2009 Season, Game Post

Game 120: Mariners at Tigers

149 Comments

PREGAME: Some lefty-on-lefty action today with Jarrod Washburn taking on his old team and the hyphenated one Ryan-Rowland-Smith (yeah, it’s an extra hyphen but I don’t have time for a proper pregame so instead you get lame punctuation jokes – sorry).

Seattle vs. Detroit – August 20, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

POSTGAME: The Tigers were wheels up for Oakland just before 7 p.m., but thanks to a Clete Thomas line drive to right they’ve been flying since Miguel Cabrera rounded home plate to head to first base and congratulate Thomas. A late rally from 4 runs down surely lifted the spirits of the team and the hopes of a fan base as the Tigers put a dramatic capper on a 4-2 homestand.

For a change today, it was the offense bailing out the starting pitching. Washburn has been extremely homer prone since coming to Detroit (his homer/flyball rate was unsustainably low with Seattle but c’mon with the ultra rapid regression) and with 4 more today it meant 3 bad outings out of 4.

Of course the Tigers did some thumping of their own and solo shots by Raburn and Inge cut a 4 run lead down to 2…but Washburn promptly gave those back. One of them on a near Pepsi-Porch shot by Russell Branyan. Coincidentally, I believe it was Branyan who hit one off the facing of the Porch back in his Cleveland days.

And then the rains came…but not before the Tigers loaded the bases in the 6th and chased Rowland-Smith. And then Jim Leyland started to really manage. He pinch hit Huff for Laird (who hit the ball too softly to second for an inning ending double play). And then Avila hit for Everett and came up with the big knock to close the gap to 6-5.

Fortunately Zach Miner (aka “the much maligned Zach Miner”) and Bobby Seay were perfect for 3 innings the giving the Tigers 3 more cracks at plating the tying run. They would have tied the score in the 8th were it not for some spectacular defense from Gutierrez and Wilson to rob Avila and Polanco on consecutive would-be run scoring plays.  But then there was the 9th.

A walk, a pop-out, some cursing, a double, a IBB, a sac fly with a collision, and a big knock and we had ourselves some walk-off fun.

  • Inge made a couple of nice plays going into the stands. It was against Seattle 2 years ago where he literally laid out going into the stands. I’m sure they are tired of seeing that.
  • The Tigers made a few loud outs today as well and were it not for some sterling defense maybe this one isn’t close. Cabera and Avila were both victimized by Gutierrez
  • Unlike most of Granderson’s days off, he actually got the whole day off…and he’ll get tomorrow off as well
  • Ryan Raburn (there is no y in Raburn) slotted nicely into the 3 spot with a homer and 2 singles.
  • With 2 walk-offs recently, I think it is time for some Clete’s Cougars:
Clete's Cougars like them some walk off
Clete's Cougars like them some walk off

149 thoughts on “Game 120: Mariners at Tigers”

  3. What?

    1. Placido Polanco, 2B
    2. Marcus Thames, DH
    3. Ryan Raburn, LF
    4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
    5. Magglio Ordonez, RF
    6. Brandon Inge, 3B
    7. Clete Thomas, CF
    8. Gerald Laird, C
    9. Adam Everett, SS

    I don’t like the look of this lineup at all. Thames, a contact hitter? Wow. Just wow.

    Ordonez and Thames should switch spots, and Inge and Thomas should switch spots.

    Other than that, you know you have a weak lineup when Ryan Raburn is slotted # 3

    1. On the other hand, do you need a contact hitter following a low OBP guy? And you have the advantage that Polanco can’t hit into a 1st inning DP; if he gets on, Thames is actually a very low GIDP threat (he strikes out instead), and following Cabrera and Ordonez with Inge makes sense for the same reason–Inge is generally a low GIDP threat. So this lineup definitely should be a low-GIDP lineup. Whether it accomplishes much else is another story. Well it does accomplish giving Grandy a rest. If we are shutout today but Grandy starts hitting again after a day or two off I think it’s worth it; we aren’t going to win much of anything if Grandy is shopping for golden sombreros.

