Week 19 has ended.
W/L 2/4
Not a very strong week for Detroit. Tampa Bay completed a sweep over Detroit in Tampa and the White Sox took 2 of 3 from them in Chicago. That series in Chicago completed a 10 game road trip for Detroit (their longest of the season) and brings them to Detroit for 23 of their next 26 games. Since they play better at Comerica than they do on the road, perhaps they can still pull off a Playoff run (but don't bet a mortgage payment on it).
The Starters were not as bad in Week 19 as they were in Week 18. Their ERA improved to 3.76 (16 earned runs in 38 1/3 innings), which is certainly okayish. We have Galarraga, Minor and Rogers to thank for that. They allowed 7 in 25 2/3. Robertson and Verlander, on the other hand, allowed 9 in 15 innings (5.40 ERA)! Verlander(!) has allowed 18 earned runs in only 17 1/3 innings over his last 3 starts! We have discussed Robertson enough, but Verlander has just not gotten it done at all lately.
The Bullpen had an ERA of 4.05 (9 earned runs in 20 innings). There were 3 Blown Saves in the week (2 in one game), so theorhetically the Week's record should be reversed if anyone could "slam the door" at the end of the game!
Defensivly there were 4 errors last week (which is Detroit's average for the year).
Offensively it was a mixed bag. They averaged 5.67 Runs Scored per game, but had two games with 2 runs or less and 3 with 8 runs or more. The Slugging % was .500 and BA was .265.
They should have won more games but the Bullpen cost them those two games and Verlander and Robertson never really gave them a chance in their two starts.
Week 20 has the end of the Oakland series, Toronto for 4 games and Baltimore for the weekend.
