2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.015: Tigers at Angels

132 Comments

PREGAME: It’s the rubber match! Again, the exclamation point isn’t necessary but it worked in the 3rd game against the Mariners so I figured I’d stick with it. Is anyone else tired? Back to back nights of late games have left me exhausted, but I’m a gamer and the Tigers head somewhat East after the game to reasonable start times.

Edwin Jackson takes the mound for Detroit. He’s been efficient in his first few starts. The Angels have forced Tigers starters to throw a ton of pitches in the first 2 games. What will happen tonight?

The Angels send out rookie Matt Palmer who was recently called up to bolster the decimated pitching staff. He walked 13 in 12.2 innings for the Giants last year. The Angels hope he can do a little better tonight and perhaps give the bullpen a break.

Your Tigers lineup is:

  1. Granderson, CF
  2. Polanco, 2B
  3. Ordonez, RF
  4. Cabrera, 1B
  5. Guillen, DH
  6. Inge, 3B
  7. Anderson, LF
  8. Treanor, C
  9. Everett, SS

Game Time 10:05

Detroit vs. LA Angels – April 23, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

132 thoughts on “Game 2009.015: Tigers at Angels”

  1. I missed my early class this morning because of the late game, so I can’t wait until we stop playing all these late games.

  2. I see Leyland is using La Russa’s famous “pitcher batting 8th” strategy with Treanor.

  4. These late games are just the worst when you have to get up at 04:00. Dozed off before the slugfest last night unfortunately.

  5. I’ve crashed at midnight both nights. I’m gonna try and make it tonight but I usually start nodding off around 11:30pm.

    Treanor always scares me, he is a double play machine.

  6. I love the late start times, I am just getting my 2nd wind when it starts. And you only get 8 or 10 of them a year, gotta appreciate them.

  7. Beat as well here, Got a huge break late in the day and my 7:00 meeting was moved to 9:00 and its 15 mins from my house. Lovin it and needed it if I had a prayer of watching the game and making the meeting.

    I see Inge is in the line up so no surprise visit in Detroit to David to help cram for the Chemistry final on Friday ;)…………. sorry dude. You’ll have to hope Marcus can help you after his therapy. I graduated in ’83 and dont miss one bit of that hassle. Hope you do well on the exams.

  8. Treanor’s average is .273.

    No, not batting average, don’t be silly. That’s his GIDP AVERAGE…yes, 3 GIDP in 11 AB. Along with 4 K. Maybe he can at least get where he’s striking out with guys on base and hitting those ground ball outs when there’s nobody on, I’ll take that for a start…

    (In case you were wondering how many of those 11 AB were potential DP situations–4. So I’m sorta selling him short, he’s really at .750. On the 19th with Santiago on first and one out he hit a pop fly to 2nd. To celebrate, Santiago proceeded to get thrown out trying to steal 2nd).

    So Nick S: um, yeah double play machine sounds like a fair description…

  9. I don’t mind the late starts for having to stay up, I’m up that late anyways. I just hate having to wait an extra three hours to start.

  11. It would be nice is Edwin is on and we light up Palmer. So far the Edwin, Anderson and Laird trades are all working out for the Tigers. Lets hope they all three keep it up.

  12. Well, for the sleepy, Ed-Jack works fast at least. I feel fairly confident about tonight with him on the mound, and with the Billfer-exclamation-point charm in effect.

  13. Definitely feeling the effects of late night baseball the last couple nights… Starting my summer job tomorrow, do I dare stay up for the whole game? There’s is a high probability of it happening.

  14. I’m usually not to bed until a couple hours after the game is over. Most likely the amphetamines, but what the hell. They work.

  15. FYI: Tigers got that Soul Possession thing going with First Place in the Central. But they gots to win to keep it…

  16. Laird was a free agent signing, FWIW.

    And did Rod just proclaim that Cabrera may be the best right-handed bat in the game? Does he know of a guy named Pujols?

  17. We traded for Laird, David. I can’t remember who we sent off the top of my head. Treanor was the FA.

  23. Saying Cabrera is the best right handed hitter in the game is a point that you can definitely defend. Pujols is not far and away better than Cabrera.

  24. Patience boys! We need patience at the plate. This guy is going to be all over the place, make him pitch!

  26. I see the Tigers have already posted the All Star online ballot link. I’m off to get my votes in for Everett at SS.

  30. From Wiki (sometimes correct)
    Treanor was released by the Florida Marlins in order to make room on the team’s 40-man roster for the Rule 5 Draft on December 11, 2008.

    On December 18, 2008, Treanor signed with the Detroit Tigers

  35. Ha! I don’t think a belt-high 89 mph fastball to Inge on a 3-2 was probably the best idea, in retrospect…(heh heh).

  36. Is this Inge fella the same one the Tigers had last year? Looks like him in the face, but … hmmm… I, Robot?

  37. Good Lord though, how is it that Treanor steps up for his 1st AB with a runner at 1st…

  40. Treanor seems to be having problems catching up with those 87 mph heaters. Edit: But he advances Anderson. Well done.