    2. I threw up in my mouth a little bit when I saw that line-up.

      But what the hell, as long as Thames doesn’t post another 0-6 day maybe it will work.

    3. Actually, if you must play this group of players, I would have arranged it like this:

      1. Polanco
      2. Rayburn
      3. Ordonez
      4. Cabrera
      5. Thames
      6. Thomas
      7. Inge
      8. Laird
      9. Everett

      But hey, if Washburn can show up against his old team and pitch a shut-out into the eighth, I say we have one hell of a got shot at taking this one.

  4. Inge has 1 HR every 11 ABs vs lefties

    Inge/Thames vs LHP:

    Thames 76-PA 4-HR 10-RBI .262 .342 .554 .896
    Inge 112-PA 8-HR 15-RBI .280 .402 .602 1.004

    1. Its hard with Grandy and Inge b/c their defense is sooo good you don’t want to take them out of the lineup. The guys on the bench are mediocre defensively and mediocre offensively, so you are trading defense for not much.

  6. I actually have no problem with the lineup. This is a Leyland thing though, if he doesn’t bat Polanco 2nd he’ll put in a power bat. He’s done this before with Thames and he used to slide Monroe into that slot also. It ain’t that big of a deal.

    And there is no y in Raburn.

    1. I feel like we as fans have two (maybe three) choices given the situation “Bulge” has put us in.

      1) Continue spelling Raburn with a ‘y’ so that it makes phonetic sense.
      2) Demand that announcers modify their pronunciation to ‘ra-burn’ vs ‘ray-burn’ (phonetically).
      3) Just refer to him as the aforementioned “Bulge”.

      I hypocritically say this as somebody who’s last name ends in “ot”, with the “t” being silent.

  8. Losing a home series to Seattle is ill-affordable with the way the Tigers have been playing on the road. They better magically find some offense, or Chicago will finally pass us.

  9. Especially when Chicago faces Baltimore all weekend. On paper that’s a sweep for the Sox.

    1. Make that 7 pitches, 3 outs….This line-up is an absolute joke, and it shows, especially after last night….

      1. Don’t forget this is a get-away day and they are apparently in a hurry to get away.

  12. Washburn did not get the memo apparently: if a starter on the ’09 Tigers wants a win, they must hereby give up less than 3 runs in any given start, and preferably pitch to said results through the 8th. This is not a guarantee, simply an “odds in your favor” guideline.

    (Apologies: this is the best I could think of for the rally/unjinx comment.)

    1. looks like French has been lit up too (3 starts, 16.1 IP, 12 runs allowed, 8 earned) so I guess I don’t feel so bad

  18. We damn near had 4 consecutive home runs that inning. Cabrera with the 400+ Home Out and Magglio with a liner that almost bounced off the foul pole. Oh well, hopefully we just woke up the offense a bit.

    1. Laird’s last BB was Aug 4th.

      Then Everett pops out to shallow right – nothing new there. I would have had him sacrifice to get one of our best baserunners to 2nd.

      Edit: not that it mattered.

  20. Everett’s and Polanco’s at-bats were quite possibly the least productive I have ever seen…wow…

  22. Okay…Washburn has now given up 7 HRs since becoming a Tiger…..What a waste of minor league talent…

    1. Until this year, over the last 6 or 7 years anyway if not so much earlier in his career, Washburn has been the type of pitcher who can regularly get pummeled. He is frequently prone to the long ball. His early season success was likely a fluke and now the “real” Jarrod Washburn is showing up. Seattle got rid of him at a good time – lucky us.

  25. Good: Washburn has only given up 5 hits in 6 innings of work

    Bad: FOUR of them are home runs

  27. Oh jeez. Can we at least stay out of the double play and push at least one run across?

  28. Well, Kevin, that’s because he has only given up 5 hits of course. Pay no attention that each of these hits has the value of a single, sac bunt, single, sac fly….

