PREGAME Mike Maroth takes the mound for Detroit as the Tigers try and complete their 7th sweep of the season. The Royals send out Denny Bautista, who has been decent since returning from the disabled list. In his last outing agains the Cardinals he allowed one run on 5 hits as St. Louis pounded the ball into the ground (GB/FB – 16/2).
POSTGAME: You guys have already hit on many of the salient points of the game, so I’ll keep my comments along the lines of HOLY FREAKIN’ CRAP. HFC that Mike Maroth allowed 6 runs and never got a second out. HFC that the Tigers score 13 runs without Magglio Ordonez and Chris Shelton in the lineup. HFC that the Tigers scored 3 runs on one hit in the 2nd inning. HFC that the best pitching performance the Tigers faced in the series came from Bobby Keppel who completely shut the Tigers down for 3 1/3 innings. HFC that Pudge Rodriguez, who was supposed to get the day off until Vance Wilson rolled his ankle stepping on a ball, hit both a triple and a homer after the 7th inning.
I thought it was interesting that Jim Leyland let Jack Hannahan hit with the go ahead run on 3rd base in the 8th inning. I wonder if it was because the game was already tied, and he figured at that point the Tigers bullpen should outlast the Royals. In other words, if that was the tying run at 3rd, would we have seen Chris Shelton? I’d hope so. In this case, it was nice to give the kid a shot at a huge confidence boost.
I agree with Tim that Marcus needs more at-bats. The tough thing is where do you take them from? Before Dmitri Young went on the DL the answer was obvious. But now Omar Infante is doing everything he can to stay in the lineup. These are nice problems to have, and problems I didn’t anticipate the Tigers encountering this season.
Finally, it was an outstanding effort by Roman Colon today. The Tigers will need their bullpen over the next couple weeks as they take on many high powered offenses. Colon picked up all of Maroth’s slack and got the game deep enough to turn it over to the late inning guys. Now Jason Grilli, Jamie Walker, Fernando Rodney, Todd Jones, and even Bobby Seay will all still be available tomorrow.
So the Tigers completed the sweep and picked up their 8th win of the year against the Royals. Here’s hoping the momentum continues on the homestand.
I posted this after game 46 (at the end of the comments). The last time the Tigers were 19 games above .500 was in 1988. A win today could do it.
2:00 game today boys. Pay the 15 bucks and get the radio broadcast from MLB.COM all year long. Love to see Maroth get another W.
Steve
Hey all,
My friend pointed me to this blog a couple of weeks ago and I just wanted to comment how obsessed I am with it. Great job Billfer, and great job to all the commentors too.
I was a huge Tigers fan when I was a kid, but let baseball, on the whole, get away from me for ten years or so. I started getting back into it when they announced they were closing Tiger Stadium and became an obsessive fan, listening to every radio broadcast I could etc., a few years ago. This year, finally, I’m not waking up every day, looking at the schedule, and freaking out. Actually, I am, but I’m freaking out in an entirely different way now. It’s a nice change.
Anyway, it’s great to see so many other Detroit fans gathering here and commenting.
My story’s about the same as Greg’s but my interest didn’t pick back up until a little later–actually during the 119-loss season. I figure the fact that I followed the team for most of that year innoculates me against charges of being a bandwagon fan now.
Leyland’s going with a bare bones lineup today. Ordonez and Shelton both out. Hannahan batting fifth. We are in the middle of a 20-game stretch without a day off, though, so I guess he might as well give both those guys the day off against KC and hope there’s still enough there to finish the sweep.
Well, I guess they could have used those sluggers anyways–six runs to make up already. Too bad for Maroth. Shame for him to lose his sparkling ERA in 1/3 of an inning.
I had the pleasure of listening to the Royals’ radio station today. His tone was just dripping with disdain. My favorite quote “You know your bullpen is in disarray when you bring your closer in during the 8th inning to preserve the tie” 🙂
Kyle says:
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What’s a measly 6 runs to the Tigers…. I’m speechless!
Not enough. Not nearly enough.
Nine innings! Way to claw back into it!
I turned on XM in the car today and it said 6-0 KC, 1 out in the 1st. I thought it was a typo. Then I thought, KC’s pitching is so awful we still have an even money chance to win.
