Tigers 13, Royals 1
A rare chance to blog about a game right after it happened! Aren't holidays wonderful?
Whatever was ailing the Tigers in Detroit those last two games was left behind when they landed in KC. The Tigers got 13 runs off of 19 hits. Laird hit another HR and Cabrera had 2 more doubles, adding to his MLB leading .378 batting average.
Verlander pitched another fantastic game allowing 0 runs in 7 innings (and only needed 96 pitches to do it). I wasn't able to watch much of the game (only the Tigers' 9th) but Verlander apparently allowed only 1 runner into scoring position for the whole 7 innings. With 8 more strikeouts Justin regains the strikeout lead in the MLB (at least until Peavy pitches again) with 85.
Once again the Tigers did not commit an error in the game.
I don't think KC was a flash in the pan to start the season. They are not the basement dwellers that they have been and I think that they will start to win again and challenge the Tigers for the division. I just hope that Detroit can at least take this series and then play well against Baltimore, because starting in June the schedule gets tougher yet- Boston comes to town and then the LAA Angels to start the month of June.
With this win Detroit leads KC by 4 games in the AL Central. Minnesota is 4.5 games back after losing to Boston earlier today.
Showing posts with label Verlander. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Verlander. Show all posts
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Week 6: Swept by Twins, beating up A's
Week 6 had the Tigers in Minnesota and at Detroit. Minnesota did not agree with them (although they should have won 2 games there). Being at home seems to have a great effect on this team (10-5 in Comerica).
We saw what appears to be a slide by Galarraga from strike throwing machine to more of a ball throwing machine. Over his last 5 starts he has allowed 17 walks in 27 2/3 innings. He has also allowed 21 runs in those starts. This is partly because he has allowed 6 home runs, rewarding opposing teams for being patient at the plate. The Tigers have only won one of those starts (Apr 26th). It is worth noting that in 2008 Galarraga had a WHIP (walk + hits per inning pitched) of 1.19. So far in 2009 his WHIP is 1.44. In 2008 he walked 2.98 per 9 innings. So far it has been 4.39! Maybe it is a good thing Bonderman is on the mend (more on that later). Tuesday Galarraga allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd.
We saw Verlander continue to look like a Cy Young leader with another absolutely dominating performance on Thursday. He went 6 2/3 striking out 13 men (he leads the MLB in strikeouts). He allowed only 2 runs (which actually scored after he left the game).
Jackson again went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. Not only is that amazing, but he had a 1 hour and 15 minute rain delay between the 4th and 5th innings. I don't remember seeing a starter return after that long of a delay, much less to continue for 3 more innings! Dombrowski looks more and more like a genius every day that Jackson wears the D!
Porcello actually leads the team in wins after holding the A's to 1 run tonight.
Willis returned to the big leagues on Wednesday. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and only 2 walks. It wasn't a Quality Start. I'm not sure it was even a good start. Some say is was good enough. Some say it wasn't. I'm more inclined to say it wasn't good enough, but I'll leave that decision to Leyland and Dombrowski.
This was really the week that the 'Pen imploded for the first time. The Tigers should have won both Willis' game on Wednesday. They ultimately scored 10 runs in a 5 hour marathon (yes, I stayed up to watch it all). But Lyon couldn't close the deal, allowing a walk off grand slam. In Lyon's defense he pitched 2 2/3 innings because there wasn't anyone left to use. He is a closer by trade and he faced 15 batters. That must have felt like working a 14 hour day to him, but Detroit had the lead at least twice in late innings. I tuned in when the Tigers led 9-7. Then I watched Zoom give up that lead. Then Granderson tripled and was balked home (you don't see that very often). But Lyon was done when the Twins came up to bat and Minnesota won 14-10.
Thursday was worse. Verlander was walking all over the Twins. He left with a 5 run lead and 2 men on and 1 out in the 7th inning. Bobby Seay did something he hasn't done all year- he sucked. Seay allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk while getting only 1 man out. When Miner came on it was 5-4 with 2 outs. When the inning ended it was 6-5. The Tigers couldn't recover.
