Jose Valverde

Did anybody notice….

Crippy Baseball ,

Former Tigers closer, and current Mets closer, Jose “Papa Grande” Valverde recorded his first save on Friday.

Replacement closer Jose Valverde struck out Jay Bruce with two on to end it, and the Mets avoided their first 0-4 start since opening with five consecutive losses in 2005.
The 24-year-old Mejia (1-0), who beat out Daisuke Matsuzaka for the final spot in the rotation, struck out a career-high eight in six innings. Flashing a sharp breaking ball, he allowed one run and four hits in a steady rain and mist.

Good luck to Papa the rest of the way.  Except when/if he faces the Tigers.

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

 

Tigers designate Valverde for assignment

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From MLB dot com:

http://mlb.mlb.com/news/article.jsp?ymd=20130621&content_id=51342078&vkey=news_mlb&c_id=mlb
From reading the article above, the Tigers think that Valverde has an issue with his arm slot.  They think that it is something he can work on and straighten out fairly quickly.

I’m very interested in see if Jose will take a Toledo assignment.  I hope he does.

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

Another Gem By Rickey

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Rick Porcello turned in another quality start going 7 innings, striking out 5, walking none, and allowing no runs as the Tigers downed the Twins 4-0.

Fielder again showed his dislike for teams walking Cabrera in front of him as he got the Tigers on the board in the 6th.  After a walk to Cabrera put runners on first and second.  Fielder promptly lined a double, the first of three consecutive Tiger doubles, to score Jackson and Cabrera.

Alex Avila continues to struggle mightily at the plate.  He went 0-3, striking out twice and dropping is average to .166.

Porcello threw 94 pitches through 7 and lowered his ERA to 4.37.  I would have liked to see him come out for the 8th but it appears that only JV is allowed to go much more than 100 pitches.

Valverde pitched a scoreless 9th rebounding a bit from his blown save in KC.

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

Tigers Lose Game / Series in KC

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The Tigers wasted a JV-like performance from JV who pitched 7 strong innings striking out 8 and allow no runs.  However, the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead.  Lorenzo Cain hit a two run homer off of Valverde with two outs in the ninth to tie the game and give JV a no decision.

More importantly, the Tigers lost the game and the series.

Although it is easy to blame Valverde for giving up another long ball, and he does deserve blame, the vaunted Tiger offense could manage only 7 runs in the 3 games in KC.  Not exactly a great return on investment.

On the bright side, Bryan Pena continues to make the most of his opportunities.  He got 2 more hits this afternoon and raised his average up to .299.

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

Tigers, Valverde Hang on in KC

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The Tigers scratched out a run in the 8th and Valverde pitched around a 9th inning lead off single and stolen base to move Max Scherzer’s record to 9-0.

Donny Kelly got the the scoring started in the 2nd on a line drive to left that scored Victor Martinez.

The 8 and 9 hitters in the lineup has six of the Tigers’ 11 hits. Infante had 3, Kelly had 2 and Garcia had 1.

Alex Avila went 0-3, striking out twice and walking once moving his batting average down to .169.

I’m not sure how long the Tigers can keep throwing him out there.  He is almost an automatic out.

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

Tigers Return Home and Take a Dump

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I know, Valverde sucked and Marte was worse.  But the game should never have gotten to extra innings. 

The Tigers were 3-14 with runners in scoring position.  They didn’t get the big hit and Valverde blew an otherwise great night for the bullpen.

One bright spot was Prince Fielder flashin some leather.  He turned two double plays in the second and third both off the bat of Giambi.  The first double play went 3-2-3.

I’m beginning to worry about Valverde and Delmon Young.

Back at it tomorrow at 4:05.

“It’s a wonderful game, this baseball. ” -David Schoenfield| ESPN.com