Monthly Archives: July 2006

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 93: White Sox at Tigers

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PREGAME: This game has certainly received considerable hype. I vowed earlier in the year not to overdo a game or series, so I’ll stick to that. Each game is important. I’ve heard repeatedly today the debate about which team is under more pressure. The reasoning for the Tigers is that they need to show they can beat the White Sox. While this may be a little true, who do they need to show? If they need to show themselves, I can see it. If they need to do it to make you, me, or Dupree believers then it’s bunk.

As for the matchup, the Tigers send out Nate Robertson. Three of the four starters to go since the All Star break have come out rusty. We’ll see what Nate does.

As for the White Sox, they’re sending out Jon Garland. In his last start against the Tigers, he labored through 7 innings on 124 pitches while being touched for 6 runs. Last hope the Tigers can have the same type of at-bats tonight.

POSTGAME: There wasn’t a lot to like about tonight’s game. Nate looked wonderful at times, but there were a number of hard hit balls off of him. On the other side, Detroit couldn’t muster much offense, and the few hard hit balls they had ended up in Jermaine Dye’s glove.

The key moment was probably Paul Konerko’s first homer. The Tigers had managed to scratch out a run the inning before, only to give it right back on the next batter. And then the Joe Crede homer and so on and so forth.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 17th

Pawtucket 8, Toledo 6
Dmitri Young may have heard some trade talk today. He went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles while playing first base (he did commit an error). Ryan Raburn added 3 hits and a stolen base. Colby Lewis allowed 6 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. He walked 1 and fanned 5.

Bowie 4, Erie 2
Brent Clevlen homered and walked. Danilo Sanchez added a homer as well. Bobby Jones struck out 6 and allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Erie 5, Bowie 4
Nic McIntyre who was just promoted from Lakeland picked up 2 hits, as did Vincent Blue. Eulogio De La Cruz made the spot start and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings.

Sarasota 6, Lakeland 3
Jeff Larish doubled and hit his 16th homer. Andrew Kown lasted 7 1/3 innings and allowed 6 runs, 3 earned. Kevin Whelan pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings fanning 2.

Beloit 10, West Michigan 4 (in progress)
Michael Hollimon had a good day with 3 solo homers. Cameron Maybin is 0 for 4. Josh Rainwater was knocked out after 3 1/3 innings and 7 runs, 6 earned.

Oneonta 7, Mahoning Valley 1
Ronnie Bourquin picked up 3 hits and Scott Sizemore added 2. Brennan Boesch hit his 3rd homer.

GCL Tigers 6, GCL Yankees 1
Chris Carlson homered twice and Luis Arlet added 2 hits. Audy Ciriaco hit his 3rd homer.

GCL Tigers 2, GCL Yankees 1
Gorkys Hernandez picked up 2 hits and Audy Ciriaco singled and errored.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 16th

Scranton 4, Toledo 1
Josh Phelps homered and singled in 4 at-bats while Dmitri Young doubled, singled, and walked. Cory Hamman allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, in 6 1/3 innings on 6 hits and 2 walks. Bobby Seay pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings fanning 2.

Altoona 4, Erie 3
Jair Jurrgens allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while fanning 5 in 5 1/3 innings. Brent Clevlen who had been rolling took an 0 for 4. Adam Haley added a triple and single.

Sarasota 3, Lakeland 2
Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5 and Brent Dlugach added 2 hits. Kevin Ardoin lasted 6 1/3 innings and surrending 3 runs on 8 hits.

West Michigan 4, Beloit 1
Michael Hollimon and Jeremy Laster homered and Wil Rhymes added 3 hits. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 5 with 4 K’s. Sendy Vasquez pitched 5 shutout innings allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks against 5 K’s..

Mahoning Valley 7, Oneonta 3
Scott Sizemore tripled and walked. Tom Thornton allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Brett Jensen surrendered his first 2 runs of the season, coming in his 9th appearance.

GCL Tigers 8, GCL Braves 3
Gorkys Hernandez doubled, tripled and walked in 5 plate appearances. Chris Carlson was a single short of the cycle including a grand slam. Christian Martinez went 4 innings and allowed 5 hits and a walk and 2 unearned runs while fanning 3.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 92: Royals at Tigers

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PREGAME: Coming into this series, I didn’t expect the Tigers to sweep. First of all, it’s tough to sweep in 4 game series. Second, the Tigers will lose to the Royals at some point this season. But now that another sweep is one win away, I’m greedy and I want it.

Zach Miner is making his 8th start and has yet to give up more than 3 runs in any game. Really, the only knock against Miner is that he hasn’t been particularly efficient. He hasn’t made it out of the sixth inning since his complete game against the Brewers as his pitch count has climbed into the 100’s early.