Maroth was way overdue for a start like this. His location has to be right or he is toast. It will be very interesting to see what he can do next week against the Yankees.
Thames has to be starting most games. Nice to see Pudge go off. And Monroe ends up 7 for 12 for the series. Get him going and look out.
Roman Colon is the man for today. No notice, no time to warm up and he gives them 5+ solid innings and a chance to get back in the game.
KC looks so bad that they could break that AL record for losses set by our boys. Tribe, Yanks, RedSox and Palehose coming. How good are we? We’ll know in 2 weeks.
And to reiterate, 19 games above .500 for the first time since 1988!
Best part of today’s game: Knowing that the Tigers have 10 more games with the Royals this year.
Greg – glad you like the blog, and thanks to your friend for spreading the word. Thanks to everyone who is telling their friends about the site!
Just found this blog today. Very nice. Remember when a 6-run deficit meant you could turn off your TV/radio and do something else? Now it’s a matter of when, not if, the Tigs make it up. Bring on the Tribe and the Yanks!
Also enjoy the site. Been lurking for a year or so but thought I’d post. Been a steady Tiger fan since 1960. There’s no way to describe the exhilaration I feel from the way they’re playing right now. After so many years of pain, this is better than sex!
Spike
I too love this site, although I have posted periodically over the last few years….it’s nice to see more fans coming back and posting here.
Also living in Toledo, am looking forward to this weekends Tribe games. I’ve had to listen to idiot Indians fans who all crawled out from under a rock in 1995 and became the “best fans in baseball (if the team is winning)” talk nonsense for years. They are finally shutting up.
I only found this site early into this season. There are others that are more “popular”, but IMO, this is the best in terms of content. I know billfer got a 3rd place by some voting something-or-other, but I prefer my own opinion.
These posts have been getting more and more outrageous! Billfer can you offer up an award for most hilarious post of the year?
I’d like to nominate my guy spike!
This upcoming homestand is going to be intense. Strap on the helmets Tigers fans! We’re going into battle!
I agree with Joey, Spike deserves some kind of award for that comment.
I was also wondering why Jack Hannahan came up to bat in the 8th with Shelton sitting on the bench, especially after Leyland brought Chris in to play defense in the bottom of the 9th. While it’s nice to give the kid a shot to do something special, he was 0-4. Besides that, we need games like this, what with the Indians, Yankees, and Red and White Sox coming up. I’m glad it worked out though…let’s just say Leyland knew Craig and Marcus would hit back-to-back homers to start the 9th.
I also agree that it’s nice to see both Thames and Infante hitting well…but Thames has done nothing but prove he deserves to be in this lineup. 8 home runs in 68 AB’s, 309/405/721. Let the man play!
This sure is a lot of fun. I love this quote from Monroe too…
“I’m seriously proud of our team today,” said Monroe, who also scored four runs. “It would have been easy to say, `We’ve won three games. We’re down 6-0. It’s over. Let’s pack up the tent.’
“But to see our team come together and keep battling is a good feeling. It’s a good feeling to walk away with a ‘W.”
Looks like Leyland’s little tirade must have sunk in a little bit, this team refuses to quit. I’m damn proud of the effort today/yesterday.
So who’s your tiger! The way these guys are playing lately is astonishing, who deserves the credit? I feel that it is sort of a combination of things, I think our hitting is just at a high leve right now, and I have to credit kenny rogers in helping our young pitching staff. Maybe the guy who deserves the most credit is one proven Dave Dombrowski…
Who’s your Tiger!?! I think you hit the nail on the head; this is a team effort – no individual star.
Dombrowski is an interesting choice though… how much credit should he warrant for the current success?
Unbelievable win/sweep. Great effort by Colon, and today was mathematically significant for another reason – we’ve passed the “if they play .500 the rest of the way, they’ll win 90 games”. Here’s hoping they can keep it up.
During my lunchbreak, I was watching ESPN’s 1st &10, where Skip Bayless and Woody Page debate the hot sport topics of the day. They discussed the Tigers success, giving the bulk of the cred to Leyland. They talked about how Jimbo has reversed the “culture of losing” in Motown, starting with his tirade on a getaway day a few weeks back.
Good to see the Tigs get all this national media attention. The positive kind!