Justin Verlander

Tigers Win and Take Series From Red Sox

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With the aid of a bad call on a fly ball by Avisail Garcia to Daniel Nava, the Tigers beat the Red Sox 7-5 and won the 4 game series 3-1.

With the score tied 4-4, Garcia led off the bottom of the 8th with a deep fly ball to right field.  Daniel Nava caught the ball but dropped it when transferring it to his throwing hand.  The umpire ruled it a dropped ball and Garcia was safe at second.  Bryan Holaday sacrificed Garcia to third and was safe on pitcher Andrew Miller’s throwing error.  Torii Hunter sacrificed Garcia in to break the tie.  The Tigers went on to score two more runs making it 7-4 heading to the top of the 9th.

Benoit gave up one run in the 9th but the Tigers were able to hold on for the 7-5 victory.

On a different note, Justin Verlander started the game. He went 5 innings and gave up 4 earned runs.  His ERA is up to 3.90 and frankly he has not looked like a number one pitcher for most of this season.  For the last two months JV has looked like a back of the rotation guy.

It doesn’t seem like Verlander can command any of this pitches, including the fast ball, but especially his curve.  His curve hasn’t been anywhere near the strike zone for the last few starts at least.  As a result, he’s not getting ahead of hitters.  When he does get ahead he can’t put them away and teams are constantly working his pitch count up.  Recently, the Tigers have been lucky to get 6 decent innings out of him.

Curt Schilling on ESPN thinks that JV has lost some of his “stuff”.  Schilling thinks that Verlander still has number one “stuff” but not what it once was.  I’m not an expert but this is hard for me to believe.  JV looked ok in April but seemed to collapse when the calendar turned to May.  He needs to figure it out or he is going to make the contract he signed in the off season look like a monumental mistake.  A case can arguably be made that JV is the fourth or fifth best pitcher in the Tiger rotation right now.

I’m not making excuses for JV but I didn’t think his defense helped him much, especially, in the top of the 3rd.  Although they weren’t charged with an error, I think the Tigers could have been charged with three.  First, Pedroia leads off the inning with a ground ball in the hole at short.  Peralta fields the ball but doesn’t make a strong throw to first and Victor Martinez didn’t help him out any.  As a result, Pedroia was on with a lead off, infield single.  Next, David Ortiz hit a sharp ground ball to first that went under the glove of Martinez.  It wasn’t scored an error but I think Martinez should have made the play.  This put runners at first and third with nobody out.   Next, Mike Napoli, hits a tailor made, double play, ground ball to Peralta.  Peralta feeds Infante and Infante throws the ball to the moon.  Again, no charged error but the defense definitely didn’t do JV any favors.

When JV was pitching well, he bailed his defense out plenty of times, especially last year.  Maybe some help from his D can get him going.

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

Orioles Chase JV after 5

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Justin Verlander lasted only five innings tonight and gave up five earned runs as the Orioles evened the series beating the Tigers 5-2.

The bullpen came in and shut down the Orioles and gave the Tigers a chance to come back, and they had their chances, but couldn’t come up with a clutch hit.

After starting the game 2 for 2 Cabrera came up with two on and two out in the bottom of the 5th and grounded out.

In the bottom of the 7th the Tigers got a break.  After three consecutive hits from Infante, Pena, and Jackson cut the O’s lead to 5-2, Torii Hunter hit a ground ball to third baseman Manny Machado.  Machado appeared to tag Pena then threw to second to double up Jackson.  However, the umpire called Pena safe at third, I’m not sure why, but that break brought Cabrera up with runners on first and third and only one out.  Cabrera then fouled out to first baseman Chris Davis and Fielder followed with a pop out to Machado.

The Tigers had another chance in the bottom of the 9th.  With one out, Jackson walked and Hunter singled.  Cabrera stepped to the plate and grounded into a game ending double play.

Today’s game was a reversal of a normal Tiger game.  JV had a terrible start, the offense got no clutch hits and had few good at bats but the bullpen was solid pitching 4 scoreless innings.

I’m not sure what is wrong with JV but he needs to make some adjustments and fast.  It doesn’t seem like anybody fears him anymore.  His ERA is up to 3.72 which isn’t bad for a normal pitcher but horrible for JV.

Victor Martinez continues to struggle at the plate.  He is something like 5 for his last 33.  His average is down to .228 and he’s hit with little power.

I was willing to give Martinez some time to get his stroke back but this is nearing the end of June.

From what I see, the Tigers might have more to worry about then their closer.  They need more production from Martinez and JV needs to get his act together.

“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 Win 7-5; JV OK

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JV was OK in his start tonight against the Cleveland Indians.  In what is becoming a pattern, he gave up 3 earned in 7 innings.  The rough inning was the 5th when the Indians got two infield hits and a Texas Leaguer to load the basis.

The first run was driven in on a hard single to left by Michael Bourn on an 0-2 pitch.  I really have to question the pitch selection.  From the third base side it looked like a 96 MPH fastball that obviously caught too much of the plate.  I guess I’m not sure why he threw Bourn an 0-2 fastball.

