2008 Season, Game Post

Game 21: Rangers at Tigers

148 Comments

PREGAME:  The Rangers have really been struggling and have won only 2 of their last 11 games for an awful 7-13 record.  Err, umm, that’s the same record as the Tigers by the way.

Vicente Padilla takes the mound for Texas.  He’s allowed 40 base runners in 26 innings, but still has a 3.12 ERA.  He allowed 2 homers in his first outing, but none in the last two.  Padilla will look to give his team a chance to snap a 4 game losing streak.

The Tigers will send out Justin Verlander who is searching for his first win, his first quality start, his fastball velocity, and his command.  He allowed 5 runs in 5 innings against the Indians but it felt like so much more due in large part to 4 walks.  In two starts against the Rangers last year he limited them to 1 run over 14 innings with 13 K’s.

TEX @ DET, Tuesday, April 22, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 7:05

POSTGAME: I actually had a lot of things I wanted to hit on from tonight’s game, but some late game control problems from the Rangers, excessive pitching changes from the Tigers, a slow ride home, and some kind of announcement about a switch conspired against me.

  • In the first inning Verlander got ahead of Hank Blalock with 2 strikes and then bounced 2 breaking balls. I said to my friend, “last year Verlander just blows him away with a 98mph elevated fastball.” Next pitch was 96mph above the belt and a swing and a miss. The velocity seemed to be partly back last night. And the good news, like in his other starts, is that the velocity he had at the start of his outing was there at the end.
  • It wasn’t a dominating outing by any means, but still effective and encouraging.
  • Jason Grilli pitched an uneventful 9th.
  • The fan who touched the ball was heartily boo’d if you were wondering.
  • Ordonez’s homer was a blast, Cabrera’s was a bullet (seriously, who would try to catch that?), but Ramon Santiago? For real?
  • Jacque Jones tried to join the party but picked the wrong part of the park to hit it to. We’ll see if his double-triple night is something to get him started or just a blip.

148 thoughts on “Game 21: Rangers at Tigers”

  2. Your Tiger lineup this evening, still sans Polanco:

    Thomas, CF
    Rodriguez, C
    Guillen, 1B
    Ordonez, RF
    Cabrera, DH
    Jones, LF
    Renteria, SS
    Inge, 3B
    Santiago, 2B

  3. Why is Raburn sitting … in place of Santiago?

    Of all the analysis I’ve read on this site, the best was Billfer’s case to not have Santiago on the team. His glove is overrated, and even his bat is overrated because people think he hits. This is one of the very few Triple Crown Losers in the history of baseball, and unless he fields like Ozzie, he has no business on the team.

  5. I like Ramon and I don’t want to bash the guy, but he is a poor man’s Neifi Perez. He can’t hit and his D is overrated. He can pinch run, however. I guess that’s worth a roster spot over, say, any number of minor leaguers.

  7. Not only that, but our lovely .178 hitter hasn’t had an extra base hit in 45 at bats. Even Santiago has more than that.

    I remember Leyland put Monroe higher in an attempt to get him going offensively. Since that clearly helped, he seems to be doing the same thing again.

  8. Verlander has to have a quality start tonight and the rangers are hitting the ball pretty good i hear.

    watch mags miggie and guillen tonight they didn’t do so well yesterday they will be better I hope

  9. Excellent rendition of the National Anthem by friend Cliff Erickson. He can be seen at various locales around metro Detroit.

  10. All I need to be happy with this game is to see V’s velocity go up. He’s at around 94-95 so far, which is promising

  12. Please, please, please, do not turn Vicente Padilla into Greg Maddux circa 1993.

  17. Bilfer was right before the season, FSN Detroit needs to up its graphics and stuff. the last two away broadcasts (Clev, Toronto) had the strike zone/pitch chart which with the way our apple hurlers toss would be very useful.

  20. mlb.tv is fine for me too, ken. it showed the HR Verlander gave up quite clearly.

    nasty pitch by Padilla to Guillen. Not much you can do about that.

  21. Considering the upcoming schedule, the Tigers really need a sweep in this series or 2 of 3 at the worst.

  22. Why does this game feel like a must-win? The Tigs really need to turn the corner at some point this season. What better time then beating up on a last place team.

    And JV needs this win. They have Josh Hamilton hitting third, so its not exactly a monster lineup.

  23. Good thing the Rangers really seem like they’ve already mailed in the season, why is Michael Young swinging at the first pitch in that spot. But we’ll all take it.

  25. Jojo – the Rangers could be thinking the same thing – what better time than beating up on a last place (Tigers) team?

    😉

  28. Man, does this crow taste gooooooooooooood.

    [please see my earlier post at 6:41PM]

  31. I’m still concerned about Verlander’s fastball. But if the Rangers are going to take ugly swings like that on his off-speed pitches all night, then I’ll take it.

  32. A little bit of ex-Tiger news I guess you could say but John Smoltz Strikeout number 3,000! Tonight. Great Job Smoltzy.

    Nice job by Santiago, he and Raburn are really getting the job done for the back bothered Polly.

