Lots of W's, not so many R's...
The Tiger's finished up what was, overall, an impressive week at home. They won 5 out of 7. They finished up a sweep of Oakland. Then they swept Texas. They lost the final series to Colorado.
Pitching: Galarraga continues to struggle badly. He had two starts and gave up 9 runs in a total of 6 innings over 2 starts. The first start lasted only 2/3 of an inning with 5 runs. The next one was better, but 4 runs over 5 1/3 wasn't enough to prevent the first loss of the homestand. Verlander continues to dominate everyone he pitches (77 strikeouts in 56 1/3 innings- 2nd in the Major Leagues behind Peavy). Willis had 2 good starts (actually one great start and one good start). Jackson and Porcello also had solid starts.
Hitting: After starting very strong the bats kind of lost it this weekend against the Rockies. Both Marquis and Hammel pitched very good games for Colorado and Detroit only put up 4 runs in the last two games of the week. But prior to that they were averaging 5.6 runs per game as they swept their way through Oakland and Texas.
Defense: Tigers' defense this week was very solid. There were many great plays and only 1 error for the week. Lee Panas at Tiger Tales writes up the difference in defense between last year and this year. It adds up to a great cycle of "win"- the defense helps the pitchers and the pitchers help the defense. Starters go longer into games. Last week the starters averaged 5.5 innings of work (and that includes Galarraga's 2/3 inning).
Overall: This week saw the 40 game mark that Sparky used as his bench mark for determining if a team had what it takes to compete. Well, at the 40 game mark of 2009 the Detroit Tigers were 24 and 16. Their starting rotation has an ERA of 4.0 and the Bullpen has an ERA of 4.58. They are scoring an average of 5.29 runs per game. They have 2 lights out starters (Verlander and Jackson). Porcello, at 20 years old, leads the team with 5 wins and looks like a great pitchers. The team is in 1st place of the AL Central by 3 games and just had an 8 game winning streak. So far, this looks like a very solid team and one that the rest of the League won't be able to ignore.
Monday, May 25, 2009
Sunday, May 17, 2009
Sweep!
Tigers SWEEP the A's!!!!!!
Good: Santiago with 4 RBI on 3 hits (including a 3 run HR). Granderson with 3 RBI on 2 hits (including a 3 run HR).
Bad: Galarraga with 5 earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. His ERA for the day was 67.51.
Detroit scored 34 runs in this series while allowing only 9.
Bad: Galarraga with 5 earned runs in only 2/3 of an inning. His ERA for the day was 67.51.
Detroit scored 34 runs in this series while allowing only 9.
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.
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Game 27: Tigers at White Sox
After the rain out last night, tonight was a washout for the Tigers.
Tigers 0- White Sox 6
About the only bright spot here (for Detroit) was that this was the first time they have been shutout in 2009. Update: it was the 2nd time, the first was against the Yankees on 4/28. My bad.
Galarraga was not good in the 1st and the Sox made him pay with 5 runs. He wasn't good in the 2nd either but kept them from scoring. After that he pretty much settled down, only allowing a homerun to Nix in the 4th. Perry pitched the 7th and 8th with only a walk and a hit and no runs allowed.
I must admit that watching Buehrle decimate the Tigers' lineup for the first 19 batters was pretty cool. Until Polanco hit a double in the 7th Buehrle had not allowed a runner, a perfect game. After that double he sort of lost it and the Tigers threatened but they could not make it across the plate.
So the season record so far against the White Sox is 1-2-2 rainouts.
Tomorrow is a rematch of last weekend's match up of Verlander vs. Cliff Lee. Verlander was lights out in the last game, let's hope he can be again in Cleveland. Let's hope that the lineup can put something together too.
BTW: Dontrelle Willis is apparently going to pitch for the Tigers again next week. His last game at AAA Toledo was really good. Zach Miner goes to the Pen and whoever is on Leyland's "List" will be sent down to make room on the Roster.
