PREGAME: Kenny Rogers and Jose Contreras. Here’s hoping for better than yesterday.
UPDATE: Sheffield is out with a sore shoulder, and he may miss tomorrow also.
Game Time 8:11pm
DET @ CHW, Wednesday, July 25, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
POSTGAME: Great bounce back win. Going to bed real quick here but first:
- Kenny was awful. Even as the team kept coming back the ball kept leaving the yard.
- Ryan Raburn drove in as many as Kenny let in. So he was anti-awful.
- Great outing for Byrdak as well with 2 perfect innings.
- Bullpen picked up 15 outs and only allowed 2 runs. Nice job.
- That was a lot of offense with 1/3 of the regular lineup out.
Oh Kenny, please be good tonight
Deja Vu. Dammit.
wow. two outs. walk. single. Homerun.
Awesome. What happened to our starters recently?
Awwwwwwww hell.
Rats. That strike two call really backfired.
And our lineup doesn’t look like it’s built for big comebacks. Kenny better shut ’em down from here on out.
Ooo Guillen with the bunt. Nice
I think this is the best roster top to bottom in baseball. Our main issue has been control in our starting pitching ( too many walks, wild pitches, hit batters). As o f late there is not a dominating starter on the roster. Our $%^&pen is a joke. Please make a move in the next few days. this is a great chance to win but this roster will not bring a championship.
Kenny is not himself right now. Let’s hope he finds his rhythm soon.
Just sit fastball Monroe. Sink or swim here.
Well, so much for the fastball…I’ll take the heat on that one.
Hello Kenny,
Please let us remain in the game. Thank you.
Man, 5 runs scored with 2 outs. That stings the nostrils.
I hate the White Sox. And listening to Hawk and DJ isn’t helping either…
I am liking Ryan Rayburn, tho….. wow
Praise the Lord for the Mudhens!
Raburn v. Fields
Y’know, I’ve been meaning to head down and see the Mudhens play sometime…
Hey, has Hawk mentioned whether or not Joe Crede will be considered for MVP yet this season?
There is no one who drives me crazier than Uribe.
What’s wrong with Rogers? Man oh man.
This is ridiculous
Where is the pitching in this series?
I mute Hawk.
This is a joke now
Raburn v. Fields ?
Geez, its a darn Home Run Derby
huh?
Someone get Kenny some pine tar
Can we agree that whatever happens tonight, it’s not the bullpen’s fault?
That homerun was brought to you courtesy of Andy Gonzalez. A. Gonzalez entered tonight’s game hitting a mighty .225 with an impressive .303 slugging percentage!
This game blows.
I dont know what is scarier pulling him or letting him stay on. Last nights meltdown KILLED hurt. It put too much pressure on the starters.
I can’t agree to that yet.
whoaaaaa bilfer dont say that. this game is to young to say that sir
I really don’t enjoy watching Monroe bat.
White Sox have singles and home runs. And that’s it.
tell them to quit toying with my emotions!!
I feel like I’m playing Baseball Stars on NES
23-22 final? I love it, leyland can yell at, and hate rabelo more! go curtis!!!!
I really DO enjoy watching Raburn bat.
So many runs…such bad pitching…
Raburn > Monroe
Baseball Stars rules.
So do I Smitty. Could we be looking at the new leftfielder???
Now, let’s not get too cocky! It’s only the 5th inning.
Raburn homers twice and doubles. Monroe strikes out twice. Who plays left tomorrow?
Grilli time BABY!
Okay Billfer,
We’re gonna test your theory.
If we lose now I blame Bilfer.
Oh. Grilli. Great…
Who was the genius who said this lineup couldn’t mount a comeback?
Another one-run pitchers’ duel in Cleveland. Sadly, the Indians came out on top in this one. Carmona over Beckett.
yeah, i might want to rescind my earlier statement. i will temper expectations that the pen will be asked to get 15 outs so i’m not expecting a scoreless effort.
Raburn in left tomorrow? I certainly hope so. Gosh, I’ve been screaming the same thing at the TV (usually in frustration) way back when Raburn was a Mud Hen.
Kyle J: Ozzie Guillen
You may see him more than tomorrow.
Hessman can play the OF also. Don’t forget about him.
At the rate this game is going we’re going to have a night-day doubleheader
I think raburn will take precedent due to developement
Late to the game tonight. Never a good sign when I turn on the tube and see Grilli pitching in the 5th. But it looks like the Hens are providing some more punch again!
