Detroit Tigers, 47-44, 3 1/2 games behind Chicago.
Alice Cooper threw out the ceremonial first pitch before last night’s game, and from that point on it was Welcome To My Nightmare for young Jacob Turner, who bombed.
An outburst of offense was predicted, but I didn’t quite have that in mind (the Tiger offense politely refrained from getting involved).
But the good news is that it only counts as one loss, and we go into tonight’s game all tied up in the series.
It isn’t going to get any easier to score runs though: the Angels send out C.J. Wilson (9-5, 2.43). Fister will try to duplicate his strong last out performance (7 innings, 1 run, 3 hits, 8 Ks) and show he is back from his injury.
Actually the Tigers already won today–they won a pick in the Competitive Balance Lottery.
On the trade front, the word is that Detroit is actively seeking pitching. Ryan Dempster still tops the rumor list, but one angle not mentioned enough is that he would have to approve any trade, and has said he thinks the Dodgers would be a good fit.
Dempster isn’t good enough for Drew Sharp, who says the the Tigers MUST get either Cole Hamels or Zack Greinke. No, no says Lynn Henning. The Tigers should be cautious and just make a little trade for a 2nd baseman.
Stat of the Day: The Tigers fell 4 games short of the equivalent of an entire season without being shutout, when their streak ended last night at 158 games.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Ryan Raburn. He is SO due!
Today’s Let’s-Hope-Fister’s-Really-Good-Tonight Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Ryan Raburn LF
- Miguel Cabrera 3B
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Delmon Young DH
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Brennan Boesch RF
- Gerald Laird C
- Danny Worth 2B
OK i get it, Wilson is a lefty and a very good pitcher…and Berry doesn’t hit as well against lefties vs righties (.239 vs .311). Although Raburn bats right, he’s a notably worse OF and base threat than Berry, and Raburn has even less success against lefties vs righties (.153 vs .180); but what’s most puzzling to me is if you’re going to start Raburn, why bat the guy 2nd?
i’d love for Raburn to have a big night and make me eat my words, and confirm JL’s genius personnel decision…but let’s just say i’m skeptical of that happening tonight.
He is hitting .125 in July…this is when he usually picks it up (last season he hit .275 in July)…will this be the season he finally bombs in the 2nd half also, making carrying him all year seem really stupid? Time will tell.
Raburn’s jumping error last night was made even more ridiculous by Rod and Mario showing the Mike Trout highlight reel of amazing jumping catches for the Angels just before Raburn’s leap 2 feet away from the ball.
I too hope he heats up but…
The Prince should be bunting along the third base line for hits to force the opposition to take off the shift.
Uh oh, Mario is on the “due” bandwagon (Peralta is due).
Walk Jackson to get to Raburn?
Boesch has been stinging the ball of late.
How is the Angels’ bullpen? Wilson isn’t going to make it past the 5th.
Middle to bottom.
http://mlb.mlb.com/stats/sortable.jsp?c_id=mlb&tcid=mm_mlb_stats#elem=%5Bobject+Object%5D&tab_level=child&click_text=Sortable+Team+pitching§ionType=st&statType=pitching&page=1&ts=1342655863079&league_code='AL'&split=rp
Fister looks good. He is starting to remind me of a guy by the same name that we had last season.
Why is it only Verlander gets to go for the complete game? I think Fister deserved a shot at this one.
He was at 106 pitches. His previous post-injury high was 96, so there’s no reason to push it. Fast forward another month and he probably would have been given the chance, but there was no reason to do it in the name of personal stats this time.
Was watching tonite with my bride, and when Fielder hit that line drive, she turns to me and says, “does anyone hit the ball harder than that big guy?” I think she’s right… yea, I know a statue at first and he fills out a uni and half, but when he squares 1 up, look out
I’m not sure anyone hits the ball harder than Miggy, but both of these guys can definitely scorch the ball.
Great win last night by the boys. Fister was 2011 2nd half Fister. Maybe he’s the #2 that the Tigers are so desperately looking for.
The Rayyyburn batting 2nd thing is inexplicable, but there is no use arguing with Leyland from here. I do get a little satisfaction when I read the comments on Freep or MLive. People are hilarious. Leyland’s getting a little testy on the whole thing…http://www.mlive.com/tigers/index.ssf/2012/07/detroit_tigers_jim_leyland_to_2.html
Boesch is hitting .417 over his last 10; I’m pretty sure everyone of those games has been in the 6-8 hole. The bottom of the lineup hitting has made such a difference.
Gotta win these 2 series at home. Tough road trip starting next week.
Cody Ross with a walk-off home run for the Red Sox…1.5 games back.
You can put THAT one on the boooooard… Y-es! Y-es!