Detroit Tigers, 72-63, 2nd place, 1 back, WC not gonna happen.
Well, that’s baseball. And you’ve got to tip your hat to Cy Masterson. Etc. Etc.
See what happens when you don’t have a plan? Hopefully Kevin will use the day off tomorrow to devise something good. Or maybe we should all use the time to work on our lineup submissions.
For his part, Jim Leyland had an explanation for why he went with Don Kelly at 1B (batting 6th) yesterday: “He has not had a good year, obviously, this year, but that’s OK. I’m tickled for him. I’m glad for him.” See, this lineup business is harder than you think. Make sure you leave some tickle room when you fill out your cards folks.
Tonight the Tigers go for their 3rd straight series sweep, this one, like Kansas City, on the business end of the broom.
Doug Fister takes the mound for Detroit, but if this game goes according to trend it will matter more who shows up at the plate against Ubaldo Jimenez. So far this series Detroit has hit .177 against the worst starting pitching staff in the AL. Jimenez’ biggest problem is his control (he is 2nd in AL with 84 walks), which tends to be some sort of secret weapon against Tiger hitters.
Stat of the Day: We’ve said before that the Tigers just aren’t made to win a majority of close games. Well how is this: the Tigers are 2-8 in their last 10 1-run games, and their last 8 losses have been by a combined total of 9 runs.
Today’s Player of the Pre-game: Delmon Young. Will the day of rest cool him off?
Todays Delmony Lineup:
- Austin Jackson CF
- Andy Dirks LF
- Miguel Cabrera 3B
- Prince Fielder 1B
- Delmon Young DH
- Brennan Boesch RF
- Jhonny Peralta SS
- Alex Avila C
- Omar Intante 2B
5-9 will go 2-15..0.0..against Jimenez..Tiger hitters have zero patience against pitchers like him…I further bet he walks 3 or less…..if the Tigers let him…
Not bad!
Some good/amusing/depressing points outlined by Coleman above. No other first-place MLB team has a losing record in 1-run games… DET is 17-22, while BAL is 24-7, CWS 22-16.
I understand that every MLB team and player struggles with inconsistencies, but this year’s JL-led team seems to have turned it into an art form. Your guess is as good as mine as to what DET team shows up tonight.
Every AL team with the exception of DET seems to score a lot of runs against Jimenez. Jimenez vs DET = ERA 3.75, the rest of AL against Jimenez = 6.62
After tonight, DET goes on the road for 3 @ LAA, 4 @ CWS, 3 @ CLE. Tonight and the next 10 road games are going to make or break DET’s playoff chances. DET has a losing (30-35) road record, so the smart-money would likely be betting against them on the road. We shall see what transpires.
Looks like a 4-6 or 3-7 road trip to me (1-2, 2-2, 1-2). Maybe Leyland blows his top (swears a lot) and takes his ball and goes home afterwards.
Another disturbing trend: Tigers are 0-5 over my last 5 game posts.
There comes a time……..
Close games are won and lost by the bullpen; whose success is highly dictated by the manager…
And not only that.
Also among managerial decisions which can determine the outcome of a game are: starting lineup, when to pinch hit and who, sacrifice bunting, pinch running, and so on and so forth. Along with intelligent bullpen usage, these are an absolute necessity to achieve a high success rate on the field (nothing is 100% of course,) over the course of a season, to say nothing of an entire career (hint, hint.) Puting in a season long failing hitter, or season long failing relief pitcher because you are “tickled for him,” makes no more sense than staring at your navel and waiting for the bean burrito you had for dinner to tell you what and when to do it.
…now Lamont has tried that bean burrito (belly) method when making his decisions from the 3rd base coaching box
Avila will hit himself out of his season-long slump……… Won’t he? Yet this season I mean.
Cy Jiminez showing amazing poise tonight. Only 62 pitches after 5 IP and NO walks. Except for that meatball to Cabrera in the 1st….. Sometimes you just have to tip your cap.
They should design an alternate road uniform with a battery-powered self-tipping cap.
With a propeller (doesn’t have to be battery powered.)
Great… a 1-run game…
Well, with Fister at 109 pitches and 3 out of the first 4 CLE batters in the 8th being lefthanded, we need a LH relief pitcher to come in. Let’s see now, who do we need to get going…
Here’s to NOT seeing Phil Coke tonight!
Now if only Alburquerque could come in to close.