  36. We needed that inning for JV’s pitch count. Also, that fan should have 7,000 baseballs dumped onto his driveway, considering snatching a 99 cent souvenir is more important to him than seeing his Tigers win. Oooohh, nice ding dong, Maggs.

  39. Man, I can’t wait until Cabrera figures out the AL, because he is going to be fun as hell to watch.

  49. It’s like a whole five-course meal of crow for us. Was that Santiago’s first career home run?

  56. Nice Job Jones tryinig to break out of it. Maggs and Miggy the M&M combo that wont fail ya!! This lineup is scary.

    And cudos for Renteria RBI Single in the cutch!

    And how bout our good old defensive specialist Santiago!! Guess we should say he is hitting pretty darn good this year. Added some muscle I think lol 7-1 Tigers now thats the Tigers I know and love!!

  59. Brian, for a minute there I had no idea what you were talking about, I assumed it was regarding Jacques Jones. Then my mlb.tv showed Santiago’s HR (it’s a little behind, I guess) and it all made sense.

    I guess I’m on the all-crow diet tonight. Know what? I don’t mind, it tastes like chicken.

  60. Man, Ramon must have read the Neifi-lite comment and gotten pissed (or downed his leftover greenies)

  62. Cruceta just finished his first inning of relief for the Mud Hens. He struck out the side.

  63. I have my doubts about the accuracy of Gameday’s pitch speed. They had Padilla’ s two curves to Thomas in this last at bat listed at 66MPH. Tim Wakefield’s knuckleball is faster than that.

  64. This board is much funnier when we’re up by 6 runs for a change. It really does seem that Ramon took the bashing seriously. I’m actually a little terrified he’s going to track me down for that “poor man’s Neifi Perez” comment. I think he could really do some damage.

  66. I’ve always thought Romon was good but since he came back last year from the DL hes really looked good at the plate. Romon Santiago looks good hands down.

  67. it would be nice if justin can at least throw into the seventh tonight…or is that being greedy?

  68. Apparently all Jacque needed was for the other McB. to call him “a pile of ****” a few times to get inspired.

  71. I dont know about that call, at home. Seems very close too me. I think his hip got in there before the mitt touched him oh well. Nice to see the Tigers keep the pressure up on the Rangers.

  72. Bill, I’ll post my comment in this thread as I don’t know if you’re going back to the Verlander release point post but …

    Yeah, I didn’t mean to say you should’ve analyzed tape of Verlander’s mechanics for that last post — it was informative in an of itself. Just saying I’d like to see just some side by side stills. I know next to nothing about mechanics, but I think side by side still shots of what his release point is couldn’t take that much know-how about mechanics.

    I just thought of the fact that I can watch highlights of games for free, so I’m going to check out those two games on the Tigers site to see if any of the game highlights show him form the CF camera in his delivery to see if I can see a higher/lower release point and if I can screen cap it. I’ll keep you updated.

  75. did anyone else chuckle when rod was listing miners numbers for the year? 9 walks to 7 k’s batting average against .366 ……

  76. well…miner’s time is coming toward the end, especially if curceta is as good as advertised.

  85. Image that, .1 inning pitched with 1 run allowed for Miner. I wish he would return to his mid-2006 form when he was quite successful as a starter and managed to win quite a few games.

  86. Anyone have a spare Lucas County map around? I’m worried about Miner being able to find the proper exit.

  87. LOL cant believe we are still on Grilli, last few outings he’s settled down. I said it once and ill say it yet again……Grilli is a mop up, emergency pitcher for those blow out games or pitcher injury games. Grilli isn’t as bad as long as he not used at a 7th inning or 1 inning pitcher.

    Seay is doing good. And I think that the consensus is that Miner returns to Toledo for Cruceta right? I think thats a good decision. Let’s hope Leyland says/thinks the same thing. Miner needs to be transformed back into a starter cause thats what he is. Sometimes they can be transformed into relievers but Miner probably can’t. So he needs to be transformed into a starter again in Toledo.

  92. I fear that the real Bautista (the one that walks every other batter) is starting to show up. This is not what I want to see from an 8th-inning guy.

  94. His location has been bad the last couple of games does not mean hes turning back into Bautista from Col. Come on Vince have a little more faith then that. I think Bautista is doing just fine. He needs to work on his location though thats the main thing.

  100. Who is the Tigers blogger that does the Animal versions of the players? The one that drew up Chad Durbin as a Pimp and whatnot?

    Well, new suggestion: Clete Thomas = owl. Dude’s eyes seriously never close. So wide-eyed.

  101. Steve in Kazoo:

    It’s not just this year or last year that the walks have been a problem for Bautista, it’s his career – 62 in 124 IP since ’04.

    I HATE BBs. It’s just asking for trouble, and you usually get it.

  103. This is the perfect spot to use Grilli, especially at home. Up by 7, coming in to start the inning (i.e., nobody on base), and only needing 3 outs.

    I’m comfortable with a 9-6 win…

  104. Samara Pearlstein from MVN does the creative photoshop work. Also, Leyland should consider warming up Grilli or Miner whenever he wants some late inning runs — it could be a good motivation/scare tactic for the offense.

