2009 Season, Game Post

Game 2009.112: Tigers at Red Sox

161 Comments

PREGAME: The Tigers look for an elusive road win once again, this time it will be against Junichi Tazawa making his first big league start. Tazawa will take on Rick Porcello who has already had one rough start against the Red Sox this year.

Tazawa is a righty, but he fared much better against lefties in his minor league stint. He fans 25% of lefties and only 20% of righties. Righties tag him for a 16% line drive rate and lefties are only at 10.6%.

The Tigers will hope to get Porcello through 6 innings which will be no small feat. Although the last time Edwin Jackson lasted only 4 innings, Porcello came back and gave the team 8 innings of work.

Your Adam Everett-less lineup is:

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

Detroit vs. Boston – August 11, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday

161 thoughts on “Game 2009.112: Tigers at Red Sox”

  1. Considering Tazawa has fared well against Lefties, and considering their respective career numbers at Fenway, I’d bump up Ordonez in the order and move down Guillen. In fact I might even give him the day off.

  2. “Your Adam Everett-less lineup is:”

    Little touches like that are one of the enjoyable things about this blog…

  3. Pre Avila, Laird was hitting .228

    Post Avila, Laird is 4 for 11 (.363), with 3 doubles, 2 runs, and 1 Rbi.

  4. I’m glad Everett is on the bench. Leyland can use him to pinch hit in a key situation late in the game.

    1. Good thinking! Everett has never been on base in his career in Fenway Park (or had a sacrifice or RBI or anything). So CLEARLY he’s DUE…

  5. As long as Placido is going to keep hitting like Denard Span does vs us I kinda wish we was leadoff guy right now.

    And that way you also don’t have to worry about the Polly GIDP. Granderson’s lack of GIDP-ness is wasted every time he leads off…

      1. Well i listen to the radio on gameday living in Indiana. But yeah they said it should have benn easy double play. MLB Network is cool.

  8. Tazawa just did us a huge favor…I was about to say I REALLY wish Ordonez was ahead of Guillen in the order, since Cabrera and Guillen both seem to have Green-Monster Syndrome…

  10. Inge baby Inge!

    I’m liking this Tazawa kid. I don’t think Smoltz could of been any worse.

      1. Well, maybe only til the mustache is at full strength. I won’t be surprised if Binge goes on a tear once its grown in.

  15. I like Inge with bases loaded (OPS about 1.400)…I think he has an edge because he doesn’t seem to mind taking a few pitches even if it leaves him with two strikes…extra pressure on the hitter normally, but with bases loaded the pitcher has an extra burden to throw strikes

    1. Actually the reason Inge is so good with bases loaded is because he gets a steady diet of fastballs, pretty much the only pitch he can handle. When a pitcher has to groove pitches, Inge is Mike Schmidt. The rest of the time he’s Doug Schu.

  17. Is it just me, or do the Red Sox have a weird assortment of players this season? About four or five viable guys at first base … and then Nick Green at short.

    1. It seems like they could’ve packaged a few of those 1B/DH guys for the corpse of Omar Visquel.

      1. His corpse would probably be near the bottom of the MLB in range factor, a few percentage points above Renteria…

    2. Nick Green has a career OPS only a few points higher than Everett’s…Jason Bay was looking like an All-star but his stats now are almost identical with our humble all-star Inge…they had Youkilis playing left (badly) vs the Yankees…so I’m saying yeah.

      1. I guess I should amend my comment, assuming Casey Kotchman is an actual big league first sacker.

        1. They were confused and thought Sean Casey Kotchman was one guy; Sean graciously retired to help them sort out the confusion

  21. The Ugly Sock People’s announcers are trying to figure out the Tiger lineup…”their #3 hitter is…well, they really don’t have one do they?” (tell us about it)…and seem to be trying to figure out how if we don’t have a #3 hitter we leave a guy with 50+ RBI batting 2nd and the 2nd best RBI guy on the team batting 8th (actually normally 7th, but valid point, I’ve tried to figure that out myself).

  24. I kind of wish Zumaya was available to even things out a bit in the late innings, if you get my drift.

  28. I didn’t see Cabrera get hit by the pitch but now I see that he is being pinch-hit for… is he alright? And whats up with the Sox going after him?

    1. Are you being serious? I’m watching on gameday right now… please don’t mess with me.

      1. Porcello hit Youk in the back with a pitch, Youk charged the mound and threw his helmet at Porcello, Youk kept charging in, Porcello side step him, and body flipped Youk to the ground.

    1. Porcello hit Yuk, who charged the mound and threw his helmet at Porcello. Porcello threw him down. Benches cleared. Porcello may be tossed.

  37. Wow I got to see a few seconds of it…everybody was just standing there while Youkilis charged except Inge, good for him–Avila was being a rookie, the catcher’s gotta go after that

  39. There goes the series for the Tigers. Lambert has to pitch, which will kill the bullpen. On top of that, Armando is sick and may not pitch tomorrow.

