, David Price and Alfredo Simon. After Price got traded, Verlander became serviceable but Simon fell from half a reliable starter to a quarter of a reliable starter.

The offense has been pretty much feast or famine.  I guess the one thing I could put on Ausmus is the atrocious base running.  The Tigers make so many outs on the bases that it is hard to stomach and it costs them especially in close games.  Also, Dave Clark might be the worst third base coach in the history of baseball. But it is hard to put this abomination of a season on the shoulders of BA.

This team is a mess and I’m not sure a new manager is going to fix anything.  This team seems to play hard for BA for whatever that is worth.

Orioles 7 Tigers 6

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”

The Tigers bullpen has been its Achilles heal for the past four years. The genius Dave Dombrowski, has done nothing to remedy the issue.

Oh, I know he made a half hearted attempt with the acquisition of Soria. But he knew Soria didn’t work out almost immediately and did nothing.

The TBS broadcast showed a statistic of the Tigers bullpen ERA during the last three post seasons. It wasn’t pretty. If I’m not mistaken, the 2011 ERA was over eight. Dennis Eckersley made the comment that the pen has been the single reason the Tigers haven’t won the World Series. (No kidding.)

For some reason, Ausmus keeps sending out the same parade of idiots. I know, ‘what can he do? That’s all he’s got’. I thought you’d never ask. How about leaving Sanchez in for the 8th or how about Kyle Lobstein? How about Porcello? Anybody but Soria, Chamberlain, Coke, Nathan, et al.

Now JV wasn’t good. I thought the home plate umpire was a joke but JV wasn’t good. He got picked up by his offense and Anibal Sanchez who was brilliant.

Do you remember a few months ago when I said third base coach Dave Clark was the second worst third base coach in the history of baseball behind Tom Brookens? I was wrong. He’s worse than Tommy Brookens. His asinine send of Cabrera in the eight with nobody out proved to be a dagger in the heart.

Given the deficiencies this team has it is a wonder they have won four division titles.

I’m sick.

Tigers 8 Rangers 6

The Tigers were able to win their sixth straight game despite not getting a quality start from Anibal Sanchez.

Sanchez lasted 5.1 innings, allowing 4 runs on 6 hits. He struck out 5 and walked 1.

One thing that I’ve really like about the Tigers lately, is that they have scored early, during the first three innings of the game. It might be a hangover from the hockey season, but scoring first / early, seems to give the game a better feel than falling behind early.

On another note, Tigers, third base coach, Dave Clark, is trying to unseat Tom Brookens as the worst third base coach in baseball history. During the last two games, Clark has gotten runners thrown out at the plate by 30+ feet. It hasn’t cost the Tigers a game yet, but I don’t like to play with fire.

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