2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.22: Braves at Tigers

51 Comments

11-10, 2nd place, 1 game behind KC.

(traveling today, gonna be quick here, more on AS tomorrow)

Unbelievable. I didn’t get to watch the game live. But I’ve watched the K by K video a handful of times to the point where I shout on #17 just like Sanchez.

A few notes other than the obvious one that Sanchez was historically awesome last night.

– The Tigers pounded a lefty. Demolished him really.

– The Tigers had 5 XBH (4 doubles and a HR) for a .579 slugging.

– Tigers were 6-15 with RISP.

– This warm and fuzzy feeling could go away very quickly in a few hours.

If someone could please post the lineup when it is up I would appreciate it.

51 thoughts on “Game 2013.22: Braves at Tigers”

  1. Today’s Take That, Those Who Said Leyland Would Never Play Tuiasosopo Two Days In A Row Lineup:

    1. Jackson, CF
    2. Hunter, RF
    3, Cabrera, 3B
    4. Fielder, 1B
    5. Martinez, DH
    6. Peralta, SS
    7. Tuiasosopo, LF
    8. Avila, C
    9. Infante, 2B

    1. Well that one snuck by me–the order of the lineup is correct, but actually Victor Martinez is playing 1B today, and Prince Fielder is getting a “rest” as the DH.

  3. Hey Kevin…good write up. Yesterday bought our tickets to the Tigers v. Rangers series. On the 3b side..hope to see you there.

  8. How bout that scoop by Victor at 1st..were used to seeing Prince do that……great play by Peralta

  9. Three 88 mph fastballs in the middle of the plate and Avila can’t get around on any of them…….something’s is seriously wrong here!!!

    1. And nice job by Smyly to close out the inning, he has been huge so far this season.

  13. Mumbles has never ever ever ever ever bunted a runner to third..without a runner on first also…but because the Braves played their infield for a bunt ,Mumbles actually thought… Gee this is something I am supposed to do……too funny

  16. Pappa Grande!!……

    like his new wind up ,less non pitching mechanics..nice ..simple..direct!….

  18. I’m glad Valverde has had a couple good outings, but I’m concerned about the fact that only 2 of his 42 pitches have been splitters. If it was an effective pitch for him, you’d think he’d be throwing it more often. If it’s not an effective pitch for him, he’s not going to last long up her.

      1. That Grilli is just a flash in the pan. Let’s see him fall apart in the postseason, miss spring training, get signed to a minor league deal, serve an informal 18-game suspension, and then get right back on the horse. Let’s just see him do that.

  19. Not to rain on the Tigers’s parade – they’ve played well enough over the last 5 to be 5-0 rather than 3-2 – but I’m noticing little things more than I used to. Like:

    Game 21 vs. Braves, Tigers 3rd: The 2-2 pitch to Cabrera called a ball was close, could’ve gone either way. Cabrera draws the walk, and it really changes the complexion of the inning and possibly the game. Braves 4th: The 5-4-3 DP deserves mention as a game changer, even in a game that ended up 10-0. Kudos to Miggy especially. What a gun.

    Game 22 vs. Braves, Tigers 8th: I like the decision to go for the steal of 3rd, but Infante was out, Tigers got the call. Sets up run 7. Valverde pitches well enough to make it look trivial, but for me, the difference between a 6-4 and a 7-4 lead was huge.

    Game 20 vs. Royals, Royals 10th: I’m usually not one for this type of second-guessing, and the failure of execution is all Coke’s, but to bring Phil back out for the 10th was unnecessary and a bad idea. I can’t prove it, but I didn’t like it even before the trouble began. For the record, I am automatically opposed to Coke pitching in two consecutive innings from here out.

    There’s a good trend going on, one of the Tigers cashing in on the opponent’s Clown Shows and also on good breaks. I hope it continues.

    Valverde looked more convincingly good in today’s win over the Braves. Maybe the game plan for him, for now, is to get it done without the splitter. Whatever works.

    Today’s Tigers 8th decision to have Avila sacrifice bunt with Kelly on 2B was odd. First, he’s a good candidate to put a grounder to the right side anyway. Second, when he isn’t striking out, he can still draw a walk. That sac bunt decision was a waste of an AB and an out that could have been regrettable. Well, not to mention the awful bunt itself.