Pull Grilli now.
Pull Grilli forever.
Even the Sox announcers are complaining about the calls.
Byrdak up in the pen. Didn’t he give up something like 40 runs in 1.3 innings in his rehab?
Bilfer. Bilfer! where are ya! I’m going to get ya!
And still no outs for Grilli
WHEN WHEN WHEN will they let him go???
What is Leyland waiting for. No way Grilli should pitch to Thome
Guillen…again…wow. I’m almost as worried about him costing us a game defensively as I am the pen…
Rod says Leyland leaving him in to pitch to Konerko and Dye. That sounds pretty brilliant…
Tbone: He had two outtings in rehab
in .1 ip he gave up four hits and three runs in his first one
But his second was 2ip 1hit 0er 0bb 4k
Kevin – what did Guillen do?
Grilli is Sooooo lucky!!!! that was a home run up and over the heart of the plate
a break! yes!
Tennis, anyone?
Should I be pissed he gave up 2?
or
Should I be happy he only gave up 2?
Everytime I question Leyland I get proven wrong, thank God. Brilliant move leaving Grilli in!
billfer – Guillen misplayed the relay on Iguchi’s double. It appeared as if he may have had a play at the plate.
I say 14 runs wins this game.
That was Infante who misplayed the relay, IIRC.
Nate’s right. Guillen was backing up the play. He didn’t get the ball until it kicked off of Infante’s foot.
Rabelo, Rabelo
Dave V & all the anti-Grilli contingent:
One good thing about letting Grilli pitch here is he likely will not be available for the Angel’s series.
(That was some pretty pathetic premature celebrating by Uribe for knocking a long out to Grandy).
3 innings and 2 runs from Grilli. He bridged the gap and protected the lead. Not a great effort, but not terrible either.
Uribe was jumping out of his socks like he hit a walk-off.
i’d say grilli’s 3 innings that work out to a 6.00 ERA is terrible.
Well he’s not a stopper, and he’s not a closer, and he usually gives up hits and runs in mid relief so what is he when we are healthy…………….expendable!!!!
I missed the first half of this game. Was Kenny as bad as the line score suggests?
fraid so
I actually feel better now that Byrdak is in the game. It may just have to do with the fact that he’s not Grilli, but i DO feel better about things.
What I’m not looking forward to is Jones in the 9th (if we get that far).
Nice solid inning from Byrdak. We needed one of those desperately.
oooo the knuckleballer
Nice play by Fields. Robbed Brandon of a RBI double. Not that it matters, as Infante got the job done.
And I was just going to complain that Leyland didn’t put Polanco in to make sure we got the run in from 3rd . . .
Granderson is due for a triple
Did that ball go THROUGH Granderson?
i LOVE knucklers. They are so much fun to watch
That was an obscenely bad call
Terrible call.
Seems like sending the runner from third on contact never works.
Never mind. Raburn is the man.
THANK YOU! Raburn for MVP!
You almost never see Granderson ever question an umpire. Was odd seeing him question him 🙂
Agree, Jim. Knucklers are a blast, if only because they are so rare. Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m going down to US Cellular Field to hug and personally thank Ryan Rayburn.
I may even get him a “date”, if he’s into that sort of thing.
The White Sox feed didn’t have an angle where you could clearly see it hit him. Did FSD have a better view?
For real Eric. I wonder if he ever will blow up at an ump in his career?
Related, has anyone ever seen Casey get into it with an ump before?
MAN…Raburn is on fire tonight….7 steaks, got to love it. What about Granderson scoring from first on a SINGLE, I never thought I’d see that. Curtis is just an unreal player, he really doesn’t get the credit he deserves.
Did I say I enjoyed watching Raburn bat?
Granderson scores from first on a single. And it wasn’t even close.
We’re going to enjoy watching him play for a long time . . .
Whether or not it hit him didn’t make a difference. It came no where near his bat and it was ball 4.
We’ll probably see Grandy lose his temper eventually with so much at stake. He’s a great person and player but no ones perfect. Terrible call.
Nate, it clearly didn’t hit him, didn’t hit his bat. It was ball four.
Grandy is like watching a star in the making. He’s already one of the top CF ‘s in the game and so many people got down on him last year. I think he’ll be a Tiger for many, many years.
AWESOME
Grilli wins another one.
Over at ESPN scoreboard, they highlight the top hitters and Raburn’s reads ‘No photo available.’
