Omar Infante

Royals 5 Tigers 2

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There goes the ’84 feeling.

JV looked pretty good for six innings then blew up in the seventh.  He’s just running bad.  And when you’re running bad everything seems to go against you.  That’s what happened to JV.

In his defense, he only gave up one hard hit ball and didn’t get much help from his friends in the pen.  Ian Krol recorded the second out but Everyday Al gave up a two run single to Omar Infante.

I really need to look up the Tigers bullpen record on stranding runs.  The eye-test says they’re an abomination.  I wonder what the numbers say?

OK, Miggy is worrying me.  He took another ofer today.  He got a bunch of hits in the first game, as did everyone else, then I don’t think he got a hit in the final three games.  This seems to be a reoccurring theme, one game he gets 3 or 4 hits then disappears for a few games.  This is not what I expect for $30 million a year.

Between Verlander and Cabrera, the Tigers are getting $60 million worth of , not good enough. “For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.” Luke 12:48(KJV)

This is the worst week of the summer.  After the ASG, not baseball for two days.

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

 

Red Sox 1 Tigers 0

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How much more can the Tigers ask from their pitching staff?  It has gotten to the point where the staff can’t afford to surrender a single run.

JV was “smokin balls” again today.  He had one mistake in 8 innings and it cost the Tigers a game and allowed the Red Sox to reclaim home field advantage.

I believe this is the 5th or 6th time since the beginning of September that the offense have failed to give JV a single run.

Pathetic.

Just when I think I’ve seen it all the Tigers offense reaches new heights of futility.

I understand they are facing good pitching but the hitters have to find a way to scratch out runs.  This Tigers team has proven over and over again that they not capable.

The Tigers had chances.  They had a runner on third with less than two outs twice and couldn’t manufacture a run.

In the 5th, Peralta led off with a double and went to third on an Alex Avila ground out.  Omar Infante, who is now hitting .100, struck out. Dirks followed with a ground out.

The Tigers failed to score.

In the 8th, after an Iglesias K, Jackson walked and went to third on a Torii Hunter single.  Runners and first and third with one out and the Tigers still trailing 1-0.  Things looked good with Cabrera and Fielder coming to the dish.  But Miggy struck out on 4 pitches and Fielder one-upped him with a K on 3 pitches.

The Tigers failed to score.

Pathetic.

It is impossible to win when you don’t score.

Fister vs Peavy tomorrow.

Your guess is as good as mine.

I wasn’t at the game but a frequent reader of this blog said the crowd sucked. However, I didn’t see much to get excited about.

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

Tigers 8 A’s 6

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Finally, the bats came to life and bailed out the pitching staff which, for the second straight game, was less than stellar.

Doug Fister put in a quality start but I thought it was going to take something spectacular to win this game.

The offense continued its ineptitude through four innings.  However, in the bottom of the 5th and trailing 3-0, the Tigers bats showed signs of life and tied it up on a three run homer from Jhonny Peralta.

After the 5th, the Tigers bats did something they haven’t done in a long time, score in another inning.  In fact the Tigers continued to score with two in the 7tth and three more in the 8th,.  And they needed them.

Max Scherzer relieved Fister in the 7th and got the win.  Max has to get a lot of credit for pitching out of a bases loaded, no out, jam in the 8th to preserve a one run Tiger lead but the jam was his own making.  He walked the lead-off man in the 8th, a no-no in any situation, but even a bigger problem late in an elimination game.

Peralta and Martinez each had big home runs but the biggest hits came from Austin Jackson and Omar Infante.

Jackson, who is in one of the worst funks I’ve ever seen big league hitter in, came through with a single in the 7th to drive in a run and give the Tigers a 5-4 lead.  Prior to his single, Jackson had struck out three more times making it 9 Ks in his last 10 at bats.  Jackson didn’t hit a rocket but it was a much needed hit both personally and for the Tigers as a team.

The Tigers scored their 6th run on a wild pitch in the 8th then Omar delivered a two run double extending the Tigers lead to 8-4.

Joaquin Benoit came in to pitch the 9th and didn’t have his A game.  He made it interesting.  He allowed two runs and stranded the tying runs on base.

I’m a little worried about Joaquin.

