“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Jose Iglesias
GOOD OLE DIRKSY!
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.
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.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Tigers Avoid Sweep – Beat Sox 6-4
The Mighty Miggy and Joaquin Benoit bailed the Tigers out and helped to avoid a three game sweep to end the 10 game road trip.
This game looked ugly, early. Rick Porcello required 37 pitches to get out of the first inning and when he did, the Tigers were down 3-0.
Ricky settled down after the first. He put up zeroes for the next 5 innings and was able to go 6 complete. He allowed 3 earned runs, walked 1 and struck out 4. What is kind of troubling however, is that he surrendered 11 hits and didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning. In fact, no Tiger pitcher recorded a 1-2-3 inning today.
With the Tigers trailing 3-0 in the 3rd, The Mighty Miggy got the Tigers even with a 3 run bomb with Austin Jackson and Bryan Holaday scoring in front of him.
The Tigers got 3 more runs in the 6th to take a 6-3 lead. With one out, Victor singled then went to 3rd on a Matt Tuiasosopo single. This was a very encouraging sign because it actually looked like Victor was running well. Victor scored when Omar Infante singled breaking the tie and giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead. I was hoping for a big clutch hit from someone else in the lineup, to break the game open, but it never came. The next two runs were scored on a Conor Gillaspie throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Austin Jacskon. I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a clutch hit would have been better than a throwing error. However, with the way things have been going lately, I’ll take it.
In the bottom of the 7th, it looked like Jose Iggy Iglesias chose the wrong time to make his first fielding error as a Tiger. With two out, Jeff Keppinger, hit a routine ground ball to short that Iggy booted. Drew Smyly then walked Conor Gillaspie. When Dayan Viciedo was announced as a pinch hitter for Tyler Flowers. Jim Leyland countered by bringing in the Amazing Al and I thought the flood gates were about to open. But, to my and the Tigers’ delight, Alburquerque got Viciedo to fly out and end the threat.
Jose Veras is beginning to scare me. He came out to pitch the 9th and with one out gave up a run on two walks and a single. This basically forced Leyland into bringing in Benoit for a 5 out save. Benoit got Dunn and Garcia on strikes to end the inning and the threat and eventually got the save.
This win wasn’t pretty but it was needed. It would have been a real downer to end the road trip at 5-5, especially with a sweep at the hands of the White Sox.
The Tigers are back home tomorrow for a 5 game series with the Royals.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
UGLY! Tigers Fall To Sale, White Sox 6-2.
What started out looking pretty good turned really ugly, really fast.
The Tigers got on the board in the first with a Miggy solo shot. Brayan Pena put the Tigers up 2-0 after two with an RBI double, but the Tigers would score no more tonight.
Chris Sale pitched a complete game. He allowed two earned, walked 0 and struck out 6 on 109 pitches.
Doug Fister started out well but seemed to fall apart in the 4th inning. With 1 out Gordon Beckham singled. Fister got Alexei Ramirez to pop out but then walked Adam Dunn and the wheels began to fall off. A wild pitch moved the runners up to second and third. A walk to Konerko loaded the bases and another wild pitch scored Beckham and the White Sox were on the board. Fister got ex-Tiger Avisail Garcia to end the inning but Fister could never really recover.
Fister came out for the 5th, gave up three more runs, and the Sox never looked back, In Fister’s defense, he ran in to some bad luck. With one out and runners on first and second, Gordon Beckham hit a ground ball back to Fister, which at first was looking like an inning ending double play, but the ball went off of Fister’s leg past Infante and into right field and the Sox were rolling.
The Tigers had chances to score, they touched Sale for 9 hits but couldn’t get the big knock when they needed it. A big part of the Tigers’ offensive struggles were that Jacskon and Hunter were a combined 0-8, which meant Miggy was always hitting with nobody on base.
The Tigers left 16 men on base tonight, Omar Infante, back in the lineup, for the first time in over a month was 0-4 with 6 LOB.
I’m starting to worry a little bit. Since the streak ended, the Tigers have lost 3 of 4 to bad teams, the Yankees and the White Sox. Everything that seemed to be going so well suddenly isn’t. Fister was not good tonight. He wasn’t horrible but he had trouble with the strike zone and didn’t put in a quality start. Even more concerning is Al Alburquerque out of the pen. The Amazing Al has been more of an abomination lately. Tonight, for example, he pitched one inning, gave up 5 hits and 2 earned runs. I don’t think he’s an option out of the pen anymore, he’s a nightmare. And, where is the clutch hitting? We could have used a big hit from Infante, but I’ll cut him some slack, since this was his first game back.
On the bright side, Iggy is really flashing leather. He made an unbelievable play in the 6th. Josh Phegley hit a chopper that got over Fister’s head and looked like a sure infield hit. But on came Iggy, who dove, barehanded the ball, and threw to first with both feet off of the ground to get Phegley at first. Iggy also chipped in offensively with an infield single.
