2008 Season, Game Post

Game 69: Dodgers at Tigers

157 Comments

PREGAME: Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there. I had a nice brunch with my Dad this morning and I received a Tigers golf shirt from Mrs. Billfer and the kids. Let’s cap it off with a a lazy day watching the Tigers win.

It’s more southpaw pitching today with Nate Robertson taking on Clayton Kershaw.

Kershaw has lots o’ stuff, but hasn’t totally harnessed it this year. He’s walked 13 in 20 innings but also fanned a batter an inning. The result is 4 starts without seeing the 7th inning.

Robertson turned in a typical Nate start, minus 1 run. He only allowed 3 instead of his usual 4 as he started the sweep of the White Sox. Hopefully he can finish the sweep of the Dodgers.

Today’s lineup:

  1. Renteria, SS
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Guillen, 3B
  4. Ordonez, RF
  5. Cabrera, 1B
  6. Thames, DH
  7. Inge, C
  8. Raburn, LF
  9. Clevlen, CF

LAD @ DET, Sunday, June 15, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

POSTGAME: The Tigers get to have a happy cross country flight tonight as they head to San Francisco. It has to be more fun than many of the flights they’ve taken after dropping a series or getting shellacked on get-away day. Plus they get to revel in the fact that they are only 1.5 games out of second place and 6 games out of first. This is a nice little reminder that while a double digit deficit may seem insurmountable, the Tigers shaved off 5 games in a week.

  • Robertson was a strike throwing machine and the Dodgers were off balance all day. His efficiency before the rain kept him available to earn a quality start despite throwing a couple innings worth of pitches under the stands while waiting.
  • The Tigers couldn’t connect off of Kershaw, but they were also waiting him out and he amassed 63 pitches in 4 innings rendering him unavailable after the delay.
  • That ended up being a good thing because the Tigers found Chan Ho Park’s pitches to be much more crushable. Some excellent at-bats battling back from 0-2 counts led to walks and hits. And then Marcus the Magnificent went yard again. And so did Brandon.
  • All of Thames homers in the homestand were absolute blasts. No cheapies at all. Even the one down the line against Cleveland was high up on the foul pole.
  • Denny Bautista pitched 2 nice innings. Bobby Seay and Todd Jones not so much. Jones complete lack of control (the multiple 59 footers in particular) were very disturbing.

157 thoughts on “Game 69: Dodgers at Tigers”

  6. lot of pitches so far but the kid has a live arm,,,hopefully his ball strike count on batters will get to him

  7. on the other side Nate hasn’t used his usual 80 pitches thru 3 innings so far ..could be a good sign

  10. you guys getting this game on TV…I am on some odd station out here CAl but it is on TV..I am blacked out MBL

  18. Hello all – Happy Father’s day to the Dads out there.

    I need some easy baseball research done for a paper I’m writing. All it entails is pulling numbers from Baseball-reference.com. You can do it while watching the rest of the game or the US Open. I’ll pay $20 per hour, only catch is that I need the research done ASAP. Preferably in the next 3-4 hours (it shouldn’t take more than an hour or two). Please email me ASAP if you are interested – kmvela@ yahoo.com.

  21. And we’re back. We’ll see how long Robertson goes. I’d guess he probably threw some during the delay cutting into his pitch count. Fortunately he was efficient early on.

  22. Now is the time for the bats to come alive………..Dodgers are weak……we need to get another sweep before heading to Ca.

  26. Inge k’s on the dreaded check swing.

    Clevlen singles up the middle. Still no score.

  27. Everything is a ground ball today, even the singles have been grounders up the middle.

  28. Park has a terrific curveball, but he can’t seem to hit the zone with it. Renteria hits a changeup up the middle for another single. It would be nice to get something done here.

  29. From what I can see so far the Tigs have to jump on first pitches against this guy….several right down the middle

  35. Park can’t control his slider at all, and no one’s chasing it. After throwing three straight breaking pitches waaay low, Polanco hits a fastball to score Clevlen. 1-0 Tigers

  36. ANother 1st pitch down the middle to Guillen….anyway he doubles the next pitch………2-0

  38. In an attempt to get something, anything over the plate, Park throws two fastballs down the middle, the latter of which Guillen smokes for a double. 2-0 Tigers

  40. Well, it was nice to get the third run, but I would really like to know why Guillen thought he could try to get home from second…………………Did he get sent?….Is that just putting pressure on the Dodgers?

  41. Walk for Maggs on seven pitches, followed by a Gil single that scores Polanco. Guillen regrettably is thrown out at home. 3-0

  42. Should carlos have held up at third there? Not sure what the strategy is…don’t mind erring on the side of aggression.