I know Miggy is hurt but I’m disappointed in his at bat to lead off the bottom of the 8th.  Miggy swung at a 3-0 pitch and grounded out to third.  I know he can’t run but I was hoping he’d take a pitch or two to see if he could get a free pass.  With the way the Tigers offense has been struggling they can use all of the base runners they can get.

There were a few substitutions that worried me.  In the bottom of the 7th Peralta doubled but was pinch run for by Andy Dirks.  In bottom of the 8th Victor singled and went to second when Andy Dirks walked.  Hernan Perez then pinch ran for Victor.  At this point the Tigers were only up 5-4 and with the substitutions, their two hottest hitters would not bat again if the game went to extra innings.

The moves ended up working out OK.  Perez scored the 6th run on a wild pitch and it is doubtful if Victor would have scored in that situation.

In any case, everything worked out today and game five is Thursday with JV on the mound.  I’m done with predictions, I’ll just have to wait and see.

It’s still “F*** or walk”.

I’m hoping for the best.

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

A’s 6 Tigers 3

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Well it all comes down to tomorrow’s game.

The Tigers have scored a combined 6 runs in the first 3 games of this series.  If the offense is ever going to do something tomorrow would be a good day to start.

Anibal Sanchez was not good today and the offense couldn’t bail him out.

Austin Jacskson struck out 2 more times today making it 6 Ks in 2 games.  I hate to pick on AJax because he has plenty of company but he’s the lead-off man.  He’s supposed to be the offensive catalyst and he’s not even having good at bats.  But again, nobody else is doing anything either.

I hate to even think this but does anybody think putting Dirks in the lead-off spot might help?  He batted lead-off around 6 week ago and went 4-4.  I know this is a stretch but I’m looking for anything at this point.  The offense has to start earning its keep.  This is ridiculous!

This is what I’m thinking, have Dirks bat lead-off and play left. Have Peralta DH and have Victor catch.  Alex will have to sit.

This lineup might seem like a drastic change but tomorrow is time to “F*** or walk” to steal a line from Glengarry Glen Ross.

The only starter in today’s lineup batting .300 or better is Omar Infante.

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

Tigers 7 White Sox 6

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WOW!  Do I feel like an ass for leaving this game in the top of the 9th.

For the first 8.5 innings, I saw exactly what I expected.  After scoring 12 runs last night and facing who I believe to be the best pitcher in the American League, Chris Sale, the Tigers offense did next to nothing.

Chris Sale was dealing.  Except for Miggy, who had two hits against him, the rest of the lineup was completely and thoroughly dominated.

On the Tigers side of the ledger, Fredrick Alfred Porcello was fantastic.  For 6 and 2/3, Ricky was almost as good as Chris Sale.  Almost as good.  This was a match-up between an Ace and an Ace in waiting.  Ricky allowed only 6 hits and 2 runs while walked nobody and striking out 9.

I’m not sure what has gotten into him but Ricky has been getting a lot of swings and misses lately.  He struck out 10 in his previous start and 9 more today.  If Ricky and Iggy can stay healthy, Porcello will make a bid to win 20 games next year with an ERA well under 4, perhaps 3.50.

Tui was flashin leather tonight.   Jose Veras came in to relieve Ricky.  With two outs and the left handed hitting, White Sox catcher, Bryan Anderson at the plate.  The defense was shaded towards right.  Anderson hit a wounded quail to shallow left field and Tui made a fabulous diving catch to end the inning and save a run.

What can I say about Good Ole Dirksy?  He pinch hit for Tui in the bottom of the 9th with two on and nobody out and delivered a 3 run shot to pull the Tigers to within one run, 6-5.  Good for Andy.  It would be great if got to his 2012 form in time for the playoffs.

After Dirksy’s blast Infante walked bringing Santiago to the plate.  Ramon bunted Infante over to second.  I’m not sure how I feel about this play.  Generally, I don’t like bunting a guy from first to second.  In this case I didn’t particularly care for giving the White Sox pitcher an out when he was having trouble finding the plate.  Couple that with the Tigers’ bats perking up and nobody out and my initial reaction to the sacrifice was revulsion.  Looking back on it, however, it was the bottom of the 9th.  The Tigers were trailing by only a single run and it did get the tying run into scoring position.  It worked out this time but I’m still not sure if I would do it again should the occasion arise in the future.

Other than his inability to run, Miggy looked like his old self at the plate today.  He touched Sale for two hard hit singles and singled in the Tigers’ first run in the 9th.  He left the game with groin tightness and is listed as day to day.  It might be time to give him a day off.