Bruce Rondon looked pretty good. He came on in the 8th to clean up the Amazing Al’s mess. With runners at second and third and nobody out Rondon surrendered a Texas Leaguer that got over the drawn in infield and a sacrifice fly but got Gordon Beckham to ground into an inning ending double play. This was not a bad outing for Rondon considering what he inherited.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Tigers Thrash Yankees 9-3…
even series at 1.
The Tigers beat up on Yankee pitching early and often. The 1-2-3 hitters were on fire but the big hit came off the bat of Don Kelly in the top of the 5th. After a Victor Martinez double, Kelly came to the plate with runners at second and third with two out and delivered a 2 RBI single making it 6-0.
Miggy, Ajax, and Hunter each hit home runs today. Hunter’s 3 run shot in the 6th, effectively put the game out of reach.
Anibal Sanchez pitched well. He went 7 complete, allowed 2 earned, struck out 8, and walked only 1.
In the bottom of the 4th inning, Yankee Brett Gardner, went in to second base high and hard on Jose Iglesias to brake up a double play. He was successful. Iglesias threw the ball wide and Ichiro was safe at 1st. This may be considered an acceptable, hard, baseball play, but after what happened to Omar Infante in Toronto, I think the Tigers should have responded and sent the Yankees, Gardner and the rest of the league a message. In his next at bat, Gardner should have gotten a 95 mph fastball in the ribs but it didn’t happen. Perhaps tomorrow? Perhaps next year?
As far as I’m concerned, the Tigers have two scores to settle. The first is with the Toronto Blue Jays and Colby Rasmus. That little jerk should be given chin music in his next 3 at bats against the Tigers and his in his 4th at bat his ribs need to be light up with a Rondon 103 mph fastball. As for Gardner, one in the ribs should suffice, Verlander perhaps tomorrow?
Jose Iglesias and Victor Martinez flashed leather today. In the bottom of the 3rd, Iggy made a nice diving stop on a ball hit sharply, off the bat of Austin Romine, between short and 3rd and Victor made a nice scoop at 1st to complete the play and end the inning. Iggy also had two hits raising his average to .323. Not too bad for a guy the Tigers got for his glove.
Tiger manager Jim Leyland had a slight reprieve from his Dirksburger Syndrome. Andy Dirks was replaced in left field by Don DK Kelly. Kelly was 2-4 with 3 RBIs. What’s even more surprising is that Dirksy didn’t even come in as a defensive replacement late in the game.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
The Streak Ends At 12…
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.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Tigers Top Tribe 6-5. Extend Win Streak to 11.
Courtesy of a clutch two run double from Prince Fielder in the 14th inning, the Tigers were able to overcome some questionable substitutions, and extend their winning streak to 11 games.
Tigers’ manager, Jim Leyland, seems to have what can only be called an asinine obsession with Andy Dirks. No matter what, come hell or high water, Leyland has to figure out a way to get Dirks into the game. Why? Am I missing something? Is Dirks some kind of defensive wizard or offensive juggernaut? Tonight, with the Tigers down 3-2, Leyland brought in Dirks to pinch hit for, arguably the best defensive player on the team, Jose Iglesias to lead off the 8th inning. I understand that Iglesias hadn’t done much against Indians pitcher Danny Salazar but not too many other Tigers had either. In fact, at that point, Salazar had struck out the best player in the game, Miguel Cabrera, 3 times.
If bringing Dirks in wasn’t strange enough, Leyland wasn’t done tinkering. Unbelievably, after Cabrera hit a two-run shot to give the Tigers the lead 4-3 in the 8th, Leyland pulled Miggy out of the game for a defensive replacement. Should Miguel Cabrera ever be taken out of a close game unless he’s injured? As a result, Dirks went to left field, Don Kelly went to third, Santiago went to short and Hernan Perez, now hitting in Cabrera’s spot, went to second. If the Tribe tied the game, Miguel Cabrera would not bat again.
The Tribe came back to tie the game in the bottom of the 8th. Cabrera didn’t bat again.
Luckily the Tigers were able to pull this game out in extra innings, but WOW! You’re in extra innings, against your closest division rival, and Miguel Cabrera was out of the game.
On the bright side, Bruce Rondon and Jeremy Bonderman were very impressive. Rondon bailed out the usually lights out Drew Smyly, in the bottom of the 8th. He inherited runners at 2nd and 3rd with nobody out. He blew Ryan Raburn away with a 103 MPH fastball, He got Yan Gomes to ground out to shortstop, who for some reason was playing back. The Tigers got the out at first but the tying run scored. Rondon then got Mike Avilies to pop out to short to end the inning. He would stay in and pitch a 1-2-3 9th. This was a big pick-me-up for the usually solid Smyly.