The Royals send out Scott Elarton who hasn’t been good this year, but has a pretty good history against many of the Tigers. Placido Polanco and Pudge Rodriguez are a combined 7 for 43, which is probably part of the reason they’ll get the day off.

Game Time 1:05. Game Time Temperature: eleventy billion degrees.

POSTGAME In only saw 2 innings of this game, the 2nd and the 9th, so I can’t comment too much. The offense didn’t show – literally – as many guys had the day off. Marcus Thames continues to mash. Zach Miner got knocked around, as did Wil Ledezma. For both it was really the first time this year. The Tigers get an off day to enjoy some air conditioning before the recently swept and angry White Sox come to town.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 15th

Scranton 9, Toledo 2
Ryan Raburn tripled and singled in 4 at-bats and Dmitri Young picked up 2 singles. Chad Durbin was knocked around for 11 hits and 9 runs, 5 earned, in 4 2/3 innings. Lance Davis and Mark Woodyard combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Altoona 5, Erie 2
Brent Clevlen hit his 8th homer of the year. He now has 4 in July which matches his total prior to this month. In fact, Clevlen managed only 4 extra base hits in all of June. Virgil Vasquez went 7 innings allowing only 4 hits and 3 runs.

Lakeland 11, Sarasota 6 (in progress)
Jeff Larish is 1 for 2 with 3 walks and Nic McIntyre has walked 3 times as well. Eddie Bonine pitched 4 innings and was touched for 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks.

West Michigan 7, Beloit 2 (in progress)
Michael Hollimon and Dusty Ryan each had 2 hits. Cameron Maybin is 1 for 4. Lucas French pitched 8 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while fanning 5.

Oneonta 14, Mahoning Valley
Scott Sizemore was a triple short of the cycle, and really the whole team hit in this one. Jeff Gerbe allowed only 4 hits in 7 innings with one walk and 6 K’s.

GCL Tigers 11, GCL Phillies 0
Gorkys Hernandez was 2 for 5 with a double and walk. Mikes Sullivan and Bertram each had 3 hits. But the real story was the pitching. Eric Beattie who has struggled to find his way as a professional pitched 5 no hit innings, despite 4 walks. Kyle Sleeth followed with 4 innings of 3 hit ball with one walk and 4 K’s. While the organization shouldn’t be too excited about 1st and 2nd round picks combining for a shutout, considering where these guys are coming from it is great news.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 91: Royals at Tigers

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PREGAME: Mark Teahen (4 for 7, 2 HR’s, 2B, 3B, 2 walks) and the Royals offense have done a pretty good job knocking Tiger pitching around the last 2 nights. It will be up to Justin Verlander to try and not spot them a 4 run lead again.

Jimmy Gobble will be making his 4th start this season as he transitions from the bullpen to a starting role. His first start was back in May against the Tigers and he allowed only 3 hits and one run in 4 innings before being lifted because of pitch count.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME: Now that looked more like a first half pitching performance. It looked like it took Verlander an inning to settle in as he appeared to be overthrowing and couldn’t get the ball down. But then it was all over.

Once again it was a very balanced offensive effort. But why has Granderson sacrifice bunted 3 times in the last 2 games?There are places for it, but not tonight, especially after a pither had walked 2 guys in a row and was about to face the teams most selective hitter. It all worked, but there’s no need to go small ball with a 4 run lead late in the game – especially when the guys on base stood a good chance of being advanced and the batter had only bounced into one double play all year. But I digress.

The Tigers go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 14th

Scranton 14, Toledo 2
It wasn’t a real good night for the Mud Hens. Humberto Sanchez was tagged for 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Mark Woodyard was the main culprit though with 6 runs allowed in 2/3 of an inning, and I can’t believe he’s long for the 40 man roster.

Erie 3, Altoona 2
Brent Clevlen had another multi-hit game with a double and single in 4 at-bats. Don Kelly reached base safely in all 4 plate appearances. Nate Bumstead was solid with 2 runs on 6 hits and no walks in 7 innings.

Clearwater 10, Lakeland 2
Chris Robinson was 2 for 4 and Jeff Frazier, Clete Thomas and Jeff Larish each were 1 for 4. Jeremy Johnson took the loss as he allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks in 4 1/3 innings.

West Michigan 5, Southwest Michigan 2
Cameron Maybin led the way with two doubles in five at-bats. Michael Hernandez who started off great has been fading. He posted another 0 for 4 tonight and his average is down to .282. Burke Badenhop went the distance scattering 8 hits and no walks for only 2 runs.

