Winning! The Tigers are now a winning baseball team.
Thanks to an outstanding effort by Bad Brad Penny (to be distinguished from Brad “Bad” Penny), some timely hitting by about everyone, and a hint of clown show by the White Sox, this afternoon is now the closet game of the 3-game series.
The Tigers send Max Scherzer out to grab the broom. The Sox will try to keep the closet locked by means of John Danks, the backwards lefty. Backwards because:
- career RHB BA vs Danks: .248
- career LHB BA vs Danks: .260
Consequently, Leyland has loaded the lineup with RHB, because Danks is a LHP (not to worry; it will somehow turn out geniusy).
Danks has a good mid-90ish fastball, a cutter, a sharp slider, and a good changeup. He also has a big slow curve which he sometimes throws, often on the first pitch. I’m not sure if any of this really explains his backwardness. Perhaps it’s just part of an inherent dankness.
But Mad Max is armed with broom, and poised to become the 4th AL pitcher with 4 wins, joining Jared Weaver (5), Dan Haren (4), and Justin Masterson (4).
While Max is 3-0, 4.30, Danks is 0-2 3.00, which gives you some idea how much fun it is being a White Sox pitcher at the moment.
If Max is going to get run support today, where will it come from? Not likely Inge or Raburn (combined .215 and 13K in 42 AB) or, sadly, Cabrera (.211, 4-19, all singles). Which leads us to:
Today’s Player of the Pre-Game: Magglio Ordonez
- Magglio career vs Danks: .609 (14 – 23), 2 HR, 7 RBI
- He is also playing his former team
- He also needs 1 more double to become the first player to hit 100 at Comerica
- There you go Maggs, you couldn’t ask for a better set up
- You’ll notice this sounds familiar. You have a 2nd chance. Do you hear me Maggs?
Today’s Lucky Nickname lineup:
- Tex Jackson CF
- Ryan “Three True Outcomes” Raburn 2B
- Magglio “Enemy of Dankness” Ordonez DH
- Cabby Cat 1B
- H-Factor Peralta SS
- Bashin’ Brennan Boesch LF
- The Ghost RF
- Strokin’ Alex Avila C
- Walkoff Inge 3B
When is the last time that Maggs hit a line drive?
Hmmm…. maybe it is time for Sizemore up, Maggs to the DL and Raburn/Boesch splitting DH/OF til Martinez gets back.
If he’s not hitting them against Danks (career .609), he just doesn’t have a line-drive in him right now
OK, hard ground ball sighting, that’s a start
Peralta “protecting” Cabrera – what a joke. I walk the big guy EVERY time in a situation like that (RISP, 1B open, and Peralta up next). Boesch should be hitting 5th. Leyland is an idiot.
Boesch is down at 6th because he’s a LHB–even though he is hitting lefties really well, and even though Danks does better against RHB than LHB.
And Peralta is hitting 5th because he is The Great Protector. How could I have forgotten?
You realize that NOW!!
How about our pitching though! (Or is it the White Sox’ hitting?)
We had a chance to possibly chase Danks the last 2 innings……but couln’t pull the string!
The Hawk and his “you’re gone” really gets under my skin!
I hope we can give him some of the same and send the Sox home being swept in the big D!
I meant “he gone”.
Another Wells Whiff. Not a good day for the youngster.
He has a chance to become the first ghost to ever wear a sombrero
The Gholden Sombrero?
That ‘h” is reserved for Mr. Peralta
Inge Babe (that’s pronounced “baby).
Binge!
I’ve been enjoying the Pierre Adventure in LF
I always thought AA would become a good Major League hitter. It looks like he thrives on work.
In the book I am currently reading “Sixty Feet, Six Inches” (2009), Reggie Jackson, who still works for the Yankees as some kind of special consultant, brings up AJ at one point and is very high on him.
sweep these fools
Max has got the broom
It sure looks like the Sox batters are confused and out of sync this series. Looks good on them!
And now they go to Tampa, then to NY. They could be 10 games back by the end of the month.
IngE.
Max is only at 98 pitches. I say bring him out for the 8th. He’s the man with the broom.
only needed 6 pitches in the 8th. CG shutout one time?
I was hoping for that also. On the bright side, Valverde may have a chance to dance a bit and really annoy the White Sox
Raburn and Peralta are surprisingly giving us some solid D. The Tigers will be 5-0, when Raburn starts at 2B.
maybe its just 4-0.
“SOX GONE”………SWEPT!!!!!
very nice
nice series boys!!!!…keep it going the next two three weeks schedule isn’t that tough
It does this guy’s heart some good to sweep the ChiSox right out of Comerica in dominating fashion, especially after the way the ChiSox have dominated us at Comerica in the Ozzie era. I don’t know what has happened, but we have turned it around against crazy Ozzie and his Sox. What is that now, ten in a row over them dating back to 2010? GO TIGERS!!
9 in a row.
I love listening to Hawk’s dejected calls to end bad games (i.e. getting swept). MLB.tv/Audio allows you to replay the games. He claimed that “Peralta was playing ‘sideways’ baseball” by not attempting to use his glove on the Ramirez “hit” in the 9th. The color guy quickly corrected him “he wasn’t going to get Ramirez other than with his bare hand.”
The final out is at roughly 2:55 of the away radio broadcast. I’m thinking of making a ring-tone out of “The Tigers have swept the White Sox.”
I believe that was Steve Stone doing the color commentary who made it a career cleaning up Harry Carey messes. (My favorite was Harry saying that Chang Kai Shek was on the mound, only for Steve to correct him by saying it was Chan Ho Park!) I listened to the Tigers v. White Sox game driving back to Mississippi after a few days in DFW. Last night we hit the Rangers v. Royals game. The Rangers helped the Tigers cause with a 3-1 win. Their pitching, especially Ogando, looks great as they handcuffed Billy Butler all weekend.