  43. on a different note…how’s bout them Wings, eh?

    way to go anderson! way to make sure no treanor DP! head’s up ball that was!

  44. @Kevin in Austin: um, ok…but that doesn’t give us the first clue what sort of tree he is…

  45. Bummer it was pretty much right at him. Anything deeper in the hole he was there. Nice to see that kind of speed

  47. Speaking of DPs I think Guillen’s 5th GIDP today makes him Numero Uno in MLB. But hey, like it’s HIS fault Cabrera keeps getting on base in front of him…..

  48. They better put Curtis and Brandon under blankets on the way to KC. Those two guys are looking good.

  52. @Steve: I no more want to contemplate Curtis and Brandon together under a blanket on the trip to KC, than I do a Fergie-Jesus-hybrid-man…

  53. Is gameday wacky or did Ed-Jack really just buzz a 94 mph fastball under that dude’s chin?

  55. Wow – over 50 comments before the end of the 2nd. Good turnout tonight.

    I’m loving the late starts here on Mountain Time.

  56. @Coleman I was never thinking one blanket, I actually retyped my post so the single blanket potential would not come into play.

    two men, two blankets, two chairs is what I had in mind.

    Treanor can go on the wing.. maybe he will cool off the dp swing. Carlos gets a seat on the inside because he actually has a hit this year.

  58. A great backhanded stab by Everett to get Figgins. And Inge just missed another web gem.

  59. At least Cabrera let Carlos of the GIDP hook for a change.

    Just for fun: Inge’s 6th HR, 2008: June 15. At which point he had 23 RBI, 19 BB and 41K…the reason I mention that is maybe the most amazing thing so far (we ARE talking Inge after all), is that he currently has 9 BB and ONLY 8 K!! As in more walks than stikeouts, and almost as many HR as strikeouts…

  62. As for the not-so-good-news: it’s looking like we’re gonna need some real bullpen tonight….

  63. I haven’t seen anyone else point it out yet, so I’ll just mention that Zumaya is returning this Saturday or Sunday. Knock on wood.

  72. Palmer’s getting at least six inches off the plate outside. I swear, MLB just plucks these umpires out of softball games across the street.

  73. And this is what happens when we don’t jump on their pitcher…We start losing games…

  74. Hey wait wasn’t Detroit supposed to get a turn batting too, I think Leyland should throw down that challenge flag thing…

  76. We seem to be having an awful lot of trouble with that 87 mph “fastball” thing this guy is throwing (‘cept for Binge).

  77. Is that last person to hit the gap Ramon Santiago? I missed last nights game, so maybe it happened then.

  78. OK Palmer, time for the belt-high 87 mph fastball again, I bet he can’t hit it this time, you should try and see…

  82. Errors and earthquakes… This one just doesn’t fill like one we are going to win. Then again I went to bed last night convinced we would lose too.

  83. And I’m done…..Stupid throw Inge….Stupid stupid stupid…..I’ll wait for the recap in the morning…. I hope a miracle happens, but I’m guessing not. 3 errors….and no offense….ugh…

  84. wow…well…2006 world series tigers showed up tonight

    close game then BOOM! ERRORS

  87. Man, if gameday is any indicator Palmer isn’t even hitting the same zip code as the strike zone

  97. So angry.

    I know we pay them to hit, but they come into ABs where the pitcher hasn’t been throwing strikes and swing at balls out of the zone. Soooo doesn’t help.

  101. “Saying Cabrera is the best right handed hitter in the game is a point that you can definitely defend. Pujols is not far and away better than Cabrera.”

    Seriously, get out of here.

  106. Well that great left side defense didn’t do much fr Jackson tonight. Inge is brutal; hurrying everything, trying to make a Brooks Robinson play every time. One could argue he should have 4 errors. So now he’s turned into what, Harmon Killebrew? Hits a ton but can’t catch the ball?

    And then Everett just killed them.

    I thouight Jackson looked pretty good, The only two walks he issued were, unfortunately, with the bases loaded.

    Bonine is strictly replacement level filler. Don’t be too upset by that Figgins bunt play. I watch the Angels a lot and he drives everybody crazy.

    Anybody dialed in that saw Willis and/or Zumaya pitch? Or Bonderman throw? We need them back. And George Kell to play third too.

  108. wow why is Bonine on the team again and Rincon too?

    man

    now Lyon… forget it

  112. hey guys

    this game looks to be a dud, thankfully saw a bit of it.

    I’m starting to give up on Everett…not yet, I’ll hold out for another week or 2…but he hasn’t looked good at all this season with the mitt.

    Inge goes deep again WTF. Granted it is off of their 7th or 8th starter…

    And Cabby shoulda picked his throw. if anything he HAS TO BLOCK THAT BALL, he just kinda stuck his glove out and went. ah can’t get it oh well.

  115. I “like” losses where I can single out one or two players. This, on the other hand, is an all-around hideous game.

  116. Pen is gonna let us down a lot this year, get used to it. Even if Inge and Everett make the plays, we’re still down by one or two. Gonna be a looooooong season.

    I thought Jackson looked good for the most part though. I think 10-15 wins out of him is doable.

