Forgive me for not immediately ordering a Davis home jersey.
The detnews is reporting, hat tip Nebaraska, that the Tigers have signed, former Athletics and Blue Jays outfielder, Rajai Davis, to a two year contract.
Lake Buena Vista, Fla. — The Tigers have struck — they just haven’t struck gold. (UNDERSTATEMENT)
According to a report from Sportsnet.ca’s Ben-Nicholson Smith, speedy outfielder Rajai Davis and the Tigers have come to an agreement on a two-year contract. The Tigers have yet to confirm the move, but The News learned late Monday night that the Tigers were zeroing in on adding offense, and were likely to strike soon — and perhaps at the winter meetings.
Davis is a right-handed hitter who is in line to be in a left-field platoon with the left-handed-hitting Andy Dirks.
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:
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.
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.
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.
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.
I hope Dirksy is on a roll and this isn’t just a one game reprieve.
Brayan Pena is raking. He had two more hits tonight and is batting .313. That’s a lot more than I expected.
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.
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.
as the Tigers fell to the Yankees tonight, 4-3, in 10 innings.
Rick Porcello started the game and only lasted 5 innings allowing 3 runs on 6 hits. He struck out six and walked 2. Ricky didn’t pitch poorly but I knew he was in trouble from the very first batter. The umpire, Will Little, was not calling the inside pitch to left handers a strike. Brett Gardner led off the game with a walk and the replay showed that Ricky had struck him out twice but couldn’t get the inside strike called. In fact, the Yankees first 5 hits were all from left handers and all to left or left center. The only hard hit ball was Robinson Cano’s double that drove in 2 runs in the third.
In fact, this was one of the worst umpired games I’ve seen in a long time at home plate. I couldn’t tell what was a strike and neither could anybody else. Most of the time replays show that umpires get the calls right but not tonight. I’m not sure what Little was looking at.
That being said, the Tigers had plenty of chances to score but the offense basically consisted of Autsin Jackson and Miguel Cabrera. Jackson was 4-6 and Miggy was 2-5 and drove in all three Tigers runs. The big hit was Miggy’s two run bomb in the 9th inning off of Mariano Rivera to send the game into extra innings. It looked like the Tigers might go ahead in the 9th. After Miggy’s homer, Fielder followed with a double. The Yankees then walked Martinez putting runners at first and second with 2 out. Andy Dirks stepped to the plate and completed his 0-5 night by grounding out to 2nd base. Between Torii Hunter and Andy Dirks, they left 15 men on base. Hunter stranded 8 while Dirksies chipped in with 7.
Ichiro Suzuki, Torii Hunter and Jose Iglesias all flashed leather tonight. Ichiro was first when he made a nice running grab in right field, crashing into the wall and robbing Miggy of extra bases in the 3rd. Torii Hunter made a fine sliding catch in foul territory on a ball hit by Alfonso Soriano to end the 7th and Jose Iglesias, smooth as silk, started a 6-4-3 double play in the bottom of the 8th to bail Bruce Rondon out of a jam and keep the Tigers within striking distance.
With the run the Tigers have been on it is hard to complain. Hopefully, they can regroup and start another streak tomorrow afternoon.
Looking at the big picture, the most important thing is that Jimmy Leyland got Andy Dirks a start and kept him in for the whole game.
Here’s a thought, Don Kelly was brought in to pinch hit for Jose Iglesias to lead off the 9th. I know there’s no way of knowing Miggy would tie the score but perhaps it would have been a good idea to keep your best defensive player in the game in a tight game on the road. It might have been a better idea to have Kelly pinch hit for Dirksy to lead off the top of the 8th. Kelly could then have played left field instead of shortstop. But, I guess at that point, Dirksy was only 0-3 with only 5 left on base. But, what do I know.
Max Scherzer improved his record to 17-1 as the Tigers pounded the Indians and swept the 4 games series. Max pitched 7 innings, allowed 2 earned runs, struck out 5 and walked on to earn his 17th win of the season.
The Tigers offense exploded in the 3rd when Indians starter Zach McAllister couldn’t throw strikes. They scored six runs, 4 on back to back doubles by Fielder and Martinez. They added 2 runs in the both the 4th and 5th innings and cruised to their 12 consecutive victory.
After 5 innings, the Tigers led 10-1. I was expecting Miguel Cabrera, and possibly Prince Fielder, to come out of the game for some rest with the game well in hand but that didn’t happen. Both Fielder and Cabrera played the entire game.
I’m a little confused. Last night in a one run game, Jim Leyland pull Miggy out of the game for a defensive replacement and to rest his ailing hip. Tonight, with a 9 run lead, he’s left in to play the whole game. Perhaps, the thinking was that a defensive replacement in yesterday’s game might help preserve the lead and avoid extra innings? I’m not sure. But as it turned out, the Indians tied the game and Miggy missed at least 2 more at bats. If that is the thinking, I can understand not pulling Miggy for defensive purposes, but how about to rest his injury. Nothing seems to make sense but it’s hard to complain with the role the Tigers are on.
I guess the Important thing is that Andy Dirks started and played the whole game. I’m not sure if the Tigers could have survived if Dirksy didn’t play. He did have two hits and an RBI but they came when the game was well in hand. In the third inning, with no score, Dirksy came up with the bases loaded and nobody out and promptly struck out on three pitches, all fast balls, up in the zone.
I think I’ve diagnosed a new illness. It is very rare and only known to affect one person to date, The illness is Dirksburger syndrome. Similar to Assburger syndrome when the sufferer sees everybody’s behind as a cheeseburger, Dirksburger syndrome is more concentrated. Those inflicted have this nagging neuroses that requires them to insert Andy Dirks into the lineup of a baseball game no matter what the circumstances are. It is rare, never fatal, but could prevent the Tigers from ending their 29 year World Series drought.
In the 9th inning, Indians manager, Terry Francona, brought our old friend Ryan Rayburn in to pitch, and he looked pretty good, actually. He retired the Tigers 1-2-3 and got Tui for a swinging K.
On to New York City, the city so nice they named it twice. Hopefully Ricky can keep the wagon rolling.
Flashin' Leather 