Dare I say it, the Detroit Tigers are beginning to look like a team on a roll. Rick Porcello pitched like a Rick Porcello should, the Tigers, led by Delmon Young, piled on a bunch of runs, and Detroit cruised to an easy victory over Minnesota (so easy that the game elicited a scant 7 comments).
And now we come back with Mr. Verlander, who seems primed to become the first Tiger since Bill Gullickson (1991) to win 20 games, and the first this season in MLB. Facing a decimated Twins team that has lost 6 straight, this one seems all but inevitable. But this is baseball, so nothing can be taken for granted.
If ever there were an appropriate villain to play spoiler to Verlander’s bid for 20, it would be Carl Pavano, who takes the mound for the Twins. Pavano is 6-10, 4.54, and is facing a milestone of hs own: he has 99 career losses. But Tiger fans will not easily forget what he did to Detroit in the nail-biting 2009 season.
Player of the Pre-Game: Brandon Inge
Yes, he is not playing today. But with Santos sent back to Toledo, Martinez still hurting, and Kelly on paternity leave, he is Detroit’s only backup catcher. His job is to sit in the dugout, vote for himself for Top Web Gem (he is in the running against Ben Revere), and pray that nothing happens to Avila.
Today’s Make-Verlander-Proud Lineup:
- Austin Jackson, CF
- Ramon Santiago, 2B
- Delmon Young, LF
- Miguel Cabrera, 1B
- Victor Martinez, DH
- Alex Avila, C
- Jhonny Peralta, SS
- Wilson Betemit, 3B
- Ryan Raburn, RF
Tigers – Twins is the national Game. Mario and Bert “Be home Blyleven” are calling it
Is anyone else experiencing audio problems with the telecast on FOX today?
I’m experiencing the problem of getting stuck with watching the St. Louis Cardinals, instead of the Tigers on FOX
I wish the Tigers showed as much patience at the plate against Pavano as the Twins are showing against Verlander….
Eek….Verlander had a very un-Verlander like 1st Inning…Hopefully that will clear out in the next inning.
Nice, Miggy! That’ll help!
Alex Avila now has as many HR in August as he had in all of 2010.
Heck yeah, I want a bromance with the dude!
Man…the Twins are absolutely driving Verlander’s pitch count sky high in the early goings…
And Verlander jawing at the ump…this could end badly
Nice hit by Raburn, but that slide looked painful
I am stuck listening to the game on Satellite Radio as the local Fox channel has the Cards on. Looks like Verlander going to have to earn his 20th, but it appears the Tigers sticks are alive today. And it helps when you can toss +120 pitches.
You can try ilemi.eu for sports links but they are usually not good for baseball games and they don’t have the Tigers today, but to make up for it you can go there to watch the Silva/Okami UFC rematch tonight!
Is it just me, or is the strike zone a little tight today?
It’s just you. This is baseball, and the strike zone changes from small to large between games as well as during the games. It’s really more of random luck that is predicated upon the umpire’s skill. They don’t pick days where they try to make it tight or large, they try to get every call right within the normal accordance of what a strike zone should be, and some days have flukey counts that make it look like the zone is smaller or larger than it normally is, but it’s really more of statistical happenstance than intent to have a freaky distribution.
Fair enough.
Plus, the zone sometimes gets smaller when a guy is at the plate that had previously flapped his lip to the umpire on a previous bad call in the past, so I bet that plays into it from time to time. There’s never anything to gain from biting an ump’s head off for a bad call as he might formulate an unfair bias against you in the future.
Looks like Verlander is going to have to wait for #20….this has just not been his game….Damn…
OK, boys and girls, rally caps on! Rally celery in hand!
I use a Patrick Duffy doll and a stalk of broccoli.
Chomp chomp! Now we top it off by popping the can of Rally Stroh’s
Coors is the good karma beer cause supposedly they treat their employees better than the Big 3 distributors.
OK, 2-for-2! Now how about a bowl of Rally Vernors Ice Cream
OK, next time we skip the ice cream
Don’t forget a swig of Faygo Rock ‘n Rye!
Question of the Day: If the Tigers take back the lead, does Verlander come back out to get the decision?
Normally I would say no, go for the win, not personal milestones. Then I look in the bullpen and see Schlereth…so, heck yeah!
Well that was about 800 ft of fly balls to center, but it worked
Yes…he has only made 111 pitches!
Delmon may have just saved the day!
It must not be much fun right now being Twin Fan
Yeah but I bet it beats being an Astros fan and having to have your best player be Carlos Lee and to watch him suck while eating up $20M at the same time. Poor Houston fans. 🙁
No I don’t think the Twins liked Young’s hit at all…and yet another run.
Blast….well that stinks…always next time.
AJAX takes away some deep drives!
The Twins are working our outfielders. Come on boys, let’s get them to hit some groundballs ala Porcello!
Boy, Verlander really wasn’t himself today, nerves with the chance of getting 20? Any chance this hurts him for the Cy Young?
none….its his to win or lose…you can’t be perfect every time out!
Ditto….a win’s a win. There won’t be an astrick by this win because he was nervous. BTW, Verlander has matured alot this year as a pitcher. I think he has his mind on helping the team make the playoffs. All else is irrelevant.
he even says that in all interviews….its all about his team, he says over and over!
ok Pappa stay perfect..we don’t really care how, ala Todd Jones, just stay perfect~
Congrats….Justin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Congrats Poppa…..39 in a row!!
Well done Verlander! This accomplishment is going to get the Tigers on the National media radar map as a contender in the playoffs!
Good pitchers know how to win, even when not at their best. The team stepped up with the needed hits and the relief pitchers were solid. A very good sign for the remainder of the season