Nelson Cruz

Orioles 2 Tigers 1

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A very disappointing season comes to an end. This three-game demise was a team effort. The flaws of the 2014 Tigers were too much to overcome.

Bad defense and a horrible bullpen lost game one.

Ditto, in spades, for game two.

In game three it was an inconsistent offense that could muster only 4 hits, 2 off of “future hall of famer” Bud Norris.

Did I mention, the fielding sucked today too? Although no errors were awarded, Castellanos and Kinsler should have gotten one each.

David Price was fantastic. He lasted 8 innings and made only one mistake, a two run, opposite field, home-run to Nelson Cruz. (Perhaps, if they ever meet again, the Tigers should pitch around Cruz. I’m not sayin. I’m just sayin.)

Basically, all season long, the Tigers have had three reliable hitters, Cabrera, Martinez and Martinez. Before and after that trio, nobody contributed much. You can’t have 1 and 2 slot hitters that don’t get on base.

If not for the starting pitching the 2014 Tigers may have finished near the bottom of the Central. I don’t think spotty hitting, bad defense, and a horrible bullpen will take a team too far.

The most disheartening thing is that I don’t see a way to fix this team without spending a ton of money. They need two outfielders, a lead-off hitter, a shortstop*, a catcher**, and an entire bullpen.

*I’m not very optimistic about Iggy coming back. Even if he does come back how much is going to be able to play and contribute.
**AA left the game today after being rocked by a foul ball. He has taken so many shots I don’t think the Tigers should let him catch anymore.

My prediction is that the Royals and Giants will meet in the World Series. Everything just seems to be falling into place for both of those team.

I’m not sure if I’ll ever see another Tigers World Series win.

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

Random Notes For Monday July, 29th 2013

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I just finished watching Monday night baseball on ESPN.  Tonight’s game featured the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim in Arlington to play the Texas Rangers.  The Rangers ended up winning it in the bottom of the ninth with 2 solo homers to overcome a 3-2 Angels lead.  But that’s not what I’m writing about.  Former Indians manager Manny Acta was a guest announcer.  A. J. Pierzynski led off the inning with a solo shot to tie the game.  Nelson Cruz followed with a single.  This put the winning run at first with nobody out.

Rick Sutcliffe asked Manny, ‘are you bunting here’.  Manny Acta responded and said, I’m paraphrasing, that statistically, a runner a first with nobody out has a much better chance of scoring than a runner a second with one out.  This flies in the face of conventional wisdom and further makes the Money Ball case.  I had no idea.  I was always one of those idiots that subscribed to, ‘get em on, get em over, get em in.’

Sticking with Monday Night Baseball, I can’t stand Rick Sutcliffe as an announcer.  To me he is always pontificating and it’s very annoying.  Today he was bagging on the players accused of using PEDs and had a condescending, holier than thou tone to his voice.  Here is my two cents.  Baseball was willing to look the other way when the steroid boys were rescuing baseball after the 1994 strike.  Now that the game has recovered they want to crucify the same behavior they exploited when they needed it.  Further, I think PEDs should be legal.  I don’t think it is anybody’s business what another person puts in their body.  This is same way I feel about the phony war on drugs.  What MLB could do is put asterisks next to a person’s name and statistics when they test positive for something MLB doesn’t really want them to take.

For those of you in the Metro Detroit area, Rick Sutcliffe reminds me of Pat Caputo on 97.1 The Fan.  I don’t listen to The Fan anymore because every time I turn it on I’m subjected to Caputo’s whiny, ‘I know every thing’, ‘let’s talk about George Zimmerman because I have all the answers to life’s problems’, voice.  97.1 is supposed to be a sports station not the Caputo political show.

On another note, former Tiger Jacob Turner pitched 6 and 1/3 allowing 5 hits and 3 earned runs, his ERA on the season is 2.65.

If a pitcher throws at least 6 innings and gives up 3 runs or less, it is considered a quality start.  But if you do the math, (3 x 9)/6, you get an ERA of 4.5.  That’s a little on the high side, isn’t it?

Atlanta Braves pitcher, Brandon Beachy, pitched for the first time in over a year as he got the start tonight against Colorado.  He only lasted 3 and 2/3.  He allowed 7 earned runs on 8 hits including two home runs.  He struck out 5 and walked 1.  It is an ugly line but it’s good see him back and hopefully, for the Braves, he can return to form.

The Tigers are back at it tomorrow.

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

AL Wins ASG 3-0. Home Field for Tigers?

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The American League will have home field advantage in the 2013 World Series courtesy of their 3-0 win in the All Star Game.

The game was dominated by pitching.  Max Scherzer pitched the first inning and shut the National League down 1-2-3, striking out Cincinnati’s Joey Votto to end the first.

The AL pitchers shut out the NL only allowing three hits.

Miggy scored the game’s first run when he led off the top of the 4th with a double and scored on Jose Bautista’s sacrifice fly.

Notes:

  1. Leyland had Mariano Rivera pitch the bottom of the 8th to make sure he got into the game.  The thinking was that if another pitcher came in a gave up the lead, and the AL failed to tie it or go ahead in the top of the 9th, Rivera would not be able to pitch the bottom of the 9th.
  2. Prince Fielder legged out a lead off triple in the top of the 9th but failed to score even though Nelson Cruz followed him with a ground out to second base.  It didn’t appear that the infield was playing in so I can’t figure out why Fielder didn’t attempt to score.
  3. Jhonny Peralta singled in his only at bat in the 8th
  4. Chicago White Sox’s pitcher, who could be the best pitcher in the American League, pitched the 2nd and 3rd and got the win.
  5. Yankee’s reliever Mariano Rivera was name the ASG MVP.
  6. Miguel Cabrera batted three times, was 1-3, and was replaced by Manny Machado in the bottom of the 6th.

Hopefully the Tigers can parlay this win and take advantage of home field in the World Series.  It would be the first Tigers championship in 29 years.

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

Tigers Shanghai Rangers Early…

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The Tigers scored 7 runs in the first two innings tonight, beat the Rangers, and took the first game of the last series before the 2013 All-Star break.

Doug Fister pitched fairly well, but struggled at times with his control.  He pitched 6 innings, gave up 2 earned, struck out 5, walked two, and threw 106 pitches.

The bullpen looked good, especially Bruce Rondon, who recorded 4 outs on 10 pitches including 2 Ks.

If I can complain or worry about anything, which you know I can, it is that the Tigers didn’t do much offensively after the 2nd inning.  In fact, Joseph Ortiz replaced Russ Grimm and allowed only 1 hit, a Prince Fielder, infield single, in 3 and two thirds.

What made the lack of add on runs troubling is that the Rangers had chances to come back and make a game of it.

In the 4th inning with two runs already in, the Rangers had the bases loaded with two out and were one swing of the bat away from making a game of it, but Fister got David Murphy to strike out to end the threat.  Also, in the 9th, the Rangers had two on with two out but Benoit was able to strike out Nelson Cruz to end the game.

Another thing that vexes me is the this Tui/Dirks platoon.  Why does Dirks come in for Tui late in games when right handers are brought in but not the other way around.  Dirks was 0-4 tonight and didn’t have a decent at-bat or swing the entire night.  With the way Tui has been swinging the bat, and the way Dirks hasn’t, I thought it would be nice to bring Tui in when Ortiz, a lefty, replaced Grimm. It seems like this platoon thing is mostly a one way street and I don’t get it.

Back at it tomorrow.  A series win would be nice.

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