Austin Jackson is struggling.  He was 0-5 with a walk tonight.  He had two hits last night, going 2-6, but he was 0-5 in the final game against the Mariners.  That makes him 2-16 in the last three games.  He needs to get on base so Miggy and Prince have a chance to drive in some runs.  That being said, AJax is a streaky hitter so hopefully he’ll go on a hot streak in time for the postseason.

The Amazing Al pitched well tonight.  He pitched two scoreless innings, the 11th and 12th, and got the win.  He allowed one hit, one walk, and struck out two.

Paul Konerko flashed some leather tonight as well.  He made a game saving, temporarily at least, backhanded pick in the 12th, on a throw in the dirt from third baseman Conor Gillaspie

The magic number is 2.

Sanchez is on the mound tomorrow.

It would be nice if the Astros could help the Tigers out tomorrow but I’m not counting on it.

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

If you can’t pitch, you can’t win…

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said Peter Gammons on many occasions.  Well the last few games, the Tigers didn’t pitch and didn’t win.

The Tigers lost to the A’s for the second day and for the second straight day, the pitching was horrible.

I’m not sure what to make of JV, to say he sucked tonight, would be an understatement.  He needed 44 pitches to get out of the 1st inning and ended up throwing 104 pitches in 5 innings.  Infante’s error in the 5th didn’t help him much, but he doesn’t look anything like the pitcher of the last two years.   Verlander’s final line was 5 complete, 5 runs, 3 earned, 3 strikeouts and 3 walks.

If the playoffs started tomorrow, Verlander would be 4th or 5th on my starter depth chart.  I have no confidence when he toes the slab anymore and I’ve lost hope of him getting any better before next year.  Unfortunately, to make a run, this is the JV the Tigers have to expect.

Bruce Rondon relieved JV in the 6th and Seth Smith promptly deposited the second pitch he threw over the center field wall.

Mercifully, this game was called after 6 innings due to rain.  I couldn’t take anymore.

Prince had a walk and drove in his 89th and 90th runs of the year with a bases loaded single in the first.  Other than that, there wasn’t much to cheer about.

Back at it tomorrow.  The Tigers need two in a row to split.

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

Tigers Win, Scherzer 19-1

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Despite only scoring 3 runs on 15 hits the Tigers managed to beat Matt Harvey and the Mets 3-0.

Max Scherzer was cruising along and looked like he would go deep in the game but two at bats in the bottom of the 5th significantly shortened Max’s start.  Juan Lagares led off the inning and worked Max for a walk on 12 pitches.  John Buck followed and made Scherzer throw him 8 pitches before flying out to right field.  Max needed 35 pitches to get out of the 5th but kept the Mets off the board.

Scherzer’s final line was 6 innings, 3 hits, 11 strikeouts and 4 walks.  The 4 walks are a season high for Scherzer.  Max is only the third player in MLB history to start a season 19-1.  The last to do it was Roger Clemens in 1986.  Before Clemens, Rube Marquard, went 19-1 in 1912 for the New York Giants.

This game should have been a blow out but the Tigers lack of speed, coupled with their lack of extra base power today, kept the Mets in the game.  In the seventh, the Tigers looked like they would open the flood gates but failed to score on 4 consecutive singles. With one out, Infante and Cabrera singled, bringing Fielder up with runners on first and second.  Fielder delivered a single to left and Tom Brookens sent Infante home.  This was one of the worst sends by a third base coach I’ve ever seen.  Infante was out by 45 feet.  Tui then followed with another single to load the bases.  Torii Hunter, who didn’t start the game, came in to pinch hit for Andy Dirks, who was 3-3, and grounded into a fielder’s choice to end the inning and keep the score at 2-0.

The Tigers scored 2 runs off of Matt Harvey on 13 hits.  The 13 hits allowed are a career high for him.

The Tigers go for the sweep tomorrow with Rick Procello on the mound facing Dillon Gee.

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

Mighty Miggy!

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The Mighty Miggy hit his 39th home run, a solo shot, in the bottom of the 9th to give the Tigers a 6-5 win and even this 5 game series with the Royals.

Despite leaving 9 men on base, the Tigers offense was able to bail the pitching staff out tonight.  The pitching wasn’t horrible but it is not what Tigers fans have come to expect.

