2013 Season, Game Post

Game 2013.115: Tigers at Yankees

27 Comments

Detroit Tigers: 68-46, 1st Place (7 ahead of Cleveland). 

Sneaking under the radar a bit: Detroit Tigers, American League’s Best Record.

Well all good things must come to an end, and the Tigers’ winning streak finally topped out at 12–but not without some excitement.  After failing to take advantage of several early inning opportunities, the Tigers went into the 9th inning down 3-1. A double by Austin Jackson set the stage for a two-out classic confrontation between Miguel Cabrera and the great Mariano Rivera, and after two quick strikes (and a foul shot off of his knee), Cabrera struck, with a massive home run to dead center.

Torii Hunter:  “they should make  movie from that at-bat.”

Unfortunately, the Tigers again failed to take advantage of runners on base in the top of the 10th, and Al Alburquerque couldn’t hold the Yankees in the 9th. Was there any doubt of the outcome once Alburquerque came into the game? Unfortunately the Tigers had already burned through Coke, Bonderman, Smyly, Rondon, and Veras, and didn’t have much choice (although Veras might have been able to handle one more inning).

*****

Cabrera has a bandaged left shin, but will be in the lineup.  Prince Fielder gets a “day off” at DH, with Victor Martinez digging out his glove and taking first. And Leyland is hoping Don Kelly will run into one in the 6th spot.

For the Yankees, Alex Rodriguez gets the day off, with Jayson Nix at 3rd.

*****

Omar Infante’s rehab assignment, finally, is progressing: last night he was 2-for-4. The Tigers are tentatively shooting for Monday for Infante’s return. They certainly could use the punch in the bottom third of the lineup.

Today’s Player of the Pre-game:  Don Kelly.  The struggling Andy Dirks gets the day off, and the Donkey takes aim at that short RF porch.

Today’s Let’s Start a New Streak Lineup:

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

27 thoughts on “Game 2013.115: Tigers at Yankees”

    1. It wouldn’t have been much of a play without VMart at the other end. Prince would not have made the play. Who says that JP would not have positioned himself to have made the play easier on himself and the 1B, without having to make it a highlite-reel play and possibly causing 1B to miss the bad throw.

      2. Neifi Perez (not to be confused with Hernan) had a reputation for making highlight reel plays before he came to Detroit. That may have been part of the reason he was signed. Some guys just have a flair for the dramatic I guess.

  2. Miggy is Superhuman! Two K’s for AA so far today ….. who said he isn’t concussed?

    1. Just saw the replay of the HR, where that ball was, unbelievable that he could hit it out.

  4. looking back at last night it would have been interesting to see if Inglesias would have gotten to Gardners ground ball that got thru.. that would have beean great indication of his range….

    1. Did you know? Joba Chamberlain is one of only 3 Native American players currently on MLB rosters. (Thought I’d get this bit of trivia in while he was still on a MLB roster).

  6. I miss the Alburquerque with the wicked slider that dominated everybody when he first came up. He hasn’t been the same since he took that shot to the head.

  7. this makes exactly “0” sense..why use Smyly here when it is a blowout..now he won”t be available tomorrow if its a close game. This is a perfect Coke or Al Al situation…Mumbles is clueless about pitching on a day to day basis…

    1. With the big winning streak, the holes in Leyland’s game don’t get much attention. For the most part the players have made strategic decision making a minor consideration lately, but they haven’t gone away. It seems that when things are going really badly, panic sets in, and when things are going really well, maybe its boredom. But his reaction in those cases is to try his hand at managing, the art of which he is largely inept. It is at these times that you really have to watch out.

  9. Today’s game is a perfect illustration of why ERA is generally a meaningless stat for relief pitchers – without fielder’s indifference allowing baserunners to advance at will, Bondo doesn’t give up a run in the 9th inning.

  10. Saw this quote in the recent Henning article on Jackson’s resurgence:
    “Jackson has been working overtime in the batting cage to settle down a left leg that is the trigger for his swing – and, when it’s not in proper alignment, for his mini-slumps.”

    But, but, but, I thought batting practice was over-rated.

  11. Unbelievable fact of the day:
    Don Kelly is the only Tiger hitter to have more walks than strikeouts – 23/19.

          1. My back of the envelope calculations tell me that if Prince gets hot and finishes with 180 hits (on pace for about 165 or so now), he will get paid a little over $122,000 for each one. Not bad.

  13. Yasiel Puig of the Dodgers has had one 2-game HITLESS streak since he came up in June. He can’t get enough PAs to qualify for the batting title? He needs 502 and has 254 today with 46 games to play. But, how about NL ROY. With the exception of a maximum of 130 PA from previous seasons (Puig has none), it seems to be up to the BBWA to decide. Who else is in the NL running this year?

  15. Nail-biting time for 47-game Beat The Streak guy. He has Justin Upton: 0-for-3 and leading off the bottom of the 9th.

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