Game 108: Tigers at Indians

PREGAME: Anyone else still tired from last night? Hopefully Justin Verlander went home early and got a good night’s sleep. The Tigers used 10 innings worth of bullpen last night and need Verlander to be more efficient than his 110 pitch, 4 inning outing against the White Sox. The Tigers bullpen presumably consists of Freddy Dolsi, Joel Zumaya, and Clay Rapada who was activated with Todd Jones hitting the DL.

On the other side it will be Fausto Carmona. Carmona didn’t make it out of the 3rd before surrendering 10 baserunners to the Twins in his first start off the DL.

DET @ CLE, Thursday, July 31, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com

Game Time 12:05

POSTGAME: No offense to speak of. Verlander throwing oodles of pitches. Tigers pitchers combining for 6 walks and 2 HBPs. A pretty crappy end to the series.

This is 2 bad outings for Verlander in a row. Is this a blip, a bump? Are his mechanics bad? Is it a result of the heavy workload he’s carried this year? A bigger topic woth a deeper dive I suppose.

225 thoughts on “Game 108: Tigers at Indians”

  1. I saw Professor Farnsworth’s name being used earlier, so with Futurama and Todd Jones’ absence in mind, I’ll say:

    “Good news, everyone!”

    Presumably Fossum leaves when teary-eyed Farnsworth joins us tomorrow.

  2. Here’s the lineup, featuring plenty from the bench as expected:

    Granderson, CF
    Santiago, 2B
    Guillen, 3B
    Cabrera, 1B
    Joyce, RF
    Thames, DH
    Renteria, SS
    Raburn, LF
    Sardinha, C

  3. “Definitely a fan of the all work day afternoon game.”

    Only causes guilt and confusion for me. I can’t truly enjoy the game at work.

  4. Hey now. Word borrower.

    Besides, I’m still bitter over not receiving proper credit for “Pollygagging.”

  5. I always wonder what’s happening when Gameday pauses for a long time. Ump took one near the groin last night, where’d todays ump get it?

  6. I hope the Tigs knock Carmona on his fat amorous can. Yeah, that was an anagram. You wanna fight about it?

  7. “I love Curtis and would like to have his babies.’

    Ha. I’d settle for having his talent.

  8. Note: Rod believes that the umpire call that allowed Granderson to take 3rd was “the right move”

  9. “fat amorous can”

    Extra points for anagrams that can be used in a sentence more or less invisibly without necessarily seeming out of context. Bravo.

  10. I’m not sure that Griffey will have better production than the guys from whom he’s taking playing time. Weird trade.

  11. There may be some anatomy related issues on this end. But I hear anything can be done these days.

  12. It seems Griffey will play CF and Swisher and Konerko will platoon at 1B. Not all that bad. A rangeless CF and a pair of .220 hitters splitting AB’s. I don’t see how this makes them better.

  13. Grandy singled and reached second on a passed ball. At least that’s the word on the street.

  14. Verlander really needs to shut them down today. I expect the Cleveland players to finish the day with no names on the backs of their jerseys, as JV will have kicked their ass and took them.

  15. Ryan – incredibly, Grandy got to third on that PB. The batboy thought it was a foul ball and interfered with the ball in play. They sent Grandy back to second then after a long discussion let him take third.

  16. Does it make me a bad person becuase I wish for Ben Francisco to contract a combination of syphillis and herpes?

  17. We’ve got Lopez, Rapada and Zumaya available out of the pen today. JV needs to find a way to get us 7 innings.

  18. I consider it a success for JV if he throws 5 or less pitches in the at bat. Result of the at-bat doesn’t matter. Unfortunately, this doesn’t happen much.

  19. “I expect the Cleveland players to finish the day with no names on the backs of their jerseys, as JV will have kicked their ass and took them.”

    Even if Justin’s isn’t, stuff this good virtually assures a Tigers win. I’ve researched the game threads and will post stats on it soon.

  20. I guess this isn’t relevant, what with fat amorous can being a righty and all, but look at Curtis vs. portsiders this year.

    .314/.360/.429

    Allow that to sink in. World domination in imminent.

  21. just got back from the gym…how is Verlander’s pitch count already at 50 with only one walk issued?

  22. I was impressed recently to see how far ahead JV was compared with the rest of the Tigers starters in called strikes per BF. Now I see what I overlooked.

  23. Coming into today, here are your MLB leaders in # of pitches:

    Sabathia 2494
    Burnett 2427
    Cain 2414
    Meche 2394
    Halladay 2390
    Verlander 2378

    So he’d have to throw about 120 to take over the lead today.