  43. Very nervous – making to see how Renteria dropped that…………makes plays too close……sure, he got him but ..now, Robertson is showing signs of losing his stuff.

  48. AND CABRERA OUTRRUNS THE BATTER TO FIRST!..WHAT GRACE AND SPEED IN THE TIGER INFIELD!

  49. Juan Pierre remarkably hit a ball out of the infield and tagged up to second on a groundout, but Dave’s Fantasy Team Failure Blake DeWitt ended the threat with another groundout. How did this team score seven runs yesterday??!?

  50. Country Strong Marcus Thames hits YET ANOTHER HOME RUN!!! Jeez oh pete, Marcus!

  51. THAMES……………THAMES…….THAMES……….!!!

    SOMEONE SAID SHEFFIELD IS DUE BACK THIS WEEK. SAY IT AIN’T SO, JOE!

  52. Everytime miggy makes that play u can hear first base wince

    And man, wish carlos had stuck on third and that would have been a granny!

  53. Inge follows with AN HR of his own!!!!!!! Back to back hrs from the lower part of the order. 5-0 Tigers

  54. Back to back……INGE!! belts one……..the surprsing one does it agani….every so often he belts one!

  55. A visit to the mound is made to stall for time, but it looks like Park is going to have to go through at least one more batter

  56. Leyland should be shot if he takes ab’s away from thames when garroid comes back. Play him in left or dh every day jim — turns out home runs are the most valuable offensive play in the game.

  57. Park was all over the place, but somehow managed to strike out Raburn

    A Clevlen single ends a fine day at the ballpark for Mr. Park. Line: 1.1 IP, 8H, 5ER

  60. Shef is heading to Lakeland to rehab. One would hope that it is Larish that loses at bats and not Thames.

  62. Thames is now hitting the ball out of the park every 10.6 at bats.

    If only he could play LF. Oh, wait…

  63. Joe Beimel, he of the exceedingly boring Fox lineup introduction yesterday, is now in to pitch

    An easy DP ball gets thrown somewhere into foul territory, meaning the Tigers are still up to bat

  66. Beimel is having trouble controlling his 88 mph fastball. Guillen hits a ball that ricochets off the fielder’s glove, and everyone is safe. Bases loaded for maggs

    UPDATE: So much for that. We’ll have to settle for a two run inning.

  68. Nice job by Nate. the 66 pitches looks miniscule, but he probably threw a couple innings worth keeping the arm warm during the delay.

  70. if you were running to first on a GB to Miggy and Miggy was running to tag the bag before you get there ..you would slow down slightly wouldn’t you….

  71. how about Nate….two in a row…what was the chance of that …and a good job in both games…way to go Nate

  73. Bautista got robbed of a strike out there, but it doesn’t matter as Loney grounded to second on the next pitch

  76. Lincecum’s having a Cy Young worthy year, and he’s on a roll right now. But that might be a good thing, considering that the Tigers play in a bizarro backwards universe

  77. Sky — you’re right, it wasn’t. He’s relying too much on his slider, and that pitch was right down the middle.

  81. Tigers keep winning and Chicago..Ceveland and Minnesota wont’ matter….that winning will take care of all of them

  82. Granderson gets to first against a lefty specialist on an infield single. Two on, two out

  85. funny how everyone from Florida said we would love Miggy and after that start he had I think we are warming up to him……

  86. The Tigers are sending a reliever down today. Denny Bautista is pitching 2 innings. Hmmm?

  87. Rod Allen apparently zoned out for a moment… “he walked Berroa?” he says incredulously.

  89. RE: Cabrera

    Some fans simply can’t grasp the concept of a small sample size and perhaps never will. It doesn’t matter how often they see players revert to their typical numbers over the course of a season — every time a player has a slump a certain percentage of fans will declare said player’s career to be over.

  91. It probably took awhile for the idea of someone walking Berroa to sink in, Billfer

  92. Bautista seems to be taking quite a bit off his fastball now in favor of location. It’s working so far, though, as he’s now made it through two innings with little trouble today

  94. Jon Broxton in for the 8th. Russell Martin moves from DH to catcher, meaning that the Dodgers have sacrificed their DH spot.

  95. Rod Allen has had quite the homestand. There was the beans and rice earlier in the week. He’s invoked “damage to contact ratio” at least 3 times today.

    And this beauty:

    Mario: What’s the difference between big boned and husky?
    Rod: About 250

  105. We still need a relief pitcher we can count on. No way the Tigers get through the year with Jones. He can not be counted on at all.

