Matt Boyd wasn’t good but the story of this game was plenty of hits but none in the clutch.
The good news is that the bullpen looked good. I have to say Jeff Ferrell and Kyle Lobstein were smokin’ balls. They pitched 5.1 shutout innings and only allowed a hit and a walk apiece.
The highlight of this game however, was, brace yourself; this is something I’ve never written before, Nick “The Quick” Castellanos flashin’ leather.
If you didn’t see the game, this is not a mistake.
This was a disappointing home finale to a disappointing 2015 season. The Tigers had a chance to leave the home fans with a good taste in their mouth but instead gave them one last up close and personal look at the cacophony of nonsense they’ve witnessed this entire season.
The game was decided in the second inning when the Twins scored six runs. Only four were earned but that is only because official baseball scoring doesn’t assume a double play on a booted ground ball with a runner on base. Nick Castellanos committed an error on a ball that should have resulted in a double play, Randy Wolf couldn’t pitch around it, and the flood gates were open.
The offense was no help and the home finale was another microcosm of the 2015 season. The Tigers will wrap up the 2015 season on the road. They need one more win to avoid a 90 loss season, Miggy is still chasing his fourth batting title and J.D. needs two more RBIs for 100. (It’s a stretch but I need something to tune in for.)
We shall see.
Well, I didn’t see much of this one past the third inning. However, this was pretty good outing from Simon. He lasted eight complete and allowed four earned. Unfortunately, two runs offensively aren’t going to get it done.
The rubber game is this afternoon.
In other news: After hearing rumors that Ron Gardenhire was the next Tigers manager. After announcing Brad Ausmus would be fired after the end of the season. New Tigers GM, “Big” Al Avila has changed his mind. BA is staying.
http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2015/09/watch_al_avila_announce_that_b.html
I will take issue with one thing Big Al said in the video above. How exactly do the Tigers work on base running? Perhaps they should stop.
One more thing, they need a new third base coach. It’s hard to see how anybody other than Tom Brookens could be worse than Dave Clark. The Tigers lead baseball in runners thrown out at home. The only advantage Clark has on Brookens is that Clark gets runners thrown out by 10 feet whereas Brookens got runners thrown out by 30 feet.
It looks like the Tigers are going to be the spoiler – whether they deserve it or not. They pulled last night’s game off, somehow, finding a way to win, when they didn’t deserve it. They overcame three infield errors and a sacrifice fly to second base to beat the Twins 6-4.
With one more win the Tigers can avoid a 90 loss season.
Rajai Davis came through with a big two out, two strike, two-run homer in the bottom of the eighth and Neftali Feliz closed it out.
Davis’s homer came after Nick Castellanos lead off the eighth with a double but both James McCann and Dixon Machado took third strikes, failing not only to score Castellanos, but even to advance him to third. These are the situations that I start doubting the competence of Brad Ausmus. It is the bottom of the eighth in a tie game. Your #6 hitter just lead off with a double. Why aren’t you having McCann bunt him over to third? You only need one run and it is late in the game.
J.D. continues to hit the ball hard and Kyle Ryan looked good in out of the bullpen. I was really happy with Ryan’s performance because Ausmus had to make another early call to the pen and Ryan delivered 4.2 solid innings. Ryan and VerHagen just might be long relief options for 2016.
Andrew Romine is a solid utility player that can flash leather at any position and can swing the bat just enough. I haven’t said enough about him this year.
I’m not sure if anybody else noticed but Nick Castellanos has similar offensive numbers to Minnesota’s All-Star second baseman Brian Dozier. Nick “The Quick” is hitting, .250, with 15 hrs and 68 rbis. Dozier is hitting .239, with 27 hrs and 70 rbis. The homer are way higher for Dozier but he only has two more runs batted in. I know you expect more power from third base but I I couldn’t help it, the numbers just struck me as interesting.
Yesterday, I said the Tigers deserved to be in last place.
Last night, the Tigers deserved to lose. They didn’t.
The Tigers, circa 2015, showed me a stubbornness that you usually find in contenders. That’s not to say this was a Russian Symphony. Nope. This was still my seventh grade band class. This was still a cacophony of nonsense.
However, it is early September. The season has been an abomination. The park was empty, by Tigers’ standards, and there were plenty of excuses to pack this one in and go home but they didn’t. They wouldn’t. That says something about these players and that says something about Brad Ausmus.
For this post, I have to break it down to the good, the bad, and the ugly.
The Good, nothing new here:
The Bad:
The Ugly:
Nebraska – God Speed!
JV’s third no-hitter would have been a nice saving grace to an otherwise dismal season. It was no to be. However, I think it is safe to say Verlander is back to being a legitimate ace. He was smokin balls, all night. He had legitimate no-hit stuff. He made one mistake to a .188 hitter and didn’t get any luck. That’s the way this season has gone for him. The Tigers did get him some runs so got his second win of the season.
Yes my friends, Miggy is that damn good and for the last two seasons, J.D. is just a notch, maybe two below; he’s pretty damn good too.
Miggy, J.D. and Castellanos each hit conniption shots. Do you remember yesterday when I asked why would the Angels pitch to Cabrera in the eighth? Why would they pitch to him with first base open today? They must don’t know. They got burned today.
I’d like to see Miggy win the batting title at .350 +. I’d like to see J.D. drive in 100+ runs. I’d like Castellanos to get to 20 home runs and JV finish with an ERA at 3.20 or less. These are the things that keep me watching.
Jose Miguel Cabrera is that damn good. Let’s hope he stays healthy.
Nebraska, I wish I could have joined you Pal. I miss you! You didn’t by any chance cough up $12 for 3 chicken fingers did you? 🙂
Seven runs should be enough to win a game but you know the story. Basically, I’m tuning in to watch J.D. Martinez, James McCann, hopefully Miggy win a batting title, and perhaps JV return to an ace level pitcher. Other than that, there’s not a whole lot to watch.
If the Tigers were getting anything out of Victor, this offense would be putting up numbers like the Blue Jays, but he’s is just a wasted spot in the order. He is very difficult to watch. He’s doing nothing.
If I were Huston Street I wouldn’t have pitched to Miggy in the eighth. I don’t care if he were 0-20 against me. He’s hitting just under .500 since his return from the DL and Victor was on deck. No way. Actually, I don’t care who was on deck. The Angels are lucky Miggy didn’t burn them.
VerHagen looked pretty good tonight.
FYI: Nick Castellanos’s base running is exponentially worse than his fielding.
I wonder how playoff ticket sales are going?
Ugly.
There is no need to talk about the pitching. We’ve beaten that horse to death.
Although they weren’t charged with an error they make enough mistakes on a game by game basis, that aren’t recorded on the scoresheet, that make it nearly impossible to win.
Why was Castellanos two feet in front of the bag on the double steal with one out in the sixth?
Why did J.D. throw to second instead of home?
Isn’t Gorzelanny’s new arm angle fantastic?
How many more more double plays are the Tigers going to hit into?
Is anybody interested in $12 chicken fingers? They give you fries along with three pieces of chicken.
How about playoff tickets?
I hate them.
Flashin' Leather 