PREGAME: Wil Ledezma against Kelvim Escobar.
Game Time 8:00pm on ESPN2
POSTGAME: The look of the lineup without Carlos Guillen is troubling to say the least. The result is another defeat in which the starting pitcher did everything you could ask for. Yet the bats remained cold.
The only big play for the Tigers offense was the Ordonez single in which Craig Monroe was thrown out trying to score. It has been called a boneheaded call but I couldn’t disagree more. Given the way the Tigers were hitting, Gene Lamont had to send Monroe home on that play – especially with 2 outs.
If you send Monroe home, you’re banking on the fact that Juan Rivera doesn’t make a perfect throw and/or Jose Molina has no troubles handling the throw and applying the tag. Going into the play I like those odds better than the 3 out of 10 odds that Sean Casey doesn’t make an out. Given the way Escobar was pitching, and the fact that the situation was created by a ground ball single, a walk, and an error, Casey’s odds of success probably weren’t even that good.
The Angels executed the play to perfection. Sometimes you have to credit the other team.
That play doesn’t make up for the fact that once again the lineup completely failed to produce. Escobar was excellent, but 3 singles just isn’t going to cut it.
Going to need some more 9th inning heroics. An occasional flyout would be nice. These groundballs are annoying.
So much for heroics.
I can’t be too dissapointed with the effort. Escobar was very good. We made no errors. Maggs showed signs of life. Ledezma was very good on 3 days rest. Sometimes you have to credit to your opponent.
-Sam
They’re consistently losing 2 out of 3 to every opponent. That would qualify as dissapointing to me.
Well, i think we can now state the obvious: the tigers aren’t very good. the only way they beat the yankees once was because both rivera and farnsworth were unavailable and they had to pitch proctor, a man without a save in the major leagues. they may still make the playoffs, but i don’t see how you can make a plausible argument that they could take a series from the yankees, a’s, or the white sox. they just don’t have enough talent in their starting lineup. they’re like the old michigan teams that would beat up on the weak sisters only to lose to ohio state and whoever in the bowl game.
I don’t see how you can say a team with such strong pitching isn’t any good. The Tigers bats? Well, check em for holes. But the pitching has been consistent all year, and that’s the commodity most teams want right now. Of couse I’m really having my doubts we’ll ever get solid batting again. Then again, we’re missing our middle infield due to injury.
And I’m really wishing we’d have gotten Soriano when we had the chance and DY would have never come back, but alas, water under the bridge. We finally see a team with a record under .500 again. That probably bodes well for now and horrible for october, but the pitching is too young for a WS anyway and I dont think anyone should have ever expected to win one this year.
Yeah, wish we could have won just to take advantage of the Twins getting smacked by NYY (worse than Tigs by the way) and Sox getting handled by the Royals no less.
Let’s sweep Seattle!
Great game by Escobar, this is just a game where you have to tip your cap to the opposing pitcher. (as much as I don’t like it.)
The double play combo of Infante/Santiago is giving me some bad flashbacks.
Still 4 1/2 games up with only 25 to play…we still have a great chance of making the playoffs. Just need to start winning some games again.
As for having no chance in the playoffs…come on. We’ve got a shot if we get there. And the White Sox aren’t playing much better than us!
Our offense has ED. Impotent. That has to be the worst line up in all of baseball right now. I mean, we are so bad off, we seemed to of recruited some dude from the crowd named Hooper to pinch run. I was at the game and am a more than a little ignorant about Toledo, so I didn’t get a break down on who the hell that cat is. Hooper? For some reason, looking at the line up and seeing Hooper, Perez, Infante, Santiago, Granderson sent me into some sort of laugh attack.
All I have to say on my behalf is that my winless streak of Tigers games that I have attended is still in tact…
I’m certainly disappointed. I was there last night and the crowd was really into it; they just couldn’t get much done.
I agree with the call to send Craig home; I liked to see a little aggressivness.
As for Hooper; he was put in to pinch run for Maggs in the 9th. I don’t think he even got an at bat.
I’m amazed the Sox + Twins haven’t caught us yet. We haven’t won a series since….Boston. And before that?…..I think it’s been a month. The good news: the Sox + Twins aren’t exactly red-hot right now – may be our saving grace. I’d have sent Monroe too; with 2 outs it’s the proper call. At least Perez didn’t play last night; if nothing else, that’s an improvement. The pitching has generally been fine; also good news. It’s the hitting that sucks so bad right now. 3 runs in the last 2 games? That’s not gonna get it done. Now we’re seeing just how much Polanco + Guillen mean to this team; I hope we get ’em both back, and soon…..
The call to send Monroe was absolutely correct given how few opportunities the Tigers were generating during the series. It took a perfect throw and tag to barely get him, which was a much better chance than the Tigers getting another hit against Escobar. Fungo himself even admits that Escobar wasn’t giving the Tigers any opportunities – this augurs for sending the runner when the chance presented itself. Boneheaded commentary by Fungo.
The biggest problem with Detroit at current is that we’ve been unable to take a series since Boston, which may be the only series we’ve won since the All Star break. It augers for a quick exit and no appearance in ALCS if they do make the playoffs.
While Guillen and Polanco are missed, I liked Leyland’s attitude – every team goes through periods like this (given what the Red Sox are suffering, we’ve no right to complain).
BTW: did you see Carlos Pena’s 10th inning walk off last night???? He’s still helping the cause, and he’s not even on the team any more!