Miguel Cabrera

Whew!

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The Tigers survived another miserable performance from Ian Krol to take the first of a nine game road trip.

Despite Krol giving up four runs in 2/3 of an inning, the eighth, the Tigers beat the Indians 6-4.

I was at a restaurant, celebrating my birthday, so I was watching the game with the sound turned off. There are a few things that I wished I had an explanation for.

First, why was Don Kelly trying to steal third base in the third inning?  Was this some kind of missed hit and run?  He led off the inning with a double.

I’m a DK fan but WTF?

Second, why did Ian Krol come in to pitch the eighth inning?

Third, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after he gave up back to back singles to lead off the inning?

Fourth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Cabrera hit a three run homer?

Fifth, why did Ausmus leave Krol in after Santana cut the lead to one run?

Ausmus is beginning to worry me.  While Krol threw batting practice to the Indians, Ausmus had the deer in the headlights look?

Didn’t he go to Dartmouth?

On the bright side:

  • The Tigers have won back to back games.
  • Freeway Rick was great for six innings.  I would have liked to get at least seven out of him but you can’t complain about six scoreless innings.
  • Victor and J.D. Martinez continue to get it done and carry this team offensively.  I’m not sure how long the ride is going to last with J.D. but I hope the Tigers ride it for as long as they can.
  • Miggy FLASHED LEATHER in the sixth, he started and finished, a 3-6-3 double play.  The finish was sweet.  He dove for the ball but kept his foot on the bag just long enough to get Asdrubal Cabrera called out at first.
  • The Amazing Al pitched a clean seventh.
  • Joe Nathan got his second save in a as many games by pitching a scoreless ninth.

One more thing, at the beginning of the season, I was on the DD band wagon proclaiming his genius.  I should have listened to my gut, my first reaction.  Dave Dombrowski traded Doug Fister for three humpty dumpties.  We’re reminded of this every time Ian Krol takes the mound.

The Tigers, for the second game in a row, were able to win in spite of themselves.

I hope the ship has turned in the right direction.

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

Turning Point?

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As I listened to the Tigers 2-1 victory over the Royals this afternoon, I kept waiting for the implosion.  After what we’ve seen from this team over the last 30 games, can you blame me?

The Royals scored in the top of the first, “oh no, another terrible start by a Tigers starter?”

Sanchez pitched 7 innings, allowed five hits, one run, and walked only one.

In the bottom of the fourth, Miggy gets picked off of second base. J.D. Martinez follows with a home run to give the Tigers a 2-1 lead. “Watch they’ll  lose 3-2.”

They didn’t.

When Joba took over for Sanchez in the 8th, “its Joba’s turn to melt down.”

He didn’t.

When Nathan came on in the ninth to close the game, “another blown save”.

He struck out the side.

Today the stars aligned.  The Tigers got a quality start, a few runs, overcame a few mistakes and pulled within 1/2 game of the Royals.

Is this a turning point or an anomaly?

We’ll see.

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

 

Tigers 4 Twins 3

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Well a win and a series win is great but the MVP for the Tigers in this game was Twins right fielder Oswaldo Arcia.

Arcia misjudged two fly balls off of the bat of Victor Martinez that resulted in two runs including the winning run.

Freeway Ricky was good. He pitched seven innings and allowed three earned runs and the bullpen, Joba and Nathan, were adequate.

That being said the offense left an individual total of 25 men on base.

Like yesterday, it wasn’t pretty, but the way things have been going we’ll take it.

The Royals come to town tomorrow.

JV on the hill for the opener.

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

 

Tigers 6 Mariners 3

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I think we can put to rest the stories about JV losing his velocity.  He threw 17 pitches tonight at 95 MPH or above.  Instead, I think his issues have been command and not pitching inside.  That being said, he pitched well tonight.  He went seven and two thirds and allowed three runs, struck out seven and walked one.  Really, his only blemish to was the homer to Kyle Seagar. At least it wasn’t to the Ackley Kid. 🙂

I know Seattle is not really a powerhouse team but the Tigers don’t seem to play very well there so this was a very impressive outing for JV.

Ok, it is way past time to say this but Miggy and Victor are smokin balls!  Miggy hit a two run shot and Victor hit a three run homer after Legendary Lloyd McClendon intentionally walked Miggy in front of him.

Let’s see if Smyly can put in a good performance tomorrow.

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

They found a way…

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to win.  That is the best way I can describe the Tigers 6-5 victory over Sonny Gray and the Oakland A’s tonight.

Max wasn’t great but neither was Oakland ace Sonny Gray.

The Tigers got step-up performances from the following:

  • Miggy, with his bat and glove.  His play in the 9th inning to record the second out might have been as big as his homer.
  • Torii Hunter, hit a solo shot with two out to tie the game at five.
  • A Squared Money, with his bat and glove.
  • Ian Kinsler.  Although he took an ofer, He made a great running catch for the first out in the ninth.
  • Joba and Joe Nathan came through and pitched clean innings to close out the game.
  • Don Kelly made two nice defensive plays at third.

I’m not sure what’s wrong with the starters, but we are in the middle of two turns of the rotation, where the starting pitching looks more like an Asses Carnival than a professional pitching staff.

After Scherzer balked home the third run I heard Rod Allen mention that this was something the Tigers worked on in spring training.  What exactly were they working on, how to allow runners to score from third without throwing a pitch?  I’d say they’ve mastered that move.  WTF?

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

Freeway Rick does it again…

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he beat the Red Sox into a conniption one more time. Behind eight masterful innings from Tigers’ Ace, and AL Cy Young leader, the Tigers took the Red Sox out behind the woodshed and put the boots to them, but good, thoroughly thrashing them 6-1.