I’m gonna play a little game. I’m going to create my own reality here. I’m going to pretend the Sox won this little see-saw battle tonight (which would have been a bad break, but certainly not devesating), and that the Tigers actually won last night. Same result – series tied going into the rubber game tomorrow.
Somehow I feel soooo much better about the outcome in the world according to my own delusions.
Kathy, I think Grandy will be a Senator from Michigan some day. Reminds me of Kaline.
Winning is better than losing.
Raburn and Hessman are playing like they want to stay around a while. Great win tonight – go Verlander!
Every game Raburn gets in, he impresses me. With Thames hurt, I’d really like to see him start in left more often.
My stupid DVR unit decided to flake and I missed the 9th. Insert series of curse words.
Ron, I wouldn’t be surprised at anything Grandy puts his mind to. He’s just a total goal setter and never let’s up on himself as far as doing better and improving his game. Look how his average has gone up. Hel’ll probably earn some golden gloves and silver slugger awards along the way, too.
Granderson would have to be a Republican because he certainly doesn’t like the left. (.188 this year, .231 career) He’s a nifty little player, fantastic to watch, and a good guy, but let’s get him hitting .250 against lefties before we send him to either Capitol Hill or Cooperstown.
Greetings from Germany
Man, what an important Comebacker. I was very frustrated the first 5 Innings. Seemed like the same as with the Royals series, everytime we score the “others” do the same in the other half-inning plus an awful 1st Inning (and the others weren’t a lot better from Kenny this time. But even he can have a bad start too, from time to time)
Great game from Raburn and good to see that Tim Byrdak has a good one too. His first save… and Grilli gets the win (*cough*)
Today’s game (with “europe-friendly” gamestart 😉 ) sees JV vs Danks, and hopefully the series win.
correction: “very frustrated the first 4 Innings..” 😉
Everywhere you read, the White Sox have the Tigers “number”. So, this time, they couldn’t remember 😉
I definitely like Rayburn in left field over Monroe at this point, and possibly even Thames when he returns. At the very least, we’ll have a great platooning corps to keep our players fresh and add to our pinch hitting options. Regardless of how Jim spreads playing time, it appears we’ve just added some firepower and depth to our bench. Or will we have to send an outfielder down when Thames comes off the DH? Couldn’t we just send Hessman down?
So seriously, when will they cut Ne!f!??
Raburn had a great game last night….but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to be an everyday player in the league…let’s slow down on that talk.
Ya, Chris is right. Brent Clevlen is a good example. He came up and was hot last year, now he’s batting .222 in Toledo.
They should certainly play him while he’s doing well but he’s not a dependable long-term strategy.
Raburn’s definitely got the potential to be a long-term option as a fourth outfielder, though. He’s versatile. Only 26. Career minor league slugging % near .500.
http://www.thebaseballcube.com/players/R/Ryan-Raburn.shtml
I agree with that statement, he would be a great 4th OF on a team like this, he seems to versatile and can rake, but can he make adjustments at this level when they start figuring out how to pitch to him? That is the biggest question for any young hitter really.
Wow. I can hardly stand to watch past the 7th inning. It’s no longer even enjoyable. We literally have a WS-caliber offense/Starting-Five coupled with a Little League bullpen. My new viewing strategy, in games with a 3 run lead or less, will be to turn off the TV in the seventh, take a deep breath, run out to the local spa, maybe do some Yoga and practice some some relaxation-breathing, maybe get a massage, maybe tune into some harps and strings from the good ‘ol I-Pod, and then return home in a renewed state of mind before I flip on ESPN to learn how the Little League fared.
I’ll say it again, and again, and again, and again, and again… and again:
McBride/Durbin/Miner et. al are all good pitchers — that’s not the issue, and I mean no insult or disrespect to them as players/pitchers — but they’re long guys — NOT SETUP GUYS. They’re the guys you want when your starter falls off the mound in the 3rd or 4th or 5th inning.
In the seventh and eighth inning (and ninth inning, too) you need a strike-out pitcher who throws strikes, throws hard, and doesn’t give up the walk. On top of that, ask a guy like Miner to be a SETUP guy, and he will likely pitch WORSE than normal. He will likely produce more walks/errors/wild pitches, etc. than he would in his comfortable role (oops — I’m really not a genius — yes, yes, I admit — I SAW the game).
Since I hadn’t formulated my more Zen approach prior to this latest bullpen melt-down, I guess I’ll just now succumb to my more pedestrian routine and head off to the bar…
Good night all.