  24. “Jones officially on the DL. Wonder how hurt he really is.”

    I don’t think he’s hurt, other than his feelings.

  25. Pitches per inning leaders:

    Dice-K 17.6
    Washburn 17.2
    Bannister 17.1
    Meche 17.0
    Verlander 17.0

  26. Pitches per plate appearance (min. 100 IP)

    Dice-K 4.04
    Meche 4.04
    Weaver 4.00
    Verlander 3.98

  27. How’s JV’s curve working today? Can’t follow Gameday closely enough to figure it out.

  28. “So he’d have to throw about 120 to take over the lead today.”

    Sorry, didn’t look up far enough to see all the posts on this.

    I think he throws 120 today, maybe.

  29. Apparently JV’s curve is working OK. 4 K’s through 3 IP generally indicates that. Unless the change-up is his outpitch today.

  30. Fat amorous can is gonna make a mistake to Joyce or Thmaes and pay for it.

  31. ‘Too bad we don’t have 9 Grandersons.”

    But you’re working on that, right, Ryan?

  32. Chris, probably because I like him so much, I seem doomed to misspell his name the same way 90% of the time. It’s really pathetic.

  33. Is it griping if I ask why it takes 8 pitches to strike out a .183 hitter? I don’t mean to gripe, but I find it somewhat alarming.

  34. “Thmaes, our new Macedonian superstar”

    Ha. Now I’ll never be able to spell it right.

  35. does anyone else think this “pitcher’s duel” will wind up 7-6 after the bullpen’s get involved?

  36. OMG I am still so shellshocked after yesterday I forgot the game started at noon. Where’s our offense???

  37. Had to go with the ham sandwich for luck today, Ron. Also, the more ham sandwiches we can take out of circulation, the more assured we are of getting Edgar back for another year. So it’s win-win.

  38. “after the bullpen’s get involved?”

    Speaking of which, what’s Cleveland got left for a pen today?

  39. jeeeeeeez. sizemore makes verlander pay for hitting, then walking, the 8 and 9 hitters.

  40. What is the deal with Verlander? Pitch selection on the lower tier Cleveland batters stunk.

    He should be burning it by them. πŸ™

  41. Really, Really, Really bad performance by Verlander. Walk the bottom two of the line-up, and give up a 3-run homer. And he did not have to play last night. Very poor performance.

  42. Dan and Jim are echoing the same thing, Andrew. Inexcusably bad pitching by Verlander.

  43. the bottom of lineups tend to kill us. i am referring specifically to the twins series where denard span and nick punto were 7 for 8.

    here’s hoping we can muster something off fausto and the cleveland pen.

  44. This is the exact opposite of what Verlander was supposed to do today. He apparently is hellbent on striking everyone out and running up his pitch count. And grooving pitches to guys with 26 HR. I mean 27.

  45. That’s OK, when the Tigers get down 8-1…that’s when they’re really dangerous.

  46. Renteria just isn’t the same hitter without the other whipping boys around him in the lineup…

  47. If I had told you that Verlander would have 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB and 9 K, would you have thought he’d have given up a 4-spot?

  48. I mean honestly, the Indians aren’t even a good hitting team with the injuries they have now. Our pitching is such a joke. LDfjslDfjILJF try walking the guy with 27 HRs next time instead of the 8 and 9 hitters moron.

  49. “If I had told you that Verlander would have 5 IP, 3 H, 2 BB and 9 K, would you have thought he’d have given up a 4-spot?”

    No, but I may have guessed the Tigers would be doing squat at the plate…

  50. And Santiago charges the mound, unable to control the fury of his anger, eyes glaring, hell-bent on hurting someone, anyone…

    Oh sorry, looks like he actually just jogged to 1st and took his base.

  51. Thank goodness Cleveland is so terrible. We can’t play like this against the D-Rays and expect to win.

    We’re getting so many gifts this series you’d think it was Christmas.

  52. Now would be a nice time for a Matt Joyce jimmy-jack, no?

    EDIT: Or that.

  53. Thanks to Cabrera (the Cleveland one) for booting home a run; actually I’m more interested in the previous play, Cabrera pops out to 2nd, Santiago advances to 3rd (?)

  54. Well, that seemed like a strange pitch for Marcus to bite on, but what do I know.

  55. I hate Sizemore. He just bothers me, Mr. Perfect, just the way everyone fawns over him. And when I went to a game in Cleveland and all these girls were wearing tshirts saying “Grady’s Ladies”. I think that made it worse. Ugh.