The lineup started weakly, but appears to have build some momentum this week. After scoring only 2 runs on Tuesday they averaged 9.5 for the rest of the week. Their SLG% was over .500 for the first week this year. Magglio is starting to hit again. If the batters can continue this trend this should be a great season.
Even after 2 blown games the Tigers end the week with a 3-3 record (19-16 overall) and they are alone in 1st place with a 1 game lead over KC.
We saw what appears to be a slide by Galarraga from strike throwing machine to more of a ball throwing machine. Over his last 5 starts he has allowed 17 walks in 27 2/3 innings. He has also allowed 21 runs in those starts. This is partly because he has allowed 6 home runs, rewarding opposing teams for being patient at the plate. The Tigers have only won one of those starts (Apr 26th). It is worth noting that in 2008 Galarraga had a WHIP (walk + hits per inning pitched) of 1.19. So far in 2009 his WHIP is 1.44. In 2008 he walked 2.98 per 9 innings. So far it has been 4.39! Maybe it is a good thing Bonderman is on the mend (more on that later). Tuesday Galarraga allowed 2 runs in the 2nd and 2 more in the 3rd.
We saw Verlander continue to look like a Cy Young leader with another absolutely dominating performance on Thursday. He went 6 2/3 striking out 13 men (he leads the MLB in strikeouts). He allowed only 2 runs (which actually scored after he left the game).
Jackson again went 7 innings and allowed only 1 run. Not only is that amazing, but he had a 1 hour and 15 minute rain delay between the 4th and 5th innings. I don't remember seeing a starter return after that long of a delay, much less to continue for 3 more innings! Dombrowski looks more and more like a genius every day that Jackson wears the D!
Porcello actually leads the team in wins after holding the A's to 1 run tonight.
Willis returned to the big leagues on Wednesday. He went 4 2/3 innings and allowed 4 runs on 8 hits and only 2 walks. It wasn't a Quality Start. I'm not sure it was even a good start. Some say is was good enough. Some say it wasn't. I'm more inclined to say it wasn't good enough, but I'll leave that decision to Leyland and Dombrowski.
This was really the week that the 'Pen imploded for the first time. The Tigers should have won both Willis' game on Wednesday. They ultimately scored 10 runs in a 5 hour marathon (yes, I stayed up to watch it all). But Lyon couldn't close the deal, allowing a walk off grand slam. In Lyon's defense he pitched 2 2/3 innings because there wasn't anyone left to use. He is a closer by trade and he faced 15 batters. That must have felt like working a 14 hour day to him, but Detroit had the lead at least twice in late innings. I tuned in when the Tigers led 9-7. Then I watched Zoom give up that lead. Then Granderson tripled and was balked home (you don't see that very often). But Lyon was done when the Twins came up to bat and Minnesota won 14-10.
Thursday was worse. Verlander was walking all over the Twins. He left with a 5 run lead and 2 men on and 1 out in the 7th inning. Bobby Seay did something he hasn't done all year- he sucked. Seay allowed 4 runs on 3 hits and a walk while getting only 1 man out. When Miner came on it was 5-4 with 2 outs. When the inning ended it was 6-5. The Tigers couldn't recover.
The lineup started weakly, but appears to have build some momentum this week. After scoring only 2 runs on Tuesday they averaged 9.5 for the rest of the week. Their SLG% was over .500 for the first week this year. Magglio is starting to hit again. If the batters can continue this trend this should be a great season.
Even after 2 blown games the Tigers end the week with a 3-3 record (19-16 overall) and they are alone in 1st place with a 1 game lead over KC.
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Week 5: 4 Wins and 2 Losses
The story of this week was pitching.
Verlander pitched 2 games (16 innings) and allowed only 1 run. He struck out 11 in each game and only walked 5 over that span. It is even more impressive that he pitched BOTH games against the reigned Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, and won both of them. Friday's game in Cleveland was saved by Granderson (but more on that later).
Jackson pitched one great game and one not-so-great game in the week. Saturday's game followed up Verlander's gem with another gem. 0 runs allowed over 7 innings (and this time the Bullpen didn't give the game away as it had against the Yankees).