        1. True. Avila has had much more practice grounding out to the right side of the infield.

    2. Laying down a bunt is a skill, as is hitting the ball to the right side with a runner on second. And, like any skill, to get good at it requires practice.

    3. I agree that Coke shouldn’t be used for long relief. He is too vulnerable to RH bats and should really be used strictly as a LOOGY, IMO. Good luck with that. On the other hand, in the game with KC we were short one reliever because of Dotel’s injury. Really, the bats and their pathetic performance in the later innings so far cost us that game – you are just not to win many games scoring 3 runs or less. To underscore the late inning fadeouts argument, here are the RBI totals so far by inning (couldn’t find for runs and am too lazy to go through boxscores and add everything up, but this may be a more valuable indicator of hitting performance anyway):

      1st: 12
      2nd: 15
      3rd: 13
      4th: 23
      5th: 22
      6th: 5
      7th: 5
      8th: 8
      9th: 1
      Etr: 1

      So are opposing teams making adjustments in how they pitch in later innings and the Tigers hitters are not responding to those adjustments…. or what?

      1. In Game 20 against KC, Dotel’s absence wasn’t a factor. There was a boatload of bullpen available. This got me thinking that what you’d want to do when a game got to extra innings is get Smyly in there and LEAVE HIM in there – he can carry you to inning 18 if he has to. Rule of thumb: Spend Smyly wisely and never too early.

        1. To clarify: Use Smyly for LONG relief in all cases, early to get you to the 9th, or later to get you the rest of the way.

  21. New father Alex…

    http://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130425/SPORTS0104/304250385/1129/rss15

    … did make a heckuva throw to nail B.J. Upton at 2B.

    As jud observed earlier, Avila’s bat does look mighty slow. Someone who saw him in 2011 might want to chime in with a comparative observation. Me, I find it hard to believe that *something* hasn’t changed. He just looks awful at the plate, has pretty much since ST. The Tigers need him behind the plate. He could hit .150 and keep his job. Sure would be nice if he really did get going, though. Maybe if they move him to the #2 spot and slide Hunter to #8…

    1. Either that (so that I presume he can hit his way out of his slump by getting more ABs) or switch him with Infante so he is batting ninth and be willing to PH for him in critical situations late in the game.

      Perhaps the pregnancy thing has distracted him and he’ll start to come around now. He’s gotta be better than he’s been.

      1. Pinch hitting for Avila may not happen even once this season.

        It’s just so impossible to know how things in their personal lives affect ballplayers that I leave it out of my calculations altogether. We all have jobs to do, we all have things going on in our personal lives. Generally speaking, I don’t think we forget how to do our jobs because of outside stress. Avila is as good as ever behind the plate, or so it seems. You’d think that Avila would be having special sessions with McClendon just as Martinez did, but is it possible that the Tigers are giving him a pass on this for the time being due to the “new father” thing? I have no idea.

        Avila did homer in his first AB after the birth of his daughter. I think both his HR came that same week, as a matter of fact.

  22. With Runners On, 2 Outs, the Tigers lead the AL in the following categories: AB, H, R, RBI, and OBP. They are 3rd in BA (.265) and 5th in OPS (.759). This is surprising – and encouraging – when you consider that 4 of 9 regulars have been atrocious in this split so far. You can guess three of them. Austin Jackson – yes, that Austin Jackson – is the other.

  23. The starting rotation through 22 games: 3.22 ERA, 48 earned runs (54 runs total) in 22 starts. (Minus Porcello’s Game 17, it’s a 2.63 ERA with 39 ER (45 total) in 21 starts.) 135 K and 36 BB in 134.1 IP. Outstanding. How can the Tigers possibly be only 12-10?

    Oh. The bullpen. 4.73 ERA, 39 earned runs in 70.1 IP (86 K, but 37 BB, 1.36 WHIP). 5 of 10 team losses.

    Oh. Some things about the hitting. From the 7th inning on, the Tigers are at or close to the bottom of the AL in most offensive categories. Imagine this as an individual stat line:

    264 AB, .208, 1 HR, 15 RBI. 69 K, 28 BB. .287 OBP/.269 SLG/.556 OPS.

    The Tigers have, in effect, given everyone in the lineup the day off after 6 innings and thereafter batted Don Kelly or Ramon Santiago 292 (or so) consecutive times. How can the Tigers possibly be 12-10?