He or Villareal would get my vote for the closer tonight.
Villarreal is great until somebody gets on base. Then his propensity for wild pitches becomes an issue. With a 4-run lead, we could probably run Coke out there (OK, if you are reading this Mr. L, I meant that RHETORICALLY).
Ubaldo Jimenez: 0 walks. It is what it is.
This is his breakout game. The Indians have been waiting for over a year for this.
Good call by Rod: “he’s determined to walk somebody tonight.”
I’d seriously consider sending Jackson here.
well, at least we know DET is not going to lose 3-2 again tonight.
The Dirkster! That run is HUGE.
Man, Choo has an amazing arm, but he does tend to get lost out there sometimes.
You are right. Hell of a throw, but he didn’t play that ball in the corner very well.
Anyone see that throw from Choo? Right field to third base on one hop. Crazy.
I don’t get a vote (yet), but is there any doubt that Cabrera should be the MVP? The Tiger offense is nothing without him.
i agree, but Trout is getting most of the league MVP love…though i see where he is ‘down’ to .330 25 HR, 75 RBI.
Remove Cabrera from DET team this year and subtract at least 15 wins to this point
I’d vote for Trout at this point, too. However, if the Angels were to miss the playoffs and the Tigers make it, there is no doubt in my mind that the MVP is Miggy’s.
Trout is the new kid on the block and the writers are enthralled. As of tonight, Cabrera is tied for league lead in BA, leads in RBI, SLG and OPS, 3rd (ahead of Trout) in OBA, 35 HR to Dunn’s and Hamilton’s 38. 4th in RS with 89 (Trout leads with 108.) But not to take anything away from Trout, you could argue that because he is a leadoff hitter, he is the sparkplug for the Angels offense. What kind of RBI totals would he be having if he was batting lower in the order? With an OPS of .964 (2nd) I would even consider batting him 5th in the Tigers lineup,
Avisail’s got wheels.
sleepwalk through 7 innings (well actually 25 innings), and then put up a 5-spot in the 8th…go figure.
5 IN THE 8TH I mean all in one game…..great managers at work…
Good game Coleman, you were due!
Hopefully I still am…you are stuck with me for the next series.
I’m working on a plan for the weekend, I will send it along to Coleman before the LAA series.
Put it in an email and send it to JL while you are at it.
I just got around to reading Leyland’s comments on the lineups. http://www.freep.com/article/20120905/SPORTS02/309050158/Tigers-Jim-Leyland-Enough-about-lineups-already-
“They (fans) have no idea who’s nagging, who’s hurting, who hits who, who doesn’t hit who.”
Can he really be that out of touch?
in short, “yes”.
Did anyone read Hennings latest? http://www.detroitnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2012209050422
Implying that Leyland deserves little or no blame, and instead directing primary source of DET’s struggles this year on a handful of hitters having a subpar year is weak (at best).
Lynn Henning, just like Leyland should have retired a few years ago… Henning states “Leyland is the best A to Z manager of our time in Detroit…Leyland is the best per category in modern Tiger time”. Though i disagree, even if these pronouncements were 100% accurate, what’s Henning’s point? …is he suggesting that since JL was a better Mgr than previous DET Mgrs, JL should get a free pass or there’s not some other Mgr out there that could have produced better results (than JL)?
In sports, Managers and Head Coaches must answer when expectations are not met. There are two edges to Mgr’s sword, JL and his staff receive the glory and accolades when things are going good, and accordingly they also receive the second guessing and grief when things are not going so good…it comes with the territory.
Think Leyland is grumpy now, just wait until he finds out about the internet.
In the D this weekend, headed to Greektown tonight.
Two notes. 1) Does anyone else think that the Garcia to RF call-up signals the end for Peralta? Meaning if Castellanos can’t shortcut his MLB trip in RF, then there will be no room for Peralta (club option) next year.
2) Really enjoyed Samuelson’s story today. Jamie basically tells Leyland to get used to the second guessing. Good feedback from the readers as well.
http://www.freep.com/article/20120906/SPORTS02/120905100/detroit-tigers-jim-leyland
Have a good time in Greektown…although I’m not sure that actually qualifies as a “plan.”
No. 1 doesn’t make any sense to me. Neither Castellanos nor Garcia play SS, so how does this affect Peralta. Or do you mean Boesch?
2) Lots of angry baseball fans; either they are angry at Leyland or they are angry at the fans who are angry at Leyland.