Jackson' game on Monday was his weakest of the year- he allowed 5 runs over 6 innings on 7 hits. He still managed to strike out 7 batters in both games.
Porcello picked up a win this week with 7 innings of shutout ball.
Galarraga had the worst game of the week with 6 runs allowed in 6 innings (5 of those runs came in the 1st inning). He had only 3 K's in that game and it appeared that White Sox were counting on him not hitting the strike zone, they appeared very patient at the plate and it paid off for them.
With the starters pitching as well as they did the Bullpen didn't have a whole lot of work. They pitched only 11 innings for the week and allowed only 2 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks.
So the Tigers had a great week of pitching. It is a good thing, because they did not have a very good week at the plate.
On Tuesday the 5th Leyland mixed up the lineup and they scored 9 runs against the Twins. That was the highpoint of the scoring. Inspite of that attack on Minnasota the Tigers only managed to average 3.2 runs per game this week. This lack of scoring is beginning to concern me. During the first 3 weeks of the season they scored over 5 runs per game (5.8, 5.2 and 6.3). Over the last two weeks they have averaged only 4.5 and 3.2. Leyland clearly sees the problem and has attempted to address it: Guillen was put on the DL, Ordonez moved from the #3 slot to #6 and even benched for a couple of games. Larish and Thomas were brought up from Toledo. And Thomas has been spending time in the #3 hole. Granderson has been moved around in the lineup too, between #1 and #5. All of this moving has not had a huge impact, but we'll see how Week 6 works out before rushing to judgement.
Player of the Week:
This a very hard call. Verlander had a Cy Yound qualifying week against the current Cy Young winner. Curtis Granderson was almost all of the scoring offense (4 of the 19 runs scored) this week and saved Verlander's shutout win on Friday with an abolutely amazing catch over the wall to steal a walkoff homerun from Grady Sizemore.
I have to go with Verlander. He was absolutely dominant this week and, as I said earlier, this week was all about pitching. He was the Man this week.
Verlander pitched 2 games (16 innings) and allowed only 1 run. He struck out 11 in each game and only walked 5 over that span. It is even more impressive that he pitched BOTH games against the reigned Cy Young Award winner, Cliff Lee, and won both of them. Friday's game in Cleveland was saved by Granderson (but more on that later).
Jackson pitched one great game and one not-so-great game in the week. Saturday's game followed up Verlander's gem with another gem. 0 runs allowed over 7 innings (and this time the Bullpen didn't give the game away as it had against the Yankees).
Jackson' game on Monday was his weakest of the year- he allowed 5 runs over 6 innings on 7 hits. He still managed to strike out 7 batters in both games.
Porcello picked up a win this week with 7 innings of shutout ball.
Galarraga had the worst game of the week with 6 runs allowed in 6 innings (5 of those runs came in the 1st inning). He had only 3 K's in that game and it appeared that White Sox were counting on him not hitting the strike zone, they appeared very patient at the plate and it paid off for them.
With the starters pitching as well as they did the Bullpen didn't have a whole lot of work. They pitched only 11 innings for the week and allowed only 2 runs on 8 hits and 5 walks.
So the Tigers had a great week of pitching. It is a good thing, because they did not have a very good week at the plate.
On Tuesday the 5th Leyland mixed up the lineup and they scored 9 runs against the Twins. That was the highpoint of the scoring. Inspite of that attack on Minnasota the Tigers only managed to average 3.2 runs per game this week. This lack of scoring is beginning to concern me. During the first 3 weeks of the season they scored over 5 runs per game (5.8, 5.2 and 6.3). Over the last two weeks they have averaged only 4.5 and 3.2. Leyland clearly sees the problem and has attempted to address it: Guillen was put on the DL, Ordonez moved from the #3 slot to #6 and even benched for a couple of games. Larish and Thomas were brought up from Toledo. And Thomas has been spending time in the #3 hole. Granderson has been moved around in the lineup too, between #1 and #5. All of this moving has not had a huge impact, but we'll see how Week 6 works out before rushing to judgement.