  56. Does it not give you a warm and fuzzy feeling inside to watch the incompetent play on the part of the Indians: bad fielding, inability to score with bases loaded and no outs (last night), a bad bullpen, etc………and you know suddenly: WE ARE NOT ALONE!

  57. “Cabrera pops out to 2nd, Santiago advances to 3rd (?)”

    Yeah, me too. Cool, though.

  58. Cabrera was called out by the infield fly rule, but Asdrubal didn’t catch the ball, which allowed Santiago to advance.

  59. I keep hearing how Thames is due, I would hate to see what his poor mother went through

  60. Maybe if a bunch of guys showed up wearing t-shirts that said Grad’s Lads…perhaps that would bring some unwanted attention to Mr. Sizemore (and he needs more size…hehe…hehe).

  61. Garko is a name you could learn to like, because I think he put up a good fight against Godzilla at some point

  62. “Send Thmaes back to Macedonia for 5 lbs. of posna sarma.”

    I think I’m in for a treat when I figure that one out.

  63. It would make Renteria’s life a lot easier if they would just go and institute the Infield Grounder rule.

  64. It is just sad to see Verlander flounder like this. It means we really have no one at all we can truly count on in the rotation. Is it too much to expect?

    ???

  65. Garko? Was he the salamander thing in that one movie?

    Sad times for Verlander, I see. Hope the bats come roaring back again.

  66. Well, this is all just peachy. Any pitcher I show support for craps the bed.

  67. I blame that run on bloodthirsty Chris in Dallas who clearly had Crapada all worked up with seething Sizemore hatred…

  68. ‘I guess I would be one of Maggs’ Hags!!!”

    No way, cib. I’d come up with something more flattering for you, Kathy, et al, if only I had some brain power and Magglio Ordonez was easier to find rhymes for.

    Coleman?

  69. “ah if we’re gonna lose, keep hitting Indins!’

    Wait till Farnsworth goes out there…they don’t call him the Sobbing Barber for nothing….

  70. Sometimes I think JV is a little bit ADD. Some games he seems to be somewhere else entirely, kind of forgetting what he’s supposed to be doing. I don’t get it.

    Does Armando G have any brothers??

  71. “It’s healthier than a ham sandwich.”

    Well played. If the Tigers took their cue from us, 2008 would look very different.

  72. Yeah, cib, but the Flying Galarragas are on tour this summer, unfortunately. Totally booked.

  73. Thames’ Ahems? No wait….Crapada’s Armada…hmmm
    Inge’s Bit– no wait I can’t say that can I…ummm…

  74. I repeat…it amazes me to see Cleveland continue to make this really bad plays. If the Tigers were doing this I would be having a stroke!

  75. “If the Tigers were doing this I would be having a stroke!”

    Ah, that explains a lot.

    j/k

  76. Cleveland looks like a rec league softball team, a couple of guys who mash but swing way to hard (bases loaded in the 12th, ahem) and throw the ball around the infield (the ones they don’t boot) with a complete disregard of the current situation

  77. Your backup catcher’s worse than our backup catcher, nyah nyah.

    Hey we don’t even have an earned run yet do we?

  78. I’m starting a petiition to stop hitting into double plays, who will sign?!

  79. I won’t sign, it will turn into one of those Rod Serling kinda deals where we don’t hit into any more double-plays all season…because we have no more base-runners, aaahhhh!!!!

  80. …That wasn’t so bad from C-Rap (Pronounced like “sea-wrap”).
    Crap?
    No, c-rap, c-rap
    But it looks like Crap..
    No there’s a dash there, you fool, call me c-rap
    OK calm down, sorry about that Crappo.
    NO…oh nevermind.

  81. Well, no double-plays that inning, were there? I blame that inning on the reckless “no double play” deal made by Joey the Strikeout in Portland.

  82. This would be a good time for a double play ball, with the slow Salamander at first and the plodding Raccoon at the plate.

  83. I assume Farnsworth isn’t with the team yet because he’s utilizing covered wagon transport to get to Cleveland

  84. Thames has been not good for a while now. Something has changed, or changed back.

  85. Don’t give up hope, we have quite the murderers’ row coming up in the 9th – Renteria, Raburn & Sardinha. Let’s see if Leyland gives Polanco and Inge another half-inning of valuable rest…

  86. New York to Cleveland can take quite a while…Greyhound isn’t what it used to be…

  87. How is it that we can make so many 8 and 9 hitters look so good? This is deplorable pitching – they nibble with the bad hitters because they assume they’ll swing at anything!