  106. Seay and Jones showed that while we rejoice in the win and sweep, no matter what we can never count on our bullpen…NEVER

  107. Was that elevated excitement really necessary? I don’t think I’m tall enough to ride on THAT rollercoaster

  108. Can somebody tell me what happened at the end?? The mlb gamecast froze after Kent’s single.

  110. Janathon:

    Wild pitch, run scores, runner advances in scoring position — score 5-4. Then fly ball out to center for 3rd out.

  111. You should have seen the way the Chi Sox game ended. Good Lord. Sox are down by two in the bottom of the 9th. Bases loaded with two outs. Joe Crede at the plate. Crede hits a high fly ball to shallow left. The left fielder and 2nd baseman almost collide to the effect that the ball pops out of the left fielder’s mitt. Luckily, the left fielder falls to his knees and bare hands the loose ball before it hits the ground. 2 runs would have scored. All is well that ends well. The Tigers now only 6 games back.

  113. It was pretty amusing to hear Hawk & Co. whine about that Holliday catch, too. Man, there has to be a Saturday Night Live skit there somewhere.

  114. Clearly the chemistry Rod Allen and Mario Impemba have exhibited on this homestand have spurred the team to 6 straight wins.

    Nice sweep, I would be ecstatic with a 4-2 road trip out west. Very tough game tomorrow night with Lincecum.

  115. Is anyone else really cautious about this win streak? Like, sure, it’s good…but are they just going to fail us again?

    I have trust issues.

  116. I just came in and saw the score. Great sweep. Looks like the bats are all finally starting to get hot. The real test comes against really good pitching. Looks like we get to face only one tough test and it’s on Monday.

    Lincecum has pitched 7 innings in each of his last 3 starts and has only given up 2 earned runs in that time frame.
    Verlander has shown signs of putting together some good starts, but it looks like we’ll need a perfomance like the complete game 1 run gem he threw last time out.

    After that it’s two lefties. Sanchez put together 4 straight quality starts before he got rocked in the Rockies (but took the win) his last time out.

    On Wednesday we get to face Barry Zito, and expensive man’s Dontrelle Willis, hopefully he doesn’t find himself before or during that start. He has been pitching well enough since the beginning of May to be considered a #4 or #5 starter.

  117. Just when we think its safe to pencil Thames into the lineup everyday, Sheffield is set to begin his rehab assignment.

  118. I think Thames is safe. Unless Larish gets real hot, surface of the sun hot, Sean C.’s dial-up hot, Sheff fills the DH spot and Thames is our almost everyday LF, just like Leyland said he was.

  119. How can you not like Jones? 11/11 saves, 2 wins. He is not lights out, but they can only seem to get bloopers or soft hits before he gets them out.

  120. I believe that’s 12/12 saves, 2 wins after today.

    He will have his share of blown saves this year. I just hope the Tigers are a little closer to the top of the division when that happens.

  121. Except that Thames is doing exactly what he’s always done: hit for power, but not average. Leyland’s always made him the odd man out b/c his defense is average at best and he’s an all or nothing type hitter. I think Sheffield’s return will cost him time (again), even though I’d prefer they just cut their losses with Gary – he’s only been productive for about two months of his time with Detroit, he’s killing the middle of the order, and he’s always complaining about something (Latinos, injuries, playing the field/not playing the field, racism, Torre, Milwaukee, etc).

  122. After suffering through the A’s series, I will venture out once again to see the Tiger’s in my backyard. This time against the Giants. I hope the new attitude Tigers and the struggling Giants will produce better results.

    Happy Fathers Day to all the Dads.

    I’ll be at MoMos before the game if anyone out this way wants to drop in. I’ll be there Tuesday and Wednesday as well.

  123. Whoa, sweep! Good times, people.

    I like this arrangement today — Sky with color, me with PBP

    I liked it, too. Good work. The effort to put comments on plays in game and score context makes a world of difference.

    I think “chan ho” translates to “out of the” in korean

    Cabrera is now batting .285. Is that even possible??!?

    Sean C.’s dial-up hot

    Good stuff.

  124. hey West Coast I am getting ready to buy my tickets for the San Diego series…the only thing holding me back is I am 0-6 ..both Angel series back to back years…a problem for sure

  125. Rings – Sheffield just needs to get on the beans and rice program.

    Speaking of Thames as all or nothing, I can’t comment on his career numbers right now, and i haven’t crunched the 2008 numbers just lately, but not so long ago I was surprised to discover not only how marvelous Thames was with men on, but also how often his outs were either productive (advancing runners) or non-destructive (not a single GIDP when I last checked). I was disappointed to read Leyland’s recent comment casting Marcus as a bomb or strikeout guy. Not quite true, Jim.

