2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.77: Angels at Tigers

38 Comments

Detroit Tigers: 42-34, 1st Place (2.5 ahead of Cleveland).

The Angels continued their befuddling mastery of the Tigers last night with a 7-4 victory which put them at 5-for-5 for the season, a stretch in which they have outscored Detroit by a whopping 43-16. Their Pythagorean winning percentage should probably be at least 1.000.  Home, away, it doesn’t seem to matter.

This afternoon Los Anaheim looks to make it a perfect 6-for-6 2013 sweep.

What has gone wrong? Even though there have been a few outbursts of power and a few runs scored, the hitting has been lackluster at best, hitting .247 for the season, with a meager .676 OPS, which puts the team as a whole almost exactly in Avisail Garcia territory. And this against the team with a pitching staff that has been one of the shakiest in the league: they are 13th in team ERA with a hefty 4.39, and better than only Houston in Runs Per Game, at 4.74.

Not that the Tiger pitchers have fared any better against the Angels. Oh no. The Tiger hurlers have been bombed to the tune of a 6.65 ERA and a ridiculous .325 Batting Average Against. Oh, and that ERA doesn’t include the 6 Runs on Errors; yes, the fielding has been awful also.

The good news is that the one pitcher that has been immune so far has been today’s starter, Doug Fister. In his previous start against the Angels he went 7 innings of shutout baseball, holding them to 5 hits, though the bullpen eventually lost the game. Perhaps he could try to make it 8 innings today?

The other good news is that regardless of what happens today, Detroit has seen the last of the Angels for this year. It doesn’t get any easier though: on deck is an 11-game road trip with 3 in Tampa Bay, 4 at the hot Toronto Blue Jays, and then finishing with 4 at the Cleveland Indians, who are right back in the race.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Torii Hunter again. Torii was a good call yesterday, going 2-for-5 and flexing some muscle with a home run and a double. The Ex-Angel now has hit his former team to the tune of .400 with a 1.128 OPS, 2nd only to Miguel Cabrera (.474/1.388).

Today’s Return of Ramon Lineup:

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

38 thoughts on “Game 2013.77: Angels at Tigers”

  2. he won’t because as we all know Leyland has never been about Whats best for the team! He always takes care of his guys! Even if it means losing games! Thats how he got to 1694 losses

  3. He can, he just doesn’t have the sack to do it. Too afraid that Prince will pout and that he will lose him from an attitude perspective if he sits him down for a day. Sometimes the manager has to do unpopular things for the good of the team,.

  4. totally agree with you Jerry…but we are talking Jim Leyland here…whose only oriority is to be “one of the boys”

  5. It kind of figures that the day we finally get some pitching against the Angels that our bats are quiet. Team Frustration continues to live up to its name.

  6. Can Team Frustration finally win an extra inning game that doesn’t go 14?? We’re about to find out.

  7. Why did Ol’ Smoky turn to Phil Coke in the 10th? Hasn’t he seen enough yet? I was OK with him facing the Schuck (a lefty), but Trout?? Trout is lighting up everybody much less a guy who has righties batting .350 against him. This is why I continue to ask God every day for Ol’ Smoky to just quietly go away. I’ve never seen a guy do less with more.

  9. thanks Coke, he should not be pitching anymore! has been awful this year, pathetic, mad, angry another day as a Tigers fan! So much better than this

  10. Break out the brooms Angels fans. You’ve swept Team Frustration. Trout should demand a trade to anybody not named Detroit in the AL Central this offseason. That way he will get to feast on Team Frustration 18-19 times per season. He will then hit .400 for the rest of his career and win multiple AL MVPs.

  11. Fairly predictable outcome. Coke gives away another one. Should’ve been on the same train with Valverde. 0-5 likely for Coke. Had lost the last outing against Boston if not for Peralta.

  12. sure Coke will be the goat (deserving), but the DET offense needs to put up more than 1 run if they expect to win

    this (home) series sweep will even look worse (for DET) if LAA reverts back to the mediocrity they’ve achieved thus far this season

  13. Coke’s time in the bigs has to be limited. I just looked at his 2012 and 2011 seasons, he’s been pretty bad for a while.

    If this holds up, this will be 8 extra inning losses. It’s bewildering.

    2. Detroit will continue to lose extra innings games, eventually, if they never score in them. Their inning 7-10 offense is still like a whole bunch of Avila at bats.

  15. This is Dimbo the Clown’s 8th year of mismanaging bullpens. He hasn’t got a clue… and never will.

  16. Tigers are 2 – 7 in extra inning games. Coke is 0 – 4 as a relief pitcher. I think I am starting to see a connection as to why they do so bad in extra innings.

  17. Leyland” Coke is my lefthand specialist, yup thats how I am going to use him”

    both Choke and Mumbles should have been on that bus with ValVerde.

  18. Every division leader in MLB has a winning record in 1-run games, except for DET. 1-run and extra inning games (DET now 2-8 in extra inning games) are often a reflection of a team’s manager/coaches… though I suspect JL will likely attribute their lack of success in 1-run and extra inning games to him ‘not having a closer’.

    Before this 10-game home stand, I said ‘i’d be happy if they went 5-5’, they didn’t, they went 4-6. Though the potential is definitely there, DET appears poised to take underachieving to a new level.

  19. As Coleman mentioned in his initial game post – 11 road games next against TAM, TOR and CLE… its not going to get any easier.

    ‘Optimism’ is probably not something they should be bringing on the plane with them…but wait, since its less than 3 oz, TSA says its OK.

    1. A 4-7 or 3-8 road trip not out of the question considering their road woes.

  20. Glad to see the Angels leave town, have never ever liked them. In ’73 I went to see the Boston Red Sox play them, and Yaz took No-No Ryan deep twice. My Marine buddies and I were clapping for the second homer when we started dodging all kinds of crap getting heaved at us. The ensuing fracas did not go well for the Angel fans, 5 Marines vs 10 or so “fans” not a fair fight for the losers!
    I remember the angst we all felt around this time last year, and yet they pulled it off. I am hoping that things will get better, they can’t get much worser.

    1. That was much harder than I thought it would be. Not getting them right, I mean just coming up with 57 names. And unfortunately about half the starting lineups hadn’t even been announced yet.

  24. Bruce Rondon recalled, no word yet who has been de-called, but I’d guess Evan Reed.

    1. With the bats not getting the job done and Coke a walking gas can all year (while we wait for him to get going), replacing Reed with Rondon would make perfect sense.

  25. By the way, dial up the Cleveland/Chicago game if you are looking for something to do. Cleveland gave up 5 runs in the bottom of the first (their starter lasted 2/3), and have gotten back 5 in the top of the 2nd already. First team to 15 wins!

    1. Haha currently CLE 14, CHW 10. Oh, and they have another game to play after this. I predict at least one position player pitching.

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