2007 Season, Game Post

Game 111: Rays at Tigers

101 Comments

PREGAME: The Rays have lost 11 of their last 15 and the Tigers have lost 13 of their last 17. The Rays send out Edwin Jackson who is a good bet to go 6 innings. He’s pitched exaxtly 6 innings in 5 of his last 7 starts, but with mixed results. His last time out he allowed just 1 unearned run on 5 hits, 1 walk, and 5 K’s. Three starts ago he shut out the Yankees for 6 innings, so he can be good.

Justin Verlander battled the Oakland lineup his last time out, not pitching bad, but racking up 106 pitches in 5 1/3 innings.

As for lineup notes, Pudge is having an ankle issue and will miss tonight’s game. Sean Casey moves back to first and bats 3rd while Carlos Guillen takes DH duties. Ryan Raburn is your left fielder tonight.

Listening to Danny Knobler on WDFN tonight, Marcus Thames will start a rehab assignment tomorrow for Toledo and could be back as soon as Thursday’s game.

Game Time 7:05

TBD @ DET, Monday, August 6, 2007 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: Hey, a win. Yes it’s against the Devil Rays, but for a team that has been struggling against everyone I don’t care who the opponent is.

  • Justin Verlander had a long first inning as he struggled with his control, even hitting a batter with an 0-2 count. He did settle in until 4 straight hits cost him a chance at the win. He did stick around long enough to get through 6 innings. He wasn’t great tonight but good enough.
  • The bullpen came through with 3 innings only allowing one baserunner. Fernando Rodney and Todd Jones retired the 6 they faced with ease. Of course I was nervous with Jones pitching to Rabelo since the two haven’t always been on the same page.
  • For the last week Placido Polanco was the only hot player on offense and ironically he posted an 0 for 4 on a night when the team notched 13 hits.
  • Ordonez and Guillen were the offensive stars and packed quite a punch in the 4-5 spots. Rayburn and Rabelo came through in the 7th, but both had numerous opportunities early on.
  • Speaking of Rodney, Leyland just mentioned that he would be off tomorrow after pitching 2 straight days. Regardless, the strut after the 96mph fastball punch out was nice to see.
  • The Tigers didn’t seemed to be fooled by Edwin Jackson, but they couldn’t push many across the plate either.
  • And congrats to Sean Casey who knocked his first Comerica Park homer of the year, and a timely one at that.

It’s one game, but a win streak has to start somewhere. Let’s hope they can build on it.

101 thoughts on “Game 111: Rays at Tigers”

  1. What I’d love to see in this line-up is Polanco first, Casey second, and Granderson batting third. He’s got the power to do it.

  5. JV is 45 pitches through 2. Ugh.

    Double ugh to Casey batting third in this lineup. Or ANY lineup, for that matter. He’s prolly the greatest guy in the world, but the production just isn’t there for that position on the field or in the lineup.

  6. What is it called again when the Tigers have more runs than their opponent? I forgot.

  7. I was going to comment on this awhile ago, when the team first started this slump and it was brought up last year, they were not walking enough. Two walks today two runs.

  9. Verlander looks good, which is promising because I can’t remember I saw a great performance for one of our starters, but I’m not comfortable unless we pick up at least 2-3 more runs in the next few innings. Didn’t we used to hit homeruns? Two or more per game was expected, and now I’m happy with any.

  11. You’ve got to be kidding me. As soon as I say that, Verlander gives up three straight hits and 3 runs.

  14. Good gravy… this does seem like the endless pit of despair.

    This was why I gave up on the Lions, for Pete’s sake.

  16. There’s nothing I love more than seeing those “Fire Millen” signs in the stands when the Tigers are on the road.

  17. Yet nother game without a quality start. And at 96 pithes Verlander may not even get past the 6th inning.

  21. Is it just me or do these guys need to start playing through some pain. Pudge has a sore foo, Sheff has a sore shoulder, suck it up and play.

  24. Nick, to some degree; maybe. Sheff and Pudge are two who I believe would be on the field if they could be though.

    They are veterans who both play through more pain than most.

