PREGAME: Woo hoo. Saturday afternoon baseball on Fox. There was a time when this match-up would have been about the Tigers. Not so much anymore.
Justin Verlander takes the mound for the Tigers. He’s coming off the shortest outing of his career, which actually bodes well for him pitching decent today since he was well below 110 pitches last time out. Plus, he’s fared okay against the Twins this year, going 7 innings in each of the 3 starts against.
But Scott Baker has done prett good against the Tigers as well.
DET @ MIN, Saturday, September 6, 2008 Game Preview – Baseball-Reference.com
Game Time 3:55
POSTGAME: I don’t know if it makes anyone feel better, but the Tigers aren’t alone in their bullpen woes. The Twins bullpen has been killing them for the last week or so and the Tigers took advantage. Oddly enough, the Tigers bullpen did a nice job. Clay Rapada cleaned up Verlander’s mess, Farnsworth had an uneventful inning, and then Fernando Rodney made things interesting.
On Rodney’s outing, he did manage to throw 17 of his 23 pitches for strikes. He did walk Punto, but that was actually a pretty nice at-bat. He allowed a hit on an 0-2 slider, which might be why he doesn’t throw it that often. But blowing away Joe Mauer was damn impressive. That just doesn’t happen. And then the Tigers got some good fortune when Justin Morneau roped a ball, but right at Polanco.
Offensively it was all about Granderson, Ordonez, and Cabrera again. In case anyone hadn’t noticed, Granderson is now 7th in the AL in OPS and this season is probably better than last season, at least from an offensive standpoint.
Oh mirror mirror on the wall . . . who today will have the most taken strikes of all . . . be it Inge, Thames, Grandy or Gary . . . the outcome will be undoubtedly scary . . . For hustle, they shan’t . . . and last place, they may rank . . . but at least they’ll be laughing all the way to the bank . . . And as the losses do mount . . . and the excuses get thinner . . . at post game we at least will see Skip eat his dinner!
Not bad Mark. Could’ve added something about Raburn 🙂
Mark , love it. I personally would have changed the an in shant to an i and rank to fit but then I would have to change… eh, forget it. I’m messing with perfection.
Grandy out to an early lead in the taken strikes derby with 2 and a quarter.
Thanks Amanda and Ron. Perfection? Probably not, and perhaps I am being to harsh on them . . . after all there are plenty of, ahh, umm, plenty of games left, ummm . . . wait, omg, it’s September . . .
Are there any actual witnesses to this game? I was just listening on the radio while doing some house work, and it sounded like they ran a hit and run with Larish trying to steal second and B. Inge playing the role of “guy who hits the ball.” As if.
Can anyone confirm this idiocy? And the radio guys said something like, “You really can’t blame Leyland for trying to get something going.”
I’m watching it now after hearing the first hour on radio. These Fox guys are predictably terrible. Also, there’s not a squirrel to be seen in the entire broadcast.
Inge’s new road mask is hilarious. It’s like he’s a real Tiger! ROAR!
haha Dave..ya the catchers mask..SCARY! Perhaps trying a new intimidation tactic. So far not working.
Awesome pickoff by Rapada!
btw, I don’t know how anyone hits this guy.
Woot! Ordonez- 2 run homer 6-4 Tigers now
Nice rally here in the 8th. Ordonez and Granderson with 2-run homers. Apparently the Twins bullpen has turned all Detroit-style!
Whoever turned the channel is missin a good one!
I think Baker is going to cry.
Wonderful being on the right side of a bullpen meltdown for once.
I hate to be the pessimist . . . but should we start taking bets on who will blow the save in the 9th? I personally think ole Fernando has a couple more left in him between now and the 28th.
“I hate to be the pessimist . . . ”
Liar.
Mark is now writing his 9th inning meltdown poem.
Lookin’ good–and in the Humpdome.
The Professor sent the class home early!
Someday, somewhere, Carlos Gomez will find a pitch he doesn’t like.
Hey Fox broadcasters, maybe it’s not so much that the Twins have such great fundamentals as the fact that they make a lot of contact and every damn ball in play bounces about a million feet on the artificial surface
Yikes.
Whoa did Rodney ever just barely get out of that jam. Tigers win!!
Yikes again. Every once in a while, they do show some spunk.
Nice come from behind win in a game they looked like they never had a chance in. The Tigers are in desperate need of a closer.
Holy Mother of God. I picked the game up when Punto had walked to load the bases with 1 out. Mauer and Morneau due up. Doom. DOOM!
Fernando Rodney just made the 2009 Opening Day roster. Maybe not as closer, but as something. Barring injury.
Rodneycoaster Tremens. That/this was the most dramatic victory in 2008 to date, for my money. At least against a team it matters more to beat. Hallelujah, the Tigers aren’t dead yet.
Dave BW: “Inge’s new road mask is hilarious. It’s like he’s a real Tiger! ROAR!” and “Awesome pickoff by Rapada!”
OK, tell me you don’t see the connection here…runner takes a big lead…looks toward home..man, that is a weird frickin’ catcher’s mask–oh @@#!!*
wow I happily accidentally stumbled upon the game today, I was not expecting Tigers/Twins to be the saturday game in Portland Oregon! But I’m glad it was!
Not that I’m rooting for the Twins by any means but I would really rather see them win the division than the W Sux. I must say that the Twins have some quality announcers (not the Fox guys today) they are ok to listen to unlike the W Sux idiots.
Ham sandwich.
I went to this one. You should have felt the wind blowing out in the bottom of the ninth. I got cold sitting in left center. It was loud in the dome last night and there was alot of booing of the Twins bullpen.