Detroit Tigers, 18-20, tied with Pittsburgh Pirates.
Yeah, I know.
But Justin Verlander needs no introduction; Justin Verlander needs no bullpen; and Justin Verlander needs no Game Post photo.
Verlander by the way, is one of 4 pitchers who have gone at least 6 innings in 50 or more consecutive starts. The others are Bob Gibson, Steve Carlton, and Catfish Hunter.
Tonight is one of those great home interleague games, where the AL team has a huge advantage because of the DH rule. Detroit runs out Delmon Young, who is putting up a .226 BA (.599 OPS), and the Pirates are stuck with Josh Harrison in the DH spot (.256, .711). Haha, take that NL!
For what it’s worth, The Beekeeper says that Tiger fans have a right to be upset.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Prince Fielder. Fielder has broken out of his 0-23 slump in a big way, and is batting .489 lifetime against pitchers named Charlie. (OK, I might have made up the last part).
Tonight’s Megatron (hands back, Calvin!) Lineup:
- Don Kelly CF
- Andy Dirks LF
- Miguel Cabrera 3B
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Delmon Young DH
- Alex Avila C
- Brennan Boesch RF
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Ryan Raburn 2B
great pic of Leyland..just think that was 1500 losses ago!!!
He hasn’t changed a bit.
Ah, I see our CF is leading off again. DY, the mighty DH No. 5 hitter, hitting 5th as per usual. Good to see some consistency with somebody on this club (JL’s lineup management I mean). Unpoubtedly Luke (there is no Putty on this roster) Putkonen will remain as the 7th inning guy. Raburn, whose bat is heating up (for Raburn anyway) hitting 9th is kind of odd though. Perhaps this is Leylands version of mixing things up?
ok, I have the solution: we just pitch JV every game, and let him go all 9 innings all the time…..we won’t need the blow-pen any more…….
Mumbles put his son Rayburn in the 9 spot so he can rest for a few days after his 4 rbi day….that was a lot of work for one month
AJax….I mean Kelly…atta boy..go get em!
The type of game you can sit back peacefully with a beer.
What’s with all the Mc___ s in the Pittsburgh lineup?
They recruit heavily from the Scottish Town sector of Pittsburgh.
Does Leyland let Verlander come out for the 9th?
JV K’s the side in the 8th….whatcha think, time for ‘putz-guy’ in the 9th?……. :-p
On a night when EVERYBODY else gets a hit, including sub Ramon Mendoza Santiago, Raburn goes 0 for 4.
grrr…….such a bs hit too………but congrats to JV; a helluva job tonight……
Hats off to Not A Clown Show Kelly for a nice grab in the 6th to keep it going.
Peralta has the range of a totem pole.
C’mon Coleman
Jhonny gobbles most-everything hit his way. But you don’t really care — do you? Or did you forget?…. maybe never noticed? Only look for the bad side of things Coleman?
Just to be clear I wasn’t saying he was a bad fielder. He is sure handed (only 1 error so far this season), makes accurate throws, and makes good decisions. He is a good shortstop. His range is his only weak point.
sure it was the pirates, but that might have been the best game JV ever threw – even better than his previous 2 no-hitters… he dominated… and the lone hit, a broken bat soft liner.
Electric stuff from Verlander. For whatever reason, his top three performances have all occurred in May. Would sure like to see his May groove continue all season.
You have the best stuff right now Justin! Hoping to see that electricity throughout October….. assuming we are playoffs-bound.
That is true about his May performance (it’s like an inverse Raburn effect). Do you think it’s because he is such a workhorse and just gets a bit worn down as the season progresses? At any rate, it’s not as if he is exactly bad later in the season. Just not no-hitter good.