  108. not to be a downer but it really fries my ham that at the start of the game we had the same record as this team

  112. “Anyone know how bad they bombarded Grilli with boos at the park?”

    If they did boo him, then that’s a shame. The guy did get off to a rough 1st week , but he’s done a very good job since then. Despite his shortcomings, he does have value to this team as a mop-up guy, even though he struggles in spectacular fashion from time to time. He has the ability to pitch 4 innings, when need be. There are situations when you need that, and you don’t want to overwork your frontline relievers. Even if the first three weeks is a microcosm of Grilli’s 2008 season, I still want him on this team.

  113. Vince,

    Well no ones really given such a responsibility to Bautista, and maybe thats why hes been so bad in his career as a mop up guy like Grilli. With this responsibility and a great spring Bautista has shown improvement. And then maybe your right he will come back to bit us but as long as he stays constant or average until Zoom or Rodney come back ill be fine with him. Besides him and Jones are the only two pitchers in the Bullpen (along with Lopez and Seay) that have really done their duty and made our bullpen not the total laughing stock of the MLB. Bautista until otherwise proven should and will stay in the setup slot.

  118. Leyland announces Cabrera to first, Guillen to third. To which I respond “cool” and “huh?” respectively

  120. I hate rooting for the Yankees, but Abreu just hit a slam off Dotel to give the Yankees a 6-3 lead over the White Socks in the 7th inning.

  122. Wow…Inge’s job taken by two worse third basemen…though the way he’s been swinging it these past few games, he can’t really complain.

  123. That move officially makes my ’10 tigers much earlier then expected. I had Guillen to DH duties, Inge to 3B and Miggy to 1B. wow just wow, but a very cool and good move by Leyland. I wonder how the guys feel about it.

  127. Not sure how I feel about Carlos making throws across the diamond. He misfired a ton of throws from short. I guess it can’t be worse than Cabrera’s tosses.

    Also, Inge must be livid right now. The team isn’t satisfied with Cabrera’s defense at third, so they turn to ANOTHER PLAYER ENTIRELY instead of back to Inge.

    I really hope this doesn’t create any more problems.

  128. I saw Leyland talking to Cabrera during the game…must have been asking him if he was all right with it.

  129. I heard someone say that Miggy see’s himself as a third baseman and the tigers wouldn’t change that after locking him up in that contract because it would look like they misled him .
    Think it was Rod Allen

  130. Hey everyone, just so you guys know, I really hate Brandon Inge, even though in public I say I love him. I just did something that’s going to ensure that he has almost no at-bats unless he becomes our everyday left-fielder

    Uh, “Jim”, you played Inge just about every day last year when he was putting up a sub-700 OPS. I’d say you showed him plenty of undeserved love in 2007, so this just evens things out a bit.

  132. To Jim Leyland:

    WTF? Inge lover?

    Brain:

    This is should be a permanent move. And I think that its a good move. Just surprised that Inge isn’t at 3B. But then again Inge is starting to cool off not back to ’07 Inge but not back to great ’06 Inge either. It should be interesting. I think that Guillen will be fine but still it wont be the Inge defense over there. Inge just doesn’t have the bat anymore to be in the lineup everyday.

  134. Hey guys – who cares about what Brandon thinks? He’s a super-sub, nothing more. If he wants to complain about his $7M backup duty, then he can try posting a 300+ OBP for an entire year. I’m glad to have him in his current role.

    If Cabrera is on board with this move, then I’m good with it, though a bit puzzled. It’s good for Inge too, b/c he’ll get more time at 3B.

    More importantly, Granderson is back manana. Great job Raburn/Clete. See you in a few months.

  135. I enjoyed the portions of the game that I saw (one of those kids-errand evenings) but my brain still hurts from the postgame announcement.

    See you all at Motown Night tomorrow!

  138. No problem Pimpbot 5000. I’d hate to lose him, but as far as the team goes, he’s best coming off the bench. On the other hand, he may be playing his way into some trade value.

  139. If anyone cares, Cruceta went 3 innings for Toledo tonight, allowed 0 hits, 1 bb and 6 k’s.

    39 pitches, 27 strikes.

    Um, yeah.

  142. I care Mark but we all know pitching in AAA and in the bigs is two different things. Very excited to see him, however. They’ll probably bring him up pretty soon but maybe they’ll want to see him pitch a few more innings in Toledo. Grandy’s coming back. So much to look forward to.

  144. While Leyland crosses his fingers and hopes Sheffield can return to some kind of regular DH duty, we will be treated to the interchange of Dr. Strangeglove1 and Dr. Strangeglove2 between first and third.

    If, on the other hand (dare I say glove!) Sheffield’s shoulder has gone pfsst, the best arrangement would be: Guillen DH, Cabrera 1B and Inge 3B. But, without a another backup catcher Inge can’t be penciled into the hot corner every game. With the odd bench configuration, Inge has to remain as the Super-Sub.

  145. Oh, and while I thought Verlander threw pretty well, it just seems like he didn’t throw many strikes. Pudge more or less said the same thing in an interview after the game that he thought Verlander pitched “pretty good” but threw too many pitches for 6 innings. Speed was up, but what about control.

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