David Price

Rays 8 Tigers 0

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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.

O’s 3 Tigers 0

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This was actually a pretty well played game.  It lacked offense but I like a pitcher’s dual once in a while;  just as long as I don’t have to tip my cap to every ham & egger toes the slab against us. Both Price and Tillman were smokin balls.  The Tigers should have cashed a run in the bottom of the first when they had a runner on third with one out but Tillman looked like a top of the rotation guy last night.

David Price gutted out seven impressive innings allowing a single run on a solo shot by Manny Machado while striking out 12 and walking 1. Alex Wilson did what he does and pitched a clean 8th. Krol got a LONG out to lead off the 9th. Then Rondon essentially put the game out of reach by giving up two runs.  He needs to a bus ticket south about an hour.

Rondon did not pitch well and I can’t and won’t defend him.  But Anthony Gose could have bailed him out by making a catch he makes 9 out of 10 times.

It seems like things just are not working out for this team.  It doesn’t seem to be in the cards.  Unfortunately, I listened to 97.1 for a few minutes yesterday and some blow hard was talking about how if he were a season ticket holder he would be offended if the Tigers traded David Price.  I am a season ticket holder and here’s what offends me, charging $10.50 for three chicken fingers.

Tigers 12 Mariners 5

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If my memory serves me correctly, the only two places the Tigers play worse than Seattle are Anaheim and Yankee Stadium, so it was nice to start this road trip off with a win.

Alfredo Simon continues to be a mess. He allowed five runs in five and two thirds  Luckily, the bullpen showed up tonight with good performance from Blaine Hardy, Ian Krol and Bruce Rondon.

Everyone got in on the 12 run, 19 hit parade except Ian Kinsler who was an absolute abomination at the plate. He went 0-5 and hit into two double plays.

Don’t look now but Nick Castellanos has started to hit the last few games.  He had four hits tonight including a home run,

All-Star J.D. Martinez had three hits and raised his average to .290 with another homer and three more hits.  He is basically on Miggy like tear right now.  I hope he continues this pace.  With JMC on the shelf, the Tigers are going to need it.

Victor seems to finding his form again. At the risk of sending this offense into a tailspin with the my fingers and keyboard, this offense is firing on all cylinders, the only problem is the Tigers only have two starting pitchers.  After Price and Sanchez I’m not sure where they turn for the 3-5 starting slots.  I guess if they score 5+ runs a game they might be able to squeak by for a while.

Doesn’t it seem like this is 180 degrees opposite of the first two months of the season?

I’ll the take W any way they can get them.

Pirates 9 Tigers 3

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After the 14 inning affair Tuesday night the Tigers needed innings on Wednesday from Alfredo Simon.  They got 5.2. To be fair, it wasn’t all his fault.  The defense made two errors behind him but Simon was up in the strike zone all night and surrendered six earned runs on 15 hits.

Basically, the Pirates beat Simon into a conniption and I don’t have the adjective to describe what they did to Joba. I don’t think “conniption” accurately describes the type of beating they put on him.  Try to remember the beating Freeway Ricky put on Youk in Fenway a few years ago.  Or perhaps think of the whooping Nolan Ryan put on current White Sox’s manager, Robin Ventura, you know, the Dumbest Manager In Baseball.  If you take those two beatings, multiply them by 1000, you may begin to get an idea of what the Pirates did you Joba last night. When Joba left the mound he didn’t know whether to crap his pants or wind his watch.

DD needs to trade David Price soon  He’s not re-singing here.  This team is not making the playoffs. They need to get something for him.  This rotation is a mess.  When you subtract Price, you don’t have much left.  Is it too early to start thinking about next year?  I’m not so sure.

Tigers 4 Indians 0

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With two on and one out in the bottom of the sixth inning of a scoreless game at Comerica Park, we saw something that we used to see fairly frequently, but haven’t seen much of this year.  Jose Miguel Cabrera beat the first pitch he saw from Indians pitcher Danny Salazar into an absolute conniption.  The ball went into the camera well that hovers above and behind the center field wall.  It had to travel at least 450 feet from home plate.