Player of the Week:
This a very hard call. Verlander had a Cy Yound qualifying week against the current Cy Young winner. Curtis Granderson was almost all of the scoring offense (4 of the 19 runs scored) this week and saved Verlander's shutout win on Friday with an abolutely amazing catch over the wall to steal a walkoff homerun from Grady Sizemore.
I have to go with Verlander. He was absolutely dominant this week and, as I said earlier, this week was all about pitching. He was the Man this week.
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.
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Week 19 ( I honestly don't know what to say.)
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.
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.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
Week 12
This week saw most of a road trip to the west coast for Interleague Play against the San Fransisco Giants and the San Diego Padres (with the end of a homestand last Sunday against the LA Dodgers).
Results- 6 Wins against 2 Losses. Not too shabby at all. Let's break it down some more...
Starters- Robertson had the best outing on Sunday against the Dodgers (0 earned runs in 6 innings facing only 21 batters). Robertson also had the worst outing last night against the Padres with 5 earned runs in 6 innings with 26 batters faced). But, both ended up in W's for the Tigers! Galarraga continued to impress with 0 earned runs in 6 innings on Wednesday against the Giants. Verlander had a good outing on Monday with only 2 earned runs and 7 strikeouts over 6 innings, but the Tigers took the loss on one of 2 bullpen implosions this week (we'll get to that later). Rogers was dealing on Wednesday with 1 earned run in 7 innings and finally got a win for his efforts. Bonine (aka "the New Guy") pitched pretty well on Friday (2 earned runs in 7 innings) but Bull Pen Implosion #2 cost the Tigers a win. By my figures the Starters ERA was 2.37 for the week! (10 earned runs over 38 innings pitched). That will win a lot of ballgames!
Relivers- The Bull Pen saw the return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumuya this week, 2 of the best arms of the incredible 2006 season. Both had been on the DL all summer. Bautista and Lopez were sent to Toledo to make room for the dynamic duo with the Tigers. Lopez will be pitching longer to possibly prepare him for a starter role later on (if necessary). Well, the only 2 losses of the week were directly the result of the Bull Pen. Tuesday Justin Verlander pitched well and handed it over after 6 innings and a one run lead- Dolsi did well at first, but in the 8th he couldn't get an out. Well, we've got Rodney back don't we? Let's see what he can do... Bless You Boys has the best graphical representation of the results. Rodney faced 5 batters and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk. Before it is all over the score is 8 to 4. Detroit did score 2 in the 9th to make it an 8-6 final, but it wasn't pretty. You can pretty much repeat the story for Friday's game (except it was tied up at 2 instead of Detroit having a 1 run lead). Rodney gets the ball after a strong start by Bonine and .... Ian brings out his nuclear fire ball again (he will run out of images before long if this continues). Rodney did not record an out but gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and never got anyone out. His ERA at that point is 135. Fossum tried to put out the fire but couldn't. The tie game was now a 2-6 game with 3 outs left for the Tigers, sorry. The good news is that, aside from those two games, the bull pen did well giving up only 4 runs.
Batters- There are really only two words for the week: Marcus Thames! He hit a home run almost everytime he went to the plate this week. And they were key hits too, the kind that win the game. Overall there were 10 homeruns this week and they scored 5.3 runs per game! That will do it. SLG % was up to .473.
They committed 4 errors this past week.
So they won 4 and lost 2. Again the Starters gave strong performances and the Batters scored runs. This is a good combination. Detroit is now in 3rd place and 6 games behind the White Sox.
Results- 6 Wins against 2 Losses. Not too shabby at all. Let's break it down some more...
Starters- Robertson had the best outing on Sunday against the Dodgers (0 earned runs in 6 innings facing only 21 batters). Robertson also had the worst outing last night against the Padres with 5 earned runs in 6 innings with 26 batters faced). But, both ended up in W's for the Tigers! Galarraga continued to impress with 0 earned runs in 6 innings on Wednesday against the Giants. Verlander had a good outing on Monday with only 2 earned runs and 7 strikeouts over 6 innings, but the Tigers took the loss on one of 2 bullpen implosions this week (we'll get to that later). Rogers was dealing on Wednesday with 1 earned run in 7 innings and finally got a win for his efforts. Bonine (aka "the New Guy") pitched pretty well on Friday (2 earned runs in 7 innings) but Bull Pen Implosion #2 cost the Tigers a win. By my figures the Starters ERA was 2.37 for the week! (10 earned runs over 38 innings pitched). That will win a lot of ballgames!
