Yankees 2 Tigers 4
Okay, that was pretty sweet! Justin Verlander seemed to find his groove tonight. He had 9 strikeouts and 0 walks over 7 innings. He started to loose it in the 8th when he gave up 2 singles, but Bobby Seay came in from the Pen and shut them down! Nobody got past 2nd in that inning. Rodney made it waaay too interesting allowing 3 hits and 2 runs before getting Posada to ground into a double play and Pena to flyout to Raburn in Leftfield.
Cabrera drives in Polanco to score the first run for Detroit in the 1st. Polanco doubles in Granderson for the 2nd run. Maggs hit his second HR of the year with Polanco on for the final 2 runs. Polanco was 2 for 4 with 2 runs scored and 1 RBI. That makes him my player of the game on the offensive side.
On the defensive side it has to be Verlander for that amazing performance (with and honorable mention for Inge and his turning the 9th inning double play that saved Rodney's bacon). It was interesting to see Verlander leave the dugout as Rodney flirted with a melt down in the 9th. It would have been a shame to see Justin not get the win after that game.
So they are 11-8 and go into Tuesday in 1st place in the AL Central.
Go Tigers!!!!!!!!!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Sunday, April 26, 2009
Game 18: Tigers at Royals
The Tigers wrap up their road trip with a win over the Royals! They won 5 and lost 4 winning the series in Seattle and Kansas City and losing the one in LA. They were not swept in any series. In the last week they averaged 6.33 runs per games. That is just a 1/3 of a run better than the 6 runs they gave up per game.
They gave up 10 runs in two separate games in LAA, but amazingly managed to win one of them.
Brandon Inge continues to hit very well. He has 7 homers after today and is batting .323. Cabrera is hitting .382 and Anderson is at .364. Granderson has worked his average up to .250 with a great series in LAA and he has 6 home runs.
So overall the Tigers finished the week above .500. They start their series against the Yankees in 1st place in the AL Central. The White Sox lost today so the Tigers have a 1 game lead in their division.
They are playing well. They are not playing great, but they are playing well. In the Central this may be enough.
They gave up 10 runs in two separate games in LAA, but amazingly managed to win one of them.
Brandon Inge continues to hit very well. He has 7 homers after today and is batting .323. Cabrera is hitting .382 and Anderson is at .364. Granderson has worked his average up to .250 with a great series in LAA and he has 6 home runs.
So overall the Tigers finished the week above .500. They start their series against the Yankees in 1st place in the AL Central. The White Sox lost today so the Tigers have a 1 game lead in their division.
They are playing well. They are not playing great, but they are playing well. In the Central this may be enough.
Friday, April 24, 2009
Game 16 Tigers at Royals
Line ups:
Royals
Crisp, CF
DeJesus, LH
Teahen, 3B
Jacobs, DH
Butler, 1B
Callaspo, 2B
Aviles, SS
Olivio, C
Maier, CF
Greinke, P
Tigers
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 1B
Guillen, DH
Laird, C
Inge, 3B
Anderson, LF
Santiago, SS
Porcello, P
Here's hoping that last night's ugly was left on the west coast and that Detroit plays better in the Midwest. All of those errors killed the Tigers last night.
*Teahen just hit one out with a man on. Royals up by two in the first :(
Wednesday's game was ugly too, but it was ugly in Detroit's favor. Thursday went against the Tigers.
Just as a reminder, last year the Royals swept the Tigers in their first series together. Here's hoping this year is different!
***Update***
The sadness continues. Royals 6 Tigers 1
Well, at least the Tiger sort of ended Greinke's scoreless streek. Laird manufactured a run out of nothing and kind of ended Greinke's scoreless streak, but the run was un-earned and didn't really end his streak. None-the-less the Tigers did score an unearned run against him. I guesss that is something.
Final score Tigers 1 Royals 6
Ughhh
Royals
Crisp, CF
DeJesus, LH
Teahen, 3B
Jacobs, DH
Butler, 1B
Callaspo, 2B
Aviles, SS
Olivio, C
Maier, CF
Greinke, P
Tigers
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 1B
Guillen, DH
Laird, C
Inge, 3B
Anderson, LF
Santiago, SS
Porcello, P
Here's hoping that last night's ugly was left on the west coast and that Detroit plays better in the Midwest. All of those errors killed the Tigers last night.
*Teahen just hit one out with a man on. Royals up by two in the first :(
Wednesday's game was ugly too, but it was ugly in Detroit's favor. Thursday went against the Tigers.
Just as a reminder, last year the Royals swept the Tigers in their first series together. Here's hoping this year is different!
***Update***
The sadness continues. Royals 6 Tigers 1
Well, at least the Tiger sort of ended Greinke's scoreless streek. Laird manufactured a run out of nothing and kind of ended Greinke's scoreless streak, but the run was un-earned and didn't really end his streak. None-the-less the Tigers did score an unearned run against him. I guesss that is something.
