Detroit Tigers, 60-51, 2nd place, .5 back.
Too many runs. Too many runs finally ended the Tiger win streak last night, although the bats kept going and kept them in the game.
There were some things to like about last night: the offense plated 8 runs, Jeff Baker’s Detroit debut was a success (“looks like he knows what the bat is for,” said Leyland), Dirks and Boesch continue to come up with big hits, we have a 2nd baseman who can put the ball over the fence, and Chicago lost.
On the other hand, there may be a few cringes the next time they hand the ball to Anibal, Ramon looks utterly last at the plate, and whatever has happened to Phil Coke, let’s hope it unhappens.
The likelihood of Too Many Runs is low this afternoon, with Doug Fister going up against Hiroki Kuroda (weren’t the Tigers rumored to be pursuing him this offseason?).
Mister Fister has come out roaring since the All-Star break, going 4-1 with a 1.62 ERA, and a remarkable 0.769 WHIP. He has been on close terms with the strike zone: he has only walked 5 in 39 innings since the break.
Kuroda has been no 2nd-half slouch himself (2-1, 2.27). He faced Detroit June 2, and gave up 2 runs, a Cabrera home run and an RBI single to Quintin Berry.
Stat of the Day: Ramon Santiago is only hitting .118 in the 2nd half, and has yet to plate his first RBI or get his first extra base hit.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Quintin Berry. If he can get himself on base, watch for him to be turned loose on the bases for a change.
Today’s Resting-AJax Lineup:
- Quintin Berry CF
- Andy Dirks LF
- Miguel Cabrera DH
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Brennan Boesch RF
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Alex Avila C
- Omar Infante 3B
- Ramon Santiago 2B
A hit and run with a guy batting .118 since the break is a terrible idea.
Huge shut down inning for Fister there. I like our chances.
Looked like there was paint coming up on the ball down the line, think Joe was POed about the nonsense last nite, and now he’s gone…
Was in Tacoma Tuesday and saw young Mr. Turner pitch for the Zephyers against the Mariner’s AAA team. He was pretty dynamic, but remember it is the M’s farm team, and half of them have been on the I-5 shuffle this season. (It is exactly 32 freeway miles from Safeco to Cheney stadium in Tacoma, 3rd closest big league to AAA team in MLB)
BP Benoit
Unreal. All of a sudden we have a shaky set up man and closer.
Second game in a row Benoit has given up two HRs – 11 HR in 50 IP this year and 7 since the break. Not what you want from your setup man.
Wonder how Alburquerque is doing.
By the way, I couldn’t help but noticing that the Yankees had their best starting lineup on the field today.
And there is the double R3L2O fail.
Benoit has given up 10 HR out of his last 12 hits. Someone should inform leyland this is not HR derby but the NY Yankees. We gave them this one.
WOW
This has to be some sort of a record.
Well that stunk… Bullpen was awful again… And the Tigers managed to strand two more men on base…with no outs… that one hurts. Could have pulled even with Chicago…
Complete hack job of managing in the last of the 9th. Hey JL, poking yourself in the eye isn’t pushing the right buttons.
Speaking of Ol’ Smoky, could you believe the poll results (shown during today’s broadcast) of other players/managers in the game that had Leyland rated as the #1 manager? I almost spit my Coke Zero out across the room. What are others seeing from him that I don’t see? I see constant mis-managing as documented in today’s game thread comments (lack of pinch hitters in the 9th for two guys that were hitless today), yet he gets lauded all the time. I guess the good ol’ boys network is alive and well in the big leagues. Off the top of my head I rate Gardenhire, Scoscia, Girardi (who wins year after year with substandard starting pitching), Maddon, and Washington ahead of Ol’ Smoky and that is just among AL managers. I can’t properly rate NL managers because I see so few NL games so I’ll just keep it in the AL. I’m completely flummoxed by the poll results regarding Leyland.
It’s a good-old-boys club where quantity (years) will always trump quality. And about 95% of the time managers were relatively worthless as players, so what else do these guys have to crow about (of the list of managers you cited, how many of them will be remembered for their playing skill?) other than keeping a managerial position for many years. And the fact that Leyland was a non-entity for about six years before DD pulled the stake out of his heart and brought him back to “life”, adds a bit of aura to his legendary character, I’m sure. Part of the adulation is undoubtedly because of all the games he’s “won” while all the games he has “lost” – the wins are due to the man’s inherent genius, while the losses are due to crappy player personnel. I’m not denigrating all managers mind you; there were/are some who truly do have an astute understanding of the game (regardless of their ability as players.) Jim Leyland just isn’t one of them.
Girardi… Binder Boy ? he is JL redux. Ask any Yankees fan
WTF was that? Unbelievable.
The Yankees need to claim this one on their tax returns.
Infante has a 10-game hitting streak, so there’s that. JL will probably give him a couple of days off so he can play Santiago more to get him going.
Ouch. All in all not a bad homestand at 5-2 but losing the last two leaves a bad taste in my mouth, especially the way this one went down. I think Ol’ Smoky may have out-thought himself by siting Jackson (on a 11-game hitting streak) and letting QB have the leadoff spot today. Would have much rather had Ajax hitting with men on the corners and one out in the 9th versus QB hitting there, just didn’t see any good swings form AB all day.
Second point: Why leave Delmon Young on the bench in the ninth? He could have pinch hit for either Santiago or QB in the 9th, especially when all we needed was a SAC fly. Why leave bullets in the chamber?
Or Baker could’ve pinch hit for either, and gone in at either 2B or LF.
Good point. I forgot about Baker being on the roster because he’s only played one time since we acquired him. That would have made sense too as he could have easily slid into Santiago’s second base spot defensively if it went extras.
Of course we’re both ignoring the reality that Leyland would NEVER pull a LHB for a RHB PH against a RHP, even if the LHB were hitting under the Raburn Line.
You try to make those complex decisions while you have two or three cigarettes going at the same time.
This is exactly when I get extremely frustrated with Leyland. I understand exactly what he’s doing. He wants to create an atmosphere where EVERYONE contributes, and where EVERYONE on the team has an opportunity to get the big hit. When it works, you have great camaraderie and it pays dividends for the team, but unfortunately, it’s not the right move. QB has been struggling in that slot. It’s just not the right move. Ditto for Santiago, who also has been struggling with RISP. Come on, JL. This was elementary and you blew it.
This game was ours for the taking and it was poorly executed. A “W” here would have been huge for team momentum, taking 3 out of 4 from the Yankees, going into a tough road trip against another playoff team.
These are the games that hurt.
If only Leyland had read the Stat of the Day.
You can’t lose 1600 games by accident. You have to work at it…he put all his money on Santiago who is hitting.111 since AllStar break with 1 RBI…he said after the game he didn’t think Baker hits RH pitchers that well but a .111 hitter does…….That my friends is how you lose 1600+ games. You have to work at it…..
On Experts: why managers are important.
“Why are experts inferior to algorithms? One reason, which Meehl suspected, is that
experts try to be clever, think outside the box, and consider complex combinations
of features in making their predictions. Complexity may work in the odd case, but
more often than not it reduces validity. Simple combinations of features are better.
Several studies have shown that human decision makers are inferior to a prediction
formula even when they are given the score suggested by the formula! They feel that
they can overrule the formula because they have additional information about the
case, but they are wrong more often than not.”
From “Thinking Fast and Slow” by Daniel Kahneman
+1.