2011 Season, Game Post

Game 2011.14: Tigers at Athletics

66 Comments

Tonight in Oakland the Tigers have the chance to get to .500 for the first time this season, and in doing so get Jim Leyland his 1,500th career win.

Taking the mound for Detroit will be Rick Porcello, who hopefully will get a night as chilly as last night (no, really, it makes sinkers sink more).

The A’s will look for some relief from their strike-zone-aphobia from last night with Brandon McCarthy, who rarely walks batters (only 1 BB so far this season in 2 starts).

By the way, for all of the fretting about the Tigers not being patient enough at the plate last night, it was interesting to see this from the other perspective:  Gonzalez felt quite the opposite…

“These guys were being very patient,” Gonzalez said. “They’d give you one of these first-pitch swings and miss them, and all of a sudden they wait the next four or five pitches. It’s impressive. It was like a chess game. Every pitch was there but like a little hair off. Again, you live and you learn.” SF Chronicle

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Rick Porcello, who has his sinkerball working, gets a couple of double-play balls, and leads Detroit to the 4th straight  in another low-scoring affair.

Today’s What-Rhymes-with-Leadoff? Lineup:

  1. Will Rhymes 2B
  2. Ryan Raburn LF
  3. Brennan Boesch RF
  4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
  5. Victor Martinez DH
  6. Don Kelly CF
  7. Brandon Inge 3B
  8. Alex Avila C
  9. Ramon Santiago SS

(Also known as today’s Because-They-Bat-Left-Handed-That’s-Why Lineup).

66 thoughts on “Game 2011.14: Tigers at Athletics”

  1. Does Leyland use a dart board when is making up the daily line-ups? I swear, his method doesn’t make any sense. I suppose it is the old “he’s due” method?

      1. at 2 for his last 21 Martinez in the five spot falls well into Smokeys “He’s Due” range

        1. With the exception of Miggie, the entire line up appears to be based on the “he’s [they’re] due” theory.

  4. in regards to the lineup,i dont get why miguel bats 4th. its just an excuse to ‘balance’ the lineup. pujols doesnt ever bat 4th.

    1. if you don’t bat Miggy 4 who would you put there…this team isn’t exactly loaded with 4 spot hitters

      1. i look at it from an at-bats point of view. he loses like 30 ab’s a year staying in the 4 hole?

  6. If there is a bus from Oakland to Toledo, Avila should get on it tonight. I don’t mean to be unduly harsh on the guy, but he is not ready for the bigs. Not offensively or defensively. And I seriously question whether Porcello, a talent who could use some senior leadership calling pitches from behind the plate, is well served when he’s taking the calls from Avila.

    1. he has thrown out exactly one steal attempt…the runner musta fallen down!!!! Daddy’s boy just ain’t cutting it

    2. whether its in detroit or in toledo, i just hope alex can at least turn into a strong player. he doesnt need to be a super star. but with his age, 24, it would be a welcome sign to have a home grown catcher for once. you realize the tigers havent developed a catcher, discounting some wierdo inge comment, since lance parrish in the 80s.

      1. No question about the need to develop at that position but if memory serves, AA didn’t spend much time in either AA or AAA before he jumped up to the bigs. He needs more seasoning, in my view, and the place to get it is in Toledo. If we are going to pay Martinez all the dough we are paying him (and let’s not kid ourselves the fans are paying the guy), I would rather see him behind the plate.

  10. Bad break on the Kelly hit, thought that was going into the corner. Porcello is grinding through this game…The Tigers really need to demand more from Avila defensively…He is just niot getting the job done…Martinez needs to be the catcher, when Maggs returns so, he can play DH and Raburn, Boesch, and Wells can get into the lineup….not to mention, Avila is young let him develop.

  11. Rhymes’ legs move really fast when he runs. Consider, he has to take several more steps on the way to 1st than most players.

  16. lol i like that. rod talking about ellis playing close to second base. well, thats why,easy DP when give the chance

  21. its 9:07 here in Cal…..I can hardly stay awake watching the Tigers bat,,, I actually feel sorry for you guys staying up after midnight to watch this non=action

  26. How does Fuentes get anyone out..88-89 straight as an arrow fastball…can hardly ever spot his breaking ball…doesn’t have a change up…….must do it with mirrors

  32. Isn’t it amazing how steady Santiago is every single year……nothing spectacular but does everything right!

  37. I watched Fuentes pitch out here for the Angels and he pitched just like he did tonight all the time …then he goes to the Twinkies and gets 25 saves. last year….somethin just ain’t right!

  46. Ok, Jim L. this experiment is about to blow up. Go get the kid out of the game.

  49. Caught the end of the game on Gameday from the Welland canal… the interwebz r awesome!111!1!11

    Great to see Boesch come through in the clutch, this really has to be a confidence booster for him.

  50. Fans are always going to question the moves of a manager when it comes to the lineup. We all have our preferences. Truth is, we are not the ones in the dugout every single day, there is a ton that goes on that we do not know about, especially in Detroit of all places.

    1. “Truth is, we are not the ones in the dugout every single day, there is a ton that goes on that we do not know about, especially in Detroit of all places.”

      Would you care to explain what the last part of this sentence means? I’m a little confused here.

  51. Nice job boys. Putting together a little win streak here. Love the pitching lately.

Comments are closed.