Final score Tigers 1 Royals 6
Ughhh
Monday, April 20, 2009
Defense!
Bilfer posted a very interesting and encouraging analysis of the Tigers' defense so far this year. Enjoy.
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Games 11 & 12: Detroit at Seattle
Game 11 Detroit 2- Seattle 0
Edwin Jackson pitched just over 7 innings and allowed only 2 runs on Saturday while pitching through the flu. Just an amazing performance all around by Jackson. Rodney finished it out for his 3rd save in 3 opportunities. (I must admit, I am becoming a believer in Rodney).
Brandon Inge continued hit greatly improved hitting with 2 more hits and another RBI. His single actually accounted for both runs when Ichiro threw high to home plate, allowing Laird and Cabrerra to score.
Game 12 Detroit 8- Seattle 2
Porcello also had a great day on Sunday as the Tigers took the series from the Mariners at Safeco Park. Porcello was not as dominating with K's as Jackson was on Saturday, but he went 7 innings and only allowed on solo home run to score. From what I saw it looked like mostly ground outs from him today.
He ended up getting a ton of run support from the 4,5,6 & 7 slots in the line up today. Inge had ANOTHER RBI for 11 on the year, almost one per game. The only Tiger to not get a hit was Trenor (the back up catcher).
I must admit, after only 12 games I am pretty excited about this team:
They have a winning record (7-5).
They just took 2 games at home from the team that was the best in the AL when the weekend started.
In the last 5 games the Bullpen has allowed only 3 runs over 12 1/3 innings with 11 appearances. That seems to be a pretty good streak so far.
Just like in 2006 the bottom half of the lineup is making significant contributions to the wins.
The only starting pitcher I see trouble with is Verlander (with his 7.88 ERA).
They are in 1st place (along with the White Sox and the Royals).
Edwin Jackson pitched just over 7 innings and allowed only 2 runs on Saturday while pitching through the flu. Just an amazing performance all around by Jackson. Rodney finished it out for his 3rd save in 3 opportunities. (I must admit, I am becoming a believer in Rodney).
Brandon Inge continued hit greatly improved hitting with 2 more hits and another RBI. His single actually accounted for both runs when Ichiro threw high to home plate, allowing Laird and Cabrerra to score.
Game 12 Detroit 8- Seattle 2
Porcello also had a great day on Sunday as the Tigers took the series from the Mariners at Safeco Park. Porcello was not as dominating with K's as Jackson was on Saturday, but he went 7 innings and only allowed on solo home run to score. From what I saw it looked like mostly ground outs from him today.
He ended up getting a ton of run support from the 4,5,6 & 7 slots in the line up today. Inge had ANOTHER RBI for 11 on the year, almost one per game. The only Tiger to not get a hit was Trenor (the back up catcher).
I must admit, after only 12 games I am pretty excited about this team:
They have a winning record (7-5).
They just took 2 games at home from the team that was the best in the AL when the weekend started.
In the last 5 games the Bullpen has allowed only 3 runs over 12 1/3 innings with 11 appearances. That seems to be a pretty good streak so far.
Just like in 2006 the bottom half of the lineup is making significant contributions to the wins.
The only starting pitcher I see trouble with is Verlander (with his 7.88 ERA).
They are in 1st place (along with the White Sox and the Royals).
Saturday, April 18, 2009
Game 10: From "No-No" to NOOOOOO!!!!!
Tigers 3- Mariners 6
Remember last year when the Tigers used Seattle as a punching bag? They averaged almost 6 runs per game against Seattle pitching and went 7-3. Well... it appears that Seattle wasn't too pleased with that, so they decided to put some changes in place.
Going into Friday night's game Seattle had the best record in the American League. They had allowed only 35 runs against so far this year (2nd best in the AL). They had apparently upgraded their defense and were playing "small ball" to dig their way out of the celler where they have been for a while.
So Justin Verlander comes to town and, for the first 4 innings, absolutely dominates the Mariners. I tuned in the game at the start of the 5th inning and Rod and Mario were just updating us that so far not one Mariner had made it to first base- 12 men up, 12 men down and that all of Verlander's pitches were working. And then I saw Adrian Beltre knock a double into the right field corner (so much for the no-hitter). Then Branyan hits a single to right. Then Lopez singles to left and Beltre scores. Johnson sacrifice bunts. So far there have been 3 hits and a sac, but only one run has scored to Detroit leads 3-1. I am getting agitated, but we just need a break to get out of the inning with the lead. Well, it looked like we got the break when Betencourt hit an easy grounder down the line toward third. Inge grabs it cleanly and sees that Branyan is going home. Inge throws too low to Laird, who can't get the bounce into his glove in time to make the tag. The error on Inge not only costs the run but extends the inning. Gutierrez lays down a sweet squeeze that Verlander never really had a chance to make a play on, scoring Lopez. Now the game is tied at 3 with one out. Ichiro singles, driving in Betencourt. The situation gets to Verlander and he throws the next pitch to the backstop, allowing Gutierrez to score. Now it is 3-5. I'll be honest, I couldn't watch anymore and I turned the channel.