Tigers 0- White Sox 6
About the only bright spot here (for Detroit) was that this was the first time they have been shutout in 2009. Update: it was the 2nd time, the first was against the Yankees on 4/28. My bad.
Galarraga was not good in the 1st and the Sox made him pay with 5 runs. He wasn't good in the 2nd either but kept them from scoring. After that he pretty much settled down, only allowing a homerun to Nix in the 4th. Perry pitched the 7th and 8th with only a walk and a hit and no runs allowed.
I must admit that watching Buehrle decimate the Tigers' lineup for the first 19 batters was pretty cool. Until Polanco hit a double in the 7th Buehrle had not allowed a runner, a perfect game. After that double he sort of lost it and the Tigers threatened but they could not make it across the plate.
So the season record so far against the White Sox is 1-2-2 rainouts.
Tomorrow is a rematch of last weekend's match up of Verlander vs. Cliff Lee. Verlander was lights out in the last game, let's hope he can be again in Cleveland. Let's hope that the lineup can put something together too.
BTW: Dontrelle Willis is apparently going to pitch for the Tigers again next week. His last game at AAA Toledo was really good. Zach Miner goes to the Pen and whoever is on Leyland's "List" will be sent down to make room on the Roster.
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
Game 26- Twins at Tigers
This game was the wrap up of a quick, 2 game series, in Detroit against the Minnesota Twins.
Last night Detroit just could not get any offense going and lost 7-2. Jackson pitched well through the first 6 innings, as he did in his last start. However, in this game he came out to pitch the 7th and it didn't go well. He pitched to 4 batters and all four got on base and Cuddyer drove the first 3 home with a bases clearing triple. Jackson was charged with 5 earned runs in the 6+ innings he pitched.
His supporting offense was almost non-existent on Monday. The Tigers only managed 4 hits against Liriano, who looked much more like the guy who shuts teams down than the guy who had a 6+ ERA coming into this game. One of those hits was another Cabrera home run in the 6th, but there just wasn't enough there to overcome what the Twins put together.
Tuesday was an entirely different story.
Leyland really rearranged his line up for tonight's game. I don't know if he will stick with it, but it worked. Carlos Guillen, who had been fighting a sore achilles and apparently a sore shoulder, was put on the 15 day DL. Clete Thomas and Jeff Larish were brought in to replace him from Toledo. Clay Rapada was also sent to Toledo to make room.
The new line up looked like this:
Anderson had 2 hits, 1 run and 1 RBI tonight. In fact the top 5 of the order had 10 hits and 7 runs tonight.
The offense may have over shadowed the performance that Rick Porcello gave tonight, but that would be a shame. Porcello pitched 7 innings with 0 runs and only 4 hits. He had 3 Ks and 3BBs facing 25 batters. Robertson pitched a hitless, scoreless innings (although with 2 walks) and Rincon finished it off with 1 K and 1 hit.
As of right now (10:45pm) the White Sox are leading the Royals 7-6. If KC loses Detroit will be tied for 1st in the AL Central.
Go Tigers!!!!!!!!
Last night Detroit just could not get any offense going and lost 7-2. Jackson pitched well through the first 6 innings, as he did in his last start. However, in this game he came out to pitch the 7th and it didn't go well. He pitched to 4 batters and all four got on base and Cuddyer drove the first 3 home with a bases clearing triple. Jackson was charged with 5 earned runs in the 6+ innings he pitched.
His supporting offense was almost non-existent on Monday. The Tigers only managed 4 hits against Liriano, who looked much more like the guy who shuts teams down than the guy who had a 6+ ERA coming into this game. One of those hits was another Cabrera home run in the 6th, but there just wasn't enough there to overcome what the Twins put together.
Tuesday was an entirely different story.