Ricky’s performance harkens me back to a gray, rainy day at Fenway Park in 2009. The shit birds from Boston decided to play tough guy and threw at Tigers hitters, Miggy, if my memory serves me correctly.  When it was the Sox turn to bat, a 20 year old rookie took to the hill.  He knocked down then Red Sox tough guy, Kevin Youkilis and showed the league that a crime against the Detroit Tigers would not go unpunished.  The bald, portly Red Sox hitter charged the mound.  When he arrived, he was in for a big surprise.  The fresh faced, 20 year old, rookie, Tigers, pitcher tossed Youk to the ground like a pile of trash.  And if not for outside intervention and Christian Grace, Youk would have been handed a beating he would not soon forget.

The young Tigers pitcher that day, the 20 year old from New Jersey, was non other than Frederick Alfred Porcello, aka Freeway Ricky.

Five years later, Freeway Rick put it to the Sox again in Fenway.  He threw eight complete, struck out four, walked one and allowed a lucky earned run.

Freeway Ricky was dominant.  The Red Sox didn’t belong on the same field.

If it wasn’t for Porcello’s mastery, I’d be talking about Phil Coke’s nice ninth inning or Miggy’s 3-5 day at the plate.

With no disrespect to the rest of the Tigers team, this was Freeway Ricky’s day. He reached back like a pimp and gave the Red Sox an 18th of May they will never, ever, forget.

Sanchez on the hill tomorrow for the sweep.

Has anybody noticed Miggy is 3rd in the AL in RBIs?

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

Make it 8 in a row Tigers beat Astros 3-2

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Pitching and home runs gave the Tigers a 3-2 win over the Houston Astros and made it eight in a row for the TIgers.

Freeway Rick pitched 6 and 2/3.  He allowed two earned runs on seven hits, a little high, he struck out five and walked two.

Ricky turned the game over Joba Chamberlain and Joe Nathan to close the game out.

What can I say about Joba, he continues to get it done, striking out the side in the 8th.

Joba is SMOKIN BALLS!

The Good:

  • The Tigers got their eight in a row and 20th win of the season.
  • Ricky put in another good outing.
  • Joe Nathan got his seventh save.
  • Joba continues to smoke balls!
  • Miggy and Victor went deep.
  • Rajai Davis stole his 12th base of the season and Don “DK” Kelly stole a base and got two hits.

The Bad:

  • The Tigers managed only five hits but the Houston pitcher, Brad Peacock, had a lot to say about that.  He pitched well for a bad team.
  • Joe Nathan walked a runner with two outs and allowed two stolen bases but was able to strand the tying run at third.

The Ugly:

  • Not much today or lately.  The Tigers have been playing pretty clean and came away with another win in a close game.

Don’t look now but Freeway Rick is 5-1 on the season.  Now if he can lower his ERA by a run he might make me look like Nostradamus.

Also, I liked Miggy’s homer the opposite way, he might be rounding into his MVP form.

Smyly pitches tomorrow afternoon as the Tigers for a four game sweep and ninth in a row.

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

 

 

Tigers Dust Astros Winning Streak at Seven

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Behind 5 and 1/3 ball smokin innings from Tigers newcomer, Robby Ray, the Tigers beat the Astros into a conniption, 11-4, and extended their winning streak to seven. Ray allowed one earned run on five hits.  He walked only one and struck out five.

What impressed me the most about Ray was that he got in trouble early in the first and was able to pitch out the jam without surrendering a run.  It’s a small sample size but perhaps Dave “Double D” Dombrowski knows a thing or two about a thing or two.

The Good:

  • Just when I was beginning to worry about Miggy, he shoved those concerns down my throat.  He was 4-5 today with a homer and four RBIs.  If he returns to form this could be a very formidable Tigers offense.
  • Ian Kinsler had three hits.
  • Alex “A Squared Money” Avila, Nick Castellanos, and “Downtown” Danny Worth had two hits each and Worth had three RBIs.
  • The Amazing Al pitched a shut out inning in relief and struck out two.
  • The Tigers got 18 hits and scored in multiple innings, the first, third, fourth, seventh and eighth.

The Bad:

  • Justin Miller struggled through the ninth.  He allowed three runs, but to be fair, only one of them was earned.

The Ugly:

  • I like the new look offense but really Torii?  You get thrown out trying to steal third with one out and Miggy batting?

I guess we can’t get too excited, the Astros are not good, to say the least but seven straight is seven straight and we’ll take all the Ws we can get.  Also, I like the 18 hit attack and scoring in multiple innings.  This is in stark contrast to last year when the Tigers seemed to score all their runs in only one or two innings.

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

TIgers win 6th in a row beat Astros 2-0

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The Tigers got excellent pitching and just enough offense to beat the Astros and Jarred Cosart 2-0 at Comerica Park.

The Good:

  • Max was smokin balls.  He pitched eight complete allowed no runs, on three hits, walked one and struck out nine.
  • Nathan got his sixth save.
  • The Tigers won their sixth in a row.
  • Vmart came up big with a solo shot in the eight to give Nathan and Scherzer a two run cushion.

The Bad:

  • The Tigers were baffled, for the most part, by Jarred Cozart but after their 26 run out burst over the weekend we’ll take it.
  • The Tigers managed only six hits.
  • VMart got caught looking for the first time in almost a year.

The Ugly:

  • After looking like he was retuning to form, Miggy looked bad tonight at the plate.  He was 0-4 with a K and really didn’t have many good swings.

A win is a win and the Tigers found a way to get it done.  I can’t complain about six in a row.

I’m looking forward to Robby Ray’s start tomorrow.  The Tigers, and especially Dave Dombrowski, really think a lot of this kid.  Let’s see what he’s got.

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