Miggy’s monster mash was huge for several reasons, not the least of which was that it came when the Tigers needed it most.  Up until that time they really hadn’t done much off of Salazar.  Second, it came in a night game and for whatever reason, he hasn’t been hitting well at night this year.  Third, he hit the first pitch of the at-bat.  He usually jumps on first pitches but not so much this season. I know it is one game and one at-bat but we haven’t seen a lot of vintage Miggy this year.

David Price pitched his second consecutive complete game shutout.  I was surprised when Dan Dickerson said this was only the third shutout of this career.  In any case, I believe our old friend Freeway Ricky had back to back complete game shutouts last year.

I realized something else today, I like when the Tigers turn double plays a lot better than when they hit into them. I believe the Tigers turned four to the Indians one this evening.

One last thing, Iggy, Kinsler and Miggy have been flashin leather and really look like a good double play combination.  Don’t shove it down my throat tomorrow guys.

Tigers 7 White Sox 1

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I’m not jumping back on the band wagon but it’s nice to score some runs and end the eight game losing streak.  Given this team’s history, I’m not expecting much offense for another couple of weeks, but at this point I’ll take what I can get.

The Tigers had 18 hits and everybody got in on the fun, including Kinsler who had two.

Price had an impressive night, pitching a complete game and striking out 11.

It’s only one game and for now the Tigers are a game over .500.  Let’s see what happens tomorrow.

Tigers 1 A’s 0

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Not exactly an offensive explosion but I’ll take the win.  David Price was smokin’ balls. So was the pen.  I’m not sure what to say about the offense that I haven’t said 50 times already this year.  They blow. I’m glad to see Kinsler got the day off and with Romine leading the way with two hits give him another one.

Iglesias is starting to worry me.  He is very fragile.  Even the slightest contact sends him to the bench. I guess it is what it is.

Tigers 2 Royals 1

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The offense is still AWOL.  However, last night, the CY Young Award winner, David Price, showed up and shut down the Royals.  Thanks to Price, the Tigers have a chance to salvage a split in this series.

In my post yesterday, I lamented the inconsistency of the Tigers offense.  Prior to the game, Mario and Rod showed a statistic validating my complaint.  I don’t have the number committed to memory but I believe the graphic showed that the Tigers lead the league both in games scoring two runs or less and games scoring 10 runs or more.  Like I said yesterday, this goes beyond this year, this is a problem with philosophy.  It is a stubborn philosophy that has plagued this team for the last 5-8 years and they refuse to change.

Victor can’t hit right now, left handed, to save his life.  Defenses play “the shift” on him and give him the entire left side of the field but he won’t take his single. I know he can run but with the way the defense is playing him he doesn’t have to.  Same thing with Avila.

I believe someone a lot smarter than me once said “doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result is the definition of insanity.”

Mr. Illitch, I know you are a regular reader, it is time for a different direction.  Start with DD and BA.

Tigers 5 Twins 4

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The Tigers scored five runs in the first two innings then held off the Twins for a one run victory.  They had chances to add on runs but three more double plays and bad base running killed potential rallies.

Note to Miggy. You can’t or won’t run out ground balls.  Why do you think you have the wheels to steal third?  Don’t be asinine.

The double plays are really getting on my nerves.  Perhaps Brad Ausmus should consider sacrificing?

I’m rambling. David Price only lasted 6.2 innings today. If I’m not mistaken, didn’t the Twins beat him into a conniption last year at Target Field or am I hallucinating?

I’ll take the W.

Yankees 13 Tigers 4

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It is outings like this that, if I were Dave Dombrowski and Mr. Ilitch, would nag me about offering David Price a big contract. These are not bad outings. These are Fukushima like melt downs that happen too often for a guy looking for $20 plus million a year.

Going back to last season, this is the second start in a row that the Yankees absolutely beat David Price into a conniption and if I’m not mistaken the Giants put a similar beating on him last year as well.

Oh, how much more of The Amazing, Everyday Al do we need to see?

The offense wasn’t much better. I realize you aren’t going to win many games when your pitching staff gives up 13 runs but the offense did nothing except hit into two more double plays. The four runs they got in the bottom of the first came courtesy of four walks and only two hits.

Ok, ok 13-4 isn’t bad and a split in a four game series will make me feel a little better but I’m serious about what I said about Price. His Fukushimas scare me.

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