  25. I understand that Eric, but it seems like night after night we bring out the B side. I know Leyland is a “players manager” but the reason the fans are bored (which he said last night) is that we don’t have our best line-up out there most nights.

  26. If Gameday is to be believed, Verlander got over 95MPH on the fastball only a few times tonight out of 108 pitches.

  28. Goodness, if there is a bullpen we can come back on, it’s this one (besides our own, I mean).

    That of course presumes TB doesn’t cough up a 3-spot against our pen first.

  30. If Leyland doesn’t play Raburn, he has to play Monroe. And then people here would question why Monroe is out there (“Craig’s playing badly, give Raburn a chance”).

    The last thing the Tigers need is to put Sheffield out there before he’s healthy and really wreck his shoulder.

  31. The Tigers have just 3 wins this year when trailing by 2 or more runs after 6 inings. The first two were in early April, the most recent was on July 23 against the White Sox…

  32. The Tigers are paying the price in terms of the lack of offensive production for having a below-average bench, a below-average catcher, 1st-baseman. 3rd baseman and left fielder. For the first half of the season, Granderson, Polanco, Sheffield, Ordonez and Guillen were responsible for the lion’s share of production, but that isn’t tenable for an entire season. Now that they have come back down to earth somewhat, the other four dead spots in the lineup can’t make up the difference.

  34. well, leyland claims he is responsible for the tigers slide, yet he still insists on batting casey (with 2 hr) 3rd in our lineup.

    what does he mean by its his fault, if he keeps making the same decisions… ?

  35. Apparently, the Tampa Bay bullpen was just what the Tigers needed to be resurrected from the dead!

  38. omg… and he homers while i type the comment.

    i will go hide now.

    no, i still dont agree with batting casey 3rd. it makes no sense.

  43. Here comes the slump breaker. This is our game guys.
    Lets go Tigers!!!

  44. I retract none of my previous statements!

    Can our bully hold a lead? It’s been ages since they’ve had the chance. More runs please.

  45. Good god, is it refreshing to see an inning like this 7th. Tampa at home might be just the tonic this team needs to get the wheels back on.

  46. I think someone commented yesterday at the fact that Leyland had not been changing the lineup and today he does just that…

  48. Boy that looked good. I’m telling you, we are coming out of this thing today.

  55. Good chance we score there regardless, Infante blew that. He’s usually a smarter player than that.

  58. This is the freaking bigs, how on earth did that ball drop?

    I don’t blame Infante too much for that.

    On the other hand, it’s always great to see Inge swinging at ball four.

  59. CNNSI’s play by play:

    “Inge grounded into fielder’s choice, left fielder Crawford to second baseman B.Harris, Raburn scored, Rabelo to third, Inge to first, Infante out.”

    That’s a long grounder.

  63. Jeff,

    You read my mind, I was wondering how gamecast, etc. would score that. I’m guessing it took them like 20 minutes to put something up, too.

  67. Like to see that underhand toss from Rodney. He shouldn’t be allowed to throw the ball to a base any other way.

  70. It seems Rodney is not all the way back, but he seems to be more confident in his change-up.

  71. Great job Rodney. Starting to look at bit like 2006 even though it is against the DRays.

  72. Carlos is coming up needing a homer for the cycle. And the Tigers last cycle was by Carlos Guillen…against the Devil Rays I believe.

  73. Of course now that we are in a great position to win a game, I become the supreme optimist, but this is how I see it. Our starting pitching is too talented to remain at it’s current level of production. It’s ERA will at least level out to 4 something which will provide a nice boost. Rodney coming back has already given our bullpen a shot to the arm, in depth and talent. It will get another shot to the arm when Zumaya gets back. At that point in time our bullpen will be twice as formidable as it is now. The offensive production will probably stay remotely consistent and range between 5 and 6 runs per game depending on how healthy we are. If you ask me, this picture looks good enough for a nice run and a playoff birth.

  74. Carlos will surely be going for it. As I recall, he turned a single into a double last year to turn it.

  77. I do not think I am alone, but I am excited to see Todd Jones come in for a save situation.

  80. Sweet!!!!

    That was a much needed win. Let’s get the starters back on track, and get this train rolling again.

    Sleep well everyone!