Relivers- The Bull Pen saw the return of Fernando Rodney and Joel Zumuya this week, 2 of the best arms of the incredible 2006 season. Both had been on the DL all summer. Bautista and Lopez were sent to Toledo to make room for the dynamic duo with the Tigers. Lopez will be pitching longer to possibly prepare him for a starter role later on (if necessary). Well, the only 2 losses of the week were directly the result of the Bull Pen. Tuesday Justin Verlander pitched well and handed it over after 6 innings and a one run lead- Dolsi did well at first, but in the 8th he couldn't get an out. Well, we've got Rodney back don't we? Let's see what he can do... Bless You Boys has the best graphical representation of the results. Rodney faced 5 batters and allowed 3 runs on 3 hits and a walk. Before it is all over the score is 8 to 4. Detroit did score 2 in the 9th to make it an 8-6 final, but it wasn't pretty. You can pretty much repeat the story for Friday's game (except it was tied up at 2 instead of Detroit having a 1 run lead). Rodney gets the ball after a strong start by Bonine and .... Ian brings out his nuclear fire ball again (he will run out of images before long if this continues). Rodney did not record an out but gave up 2 runs on 2 hits, 2 walks and never got anyone out. His ERA at that point is 135. Fossum tried to put out the fire but couldn't. The tie game was now a 2-6 game with 3 outs left for the Tigers, sorry. The good news is that, aside from those two games, the bull pen did well giving up only 4 runs.
Batters- There are really only two words for the week: Marcus Thames! He hit a home run almost everytime he went to the plate this week. And they were key hits too, the kind that win the game. Overall there were 10 homeruns this week and they scored 5.3 runs per game! That will do it. SLG % was up to .473.
They committed 4 errors this past week.
So they won 4 and lost 2. Again the Starters gave strong performances and the Batters scored runs. This is a good combination. Detroit is now in 3rd place and 6 games behind the White Sox.
Thursday, June 12, 2008
The Sleepers awake?!
Can this be for real? Do we dare hope? Can we handle more ups and downs from these 2008 Tigers?
I don't pretend to know all of the answers, but let's look at the numbers and see what they say?
I've said before that although the hitting hasn't been that great this year it is really the defense and pitching that are hurting the Tigers, so how is that working out lately?
In Weeks 1 through 3 the ERA for the Starting Rotation was just north of 6 (6.17 by my figures) and they were facing an average of 4.67 batters per inning (BPI). During that stretch the Tigers' record was 5 and 13.
Compare that to Weeks 9 through 11 (we are finishing up Week 11 now)- ERA for Starters is 3.66. That number includes both Dontrelle Willis' terrible night Monday against Cleveland and Justin Verlander's amazing night on Wednesday against Chicago. Not giving up over two runs per game is huge! The Starters are also facing fewer batters per inning, only 4.21 since June 1 so they are staying in the game longer with lower ERA's.
Now to that hitting thing...
In the first two weeks the lineup scored 33 runs (3 runs per game). For this week and last week they have scored 43 runs (4.3 runs per game). Their Batting Average was .246 at the beginning. In the last two weeks is has been .254. Their slugging percentage (total bases/ at bats) was .356 in the early weeks and has been .375 in the last two.
All of these trends are in the right direction! In the first 3 weeks of the year their record was 6 and 12 (.333). In the last 3 weeks it has been 7 and 9 (with 3 games to play yet this week). If the Starting pitching continues at this rate and the batters continue to score runs there is still hope that they can make this race exciting for Tigers' fans.
I don't pretend to know all of the answers, but let's look at the numbers and see what they say?
I've said before that although the hitting hasn't been that great this year it is really the defense and pitching that are hurting the Tigers, so how is that working out lately?
