Detroit Tigers, 34-36, 3 1/2 games behind Cleveland.
The last game had a little of everything–Pitcher Fielding Follies, Clownman antics in left, strange double-shifting–and a lot of nothing.
Friday night the Tigers continued to help Pittsburgh gain ground in the NL Central, this time by losing to the Pirates 4-1. The Pirates tried to be sporting about it by sending Jason Grilli and his weak s*** out in the 8th inning to face the heart of the Tiger order, but nothing doing (yes, I realize Grilli is having a good season).
In fact there was a hole in the heart of the order all night: the Cabrera-Fielder combo was 0-4 with RISP, and had an overall OPS of .000. Over the last 3 games the duo is a combined 2-for-24, and, significantly, 0 walks.
Today that may change against Pirate starter Brad Lincoln, who is has a 10.83 ERA in 3 starts since entering the starting rotation, and has yet to make it through 5 innings.
The offensive support would be helpful: Max Scherzer understandably may not be on the top of his game today. Scherzer is rejoining the team after two days away. There is speculation as to the reasons for the absence, but the official word is just that he was off for “personal reasons.”
Stat of the Day: Over the past 14 days Miguel Cabrera has put up this Inge-like line: .227 BA, .320 OBP, .354 SLG, .684 OPS. Fielder has hit .237 during that time. I blame the All-Star Campaign Jinx.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Max Scherzer, you are our player of the game today, no matter how your outing turns out.
Today’s Underwhelming Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Brennan Boesch RF
- Miguel Cabrera 3B
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Delmon Young LF
- Alex Avila C
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Ramon Santiago 2B
- Max Scherzer P
The Tiger batters like to make a lot of lousy opposing pitchers look like all-stars.
Well look at the bright side…the games are quick.
There is one guy on the team who can hit. And we never pitch around him.
Agreed, the same thing in the last series w/PIT – its as if DET mngmt has yet to come to this realization (re: McCutchen vs the rest of PIT lineup)
The whole offense has been AJaxx, Fielder, and Cabrera and they are struggling..It sure would be nice if somebody else would do something. When is a trade coming? Young and Boesch can not continue to play on a regular basis. You could replace them w/ just about anybody and get more production. The have like 35 extra base hits between them ALL SEASON. They have poor plate discipline and can’t play defense. Qunintin Berry has been a topic of conversation…the real conversation is…Why is a 27 year old career minor leaguer by far and away outperforming the entire OF..minus Jackson? It’s 3-0 and it’s over. I know it, you know and more importantly, the Tigers know it. Max throws an 0-2 fastball to McCuthchin…Who is the moron, that thought that was a good idea? I wish Fielder could hit a 3-1 fastball w/ men on base, like that, let alone an 0-2.
Do I smell a Pirates no-hitter? I’m surprised the Tigers haven’t been no-hit yet this season. I guess today is as good as any…
Believe it or not, they haven’t even been shut out.
That does actually surprise me with how underwhelming and mediocre this team has been thus far.
Lincoln’s pitch count is in great shape for him to get the no-hitter. It appears that the Tigers are swinging at everything. Yet another Cy Young candidate on the mound today… I’m sure that’ll be the excuse if the Tigers do get no-hit…
Luckily our big bat of the series (Santiago) came through.
Yay! We are spared the humiliation!
How did Boesch find his way back into the 2-spot? What, was Berry being too successful there or something?
Boesch is a guy that the Dave seems to love..He is just like Raburn..a guy, who at his best, is a mediocre corner OF 15-20 HR and a .250-.260 AVG. Keep in mind that is at his best…His best season ended with an injury after 115 games..It is safe to assume, that going by his history he would have had a massive slump before the season ended (he is not a .280 hitter, so, he would regress) Well, this is a guy who plays in Comerica Park and has the glove skills of a Manny Ramirez or the like…He is just like Raburn, a guy who at his best is mediocre and his glove is awful (at least at 2B) and as a corner OF, his offense becomes below average. In other words, they seem to overevaluate the ability of players…and when we complain about defense…they say, we like guys who hit for Power. OK, well, those guys don’t really hit for power..at least compared to good DH or RF. The Tigers are 9th in the AL in HR…It appears their philosophy is foolish. They would get more out of their team, if they traded Boesch to one of these teams’ that play in a bandbox and brought a more well rounded player w/ speed, defense, OBP. Comerica is a huge park and they have 2 groundball pitchers (with a weak infield defense) and 2 Flyball pitchers w/ an OF that can’t cover any ground. They had the best road record in the AL last year…maybe it’s because they have built there team to play in Yankee Stadium.
Well, jim says we need more out of Peralta, Boesch, and Young? No kidding. How about Young just hitting a ball to the 2B, rather then the SS and we could have a guy on 3rd w/ less then 2 outs. That is why I don’t understand the love affair w/ those guys…They do none of the little things that help you win..Just because you are in a slump doesn’t mean you can’t work hard to get a productive out.
Has Jim ever thought of moving Delmon back to the 3 hole (so he gets a heavy diet of good pitches to hit) and Cabby 4th and Fielder 5th. I mean, without a trade, we have, eho we have..Could the manager actually manage and see if it helps.
And the blowpen just is itching to put this game even farther out of reach…Thanks Coke…
That wasn’t Coke’s fault. That was a clown show on defense.
Fair enough…I’m not watching it live, so I have to assume. I should have assumed it was the defense. Drr.
I am done watching this game. That was NOT a line drive. It was a ball 90% of all RF in baseball run down…Not Boesch, he’s in there for his offense (oh, that’s right, he is in the bottom 5 of all OF in OPS) Why does he play? Oh, he must have a track record of success? No. The best run of Jim Leyland’s Tiger career occured after he got hurt in 2011. He is just a bad baseball player, that continues to cost the Tigers games and we wonder, why we can’t get to .500. Too many anchors. Cabby hits a HR, Fielder a 2B and 4-5-6 can’t get him home. Then Boesch can’t make a typical big league play in the gap (Not easy, but, it hung in the air a long time…Raburn would have made the play) They then foul off and hit tough pitches to get him home. The Tigers are in denial, if they think they are a good team. I am glad to see Jim coming out and starting to make comments, like “we need to be meaner” “These guys need to produce” it’s long overdue. It is not bad luck or just the breaks…The lose games because they play bad baseball and play people that do not help you win ballgames. They are a pitching team w/ a few studs in the lineup..surround your pitchers w/ some defense. That was an easy play for Fielder. 3 hits and 2 should have been outs. This happens consistently. YOU CAN’T WIN THIS WAY…Many teams around baseball could turn any of their player into whatever position they feel like, but, they don’t because defense is important and the Tigers will not get to .500 until they start playing a better defensive team.
Anybody feel a Pirates sweep coming? And a Texas sweep? And a Rays sweep?
No (Verlandet). We’ll start hitting, as soon as it starts getting warmer.
hey Mumbles you know,how teams pitch around Cabrerra all the time….its not against the rules of baseball to pitch around McCutchen…..hes only batting around .900 against you..kills you every game…….