  88. Inge doesn’t need rest. Also: rest often involves pillows. It is too dangerous to continue resting Inge.

    Besides, Inge can sleep standing up with his eyes open and has been known to play tennis where he volleys, naps, wakes up, returns the shot, naps, etc for an entire set.

  89. One more hour before the deadline. I hope the Marlins don’t go through with this Manny Ramirez fiasco

  90. Coleman, are you saying Brandon Inge = Chuck Norris or is Brandon Inge > Chuck Norris

    πŸ˜‰

    PS this game is over folks.

  91. Horrible, horrible pitching this series.

    4 games, 29+ runs given up by Tigers pitching.

    I guess we have to be happy with the split.

  92. Brady Anderson, Brady Quinn, Tom Brady, Wayne Brady, and the entire Brady Bunch would like to shout out a big hello and good luck to Grady Sizemore:

    Grady’s Bradys says, GO Indians! yea!

  93. I would so watch a tv show that starred Inge as a police officer and martial arts expert, especially if he sang the theme like Norris did

  94. I don’t know about Chuck Norris, but I’ve looked at slow-motion, and sometimes when Inge swings you can’t even see his BAT MOVE

  95. Oh hell now I have to take back the nyah nyah about our backup catcher being better

  96. The good news is, the Rays have traded for Jason Bay just in time to get him into the lineup for the weekend’s series against Detroit.

    joy.

  97. “I would so watch a tv show that starred Inge as a police officer”

    Except the fire department is short staffed so they ask him to be a fireman a couple of days a week, and also he’s the backup coroner when Quincy is on vacation.

  98. LOL I went out for coffee (which turns out to have been a better choice than following the game) but thanks a bunch guys for the great posts.

  99. Well, the Tigers finish July at 13-13. Not exactly disastrous as it seemed but not exactly promising either. The pitching looks awful right now.

  100. Well, I don’t want to be too much of a downer after last night, but if you’re #1 starter is 8-11 with an ERA of 4.49 on August 1 your team ain’t making it to the playoffs.

  101. Tigers are not gonna make the playoffs…..and it’s easy to see why. The pitching is just horrible. The only guy who isn’t walking just about everyone is Bonderman. I’m really sick of it. Maybe Farnsworth will throw strikes on a consistent basis. Rodney sucks….Z is only marginally better (these 2 must be averaging a walk an inning). At least when Dye hit the HR, Jones was throwing strikes at the time. Hell, just today, Verlander walks 2 and then Sizemore cracks a 3-run tater. I do remember Farnsworth was pretty good with us a couple years back (at least he could throw strikes). I know this, too: Inge + Sardinha aren’t the answer behind the plate. Inge can’t hit more than .220 [that’s not gonna get it done, ever], and Sardinha….well, he’s just unimpressive. Tigers will be a .500 club this year, and that’s only ’cause of their offense. This is just one huge downer…. πŸ™

  102. The Tigers have 17 of their first 20 games on the road after the All-Star break. So far through the first 11 they are 7-4, which is not bad. If the Sox win tonight, we will have picked up a half game over that time.

    Six tough games remaining on this road “stretch”, a 4-2 finish is strongly encouraged and we really need 2 of 3 in Chicago. Then we can take care of business at home.

  103. Tuesday, I couldn’t agree more. Verlander will undoubtedly bounce back and go 9-0 the rest of the way a la Doyle Alexander. Sheff still has plenty of time to put up MVP numbers. If we move Fossum into the rotation and let him pitch on three days rest we will be totally fine. Farnsworth can provide eight out saves in the spirit of Mike Henneman.
    And mark my words, the addition of Ken Griffey Jr assures that the White Sox won’t win another game this season.
    Bring on the Angels!

  104. Are both teams going to sit together in the stands? I think it’s nice that Farnsie and Pudge would do this for their new teammates.

  105. So when is somebody going to teach this pitching staff to throw more strikes. Six more walks today.This is just getting ridiculous how many free passes they give out.

  106. Could Private Friday please chime in. We really, really need you at this most difficult juncture in our season.

  107. I think we should rest our starters for much of August. Bring up Timo and give Ordonez the month off. It’s clear this team is going to go 28-0 in September so why let Maggs wilt in the summer heat? And we should allow our opponents to have a softball league extra outfielder just to even things out. And on Sundays pitchers only! I think Todd Jones as center fielder is a capital idea. The key is keeping the guys from getting bored.