  126. The team has turned the corner. The pitchers got there two weeks ago and now the hitters have caught up, as far as consistency goes. 4 and 2 on this trip is conservative.

  127. I’m willing to say that Jeff Larish is 100% going back to Toledo when Sheff comes back to Detroit. So, I doubt Thames will lose any time. Then again, Senor Hunches tends to pull out the wild cards from the uno deck to issue a “suck on this!” move every so often.

  128. Yeah, I thought Larish back to Toledo was a done deal a while back, since he was specifically up to replace Sheffield. What other moves are even possible, really?

  129. Just a few flies in the ointment. 2 GIDP for Polanco. Most unusual. Bases-loaded K for Magglio, Mr. 2 Outs himself. And it’s odd how the struggling Dodgers found their stroke so quickly against Seay. Following Bautista with either Seay or Jones seems like a contrast that would keep a team off balance. Maybe Seay isn’t a good 2 days in a row guy. Too bad Rapada isn’t still around, though I understand that move. Also, I wonder how often Inge follows a HR with a K the next AB.

    Nate must have been superb. I’ve said, damn the peripherals, he’s doomed to mediocrity, maybe they’ll trade him. Seems I was wrong, and I hope I continue to be wrong.

    Good to hear of some fine plays at 1B by Cabrera.

    Any word on Galarraga’s ankle? Maybe no news is good news.

  130. Mike R, keep crunching those numbers. You’re prediction last week has sent the team into a dizzying array of victories that even Jones could not put a stop to.

  131. Sean, I’m sure Inge follows a lot of things with K’s. He probably K’s just brushing his teeth in the morning.

    Edit: Ron:
    I gladly take credit for sparking this team with my outstanding prediction of Nate’s last start. 😉

  132. Mike, funny about Inge. But I was so wrong.

    Inge didn’t even homer and strike out in the same game until May 22 against Seattle. He’s only done that once more this year, last night against the Dodgers, and it was in fact the first time in 2008 he followed HR with K. His own HR, I mean.

    I had this theory that a HR made Inge swing for the fences next time up. That could still be, but it doesn’t show up as Ks. This year, he tends to hit the HRs in games where he doesn’t strike out. Hmmmm.

  133. Let me be the first to say it. San Francisco They Might Have Been Giants. Thank you.

    Also, I want to be the warm up act for Dave BW’s biblical pregame prophecy.

    Lincecum shall be emasculated, yea, castrated even. Lincecum the Eunuch shall flee from the field of play by inning third, and shall return to the safety of his clubhouse as a dog returns to his vomit, only to tremble in fear therein that he shall within a fortnight hear the Judgement Trump sound upon his final hour of horror in Detroit. Justin the Brave shall slew and smite down the impure and infidel, and the inhabitants of this new Sodom and Gomorrah shall be sore afraid, for verily their armies will be weak of glove and sickly of bat, scurrying as running pig dogs before the mighty AL swords that will hasten their departure from this vale of tears and so cast their souls into the Lake of Fire.

  134. Sean — I will save the forecasts for the important games and/or for when we are playing teams representing pure evil (i.e., the White Sox… also the Red Sox and Yankees, but we’re done with them this year). They’re more special that way 🙂

  135. Lincecum appears to get everyone out, and RHB actually have a slight edge overall against him, so I am hoping Leyland doesn’t go beyond Guillen and Granderson for lefty bats in the lieneup. In other words, no Larish. Then again, I don’t know what that leaves you for DH. Inge or Raburn? So maybe Larish will out there after all. Why not.

    Lincecum has done better on the road than at home, and all his HR are in San Francisco (all 3 of them). It will be interesting to see if the Tigers can solve him. I really think they can. Prospects for a Granderson leadoff HR are good, anyway. Might get tougher after that.

  136. Good point, Dave. It was more of an homage, anyway.

    But doesn’t Lincecum scare you? Our precious winning streak is on the line.

  137. Lincecum is indeed fearsome — 1.99 ERA for a STARTER, for crying out loud. But then, he does play primarily in the NL West, which might be an even worse division than ours. Obviously, I’m just looking for any silver lining here.

    Btw, despite the predictions of many a commentator, the AL is sill beating the NL pretty convincingly so far. 47-36 this year.

  138. And another thing (!) — who do the Giants think they are with this 10:15 start time nonsense? I’m aware they THINK their time zone is every bit as valid as the Eastern one, but… yeah, I’m going to say it… they are wrong.

