Eric Hosmer

Eric Hosmer’s…

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(I know I’m late with this post but the last month has been a whirlwind for me.  I finally have a chance to catch my breath and collect my thoughts.)

tying run in game five of the World Series is one of the best plays I’ve ever seen in my 35+ years of watching baseball.  I would have thought it was a good idea even if he was thrown out.

Congrats to the Royals!

FYI: I don’t see a date for Tigers’s pitchers and catchers to report.  However, Cardinals’s pitchers and catchers report on February 17th, 2016. Using that date as an estimate, we have 87 days until Spring Training 2016.

Alex Gordon | Conniption Shot

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10/27/2015- Conniption Shots don’t come much bigger than this one.  Alex Gordon tied Game 1 of the 2015 World Series, in the bottom of the ninth, by hitting a Jeurys Familia pitch into an absolute CONNIPTION.

I’m quite certain Eric Hosmer, whose error in the eighth gave the Mets the lead, was happier than Gordon and I don’t blame him.  The media was trying to hang the “Bill Buckner” monicker on him before the game was over.

For Tigers fans, remember when we used to see Jose Miguel Cabrera hit balls into a Conniption like Gordon did? And in key situations. I hope those days aren’t over.

Royals 4 Tigers 1

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Despite giving up four runs and 10 hits in 7.1 innings, I thought Kyle Lobstein pitched very well.  We has the victim of Eric Hosmer beating “the shift” with a bunt and a few seeing eye base hits.  I guess that’s what happens when you put the ball in play.  For a fifth starter, I’m not sure you can ask for more than Lobstein has given the Tigers this season.

The offense is maddening.  I know statistically they are in the top of every category but it is the same song and dance every year, inconstancy. Ten runs one game then nothing for a week.  Even tonight when they didn’t get a hit until the eighth inning, they had base runners courtesy of walks but couldn’t even put the ball in play to plate a run.  This team is striking out at an alarming rate.  The strikeouts combined with the double plays does not bode well for winning close games.  Again, it is the same old story.  Nothing changes.  I think it is time to clean house from Dombrowski all the way down. This formula is has not, is not, and in my humble opinion, will not work.

What is the story with hitting Chris Young?  Miggy is hitting under .200 for his career against him.  Ok, perhaps he’s got Miggy’s number but what about everybody else?  Is he suddenly Greg Maddux?  WTF?

Tigers take first two games against Royals

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The Tigers have looked very good in taking the first two games of the weekend series against the Royals in Kansas City.

Last night, Freeway Rick, pitched seven complete innings.  He allowed two earned, struck out 6 and walked none.  The Tigers offense got him eight runs, and the bullpen, Krol and Reed, finished the game.  The Tigers won 8-2.

Tonight, Drew Smyly pitched seven complete, scoreless innings, the offense followed up last nights outburst with nine more runs tonight.  The Tigers won 9-2.

I’m seeing a nice recipe for success.  Strong starting pitching and a new look offense.

I’m getting more encouraged regarding the Tigers offense this year.  As, Eric Karros pointed out on the broadcast this evening, the Tigers aren’t standing around waiting for a three run homer to score.

A great example of this new, Tigers, offense was how they scored their first run.  In the fourth inning, the bases were loaded with Miggy on third, and one out. Castellanos hit a shallow fly ball to gold glove, left fielder Alex Gordon.  Gordon made the catch.  To the astonishment of everybody watching, Miggy tagged up and went home.  Gordon had flipped the ball to the infielder and by the time the ball was relayed to the plate, Miggy scored easily.

It worked this time and I like the new look, but given that situation again, I wouldn’t recommend a second try.

The only sour note of the fist two games was Phil Coke’s ninth inning tonight.  He came in with a 9-0 run lead and gave up two runs.  The most worrisome part of Coke’s pitching was that he got hit hard by left handers.  He gave up a single to Nori Aoki, a double to Eric Hosmer and a double to Alex Gordon.

In Phil’s defense, I thought he struck out Aoki but didn’t get the call.  I guess that how things go when you’re running bad.  If Coke is going to be of any value in the future however, he needs to get lefties out.