  108. It’s protocol to address the rank, Colonel, even though the Cap’n is just a scrub.

  109. A win would have been nice, but a split is good enough. Considering the remaining schedules, the resurgence of some Tiger hitters, the fortified bullpen, and certain proprietary measures, I think we can all relax. Cleveland just will not catch up to us this season.

  110. And yes, I’ve heard the “rear-admiral” cracks, you small-minded imbeciles. Have you heard the one about the court martial? How it’s no laughing matter? Just try me, I swear…and Cap’n, look lively, I want those crunchberries, posthaste!

  111. “β€œDetroit Lions: Do You Believe in Now?””

    They said it couldn’t be done…a slogan worse than “We Got Next”

    Take that, unbelievers!

    Here you go, jungle felines, free advice: a little edit, and you’ve got this for a slogan:

    Detroit Lions: Do You Believe ___ Now?

    What goes in the blank can change. I’m thinking ticket drawings at halftime; winning fan gets to fill in the blank, etc. See where I’m going with this?

  112. They should have borrowed from Verizon:

    “Detroit Lions: Can you hear me now?”

  113. Jason Bay has in fact been traded to the Red Sox for MannyBManny via the Dodgers.

  114. BTW, I like how you guys aren’t taking this loss too seriously. That’s why I like this site most of the time.

  115. Our pitching is a mess after this series, and the Rays are a good offensive club at home. We got some gift runs in a big way to win yesterday (and pull closer today). We always seem to play ugly games in Cleveland, but 2 wins are 2 wins.

    We’ll need to be a lot sharper to win in Tampa.

  116. Coleman I always thought the lions new slogan was alluding to the idea that we may finally get rid of Matt Millen. I think its all one giant practical joke where the question its really asking is: Do you think we’ll fire him now?

  117. Rear Admiral Julius von Thursday, Cap’n has informed us that after a thorough check of the galley and the manifest, the ship has on board the following:Peanut Butter Crunch, Punch Crunch, Vanilla Crunch, Cinnamon Crunch, Choco Crunch, Christmas Crunch and of course Galactic Crunch. Must I remind you again that LaFoote absconded with all of our Crunchberries when we went ashore in St. Louis in Oct. of 2006.

  118. “Must I remind you again that LaFoote absconded with all of our Crunchberries when we went ashore in St. Louis in Oct. of 2006”

    Then why do I smell crunchberries? And the crunch do hear, whence their sweet name? All hands! Convey “ron” (if that’s even his real name) to the brig forthwith!

  119. Anson:

    My original thought was more satisfying, but I thought the audience participation aspect would have a healthy cathartic effect. On the other hand, a vast number would probably arrive at something similar to:

    “Detroit Lions: Do You Believe this @##!!”

  120. Oh, all right. We were saving the Crunchberries for the World Series celebration. Cap’n will be right up with em’ sir.

  121. “Oh, all right. We were saving the Crunchberries for the World Series celebration”

    Good god man! What a simpleton y’are. Have you not heretofore had the Series of the World experience? Nor espied the mountains of crunchberries there for the taking? Aye, and gratis, every damn one of ’em! And the victors! Why they have their fill of the tasty berries at every dawn the rest of their live-long days! And served by winsome lasses I hear tell…

    Saving the crunchberries for the world series, what a jackanapes….

  122. Sir, it was all Private Friday’s idea. I swear on every berry that those winsome lasses ever laid upon the Victor’s lips.

  123. You seem a decent sort so I’ll leave you with these words of wisdom in lieu of flogging: it is not a healthful thing to be entangled with privates.

  124. Man imagine if what happened in Minnesota today happened in Detroit. We’d never hear the end of it. In an attempt to make it stick, I propose we come up with a good Malice at the Palacey name. I’ll start the bidding at Pandomeonium.

  125. Stephan, just between you and I, the Rear Admiral commands a ship of fools, I being one myself. As the old man sits behind the wheel, delirious, bloated by his insatiable appetite for crunchberries, we flounder at sea for a score plus four. His promises never coming to fruition, mutiny is in the air. your calm and incisive nature would be welcome. Come aboard, but please, watch your back, er, step.

  126. Wow, I don’t know if ron had that conversation with himself or if the Admiral really exists, but that was some funny stuff.

    Cheerio, my good man, cheerio πŸ™‚

  127. Blame it on that JOKER from Illinois. He sucks the weak ( like me ) into his vortex of craziness. He’s a dangerous man.

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