  81. Thank goodness. I’ve been chewing the same wad of big league chew for an hour now. Happy to give my jaw a break.

  82. MAN….did that one feel good or what? I HOPE, Casey’s HR turned the team around, they seemed to gain some confidence from that, guess we’ll find out tomorrow. We’ll stay in a playoff position for at least 1 more night.

  83. Since the big blown game against Texas on June 26th, TJ has been pretty dependable. In his last 15 games: 16IP 12H 3R 2BB. The BS against KC on July 21 accounted for 3 of the hits and 2 of the runs. Even with that his WHIP has been under 1.00. Our expectation of him getting into trouble every time he comes in hasn’t been met. On the other hand, i am not willing to uncross my fingers quite yet.

  85. Vince: just check Jones second half stats last year..he was pretty good then too. TJ is just fine.

    btw, fwiw Maroth just landed on the DL

  86. I don’t know if I’m more pleased with the offence finaly producing the big inning or with the bullpen looking solid in this win.

    Welcome back boys!

  91. I’d take some bats and balls for Monroe at this point. Here’s hoping the cubbies come to the rescue.

  92. So how about them Pinstripers…they’ve closed to within a half game of the Tigers and within a game of the Tribe. Scary thing is, the Tigers see the Yankees eight times this month. Ouch.

  93. At this point, it doesn’t matter to me who’s pitching the game tomorrow or what the opposing pitcher’s record is. They’re all tough outs for us. This was just one game today.

  94. Eric, regarding that trade rumor: (1) What in the world does Matt Murton have to do to get an everyday gig in Chicago. (2) I’m not sure they’d give up any of their back end of the pen, so most likely, since they don’t seem to value Murton at all (.297/.364/.444 in his only full season’s worth of AB’s in 06) I’d suspect he’d be on the move. I would not mind Murton at all in LF next year everyday after letting Monroe walk. Get younger (just 25) and I think he’s got the potential for a .300/.375/.450 line. I’d take it. Although, who knows if that’s more then Raburn could give you so it’d come down to their defense + Raburn’s versatility in him being a former infielder, so I guess that’d probably give him the edge.

  95. Oh Man, that feels so good. At last a win.

    I have quit watching the game after the 2-1 in the 3rd. First, I was tired ( It was somewhat by 1:40 am here in Germany), second, I want to go to bed with a Tigers lead 😉 and third, It’s a bit of a superstition. It works ….hm, do I have to quit watching from now on after the 3rd with a Tigers lead?

  96. lol; I just saw that the Time I posted the above, was 1:43 am. Seems I have slept only 3 Minutes (If you didn’t account that my Time frame was CEST not ET)

  97. well they took out their starting pitcher and then it was whack-pow katie bar the door

    and our hitters saved that one for us

    and this is all good

    it’s modern baseball

  98. Mike R,

    I think the Cubs outlook on Murton is that he doesn’t have enough power to play a corner outfield spot at Wrigley. I agree with you, his numbers aren’t terrible, but for some reason they don’t view him as much more than a 4th outfielder. The 810 OPS he has posted thus far puts him in Francouer/Nick Markakis/Cuddyer terrritory, all every day players, which are top-30 rankings among all outfielders.

    C-Mo, incidentally, ranks 62nd among all outfielders with a whopping 643 OPS. yeesh.

  99. Mark: No one in the Cubs lineup is really hitting for power, evidenced by having under 100 HR’s on the season (something like 88 or so) despite playing in Wrigley. .810 OPS is plenty of power. A corner OFer doesn’t have to post .950+ OPS’ to be a starter. I think they’re just letting go a kid without really giving him a shot. Like I said, I wouldn’t mind him in LF for Detroit, but I’m not sure he’d offer a substantial upgrade over Ryan Raburn.

  100. Mike,

    I agree with you completely, I’m just relaying the fact that the Cubs brass currently doesn’t view him as more than a 4th outfielder. It is supposedly (according to the beat writers here) based on his 674 OPS he’s given them this year (in just 133 AB). They probably aren’t giving him a fair shot, and now they have Soriano in left and about 9 rightfielders, so that also has something to do with it. Murton can’t play center, either.

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