JV goes for the sweep tomorrow.

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

Royals 1 Tigers 0

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This was a tough loss to take but no that surprising.  Both Fister and Santana pitched like aces but the “top rated” Tigers offense could not produce a single run.

I understand that Santana has had a good season and pitched well tonight but with the money the Tigers have invested in their offense it is not unreasonable to expect better.

This game has it’s share of leather flashin.  Royals’ short stop Alcides Escobar made several nice plays.  Torii Hunter threw a seed from right field to gun down Chris Getz trying to take third on a fly ball in the top of the 8th.  Miguel Cabrera and Alex Avila teamed up to cut down Eric Hosmer trying to score from third and a ground ball in the first.  And the play of the game was a relay from Alex Gordon to Alcides Escobar to Salvador Perez to cut down Prince Fielder at the plate to end the game.

Objectively speaking this was a really well played game.  The only problem is that the Tigers offense couldn’t come up with a single run.  This seems to be the story of the last two seasons, no consistency on offense.  They score a lot of runs one game then go into hibernation for a week. It is very frustrating and sometimes painful to watch.

There are two plays in particular I’d like to address.

  1. In the bottom of the sixth Iggy led off with a bunt single.  At this point it was obvious runs were going to be at a premium.  I was hoping the Tigers would give Iggy the green light to try to swipe second.  I’m not big on bunting a guy over from first to second but I am a fan of the stolen base.  Instead, Jackson followed with a fielders choice then Hunter and Cabrera flew out to end the inning.  If Iggy could have stolen second he could have gone to third on Jackson’s ground ball and scored on Hunters fly out.  Instead the Tigers settled for nothing.  I understand speed is not the Tigers game but Iggy does bring this dimension to the team.  This would have been the perfect time to try something new instead of just going to the plate and taking your hacks against a pitcher that’s been dominating you.  I could have lived with Iggy getting thrown out at second.  But I can’t live with doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.
  2. In the bottom of the 8th Miggy came to the plate following a Hunter double.  This put Hunter a second with two out.  Cabrera then ended the inning with a ground out to second base on the first pitch.  I know it is hard to complain about Miggy but he has been horrible the last few weeks and I’m not sure it is all injury related.

On the bright side Fister did pick off Emilio Bonifacio at first base in the top of the third inning.  With pick offs and runners thrown out at second the Tigers seem to be making strides at slowing down the opposing team’s running game.  Now if they could manufacture a run or two of their own they might have something.  Still with this lineup they really have no excuse for being shut out ever, let alone, 11 times this season.

Let’s see if Max can get is 20th win of the season in the rubber game tomorrow.

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

Tigers Lose Two In A Row. Verlander Terrible!

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Well, my predictions from yesterday are already starting to fall apart.

I was expecting Verlander to be lights out in the second half but his first start after the break was nothing short of horrible.

The Tigers lost to the Royals, again, 6-5.

Verlander pitched 5 and 2/3 allowing 6 runs, 5 earned, he struck out 3 and walked 4, including Eric Hosmer in the bottom of the 4th with the bases loaded to force in a run.

With the Tigers down 5-3 going into the 5th, the offense scored two runs to tie the game on an Alex, A Squared Money, Avilla single but Verlander gave the lead up for good in the bottom of the 5th when he allowed a two out home run to Mike Moustakas.

I’m not sure what to say about JV.  His velocity seems ok but his command is terrible.  His curve-ball and slider weren’t coming close to the strike zone.  I guess the only thing to say is what I saw, he looked TERRIBLE.  If not for his track record, you’d think he was a back of the rotation guy auditioning for the bullpen.  If he doesn’t get straightened out, the Tigers are in trouble and my fifth prediction from yesterday is not going to happen.

On the bright side, Alex Avila had three hits and two RBIs.  Prince had two hits.  Victor had three hits.  Alburquerque and Smyly were good out of the bullpen allowing no runs, one hit and striking out three combined.  Also, the Twins beat the Indians again today so the Tigers still have their slim lead.

This is not what I was expecting coming out of the break.

Hopefully, Fister can salvage a game tomorrow.

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