  41. Porcello ejected. He was really pissed. I think he might of even spit at the ump.

    1. Glad he protected Miggy, but it sets up a terrible situation for the Tigers. … Plus the inevitable six-game suspension.

        1. I don’t think he deserves a suspension, but he’ll get one. Youklis is a solid player, but a macho jackass. He wanted a piece of Jackson yesterday.

  42. I officially LOVE Rick Porcello… (and I’m a dude that loves the Red Sox too). Seriously, he knocked down Youk! And let the Umps and the fans have it!!
    Whoooo!!!

  45. good gawd. This is why I hate the Red Sox so much. They are cheaters. I protest this game.

  47. Porcello’s mistake was trying to get even right away. You throw that pitch in the sixth inning on a 2-0 count, not to lead off the next inning.

    And let me get this straight: They take out our best player after hitting him twice, they plunk Inge twice, and the only guy they lose is the jerk who charged the mound and threw his helmet like a girl? Jeebus.

  49. This just got SOOO much more interesting.

    Francona ejected. Youk ejected. Porcello ejected.
    Who’s next?

    1. What sucks the most is that Cabrera got hit by pitch on the hand and had leave the game.

      This ain’t over.

  50. If this was the Tigers against the Mariners, Porcello wouldn’t have been ejected. But since it’s one of the league’s precious teams, the rules are different.

      1. If Porcello didn’t throw inside on Martinez in the first, maybe he has a case but I’d wager both benches had been warned at that point already.

    1. Youkilis does. Dude is clearly eight, what with the slamming his helmet to the ground after every out and all the petulant stomping around. Great player, but desperately needs several random punches to the stomach.

  58. Can someone watching the game determine if Cabrera is really hurt or taking him out was just a precaution?

  62. The way the umps handled this is such a joke. I hate the Red Sox. Oh well, can we win a slugfest?

  65. The way the umps handled this is such a joke. I hate the Red Sox. Oh well, can we win a slugfest?
    Oh, and I hate Fenway Park too…

  67. How much does Vicente Padilla cost again? If he’ll work for the (prorated) minimum, or a little over, I hope DD’s on the phone with his agent right now. I’d be glad to have him instead of Galarraga for the year.

    1. Yeah, a line drive thrown by Ryan Perry. This is one of the most ridiculous double standards I’ve ever seen in the decades I’ve followed baseball.

      1. V-Mart set the stage by throwing a fit about an inside pitch and acting like he might charge the mound, that put the umpires on “look out for intentional beanball” alert, like when a basketball coach gives the ump an earful and his player flops on the ground; it’s annoying but it helps you get the call later

  71. ml – thanks for the update. that’s what i wanted to hear.

    by the way…somewhere out there don zimmer must be smiling since he failed in his on field match with another red sox woos, pedro m.

  72. I guess I missed where they announced the strike zone had officially grown…Avila and Inge both got jobbed, even the Red Sox announcers commented how the strike zone “had become very generous”

    1. It was already pretty generous for Tazawa. The home plate ump was pinching Porcello. Pretty clear even in the first inning which team he likes better tonight.

  73. Stranded at Third Less Than Two Outs…

    Can we just officially change the name of this team?

    HORRIBLE

  76. By the way… Another runner stranded on third with less than 2 out. Just sayin’.

    EDIT: Hat tip, T Smith.

  79. Can we have these home runs charged to Porcello?

    On the upside, I think Brandon Inge has found his 2010 Home Run Derby Pitcher… Introducing Chris Lambert!!

  80. I’m usually fair to the umps……But throwing out Porcello basically gave the Sox the game.

    Also, the home plate ump is calling 2 inches off the plate for their Starter. Lambert isn’t getting the generous zone.

    Dollars to Donuts, Leyland finds a way to get ejected tonight and fined tomorrow.

  81. You know I have hated the Yankees my entire life but I think the events of tonight have changed it all. I can honestly say that the Red Sox have elevated their obnoxiousness beyond the Yankees.

    1. I can’t believe they tossed Porcello for just defending himself. But I have to admit I’m glad to see Kevin Youklis being tossed to the ground. I absolutely cannot stand Boston and him in particular. Now we have a rain delay. When are we going to beat this team?

  83. Idea for the starting pitcher tomorrow:

    Jacob Turner!! 🙂
    Just throw money at him and run him out there!

  84. I recommend you all look at the pitches this bum is calling strikes for the Red Sox and balls for the Tigers on gameday. Its absolutely ridiculous. Look at the difference between the Inge at-bat and the Lowell at-bat. Dumb.

    1. Watching on NESN on the Extra Innings package. Even the Eck is saying how generous the zone is for their pitcher. On their pitch tracker, the pitches are way outside the zone..They are not showing for their hitters.

  85. The number 1 star for this game is the Ump. This is BS. I would be using much worse language, but I know this isn’t the site for it. Beyond frustrating.

  90. Man Lambert sucks. Why is it we have generally played like dog crap versus the Yankees and Red Sox all year. Really would need to win this as tomorrow we have Galarraga vs. Beckett so unless somebody wants to sell their soul that is going to a tough win.