Leyland really rearranged his line up for tonight's game. I don't know if he will stick with it, but it worked. Carlos Guillen, who had been fighting a sore achilles and apparently a sore shoulder, was put on the 15 day DL. Clete Thomas and Jeff Larish were brought in to replace him from Toledo. Clay Rapada was also sent to Toledo to make room.
The new line up looked like this:
- Anderson lf (LH)
- Polanco 2b (RH)
- Thomas rf (LH)
- Cabrera 1b (RH)
- Granderson cf (LH)
- Ordonez dh (RH)
- Inge 3b (RH)
- Laird c (RH)
- Santiago ss (S)
Anderson had 2 hits, 1 run and 1 RBI tonight. In fact the top 5 of the order had 10 hits and 7 runs tonight.
The offense may have over shadowed the performance that Rick Porcello gave tonight, but that would be a shame. Porcello pitched 7 innings with 0 runs and only 4 hits. He had 3 Ks and 3BBs facing 25 batters. Robertson pitched a hitless, scoreless innings (although with 2 walks) and Rincon finished it off with 1 K and 1 hit.
As of right now (10:45pm) the White Sox are leading the Royals 7-6. If KC loses Detroit will be tied for 1st in the AL Central.
Go Tigers!!!!!!!!
Sunday, May 3, 2009
Week 4 Wrap
The Tigers split 6 games this week against the Royals, Yankees and Indians.
The Good:
Verlander pitched 7 shut out innings against the Yankees 4/27 with 9 strikeouts.
Jackson followed the next day with 6 innings of shutout ball.
Brandon Inge continues to get on base. He has been on base in every game so far this year and finished the week with 7 home runs.
The Ugly:
The 7th inning of Jackson's game on the 28th. I was dozing off and every time I woke up the Yankees were still batting. Perry gave up 4 runs in 1/3 of that inning. Robertson also gave up 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Lyon comes in and gives up a grand slam before finally getting the final out. 14 batters scored 10 runs in that endless inning. Jackson's shut out became a blowout that the Yankees won 11 to 0. that is the first shutout against the Tigers so far this year.
The Bad:
Week 4 was the first week this year that the Tigers didn't score at least 5 runs per game (only 4.50 last week).
Also for the first time this last week the Bullpen was not very good (of course giving up 10 runs in one inning will certainly skew the results). They gave up 16 walks and only 11 stikeouts. They also gave up 4 home runs.
The end result wasn't all that horribly bad. They finished the week 1/2 game out of first tied for 2nd with the White Sox. They were 12 and 11 for the year.
The month of May has lots of AL Central play for Detroit. They continue to play the Indians and then the Twins for 2 and then the White Sox for 2 and then the Indians again to finish up the week.
The Good:
Verlander pitched 7 shut out innings against the Yankees 4/27 with 9 strikeouts.
Jackson followed the next day with 6 innings of shutout ball.
Brandon Inge continues to get on base. He has been on base in every game so far this year and finished the week with 7 home runs.
The Ugly:
The 7th inning of Jackson's game on the 28th. I was dozing off and every time I woke up the Yankees were still batting. Perry gave up 4 runs in 1/3 of that inning. Robertson also gave up 4 runs in 1/3 of an inning. Lyon comes in and gives up a grand slam before finally getting the final out. 14 batters scored 10 runs in that endless inning. Jackson's shut out became a blowout that the Yankees won 11 to 0. that is the first shutout against the Tigers so far this year.
The Bad:
Week 4 was the first week this year that the Tigers didn't score at least 5 runs per game (only 4.50 last week).
Also for the first time this last week the Bullpen was not very good (of course giving up 10 runs in one inning will certainly skew the results). They gave up 16 walks and only 11 stikeouts. They also gave up 4 home runs.
The end result wasn't all that horribly bad. They finished the week 1/2 game out of first tied for 2nd with the White Sox. They were 12 and 11 for the year.
The month of May has lots of AL Central play for Detroit. They continue to play the Indians and then the Twins for 2 and then the White Sox for 2 and then the Indians again to finish up the week.
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