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).
Showing posts with label Mariners. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mariners. Show all posts
Sunday, April 19, 2009
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.
Monday, June 2, 2008
Well, that was different!
Tigers 7 Mariners 5
That was different...
It was different because the Tigers won on Sunday (the first time all year). I noticed this in 2007 also, they don't seem to do well on Sundays. I will have to go back and look at my calendar to see what their record was but I don't think it was very good.
It was different because they came from behind. In 2006 I never felt that the Tigers were out of a game, even if they were 5 or 6 runs down late in the game. This year if they haven't scored 6 runs I seriously expect them to lose the game. Today they battled it out and won after giving up the lead twice and even falling behind. They put together 4 runs in the ninth inning after taking a walk and then pounding out a bunch of hits from the top of the order. I couldn't really follow it because I was rebuilding a barn, but I could tell Dan and Jim were pretty excited on the radio!
It was different because they won a series on the road! Again, I have to check but if this isn't the first time this year it has been rare enough.
Bonderman didn't pitch great but he stuck it out. Miner got the win and again pitched well. Jones scared the crap out of me (again) but finished it out (that isn't different at all now is it?).
Detroit is still in 4th place but are now 6 games out of 1st place, picking up 1.5 games in the last 7 days (I told you all that Chicago would get cold). The Tigers have won 3 or the last 4 and 5 of their last 10.
Today they take on the A's in Oakland. The A's are on a 5 game winning streak going into the series. Kenny Rogers traded starts with Bonderman because Kenny's record in Oakland is ridiculously good. Hopefully that will not be any different.
That was different...
It was different because the Tigers won on Sunday (the first time all year). I noticed this in 2007 also, they don't seem to do well on Sundays. I will have to go back and look at my calendar to see what their record was but I don't think it was very good.
It was different because they came from behind. In 2006 I never felt that the Tigers were out of a game, even if they were 5 or 6 runs down late in the game. This year if they haven't scored 6 runs I seriously expect them to lose the game. Today they battled it out and won after giving up the lead twice and even falling behind. They put together 4 runs in the ninth inning after taking a walk and then pounding out a bunch of hits from the top of the order. I couldn't really follow it because I was rebuilding a barn, but I could tell Dan and Jim were pretty excited on the radio!
It was different because they won a series on the road! Again, I have to check but if this isn't the first time this year it has been rare enough.
Bonderman didn't pitch great but he stuck it out. Miner got the win and again pitched well. Jones scared the crap out of me (again) but finished it out (that isn't different at all now is it?).
Detroit is still in 4th place but are now 6 games out of 1st place, picking up 1.5 games in the last 7 days (I told you all that Chicago would get cold). The Tigers have won 3 or the last 4 and 5 of their last 10.
Today they take on the A's in Oakland. The A's are on a 5 game winning streak going into the series. Kenny Rogers traded starts with Bonderman because Kenny's record in Oakland is ridiculously good. Hopefully that will not be any different.
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