  29. Who’s NOT my Tiger? Jarrod Washburn. One good start out of four since the trade deadline. Thanks for nothing Jarrod. I can’t kill DD on this one, the guy was pitching great for the Mariners prior to DD picking him up at the deadline. However, he has sucked as a Tiger. Way to show up Jarrod on a day where the team is coming off of a loss. Luke French could’ve given us one quality start out of four. I’m very disappointed in Washburn so far as a Tiger.

  30. Crap, they should have allowed Laird to bat, he could have ended the inning before the rain delay.

  31. Kevin, you still going to be in town this weekend? I’m still down to watch the Tigs on Sunday if you’re available. Maybe grab some cheap ribs and beer from Ellis Island again.

  33. whats the delay? rain?
    or is it just taking a long time to get this pitchers name on the scoreboard?

  35. Maybe if the rain delay is long enough Uncle Smokey will notice that Avila kid hanging out in the clubhouse…

    1. You now Ol’ Smoky won’t pinch hit Avila for Laird. If asked, he will mumble about how he can’t do that because if Avila gets hurt he has no catcher to play the rest of the game. I would also like to see Avila pinch hit, but I’m not going to hold my breath.

  36. Please hit Granderson for Laird. I know he’s 0 for 13, but with a right-hander on the hill, at least a ground ball scores a run and doesn’t end the inning…

  37. By the way: The TH matinee home game trend is in full effect today. The Tigers are 3-2 in TH matinee games at Comerica this year. Each of the three wins came on the heels of a Wednesday night win, each of the two TH matinee home losses came on the heels of a Wednesday night loss. The trend does not favor us today and we are complying in full on the wrong end of a 6-2 score. So in effect, this loss was sealed with last night’s loss (according to the trend).

  38. you have to pinch-hit Avila for Laird here.

    evenutally. when the game gets going again.

  40. Since 2001 when Washburn became a regular, he has had one good year. The rest are average or below (50-50). The first half of ’09 was probably a fluke. He benefits by the fact that he is LH and breathes, which for some reason many clubs consider a valuable attribute.

  45. I’m thinking Laird’s days in Detroit are numbered…or at least he’ll be Avila’s back-up in the very near future. Not only can Double A hit, but he can hit under pressure. What a stud.

  47. That was a heck of job by Avila. What does this guy have to do to get more starts.

    1. Agree that it’s a great start by Avila, but there’s no scouting report on him yet. Once pitchers start to figure him out a bit, he’ll go through a slump and have to adjust. Time will tell if he can make that adjustment. See Matt Joyce for details.

      I like how they are using him sparingly, put him up three in spots where he can do some real damage (i.e., with RISP) and an occassional start. That way the league doesn’t figure him out too quickly.

  49. The rain could turn out to be the MVP today. It seems getting Rowland-Smith out of there is what we needed. He apparently has Cy Young type stuff.

      1. Most likely no. I might do a single game or two if there are decent seats available, but with the new stadium that ight be kind of tough. Yourself?

        1. Probably just a game or two. It’s something to have two new stadiums in town – opening within six months of each other.

  55. Sigh, you don’t win many ball games when your #1 and #2 “hitters” never actually get a hit.

  57. We all need to use some Zen Master magic and visualize a walk off two run bomb here. Really focus on it people.

    1. Wow, guess not. Didn’t see the intentional walk coming.

      Edit: Nevermind, forgot about the open bag.

    1. You got your wish Mike in Ct……Inge gave us the fly ball even if it wasn’t a classic SAC fly. Good thing Carlos trucked the catcher because that was going to be a bang bang play at the plate. Gutierrez made a real nice throw, especially considering his momentum was taking him somewhat towards right field.

  65. Sometimes the runner on 3rd less than 2 out failures aren’t such a huge deal…others…but Inge is good at it at least

    1. The rally aardvark trumped Aardsma. I think there is a correlation there……………

  80. Clete beats the Mariners and the TH matinee jinx/trend at Comerica. In five previous TH afternoon tilts at Comerica this season, the Tigers have followed a Wednesday night loss with a TH afternoon loss, and a Wednesday night win with a TH afternoon win. Clete and the Tigers broke that trend with a huge comeback win. Now c’mon guys and let’s win a series in Oakland. We are soooooooo due to win a road series. Let’s hit well and pitch well in Oakland, how about that weird combination? Hopefully Jackson is on tomorrow night and the bats are too.