So what started out as an amazing pitching display turned into an amazing hitting display in a heatbeat. Verlander only allowed one more run (in the 8th). He only allowed 3 extra base hits in the game and he struck out 8 batters! The Mariners simply chipped at him without mercy in that 5th inning and he couldn't get an out.
I saw today on MLBNetwork that Verlander is tied for the lead in strike outs (20). That is great, but he is 0-2 and his ERA is 7.88 in 3 games. Rod mentioned last night, and I believe it is true, that Verlander throws so many strikes that opposing batters know they will get a pitch they can hit. Last night 79 of 108 pitches were strikes. His strike out per 9 innings pitched is 11.25 while his walks per 9 is 3.94. Hitters were going up expecting pitches they could hit (even if they were mostly singles).
The error by Inge certainly hurt. It extended the inning and cost them a run at the same time. The Tigers have commited 7 errors in 10 games so far this season.
As Ian says at Bless You Boys:
Remember last year when the Tigers used Seattle as a punching bag? They averaged almost 6 runs per game against Seattle pitching and went 7-3. Well... it appears that Seattle wasn't too pleased with that, so they decided to put some changes in place.
Going into Friday night's game Seattle had the best record in the American League. They had allowed only 35 runs against so far this year (2nd best in the AL). They had apparently upgraded their defense and were playing "small ball" to dig their way out of the celler where they have been for a while.
So Justin Verlander comes to town and, for the first 4 innings, absolutely dominates the Mariners. I tuned in the game at the start of the 5th inning and Rod and Mario were just updating us that so far not one Mariner had made it to first base- 12 men up, 12 men down and that all of Verlander's pitches were working. And then I saw Adrian Beltre knock a double into the right field corner (so much for the no-hitter). Then Branyan hits a single to right. Then Lopez singles to left and Beltre scores. Johnson sacrifice bunts. So far there have been 3 hits and a sac, but only one run has scored to Detroit leads 3-1. I am getting agitated, but we just need a break to get out of the inning with the lead. Well, it looked like we got the break when Betencourt hit an easy grounder down the line toward third. Inge grabs it cleanly and sees that Branyan is going home. Inge throws too low to Laird, who can't get the bounce into his glove in time to make the tag. The error on Inge not only costs the run but extends the inning. Gutierrez lays down a sweet squeeze that Verlander never really had a chance to make a play on, scoring Lopez. Now the game is tied at 3 with one out. Ichiro singles, driving in Betencourt. The situation gets to Verlander and he throws the next pitch to the backstop, allowing Gutierrez to score. Now it is 3-5. I'll be honest, I couldn't watch anymore and I turned the channel.
So what started out as an amazing pitching display turned into an amazing hitting display in a heatbeat. Verlander only allowed one more run (in the 8th). He only allowed 3 extra base hits in the game and he struck out 8 batters! The Mariners simply chipped at him without mercy in that 5th inning and he couldn't get an out.
I saw today on MLBNetwork that Verlander is tied for the lead in strike outs (20). That is great, but he is 0-2 and his ERA is 7.88 in 3 games. Rod mentioned last night, and I believe it is true, that Verlander throws so many strikes that opposing batters know they will get a pitch they can hit. Last night 79 of 108 pitches were strikes. His strike out per 9 innings pitched is 11.25 while his walks per 9 is 3.94. Hitters were going up expecting pitches they could hit (even if they were mostly singles).
The error by Inge certainly hurt. It extended the inning and cost them a run at the same time. The Tigers have commited 7 errors in 10 games so far this season.
As Ian says at Bless You Boys:
The Tigers beat themselves tonight. (And blew chances to add to that 3-0 lead.) The Mariners continue to find ways to win. What a gut punch.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Time for catch up
Game 7 Texas 4- Detroit 6
Game 8 Chicago 10- Detroit 6
Game 9 Chicago 0- Detroit 9
There is so much to cover, so let's try to do this in pictures.
Game 7
Game 8
Game 9
Translation:
Tigers complete a 3 game sweep of the Rangers!
Tigers suck in freezing cold game against White Sox.
Tigers go BOOM! by shutting out the White Sox 9-0!
Game 8 Chicago 10- Detroit 6
Game 9 Chicago 0- Detroit 9
There is so much to cover, so let's try to do this in pictures.
Game 7
Game 8
Game 9
Translation:
Tigers complete a 3 game sweep of the Rangers!
Tigers suck in freezing cold game against White Sox.
Tigers go BOOM! by shutting out the White Sox 9-0!
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