Doug Fister lasted 6 and 1/3.  He surrendered 3 earned.  Fister walked 2, struck out 6 and gave up 10 hits.

The top of the 4th inning featured one of the strangest plays I’ve ever seen. With Chris Getz on first base and nobody out, Fister threw a pitch that Alcides Escobar foul tipped behind home plate.  Home plate umpire Mike Muchlinski ruled it a wild pitch.  While Brayan Pena was waiting for the umpire to hand him a new ball, Chris Getz ran all the way to 3rd base.  If it wasn’t for Doug Fister, realizing what had happened, and retrieving the ball, Getz would have scored.  As it turned out, Getz ended up scoring when Escobar doubled to tie the game at three.

Jim Leyland and Brayan Pena, furious at the call, were both thrown out of the game.  Replays showed that the call was blown.  It was clearly a foul tipped ball.

Withe score tied at 4 in the bottom of the 7th, Prince Fielder homered to give the Tigers the lead back 5-4 but the bull pen couldn’t hold it.  Jose Veras allowed the tying run in the top of the 8th and the stage was set for Miggy’s heroics.

Royals reliever Aaron Crow came in to pitch the 9th with Miggy leading off.  Crow fell behind Miggy 3-1 and I was sure he was just going to put him on.  And in fact, he may have been trying to.  The 3-1 pitch looked to be about 6 inches off of the plate away, but Miggy expanded the strike zone and did what he does.  He hit a bullet over the right field fence giving the Tigers a much needed win.

The running game is becoming a big problem for the Tigers.  They can’t stop anybody from running and this deficiency is compounded when the pitching staff gives up walks.  They need to find a way to address this but I’m not sure they have the tools to do so.  Neither Pena, Holaday nor Avila have been very effective at throwing this year.  I hope this doesn’t come back to bite the Tigers in a crucial situation, like a playoff or World Series game.

On the flip side of the coin, the Tigers did a bit of running themselves tonight.  They scored their third run in the bottom of the second on a suicide squeeze.  With Infante on 3rd and one out, Iggy, laid down a bunt that not only scored Infante but gave Iglesias another infield hit.

With a win tomorrow, the Tigers can win the five game series 3-2.

Update, Cleveland Indian’s second baseman, Jason Kipnis, tweeted this today, “Dear Miggy… You’re making the rest of us look bad.. Knock it off! – MLB Hitters”.  Hat Tip to Sark for showing me the Kipnis tweet. I have retweeted the Kipnis tweet and it can be seen on the right side of this page.

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

GOOD OLE DIRKSY!

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After struggling mightily this season, especially on the last road trip, Andy Dirks started in left field tonight and batted lead-off, while Jim Leyland rested Austin Jackson.  Dirksy paid dividends right away.  He led off the bottom of the 1st with a single and ended up going 4-4 with 2 singles and 2 doubles.

I’ve been hard on Dirksy this year but I thought he had some good at bats Tuesday in Chicago and was on the verge of coming out of his funk.  Today was a good start.  Hopefully, he can keep rolling and the Tigers won’t have to worry about what to do in left field anymore.

Prince Fielder, almost on queue, hit a two run homer in the bottom of the first and that was more than enough for the Tigers pitching staff tonight.

After a very rough first inning, Anibal Sanchez, gave the Tigers 7 1/3,  allowing only a first inning run.  He struck out 5 and walked one.  What makes this start more impressive is that Sanchez needed 30 pitches to get out of the 1st inning.  It looked like it was going to be a short night, but he composed himself, and pitched into the 8th while throwing 115 pitches.

What’s even more interesting, in regard to Anibal’s start, was that Jim Leyland allowed him to throw 115 pitches, which is usually reserved for only Justin Verlander.

Bruce Rondon relieved Sanchez with one out in the 8th and continues to impress.  He recorded the last two outs.  I was hoping he’d come out for the 9th to preserve Benoit for the rest of the series.  But it was not to be.  Benoit came on in the 9th and recorded his 16th save.

Jarrod Dyson flashed some serious leather in the bottom of the 8th.  Victor Martinez led off the inning by hitting a laser to right-center.  Off of the bat, it looked like a sure double and perhaps even a triple, but Dyson kept gaining ground and made a beautiful running catch.