In Weeks 1 through 3 the ERA for the Starting Rotation was just north of 6 (6.17 by my figures) and they were facing an average of 4.67 batters per inning (BPI). During that stretch the Tigers' record was 5 and 13.
Compare that to Weeks 9 through 11 (we are finishing up Week 11 now)- ERA for Starters is 3.66. That number includes both Dontrelle Willis' terrible night Monday against Cleveland and Justin Verlander's amazing night on Wednesday against Chicago. Not giving up over two runs per game is huge! The Starters are also facing fewer batters per inning, only 4.21 since June 1 so they are staying in the game longer with lower ERA's.
Now to that hitting thing...
In the first two weeks the lineup scored 33 runs (3 runs per game). For this week and last week they have scored 43 runs (4.3 runs per game). Their Batting Average was .246 at the beginning. In the last two weeks is has been .254. Their slugging percentage (total bases/ at bats) was .356 in the early weeks and has been .375 in the last two.
All of these trends are in the right direction! In the first 3 weeks of the year their record was 6 and 12 (.333). In the last 3 weeks it has been 7 and 9 (with 3 games to play yet this week). If the Starting pitching continues at this rate and the batters continue to score runs there is still hope that they can make this race exciting for Tigers' fans.
Monday, March 31, 2008
Opening Day- Tigers vs. Royals
Tigers 4, Royals 5 (11 innings)
Opening Day has come and gone and it looked pretty much like people have predicted the season would- good hitting, decent fielding and insufficient pitching.
Justin Verlander gave up 2 runs in 6 official innings and left 2 runners on without getting an out in the 7th. The Bullpen couldn't keep those runners from scoring with Bautista pitching well but giving up the losing run in the 11th.
Brandon Inge did well in Center Field. Carlos Guillen had some good plays at 1st but showed his inexperience there too. Cabrera had a throwing error, putting a ball in the dirt early, for the team's only error.
The batters did just fine, 10 hits and 6 walks were enough to score 4 runs and leave 10 men on base. Cabrera hit his first homerun as a Tiger and Carlos Guillen added one in the 8th for the last Tiger run of the game. Gary Sheffield had only 1 official at bat, but drew 4 walks on the day (one with the bases loaded to drive in a run). I love to watch Sheffield play baseball, he never loses sight of the goal and will do whatever he needs to do to get on base and score runs for his team. He did it again today.
The rain held off long enough to get a long game in. I was able to watch the first 9 innings at Fifth Third Park, home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, where WLAV set up a watch party for people to see the game. It was a great way to see the game with friends and stay out of the rain and cold. (It was 40 and raining here in Grand Rapids).
Hopefully this loss is a minor setback and on Wednesday they get a win.
Opening Day has come and gone and it looked pretty much like people have predicted the season would- good hitting, decent fielding and insufficient pitching.
Justin Verlander gave up 2 runs in 6 official innings and left 2 runners on without getting an out in the 7th. The Bullpen couldn't keep those runners from scoring with Bautista pitching well but giving up the losing run in the 11th.
Brandon Inge did well in Center Field. Carlos Guillen had some good plays at 1st but showed his inexperience there too. Cabrera had a throwing error, putting a ball in the dirt early, for the team's only error.
The batters did just fine, 10 hits and 6 walks were enough to score 4 runs and leave 10 men on base. Cabrera hit his first homerun as a Tiger and Carlos Guillen added one in the 8th for the last Tiger run of the game. Gary Sheffield had only 1 official at bat, but drew 4 walks on the day (one with the bases loaded to drive in a run). I love to watch Sheffield play baseball, he never loses sight of the goal and will do whatever he needs to do to get on base and score runs for his team. He did it again today.
The rain held off long enough to get a long game in. I was able to watch the first 9 innings at Fifth Third Park, home of the West Michigan Whitecaps, where WLAV set up a watch party for people to see the game. It was a great way to see the game with friends and stay out of the rain and cold. (It was 40 and raining here in Grand Rapids).
Hopefully this loss is a minor setback and on Wednesday they get a win.
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