    Because they’re such good 2-strike hitters. AL tops in hits and each of .239/.314/.344/.658.

    1. I seem to recall they weren’t very good offensively late in games last year also. Many games where they scored very early and then went to sleep. It’s kind of odd really, since you would expect things to even out over the course of a long season. I guess that’s baseball.

    2. I reposted this part from above because it seems more pertinent here.

      To underscore the late inning fadeouts argument, here are the RBI totals so far by inning (couldn’t find for runs and am too lazy to go through boxscores and add everything up, but this may be a more valuable indicator of hitting performance anyway):
      1st: 12

      2nd:15

      3rd: 13
      
4th: 23

      5th: 22

      6th: 5

      7th: 5
      
8th: 8
      
9th: 1
      
Etr: 1
      So are opposing teams making adjustments in how they pitch in later innings and the Tigers hitters are not responding to those adjustments…. or what?

      1. This is for 2013, right, Vince? Yes – I see the 15 runs total 7th and later. The stats I looked at yesterday… the RBI total was what leaped out at me. It’s one thing for batting average to look a little dingy, but when 15 runs have scored over 22 games, that’s pretty big, even when you consider the missing 9th innings from home wins. The 5 runs total you’ve shown above for the 6th is another revelation. That’s when it starts, evidently.

        These things probably do tend to flatten out over the course of an entire season, and we’re looking at only 22 games so far, which I realized when I posted my 7th-and-later numbers of alarm. I must admit that I had the same we’ve seen this before lingering impression about the Tigers not hitting late in games, probably from 2012 or portions thereof.

        Actually, my lingering impression from last season and this is more accurately put that the Tigers don’t hit bullpens very well. I’d have to look at stats league-wide to know whether this was comparatively true. I’d guess that, over the course of a season, it’s generally true for all teams that hitting dips against bullpens. Fresh arms and pitchers the hitters have seen less of, that sort of thing. All teams must go through stretches where they’re hitting bullpens particularly poorly, and since we tend to be pessimists here, these stretches make a stronger impression.

        On the bright side – again, it’s a 22-game sample, so the optimism should be guarded – only once in 2013, AFAIK, has a Detroit starter been knocked out of a game early. That’s pretty remarkable. The consistency has been outstanding. None of those highs and lows we’ve seen with the hitting.

        1. “I’d guess that, over the course of a season, it’s generally true for all teams that hitting dips against bullpens.”

          I guess that means good times ahead for the Tigers as things average out.

        2. I looked up RBI totals by inning for the first half of 2012, just to see if there was a trend to falloff late in the game during the early part of the season (Apr 5-July 3 – 81 games). The 1st, 3rd and 5th innings were the only innings over 40 (45, 43, 41), 2nd & 4th 38, 6th and 8th 37, and 7th 32 ( I remember at the time I felt the 7th was the “no score inning”). The differences aren’t that great, but there does seem to be an indication of some slight fading out over the 6-8th. Maybe the impression was so strong due to the high frequency of scoring in the first inning, jumping out to a lead and then having so many games turn into a loss. Tigers were 39-42 on July 3.

          Also, up to that point they were hitting starters better than relievers, so you have a valid point there: .278/.338/.438 to .242/.315/.350. Other teams were hitting our starters harder than our relievers too, although with not so great a difference: .263/.321/.427 to .251/.322/.400.

            1. Well, the hitting certainly did pick up in the second half. I think getting Infante in the lineup, while getting Raburn and Inge out of the lineup was a big deal. Also Dirks in, Boesch out. And of course Young started to get going.

              1. The lineup certainly improved in the second half, but not in a way that would affect run scoring on a per-inning basis. To the extent that it improved the improvement would have been across the board. Any changes in any particular inning was just your run of the mill regression to the mean.

  24. A sweep tonight would be great for me living in Braves/Cardnial country. Doug will perform well on the national stage.

    1. What fault are teams finding with Wells, is what I’d like to know. I was thinking he’d be a good pickup for the Tigers this past offseason.

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