Here are a few random notes:

  1. It was nice to see Prince hit a home run. I’m not sure exactly how long since his last one, but it seemed like a month or so.
  2. I’m more than a little concerned at the way teams run at will on the Tigers.  It seems to be a combination of the pitchers falling asleep and the catchers not throwing well.  Right now, it hasn’t bitten them to much, but in close games it could be huge.
  3. I’m also concerned about the way the Tigers run the bases.  Dirks and Hunter both made blunders, on the same play, in the bottom of the third tonight.  Dirksy led off with a double.  Hunter followed with a ground ball back to the pitcher.  Dirks got a little too anxious and got caught between second and third.  To make matters worse, Hunter got caught between first and second.  It was very strange double play.  Right now the running game doesn’t look like a big deal, but it could really come back to haunt the Tigers in an important game.
  4. Jose Iglesisas and Omar Infante turn double plays like they’ve been together for years.  As long as Iglesias can hit just a little, his acquisition should turn out to be fantastic.
  5. I hope Dirksy is on a roll and this isn’t just a one game reprieve.
  6. Brayan Pena is raking.  He had two more hits tonight and is batting .313.  That’s a lot more than I expected.
  7. After a rocky start to his big league career, Bruce Rondon looks fantastic.  He has lowered his ERA to 3.68.

There were a few omens that proved prescient for the night Dirksy had.  First, is this sign from a guy in a Tiger striped suit, right behind the Tiger dugout.

Andy Dirks The Andy Man
The Andy Man Can

Second, as Dirks was stepping to the plate to lead off the game for the Tigers, my Dad said Dirksy is going to hit a bullet to right field.  He was correct.  Actually, the older I get, the smarter my Dad becomes.  🙂

The Tigers could use a “JV” performance tomorrow in game one.  It would be nice to take the first two of this 5 game series with TBD slated for game two.

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

Tigers Avoid Sweep – Beat Sox 6-4

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The Mighty Miggy and Joaquin Benoit bailed the Tigers out and helped to avoid a three game sweep to end the 10 game road trip.

This game looked ugly, early.  Rick Porcello required 37 pitches to get out of the first inning and when he did, the Tigers were down 3-0.

Ricky settled down after the first.  He put up zeroes for the next 5 innings and was able to go 6 complete.  He allowed 3 earned runs, walked 1 and struck out 4.  What is kind of troubling however, is that he surrendered 11 hits and didn’t have a 1-2-3 inning.  In fact, no Tiger pitcher recorded a 1-2-3 inning today.

With the Tigers trailing 3-0 in the 3rd, The Mighty Miggy got the Tigers even with a 3 run bomb with Austin Jackson and Bryan Holaday scoring in front of him.

The Tigers got 3 more runs in the 6th to take a 6-3 lead.  With one out, Victor singled then went to 3rd on a Matt Tuiasosopo single.  This was a very encouraging sign because it actually looked like Victor was running well.  Victor scored when Omar Infante singled breaking the tie and giving the Tigers a 4-3 lead.  I was hoping for a big clutch hit from someone else in the lineup, to break the game open, but it never came.  The next two runs were scored on a Conor Gillaspie throwing error on a ground ball off the bat of Austin Jacskon.  I’m not going to look a gift horse in the mouth, but a clutch hit would have been better than a throwing error.  However, with the way things have been going lately, I’ll take it.

In the bottom of the 7th, it looked like Jose Iggy Iglesias chose the wrong time to make his first fielding error as a Tiger.  With two out, Jeff Keppinger, hit a routine ground ball to short that Iggy booted.  Drew Smyly then walked Conor Gillaspie.  When Dayan Viciedo was announced as a pinch hitter for Tyler Flowers.  Jim Leyland countered by bringing in the Amazing Al and I thought the flood gates were about to open.  But, to my and the Tigers’ delight, Alburquerque got Viciedo to fly out and end the threat.

Jose Veras is beginning to scare me.  He came out to pitch the 9th and with one out gave up a run on two walks and a single.  This basically forced Leyland into bringing in Benoit for a 5 out save.  Benoit got Dunn and Garcia on strikes to end the inning and the threat and eventually got the save.

This win wasn’t pretty but it was needed.  It would have been a real downer to end the road trip at 5-5, especially with a sweep at the hands of the White Sox.

The Tigers are back home tomorrow for a 5 game series with the Royals.

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