2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.106: Nationals at Tigers

46 Comments

Detroit Tigers: 60-45, 1st Place (2.5 ahead of Cleveland). 

Today is Christmas in July at Comerica Park, featuring Santa Paws. He will have his eyes on you, Mr. Verlander. Will this outing be naughty, or nice?

The Tigers won their 4th consecutive in the two-game series opener as Alex Avila was the unexpected hero with his first career grand slam. It was a big win because Cleveland won their 6th straight, as Ryan Raburn came through with a two-run pinch-hit single. Raburn is now batting .321 for July. The Royals have also won 7 straight and crept over the .500 mark.

After the conclusion of the quick two-game series with Washington, the Tigers get another day off, then the White Sox (and Avisail Garcia) come to town, and then it is off to Cleveland. (I don’t think I can ever remember seeing a two-game series in the middle of a home stand with days off before and after).

*****

Miguel Cabrera seemed to tweak his hip flexor yesterday charging a slow roller at 3rd. According to Kevin Rand Cabrera actually suffered an abdominal strain, and is listed as day-to-day, with today not being one of those days, and tomorrow being an off-day. There is a chance the Tigers could begin their White Sox series with a Santiago-Iglesias-Perez infield.

In better news, Omar Infante has begun running and may be able to join the team on its upcoming road trip.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Alex Avila. I may be pressing my luck with this one, but Avila is on a 5-game hitting streak, and has actually put up respectable numbers for July: .250 BA, .740 OPS.

Today’s  Lineup:

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

46 thoughts on “Game 2013.106: Nationals at Tigers”

    1. After the Upton thing went south, maybe he just needs to… well, you know.

      1. Seeing as he was with his high school sweetie for *years*, you may be on to something. He might just be the kind of guy who needs a woman around. C’mon JV, it can’t be that hard to find another hottie when you’re a studly pro ballplayer.

      1. The mechanical flaws he and Jones found are certainly proving difficult to correct.

  6. Odd stat of the day:
    Fielder has had 4 HR and 0 doubles since June 28th (27 games).

  9. This might be one of those games where we let JV go a managed 5 or 6 to try and get him back on track.

      1. Someone–I don’t know who–may have figured out Coke’s problem. He may be fine now.

        Of course, I am talking about his change in theme music. He has stopped entering to Nickelback (I am serious). Unfortunately this flaw went undetected for so long because the coaching staff is too old to get it.

        1. Everyone should change their theme song from time to time, to keep ’em fresh.

        1. “Unfortunately this flaw went undetected for so long because the coaching staff is too old to get it.”

          Coleman proves once again that he is the ace of our staff.

    1. There was something about the later AB, the single on the breaking ball where he was behind in the count. If there turns out to have been a turning point for Alex, we might have just seen it there.

  11. I think The Cycle is rather over-rated as an achievement (I’d rather have 4 home runs). That being said, Brookens just screwed Torii out of a cycle.

    1. Brookens and Avila both. Kinda miffed about it. I could have lived with the (second) out coming at home, as we all could have, I’m sure.

      At the risk of sounding highly original, let me just say that theTigers sure are slow and clumsy on the bases. Martinez earlier, coulda scored (earlier). Wins cover up this sorta thing. Which is good.

  12. it must be Christmas in July sticking with the days theme, with Coke and AlAl goibg 6 up 6 down…hohoho!

  13. Good times. Tigers wheeling and dealing, and winning. 8 of 9 with no Infante and not much of Miggy. Nor much of Fielder, though present, but we’re getting used to that, aren’t we?

    I like the trades, I like the way the Tigers are playing, and I especially like the way the last 3 opponents have played against the Tigers.

    Let the good times roll on.

    1. Yes. And hopefully the Indians will use up their quota of walk-off wins before we see them again….I see they got another one again tonight.

  14. The Tigers have now won 5 in a row, the hot team in the AL Central. Not so fast, say the Indians, we have won 7 in a row. Which would be impressive , except that the Royals juggernaut just rolled to their 8th win in a row. Heady times at the top of the ol’ Central Division.

  15. If any of you live near Lansing, and can get out to see the Lugnuts(???) check out a young RHP/Canadian(via Thunder Bay) by the name of Eric Brown. He was pitching in Vancouver, and when his club was here in Spokane, he befriended and was very kind to my grandsons.(The aforementioned Battery, 10yo RHP and 8yo C) He is also a very good hurler, was 5-1 w/ a 1.7ish era.
    On a more apppro note, the Tigres finished this month with a 17-9 w/l record, best month so far this season. The dreaded dog days of August are next, but since Tigers are cats (and big ones!) shouldn’t be a problem…..predict a 16-13 month, no wagering though…..save that for the horses…..

  16. Gentlemen, I stand on the following predictions.
    1. Avila will continue the hot streak he is on
    2. Coke will burn out in September.
    3. Prince will start seeing the ball soon.
    4. Miggy will go on the 15 day DL to fix that muscle problem.

    Just remember these and sit back and watch. I haven’t been wrong yet this year.
    Oh, JV will get himself straightened out just in time for the stretch run in September.
    Bye for now.

  17. The Tigers now have the biggest run differential in the majors (+132). I hate these blowout games because they screw up their pythagorean; they should be 66-40 now.

  18. August is going to be a tough month: 31 games in the next 31 days (incl Sep 1) with only one day off, a DH on the 16th, all 7 remaining days against the Indians, 19 of those 31 games against teams above .500.

    The Indians meanwhile have, including today and thru Sep 1, have 29 games in 32 days, 3 days off, and play 13 games against teams that are above. 500.

    We’re not getting any help here, and those 7 games vs. CLE are huge. The Indians aren’t going away and the Tigers are going to have to take it up a notch and not take anything for granted.

  19. Uh-oh, Ryan Raburn has “gotten going.” 3-for-4 today with 2 home runs, Cleveland wins their 8th in a row, 6-1.

      1. we are 8-0, with a 65-14 aggregate run differential, vs the NL East. Do we get the Mets in September? I know we play the Marlins late.

          1. they are like us…good, not great. Alabama is heavy Braves territory, so I get inundated with Braves talk on the radio and TV. I try to ignore much of it (g).

            I took the family to see them play the Reds a few weeks back…when they showed the stats on the board, I was shocked at their offensive numbers: they had one guy over .300…and really everyone else was in the .250-.270 range. they do hit a lot of HR, though.

            I was kind of surprised they weren’t more active in the Peavy stuff…Hudson had just gotten hurt, and they needed a starter. Peavy is from Mobile, AL, so I am betting he would have liked to got to ATL (and back to the NL)

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