Staten Island 5, Oneonta 3
Scott Sizemore singled and hit his 2nd homer. Santo De Leon was 3 for 4. Chis Cody allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Randor Bierd pitched 2 scoreless innings with 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

GCL Tigers – DNP

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 90: Royals at Tigers

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PREGAME: The Tigers will try to move to their record to 10-0 against the Royals this year. Tonight’s matchup features a couple of finesse left handed All Stars in Mark Redman and Kenny Rogers.

I don’t have a lot of notes tonight, except judging by the current weather conditions the pitcher that keeps the ball down tonight will win. It’s very breezy, very humid, and quite warm. If a thunderstorm doesn’t break out, I’d expect the ball to carry.

POSTGAME: And yet another interesting game against the Royals. I have to admit that I only saw bits and pieces of this game because I was at a party, and then driving home from a party. What I did see is that Kenny Rogers was getting hit hard, and often. The Tigers meanwhile hit a number of balls very well, and I mean more than their 10 runs courtesty of KC errors probably dictate. Guys were driving the ball to the right field and up the gaps. Many of those ended up in gloves, but I love the approach. Particularly of note is Brandon Inge who I lamented had been swining for the fences just last week. In his last 2 games he’s knocking line drives all over the place.

And of course there’s Carlos Guillen. If one CG doesn’t get it done, the other one surely will.

The win wasn’t pretty, but you have to give the Royals credit. They kept hitting all night, and it wasn’t just off of Rogers. Every Tiger pitcher struggled to get KC out. One of these nights, a 4 run lead will be too much to overcome.

2006 Season

Finding a groove

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As everyone gets back into a baseball rhythym in the 2nd half, here are some links for your reading enjoyment:

  • The Daily Fungo has a podcast interview with TV play-by-play man Mario Impemba. I haven’t had a chance to listen to the interview yet. But it does remind me of one time I was at the Costco on Hall Road. It was during the winter and a guy almost walked in front of my car (while it was moving). That guy was Mario Impemba. Thus ends the lamest story ever.
  • Here is a very detailed examination of the sacrifice bunt. The quick sabermetric answer is that sac bunting is bad. However this empirical study finds evidence that in some situations it makes sense. Personally, I’m all for the sac bunt in a situation where you have a weak hitting, good bunting player. Especially in a close and late situation where one run will prove to be valuable.
  • Mike’s Baseball Rants notes that the Tigers are one of 47 teams to win 60 or more of their first 89 games. The complete list is available to peruse, but here is the relevant take away:

    Note that on average they end up with 103 wins, and all but four made the playoffs. The only team to finish with a sub-.600 winning percentage were the Tigers in 1911, not to look for bad omens or anything.

    And all 4 that didn’t make the playoffs were prior to the wildcard system.

  • As many have pointed out here, John Sickels has recapped his Tigers preseason top 20. I was going to blog this as part of a bigger review of the Tigers hitting prospects. It never happened, so take a look if you haven’t already.
  • Another site I’ve been meaing to link to for ages is the Baseball Card Blog. I encourage you to get lost in the site as you remember those days of wax packs and rack packs. If you came of age as a baseball fan in the 80’s, it’ll take you right back to your youth.
  • Henry Ford Health System’s site has a Q & A with Tigers team physician, internist Dr. Mike Workings.
2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 13th

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Toledo 6, Scranton 5
Jack Hannahan was 2 for 4 with a walk and Josh Phelps homered. Dmitri Young continued his rehab stint, playing first base tonight. He was 1 for 4 with a strikeout. Jordan Tata started and went 6 innings allowing 4 runs on 6 hits. He allowed 2 dingers, walked 1, and fanned 4. Chris Spurling and Bobby Seay each had a scoreless inning of relief. In a roster move Mike Rabelo was promoted from Erie, taking Maxim St. Pierre’s spot.

Erie 5, Alttona 2
Brent Clevlen was 3 for 5 with his 7th homer. Jon Connolly went 7 innings allowing 2 runs on 8 hits.

Clearwater 2, Lakeland 1
Jeff Frazier went 2 for 4. Dallas Trahern pitched a 4 hit complete game. He allowed both runs, walked 2 and fanned 6.

West Michigan 6, Southwest Michigan 4
Cameron Maybin was 1 for 1. That one hit was a 3 run homer. His other 3 plate appearances were walks and he added 2 stolen bases. Dusty Ryan and Mike Hollimon both homered as well. Erik Averill pitched 7 innings and allowed 3 runs, 2 earned, on 7 hits.

Staten Island 5, Oneonta 4
Ron Bourquin doubled, singled and walked in 5 plate apperances. Zach Piccola was roughed up for 4 runs, 3 earned in only 2 innings. Casey Fien came on in reliefe and threw 5 scoreless innings.

GCL Tigers 7, GCL Indians 2
Audy Ciriaco ws 2 for 4. Orlando Rodriguez added a homer and a single. Luis Arlet tripled and singled and is now slugging 714.