Jeremy Bonderman was equally impressive in his first appearance as a Tiger since 2010. Bonderman pitched three scoreless innings, allowing only 1 hit while striking out 3. Bonderman looked like he did when he was the ace of the Tigers staff back in 2006.
In the top of the 10th, I saw two of the most horrible swings I’ve ever seen in 35 years of watching baseball. Hernan Perez struck out on a pitch that was three feet outside. The pitch was so bad it got by Indians’ catcher Yan Gomes and Perez was able to make it to first without a throw. Next, Prince Fielder, struck out on a pitch that HIT HIM. That’s right, he swung at the pitch, he missed it, and the ball hit him in the left thigh.
This was a very strange game. I’m just glad the Tigers came out on top.
Update: I just heard Leyland in a post game interview. He said the took Miggy out for defensive reasons. He said Miggy wasn’t moving too well at 3rd so he moved Kelly to 3rd to solidify the defense. So, remind me again, why you took Iglesias out?
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
A SQUARED MONEY!
Things weren’t looking good for the Tigers. This was a pitcher’s dual but going into the 9th inning the Indians had managed to scratch out 2 runs against Anibal Sanchez and led the first game of this crucial, 4 game, series 2-1.
The Tigers had some base runners in the first two innings but couldn’t push across any runs. From then on, they were dominated by Indians starter Corey Kluber. Kluber pitched 7 and 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 6 hits, striking out 6 and walking one. He was ahead of Tigers hitters all night.
The Tigers ran themselves out an inning in the 8th when Austin Jackson got thrown out at second. After Torii Hunter singled, Ramon Santiago was held at third by Tom Brookens. Apparently, Jackson didn’t see Santiago getting held up and rounded second. Right fielder, Drew Stubbs threw behind Jackson and instead of the bases loaded with 1 out, the Tigers had runners and first and third with two out. Miggy grounded to second to end the inning.
The Indians brought in closer Chris Perez to pitch the 9th and the Tigers pounded him. He gave up all four Tiger runs and didn’t record an out. The big hit was a three-run homer off of the bat of Alex “A Squared Money” Avila. Alex has had a tough year at the plate but he’s had some big hits. None bigger, at this point, than this homer.
Anibal Sanchez pitched well today. He went 7 and 2/3, gave up 2 earned on 4 hits, struck out 11 and walked two. Although he didn’t get the win, it is fantastic that this performance wasn’t wasted.
The Indians Jason Kipnis was flashin leather tonight. He robbed Dirks and Iggy of base hits.
Coincidentally, it was a year ago to the day, August 5th, 2012, that Indians closer, Chris Perez, had a meltdown in a Sunday, afternoon, game at Comerica Park. Last year, Miggy hit a big home run off of him. Tonight, it was A Squared Money! Perhaps he should take the 5th of August off in the future.
IMHO, Miggy looks like he’s still not 100%. It might be a good idea to put him on the 15 day DL and get him nice and healthy for the final stretch? I’m not sayin’. I’m just sayin’,
JV is on the hill tomorrow. Tomorrow would be a nice time for him to return to his form of the last two years.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Pitching, Defense, and Solo Homers…
not quite the formula advocated by the late Earl Weaver, but it is a formula that powered the Tigers to their 7th straight win, and Max Scherzer to his 16th win of the season.
Scherzer improved his record to 16-1 tonight as he blanked the White Sox 3-0 at Comerica Park. Scherzer pitched 7 and 2/3 scoreless innings, limiting the Sox to 3 hits. He struck out 6 and walked 3 on 107 pitches.
Jose Veras got the last out in the 8th and Joaquin Benoit recorded his 12th save by pitching a scoreless 9th
The offense was supplied by solo home runs from Torii Hunter, Jose Iglesias, and Jhonny Peralta.
Iglesias played third again tonight for the ailing Miguel Cabrera and looked excellent. His fielding looks like it comes naturally and his hitting, to this point, is better than advertised. We still need Miggy back, although the Tigers are 7-1 without him in the lineup. The rumor is that he won’t play tomorrow either but will suit up for the Indians series.
Despite the torrid pace the Tigers are on, 7 in a row and 10 out of the last 11, they can’t distance the Indians. The Indians won again tonight and remain only 3 games behind the Tigers in the AL Central. And, don’t look now but the Royals are only 7.5 back.
On a different note, today was Mexican heritage tonight at Comerica Park. Before the game, the Tigers honored former pitcher, Juan Berenguer. Much like retiring Willie Horton’s number to be politically correct, it seems like the Tigers were in dire need of a Mexican player to honor, and they must have pulled Berenguer’s name out of a hat, or more precisely, a BIG hat. This whole ceremony was asinine. Berenguer pitched parts of 4 seasons for the Tigers, hardly a track record that would warrant a ceremony. In any case that’s my take on it.
The Tigers go for the sweep and a perfect home stand tomorrow afternoon with Ricky on the hill.
“God, I love baseball.” – Roy Hobbs | The Natural
Flashin' Leather 