  139. Oops, forgot. No DH for a while. Well, that should make guessing the lineup easier.

    CF Granderson
    2B Polanco
    3B Guillen
    RF Ordonez
    1B Cabrera
    SS Renteria
    LF Thames
    C Rodriguez
    P Verlander

    Say what you will, I’m sticking with my prediction for the #9 spot.

  140. We shall lean heavily upon our West Coast correspondents. I don’t think I can last for the NL West road games this time, myself.

    Coleman, get ready for PBP.

  141. Sean,

    No DH tonight – NL park. So Larish is a pinch hitter at best.

    Lincecum is the real deal, even if he’s pitching against the pitiful NL West. He makes my neck hurt watching him throw, but his peripherals are very good, and his batted ball stats don’t indicate any significant level of luck. He’s just flat-out good, and tonight will be a very tough test.

    The good news is that the Giants are 26th in the league in runs scored, and 19th in both OBP and SLG. So hopefully JV is on his game again and we would only need 2-3 runs to get a win.

  142. Mark, since you’ve seen Lincecum, what kind of pitcher is he, other than good? All I can ascertain so far is that he gets a lot of groundball outs and is basically home run-proof. Aside from all the strikeouts and the few walks.

    Time for his rude come-uppance, I say.

  143. Well, Lincecum hasn’t faced any offensive powerhouses lately (last 4 starts). And no one’s jumped on him all season. Fortunately, Verlander took care of that early, so now he’s golden.

  144. Sean,

    He’s nasty, hard thrower. Mid-90’s fastball and a very sharp curve. He has a changeup, but I can’t recall seeing it a lot or if it was any good. He’s a little guy, a lot like Roy Oswalt. Good control, good command, lots of busted bats and weak popups.

    I’ve only seen him a couple times but he can be dominant.

  145. Indeed — every pitcher needs that “oh that one game was just an anomaly” outing… and this shall be that game!

  146. Someone send Sean some raw tea bags to chew on so he can stay awake and keep track of these west coast games.

  147. Thanks, Ron, but tea is in the past. I’ve moved on to cocaine.

    Man, time is just dragging here at work. I’m feeling so edgy, restless, hyper, don’t know why. And yet I feel so alive.

  148. Thanks for the scouting report, Mark. This could be one of those games that’s supposed to be a pitching duel, but instead someone blows up. Hope it’s the other guy.

    Now I’m looking at the opposing bats. Who are these San Francisco Gothams, exactly? Rowand (were the Sox fans right?) and Molina seem to be the big stars.

    Maybe Vizquel could be persuaded to just stay at SS the whole game. Batting seems to do him no good. I think we could swing something.

  149. Went to both games this weekend (Sat/Sun) and finally got to see some good Tigers… Saturday was interesting with all the runs, but I’ll take the win and the impressive offense. Yesterday was very, very good until that 9th – a lot of the crowd had left but the many of us who were still there felt the imminent implosion until Jones finally got the third out. Scary 9th for sure, but a win is a win!

    Oh yes, all of us close by (I was sitting 8 rows up from the Tigers ‘pen) started cheering pretty wildly when Rodney and Zoom Zoom walked over to the bullpen from the dugout yesterday.

  150. I don’t know if MLB will black us out here in LA for a San Fran game or not we will see …..so I might be able to provide some “color” commentary if it is on

  151. Forget about catching the Indians or the White Sox. Or the winning streak. For the Tigers, this series is all about avenging the humiliating sweep in 2003. This, friends, is a grudge match. Don’t be surprised to see some tempers flare up.

    I hate to say it, but Rowand has Gil numbers, except maybe for the strikeouts. And he has scorched Verlander to the tune of .500. The haunting memory of that RBI double will provide extra motivation for Justin.

  152. I’m waiting for Cardinals revenge and I don’t want to see the managers buddying up.

  153. Absolutely, Ron. If the Tigers make it to the Series and have to play the Cardinals, Leyland must be fired. Seriously.

    Oh, how I wanted them to play the Mets in 2006. I really thought that was going to happen. They would have smoked the Mets. Then again… it really didn’t help them to have about a month off before the World Series. They should have stretched things out with the A’s a bit. Agreed to play a few exhibition games to fill the time after Maggs won it.

  154. Back to the Giants, they seem to have a pretty decent lineup as far as OPS+ goes, also a couple outfielders who can steal, and quite a few switch hitters available. And yet they’re near the bottom in runs scored in the NL.

    What do the following mean?:

    hmR/G

    rdR/G

  155. I would assume hmR/G is runs scored per home game and rdR/G is runs scored per road game.

  156. Thank you, Mark. I got hung up on the similarity of hmR to HR and couldn’t see the obvious.

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