  82. Needed that. The potential for a 2-4 or even a 1-5 (shudder) road trip is fairly high.
    I tip my cap to the EM who did a good job pushing the personnel buttons today. A gutsy team effort to overcome the ugly Washburn exhibition.

  83. Looks like billfer has another great excuse to put that picture of Clete’s Cougars back up!!

      1. I feel like there is a story behind this photo that needs to be told. I mean how did Bilfer obtain this photo? I’m a 22 year old guy and I’d probably get glared down if I asked to take a picture of them or at least feel creepy doing it.

  84. the way the 8th ended on the circus catch makes the 9th even more special ..The Tigs could have easily folded to the Aardvark….especially as good as he has been against them
    Great team win…Lots of people came thru including the much maligned Zach Miner..Maybe Avila is the real deal…hope he plays enough so we can find out.
    I have tickets to the 3 games of the Angel series and almost ripped them up about an hour ago….

  85. Superb victory. I remember another (recent) year with such quality late-inning wins. Bring on the rest of the West.

    On a side note, some of you need to chill out with the incessant whining every time the Tigers fall behind in a game.

  86. Apparently Granderson is getting tomorrow off too, according to Leyland. Oakland is pitching a lefty.

    2. Good. Curtis needs some time off. He is struggling like its 2005 again, especially vs. the lefties. Hopefully he is ready to go Saturday in Oakland.

  89. I know Leyland would never do this, but I’d bat Granderson in the 9-spot the rest of the season (maybe just against lefties). I’d then move the rest of the order up. Polanco would leadoff the game, but the rest of the way it would be as if nothing was different. This would be almost as good as giving the team an extra out to work with in the 1st (since Granderson has been almost an automatic out as of late). Maybe taking a little pressure off him would get him on track.

    1. I think you need to use a larger statistical sample before filling out the lineup card for the rest of the season. Plus Grandy is still something like 4th on the team in OBP….so I think we don’t gain any outs with your suggestion.

      1. Actually he’s third, unless you are counting Avila. (And as much as I like him, the .500 OBP probably can’t keep up.)

        And Granderson was second until the past couple days when Ordonez finally passed him for that spot.

  91. What do you guys think of this. Everytime someone leaves a comment and spells Raburn with a superfluous y they have to Paypal me a buck.

      1. When he pops out to the catcher on the first pitch, he’s Rayburn.
        Two errors in the 9th and costs us the game? Rayburn.

        But when he blasts one over the right field fence, that’s my boy Ryan Raburn.

        I think that’s fair.

    3. I’m glad I’m not the only one who was bothered by this. Way to lay down the law, billfer! And to Matt down there, when he makes errors in the 9th and such, I don’t call him “Rayburn”, rather I call him names not appropriate for the family oriented nature of DTW. 😉

  93. Clete’s “Cougars” are a bit young to be “cougars” per se, they seem more like “wildcats” to me!

    Here’s hoping to see a lot more of them in the stretch, regardless of what we call ’em.

  94. I’m curious about this whole Raburn thing. With prospects, we generally see their name before we hear them pronounced. Admittedly, my view on this could be skewed (a lot) from the general public. But is there really anybody who, before hearing how it was pronounced, thought Raburn’s name was pronounced any other way than it is?

    Another question for those who need to add the ‘y’. Are you related to all the restaurant hostesses who insist on spelling my last name “Walliss” or “Wallis”?

  95. Re: Sheffield.

    If he does, in fact, take his stuff and go home, and the Mets suspend him, the Tigers are released from their obligation, right? From New York’s end, is there any difference between suspending him and releasing him? Would a handmade glued-macaroni-and-glitter card to the Wilpons help make their decision?

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