The damage could have been limited to 2 runs but a fly ball off the bat of Jason Kipnis went off the heal of Torii Hunter’s glove in right scoring two runs.  I thought Hunter should have been given an error on the play but what do I know.  JV got Swisher and Brantley to fly out to end the inning.

This is just an observation or suggestion.  I don’t understand why JV and other Tiger pitchers allow batters to hang over the plate and foul two strike pitches off. It is absolutely maddening.  It drives the pitch count up and gives the hitter the advantage.  Why not throw inside and move them off of the plate especially with less than a 3 ball count?  For example, in the 6th Mark Reynolds worked Verlander for a 9 pitch at bat.  Reynolds fouled off 3 pitches with the count full and eventually lined a single.  Even with a full count, after Reynolds fouled off the second pitch, JV should have buzzed him hard inside.  I’m not saying to hurt the guy but I would argue that lighting up his ribs with a 90 MPH fast ball would have moved him and the rest of the Indians off of the plate and he would have been no worse off.  Reynolds would still be on first but I bet he wouldn’t be leaning over the plate fouling off pitches the next time at bat.

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

A Theory About J.V.

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Justin Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball but struggled mightily the past month.  Even his good starts in May, pitching 7 innings and giving up 3 earned runs, are not good by JV standards.  Three ERs in  7 innings is a 3.857 ERA.

I don’t claim to be in the know.  In fact, I don’t know much.  But I heard a rumor that his ex-girlfriend Emily Yuen got married.  Now I know J.V. has been dating Kate Upton.  However, from a little research, I found out that Justin and Emily began dating in High School, continued dating through college, and during his pro career.  I will conjecture that Emily was Justin’s first love.  If in fact, Emily is married or engaged to someone else, I don’t care who J.V. is dating or how much money he’s making, I would lay odds that his head is in a bad place.

In fact, I would bet that J.V. is re-evaluating a lot of things in his life.  If the rumor about Emily getting married is true, and my conjecture is accurate, this could take a long time for J.V. to get over and could make for a tough season on the mound.

But what do I know?

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

 

Tigers Take Series From Cubbies

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It is a good thing AJax hit that two run homer in the top of the ninth to give the Tigers a 5-2 lead.  Papa Grande came in and gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth but the Tigers held on to win 5-3 and take the series two games to one from the Cubbies and give JV his sixth win of the season.

Next, the Tigers head home for a weekend tilt with the Rockies.

-Crippy

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

Tigers 8 Nationals 3

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The Tigers picked up their 5th consecutive win tonight.  After falling behind 2-0 on solo shots by Bernadina and Dunn, the Tigers scored 4 in the second and 1 in the third to take a 5-2 lead.  Justin Verlander was smoking balls again with another quality start.  He threw 116 pitches, going 8 innings, giving up 3 earned runs, striking out 11, walking 0, and hitting one batter.

The Tigers had a chance to pick up a run in the 6th.  Boesch grounded to 1st.  Guillen doubled, Inge walked, but Laird popped to short and Santiago grounded to 1st squandering another chance to score with a runner at second and less than two outs.

The Tigers blew it open in the 7th.  After two outs, Magglio and Cabrera singled and Brennan Boesch dusted a 423 foot, three run homer to right, giving the Tigers some insurance.

After getting 7 hits over the weekend Johnny Damon is 0-10 in this series.
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The series wraps up tomorrow with a 1:05 start.

Seattle 5 Tigers 3

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The Tigers’ old nemesis came back to haunt them.  Unable to score runners at third base with less then two outs proved costly.

In the second inning, with runners at first and third with one out Worth got a base hit scoring one run.  Jackson followed with a doubled to plate the Tigers second run leaving runners at second and third with still one out.  Santiago then grounded to third and Damon flew out.  The inning ended with the score tied at 2.

It the third inning, with runners at first and third and one out, Inge hit the ball hard but lined into a double play ending the inning.

The Tigers left two runs that could have been scored without a hit.  Those two runs proved to be the difference.

Verlander pitched seven and third giving up 5 runs and striking out 9.

Alex Avila was 1 for 4.  I could be wrong about him but isn’t it time he plays everyday for a while?  Let him prove he can’t hit.  Laird has already proved he can’t.

A few areas of concern for the 5-1 Tigers

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The Tigers have won five of their first six games but there are still some troubling signs.  First Justin Verlander has not looked that great in his first two starts this season.  He gave up 4 earned runs in five plus innings in his first start again Kansas City and 6 earned today in his second start in 5 innings against Cleveland.

Second, the Tigers still have a hard time scoring runners at second and third with less than two outs.  This is a phenomenon that has plagued the Tigers for the past few seasons.  In fact, if not for a 3 run error by Jhonny Peralta, the Tigers may not have won their home opener on Friday.

That being said, Willis and Bonderman have looked pretty good and there seems to be some magic around this team.  They play 27 outs and have pulled out some impressive come from behind wins so far this young season.

If JV can find his form and the Tigers get some clutch hitting, this could be a great season.

Look for Alex Avilia to get some more playing time.  On Saturday, even though he got caught looking in his last at bat with the bases loaded, he did work two walks and a HBP in his previous three plate appearances.  In his last at bat he looked anxious.  He swung a few questionable pitches early in the AB and got caught by a marginal third strike for the backwards K.  Still Avila is the real deal.