2011 Season, Game Post

Game 2011.134: Royals at Tigers

19 Comments

The Tigers return home from a rather memorable road trip on the heels of a rather forgettable loss to the Twins.  I found this in an MLB.com story today:

“Despite the loss, the Tigers still finished 5-2 on the trip.  Over seven games, the Tigers’ pitching staff posted a 3.16 ERA, while the starters went 5-1 with a 3.37 ERA. Entering Sunday’s game, the Tigers had a 1.84 ERA through the first six games of the trip, including the starters with a 2.15 ERA.”

The Royals come to town for 4, and open up a Tigers homestand in the middle of a 19 game AL Central only stretch.  The White Sox will round out the homestand this weekend.

Hochevar has been pretty good as of late, posting 4 QS in his last 6 outings.  This is his 4th start against the Tigers this season.  He’s 1-1 with a 6.48 ERA, including 6 earned in 3 1/2 in early July in Detroit.  Cabby is a lifetime .480 hitter off of Hochevar with 2 bombs, I’m looking for him to get to 5 today.

Max Scherzer toes the slab in an effort to get his ERA below 4.20 for the first time since May.  Scherzer has had two streaks of 5 QS this season, let’s get one started tonight to carry us through September.

A few notes:

– Jacob Turner is going to get a “spot” start on Thursday so that JV can get an extra day of rest.  I’m guessing that this is an audition for the “5th spot”.
– Did you know that a recent SI poll of ML players ranked Leyland as the 3rd skipper on the list of managers that they would like to play for?
– Guillen will start a rehab stint in Toledo tonight.  Not sure if this is a good thing.
– Raburn and Boesch are still day to day with sore fingers.  Boesch needs to get healthy soon before JL gets any ideas.

Tonight’s Lineup:

1. Austin Jackson, CF
2. Ramon Santiago, 2B
3. Delmon Young, LF
4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
5. Victor Martinez, DH
6. Alex Avila, C
7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
8. Wilson Betemit, 3B
9. Don Kelly, RF

19 thoughts on “Game 2011.134: Royals at Tigers”

  1. I get nervous when we start falling behind KC in September. The Tigers have a way of letting KC ruin the end of the season.

    1. I get nervous when Scherzer, Porcello or Penny take the mound against any team. I’m guessing Texas, NY and Boston also get nervous at the prosepct, but it is probably a different kind of nervous.

  2. I read somewhere a couple of years ago that the average IQ of a professional baseball player was about 84.

  3. What the heck is going on with this team? Are you going to get consecutive pitching meltdowns? We’ve gotta beat KC!

  6. This team is so bi-polar… How can this team shut down a team like Tampa Bay in Tampa, but get pounded by KC in their own park!?!?!? Every year KC plays a spoiler for the Tigers!

  7. Courageous move by Leyland to pull Scherzer. Max probably doesn’t like him any more now.

  8. League average ERA is 3.92.
    Verlander 2.38
    Fister 3.45
    Scherzer 4.52
    Porcello 5.01
    Penny 5.07

    2. At one point early in the season I thought we might have one of the best rotations in the league!

  9. I’ll be happy and relieved if this team wins the central. As far as I’m concered, this team is hugely flawed and their record is an overachievement.

  10. Yup..it is consecutive pitching staff blowups. This team really knows how to win a division…not…

  11. It’s making me insane to see the bottom of the order, AGAIN, being this impossible to get outs.
    WTF!

  12. CLE just won 2-1 over OAK, and CWS leading 1-0 against the (depleted) Twinkies in the 8th.

    Jacob Turner could be auditioning for the #2 or #3 starter spot – based on the inconsistency of the non-Verlander starters.

    Knowing the Tigers, its going to be interesting pretty much all the way to 9/30.

  13. So…what are the odds that we lose the division on the last day of the season again? Twice that has happened since 2006.

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