  118. Tim D: Harmon Killebrew was awesome. Cool name, and wider than he was tall. Can you imagine that guy with a few, um, dietary supplements?

  119. from the stadium….no series wins since 1970 continues!!!!!
    we have all seen this about 20-30 times in the past two years..a very uninspiring effort to try and win a game
    Inge and Everett didn’t make one good play until it was 10-5 Inge should of had the 3rd error but home town scoring gave Mathews a hit on the first one
    Didn’t even look like Palonco Ordonez -Cabrerra -Guillen even wanted to be there. Ordonez did make one nice running catch and it wore him out for the rest of the game
    . Granderson and Anderson played very hard and looked out of place

  120. 4 errors this game and a bullpen meltdown with a lack of innings from the starter. Sounds like last season, I hope it was only a bad series and that they will be back on their game tonight.

  121. For the left side of our infield to be considered to be very good defensive players it has not shown that so far. Inge is tied for 1st in Errors and Everett is tied for 5th. Inge has made some great plays but he has made some huge errors that seem to always be costly(Like the game in Seattle). Can’t complain about his stick though he has been hitting very well. If Everett keeps it up anybody think we give Danny Worth a shot he has been playing very well at Toledo.

  122. Sounds like this team needs a few more -ndersons. Any decent Sandersons rolling around pro baseball? How about Wandersons? Zandersons? Xandersons? I’m not picky.

  123. A couple thoughts:

    The Tigers are currently 8-7 and in a three-way tie for first in their division. That’s a far, far better start than last year, no? There have been a couple meltdowns this year, but April baseball is sorta like that. It just is.

    There’s a lot to like on this team, but three guys in particular puzzle me: Verlander’s fits of frenzy, Inge’s errors, and Magglio’s singles streak. I trust these problems will sort themselves out.

    Treanor’s bat is brutal. But if you’re looking for hitting from your backup catcher, you’re looking in the wrong place. Makes one appreciate Vance Wilson a bit, doesn’t it? But Treanor’s been a good backstop.

    Zumaya and Bonderman (if ever truly healthy) will improve this team, perhaps drastically.

    Just some thoughts to cheer you after a less-than-cheery loss.

  124. I guess that was a frustrating series. For whatever reason, the Tigers can’t play in that ballpark. The one that always sticks out in my mind is the game where Maggs hit a go-ahead HR off of K-Rod in the 9th, only to have Todd Jones blow it in the bottom half of the frame. Stuff like that always seems to happen when they play at the Rally Monkey Mansion. Oh well. On to Kansas City and the battle for first place. Maybe they can break up Greinke’s assault on Orel Hersheiser.

  125. scotsw: Ricky Henderson says he can still play…as far as Inge I can only conclude that the same force that causes opponents to be unable to field his ground balls is also affecting his own play, and Everett’s when he ventures too near to 3rd base…on the bright side, all the guys who were saying fielding’s overrated and the Tigers needed to get rid of Inge and get a 3rd baseman who could hit–well there you go!

  126. I’d say Inge’s errors will be offset by the plays that he and only he can make. At the end of the day, he’ll post very nice defensive metrics except for fielding percentage. And if he hits 30 HR, that’s just freaking gravy.

  127. His throw last night should have been an error on Cabrera. F% is a waste of time.

    I’d much rather take the guy who gets to 1000 balls and makes 950 plays (or heck even 900) vs a guy who only gets to 200 and makes 199.

    Tim he caught that ball….not exactly sure what point you were trying to prove.

    What should we even expect out of Zoom? Would it be TOO MUCH to ask him to throw in the k-zone and mix his pitches?

  128. When you watch Everett live it seems like he plays too far up the middle . The problem isn’t balls going up the middle which he gets to, it is balls between him an Inge that he actually gets to but doesn’t have the arm anymore to throw out that batter. Inge has contributed a lot this year offensively but sometimes his “I can get anyone out any time ” hurts the team…he tried to make a web gem on the ball by a slow running catcher with runners on second and third ,no outs. He had time to get up and throw, but didn’t . When that ball skipped past Cabrerra. Matthis was still about 5 feet from the base.

  129. I would expect that Z is a 319% upgrade over Bonine. So there’s that. If he throws strikes and mixes in the occasional curveball, we’ve seen what the results can be.

  130. Inge may end up with 30 HR and about 65 RBI if Carlos doesn’t break out of his GIDP spell…

  131. @Chris ..I think you are right . They just can’t play at that field for many reasons.
    The thing that bothered me last night the most was at 6:54 in a game starting at 7:05 there were only three Tigers on the field. Jackson and Traynor were in the Pen and Granderson was out stretching with a trainer. The entire Angel team was out throwing or running or stretching at about 6:45. Now maybe this is nothing , but it was like my gosh 10 minutes before a game and no one is out there????? Cabrerra never did come out until 7:03…I don’t know ..I don’t get to see them at home so maybe that is just the way they prepare.But it bothered me

  132. That’s baseball. If it were easy, everyone would be doing it. There are 30 MLB teams and over 720 MLB players, but only one team and only a few players get me excited to watch the game. Thankyou Tigers.

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