Well, you can’t win them all. You can, conceivably, win three of four.
The Tigers finish out their four-game series at Minnesota today, then head off to Chicago for three.
Rick Porcello looks to continue his string of solid starts: he has given up 3 runs in each of his last 3 starts. Porcello faces Francisco Liriano, who has done even better of late. He has given up 2 total earned runs in his last 2 starts, including a 2-1 victory over Cleveland last out. On the other hand, in his last 5 tries against Detroit he is 0-4 with a 8.27 ERA.
Tiger starters are on a bit of a roll: over the last 12 games they have combined for a 2.96 ERA. You can never have too much starting pitching though, and with one week left before the trade deadline, the Tigers are rumored to be among the most likely to land the Dodgers’ Kuroda. Among other top contenders for Kuroda: Cleveland.
Today’s Player of the Pre-Game: Wilson Betemit
So far, Betemit has hardly made anybody forget Inge. In fact, he has been quite Inge-like, with a .222 OBP and 5 strikeouts in 9 plate appearances since joining the team. Not to mention Friday’s 9th-inning clown event. Wil-Bet needs to pick it up.
Today’s Right-Field-Burn Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Brennan Boesch LF
- Magglio Ordonez DH
- Miguel Cabrera 1B
- Victor Martinez C
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Ryan Raburn RF
- Wilson Betemit 3B
- Ramon Santiago 2B
Make that 6 Ks for Beteminge
Raburn in July .300/.333./.550. And that’s a pretty ordinary OBP for a .300 average.
The Twins suck. Beating them is like taking candy from a baby.
They’re our FWB
Cleveland lost it’s 4th game in a row also. So we’ll be 2 games up after this game.
Yes, but they lost to the White Sox, who will finish the season ahead of CLE
I hope the bullpen is well-rested. I don’t think Porcello is going to last very long today.
Purcey has limited availability; they will only use him if they need to walk a guy.
Or two.
Twins are really beating themselves so far
Uncharacteristically, they have been doing that a lot this year.
It is strange. Must be because they now have a high payroll.
It’s kind of amazing that anybody can score on a wild pitch at Target field – there isn’t that much room from the stands to home plate – yet the Tigers managed it twice today.
Two easy 1-2-3 innings helps to breathe a bit easier. Still, let’s get some more runs.
Porcello with two consecutive easy 1-2-3 innings, at only 93 pitches, and with the bottom of the order coming up, so it must be time to go to the bullpen!!!!!!!!!! Why am I not surprised.
I was just about to post the same. My guess is that Benoit needs the work, and Jimmy wanted to force his 7/8/9 routine.
Emphasis on the “force the 7/8/9 routine.” In this PARTICULAR game I would have saved AA to face the top of the Twins order with his devastating slider. 1,2,3, and 5 hitters are all LH and that slider is a killer vs LH (another reason we don’t need the extra LHRP on the staff). If Porcello got into trouble vs the bottom 3, then bring him in. Leyland doesn’t think situationally though, but by the above mentioned routine.
I’m not surprised. That’s been the standard procedure for the bullpen.
Benoit…….1-2-3 like its supposed to be!
Nice series. Now lets go down to Chicago and lay a 2 outta 3 hurt on them!
Hopefully that punctures any hopes the Twins have of a comeback. I’d love to see them throw in the towel early for a change.
Now we need to take 2 out of 3 from the WS (while CLE has 3 vs LA) before returning home to play LA.
Chance Ruffin called up. Didn’t take him very long to make it to the bigs.
I’ll be interested to see how Ruffin does as well. Let’s hope he’s not another Ryan Perry or Robbie Wienhardt. Can someone tell my why David Purcey is still on the roster? Yes, he has a good arm, but so what? He doesn’t throw strikes.
I’m pretty sure the only reason he is on the team is because the arm he uses to throw the ball with is his left one.