  91. Porcello handled Yuck quite well…it would be interesting some day to see someone charge Rodney, now that I know his other sports were boxing and karate…

  92. All you Red Sox are gonna pay. You are the ones who are the (explicative deleted). We’re gonna (explicative deleted) your mothers while you watch and cry like little (explicative deleted). Once we get to Boston and find those Red Sox (explicative deleted) who are making that Boston Blog, we’re gonna make ’em eat our (explicative deleted), then (explicative deleted) out our (explicative deleted), then eat their (explicative deleted) which is made up of our (explicative deleted) that we made ’em eat. Then you’re all you (explicative deleted) are next. Love, Tigers Fans

  93. I’m usually a lurker, but my hatred for the Red Sox is too much. Love the manliness shown by Youk there. It’s too bad Farnsworth isn’t still around to hit somebody in the ribs late and then stand there and challenge them to get their tail kicked.

  94. Sorry about the site crashing a couple times tonight. I tweaked some stuff so hopefully it speeds up a little.

    I switched to paginated comments also showing 50 comments at a time. We’ll see how that works. Let me know what you think from a usability standpoint and if it sucks I’ll switch it back.

      1. It makes the page shorter, meaning smaller, meaning a faster load time for the end user and less bandwidth for the server.

        1. Anything to make the comments load faster… it takes me quite some time for them to load typically.

          1. Every time a comment is added the page gets rebuilt. Not a problem with 10-15 comments but on games like tonight it actually cripples my server. I’m doing some different things with page caching as well to try and speed things up.

          2. its text… it can’t be THAT big. I really don’t like the pages. I like them all on one page. could it be a per-user preference?

          3. It actually can’t be a per user preference. I may switch back to a single page if everyone prefers it the other way and the server can handle it.

    2. Not loving it. Maybe if the comments were numbered chronologically instead of the numbering starting over from page to page, it would be less confusing. Or maybe it’s the medication I’m on.

  95. Meanwhile the entire baseball-loving world takes hope– perhaps tragedy can be avoided. Perhaps the Red Sox WILL be the wild card team, which all who love America are counting on…

  96. Will they call this game over early?
    I wouldn’t complain, seeing how it would save our bullpen…
    Even if it would mean we lose…

    1. No news at this point. Will likely go to the deadline (or maybe a day or so before) but I’d say the odds are about 85% they sign both. Bruce Fields’ kid is the more interesting case I think.

      1. Hope we sign ’em all except the Fields kid. I’m also a big U-M fan in all sports so it would be cool for Coach Maloney to get a talent like Fields for the next three years.

  99. Official Rain Delay Observation: Eck looking good, but maybe a TAD too much tanning booth time?

    And Big Papi–did you know he’s VERY popular? Which obviously kinda proves he’s done nothing wrong really.

    1. I was looking at some Red Sox forum sites and the fans were all ripping Eck… just because he defended Porcello. Pretty lame on the Sox fans part.

      1. Lame Sox fans? You don’t need all those words. Just say “Sox Fans”. Lame is implied.

        So you would just say, like, “pretty Sox fans of the Sox fans”.

  101. God willing….This could make for a very interesting ALSC or ALDS.

    I think McCarver and Buck’s head would explode.

  102. The mobile version obviously is unchanged, so I’ll check out paginated later. My hunch is that will make it much slower–unless it’s in reverse chronological. At any rate the actual posts only take a fraction of the loading time (which is what makes the mobile version quick).

  104. Actually that makes sense from the server side…and because of the nature of Game Posts–OMG! A fight! What’s happening?!–the posts are probably concentrated like little cluster bombs

    1. Exactly. The fight today and the Everett at-bat last night are what brought it to a halt and required a reboot.

  105. if the jays would give away rios to dump a huge contract, wouldn’t the nats want to do the same thing with dunn. i think i’d even settle for huff. i know dunn’s a bit of load but he can still fake it enough in the outfield can’ he? other than granderson’s occasional leadoff solo shot, we have no power from the left side.

  106. Why make something simple complicated…unless it’s a rain delay, then what the hay (poetic, no?)

    What about having paginated Game Posts and not otherwise? Is it possible to have them be separately handled entities?

  107. OK this post is 2 hours late, but I must quote one of my fave 80’s punk tunes – “tonight we fight, cause might makes right”. The Youkah isn’t getting a X-mas card from me this year.

  108. Chris in Dallas: I’ll go with:

    We’re knockin’ ’em down
    We don’t care where they fall
    Knockin’ ’em down in the city
    And we don’t care what your name is
    We’re only here to knock ’em down

  109. Numbers are confusing in general.

    Like what’s with Eleven and Twelve? And what did they do with Oneteen and Twoteen?

    1. I also don’t think it could’ve been more unprofessional. For God’s sake Leyland, the media has a job to do too. Very classy to eat your meal and not make eye contact with anyone or refuse to answer questions about the brawl. It reminded me of my 9-year old nephew when he is pouting.

Comments are closed.