2014 Season, Game Post

Game 2014.47: A’s 10, Tigers 0

100 Comments

This afternoon the Tigers begin a 7-game road trip to the dreaded West Coast: dreaded because of the travel, but also because those of us on the East Coast are treated to games that begin after 10 pm. Today is an exception, a rare day game to start off the trip, without a day off for travel.

Speaking of which, by the time the Tigers finish this trip they will have played 17 straight games without a day off, including a trip to the West Coast for a day game, and a Zubaz-clad flight-delayed morning on the way to Cleveland. Previous to that they played 13 straight, giving them only two games off and two coastal road trips in the month of May.

Could their current struggles simply be the result of fatigue?

Below are the days/times (in EST) and projected starters for the road trip:

Tigers at A’s

Monday       May 26 – 4:05     Drew Smyly vs Tommy Milone (L)

Tuesday      May 27 – 10:05    Max Scherzer vs Sonny Gray

Wednesday  May 28 – 10:05   Anibal Sanchez vs Scott Kazmir (L)

Thursday     May 27 – 3:35      Rick Porcello vs Jess Chavez

Tigers at Mariners

Friday      May 30 – 10:10     Justin Verlander vs Hisashi Iwakuma

Saturday  May 31 – 10:10     Drew Smyly vs Chris Young

Sunday     June 1 – 4:10       Max Scherzer vs Roenis Elias (L)

The should not be an easy trip, considering that the A’s may have leapfrogged Detroit as the best American League team after its collapses against Cleveland and Texas. Oh wait, Oakland has lost 4 in a row themselves. What kind of way is that for two teams to head into a best-in-the-league showdown?

At least Oakland’s games were close; Detroit lost by a combined 35-15 against Texas. Oakland has been beating up on teams this year and has a run differential of +90, which is best in MLB by a lot (the Angels are 2nd best at +47). Some of those teams Oakland has beat up on have been the Central teams: Oakland has a 9-3 record so far against the Central Division. But they have yet to play the class of the division, which is Detroit. Right?

Today’s Memorial Day Shake-Up Lineup:

  1. Davis, LF
  2. Jackson, CF
  3. Cabrera, 1B
  4. Martinez, DH
  5. Hunter, RF
  6. Castellanos, 3B
  7. Holaday, C
  8. Worth, 2B
  9. Romine, SS

Jackson batting 2nd, as some of us here suggested trying. Didn’t see Worth at 2B coming–Kinsler has been Detroit’s hottest hitter and is hitting .308 career against Milone. Then again, Kinsler hasn’t had a day off yet this season.

Hope everyone has a great Memorial Day, and a big thank you to all the men and women who have given their lives for our country, and their families.

Postgame:

SONY DSC

100 thoughts on “Game 2014.47: A’s 10, Tigers 0”

  1. I like the little bit of a shake up. We need to find some RBI spots. Plenty of runners on base, but not enough of them scoring!

  3. I think they need to try Worth at DH. Then when he comes in to pitch during a blowout, he will just be batting for himself.

    1. Worth would have reached on the ground ball to Lowrie, that’s for sure.

  11. Jackson is amlost useless unless there is a runner on third with less than two outs.

    1. The whole team has become rather useless. Watching Castellanos drawing the walks almost makes it worth watching today, though. doesn’t it?

      Zzzzzzzz.

  12. Crummy AB by Davis. Taking the called third and leaving Romine at 2B. Turning point there.

  13. Love the A’s logo, Coleman. Didn’t know about that one. It’s cool.

  14. Looks like Norris is primping himself to become a Red Sox next year?

  16. The Research Department will now go find out when the last time a Tigers pitcher allowed 4 HR in a game was. Nap time to follow.

    1. Max Scherzer, April 3, 2011, against the Yankees in New York. Scherzer and Tigers won, 10-7.

      1. Jack Morris allowed 4 HR in a game three times in 1986 (a very good year for him). He won two and got a no-decision in the loss for the other. Morris is the all-time Tigers leader in career 4 HR games (no real competition there) with 4.

        Drew Smyly has joined a pretty illustrious club, all told. Maybe he can go for 5 or 6 and separate himself from the crowd.

        Only 3 in the 5 HR club. Nate Robertson did it in 3.2 against Texas, August 20, 2008.

        1. Way to advance that runner, guys. VicTorii shall remain elusive, methinks.

  18. The Tigers have ruined an otherwise awesome holiday weekend. Not sure if I’m more upset with the team or myself.

  19. Well looks like the Tigers have now cured the struggling Indians, Rangers, and A’s offense in succession.

    1. It’s a traveling medicine show, by golly. Preach a little gospel, sell a couple bottles of Dr. Good.

        1. Better. The Tigers have ruined Zubaz for me. Not that I was that anxious to try them.

    1. I was thinking the same before the game, and then I thought, nah. I think they’re as committed to him as they should be. There’s no one to replace him anyway.

  22. Going into today we needed to find some RBI guys…Still haven’t found any??? Playing for the Tigers that is!!

    1. You didn’t mention that last part. Be specific next time. The Tigers have found plenty of RBI guys and RBI spots. Brantley, Odor, Donaldson…

  24. A full house at the Coliseum and only 35K worth of fans. They need to untarp that upper deck and let some more crazy fans in. Or get rid of more foul territory? BTW, Sonny Grey on the mound tomorrow.

  26. Weren’ t we bragging just a little while ago that we were so proud on single digits in the loss column??

  27. After Cy Malone we get Sonny Grey tomorrow…we don’t have to call him Cy…he is good enough without it!

  28. There is still life in baseball as Red Sox end their 10 game losing streak. My coffee drinking Red Sox bud was at the game in Hotlanta.

      1. And the Red Sox come to Comerica in less than two weeks.

        1. I don’t know, Coleman. You could say that losing 7 of their next 8 made the Tigers’ sweep of the Red Sox *more* impressive.

    1. appears so…the icing on the Coke…er, i mean cake

      i guess we’ll see what this team (top down) is made of over the next 6 games…after this latest helping of adversity

      1. Wow. Grand slam. I guess the excuse this time is that it didn’t matter anyway. Just playing out the game.

  31. We have become a joke, led by Ringmaster Smokey Jr. Why did he take Knebel out after only pitching two good innings ….. he is a starting pitcher is he not?

    1. No, Knebel was a reliever in college and was drafted to be a reliever. Short relief. No need to turn him into the long man in his second MLB appearance (or at all) in a game that was lost. Two innings to get more of a look at him, that’s all it was. He’ll be in there in some kind of meaningful situation by and by, but I highly doubt that it will be for more than 1 inning unless there’s some very long extra innings game in the cards soon..

  32. Okay, now I’m ready to jump on the Jud train and call for everyone’s heads.

    But really, this is just getting weird. It looks like a completely different team from a week ago. How can the pitching and hitting all shut down at the same time?

      1. I had a bad feeling about the Zubaz from the beginning, but I had the wrong idea. Now I understand that it really was the Zubaz themselves, literally. They wick out good pitching. The Tigers are left with nothing but dried-out husks. Does someone have photographic evidence of Anibal Sanchez in Zubaz? If so, he may have protected himself by wearing some kind of lining underneath. Wise man.

  33. Bottom line..can’t field…can’t pitch…can’t hit… coaching doesn’t matter…but Coke only gave up 4!!!
    There has to be a sacrificial lamp to show the players management means business and it has to be Coke!!!!!!!!!

    1. I know that was a typo, but I like the idea of a sacrificial lamp. Smash it, and Ausmus can wear the lampshade on his head in the dugout as a trophy.

  34. I will say this over and over and over. Every team has a long man come out of the pen….you cannot keep letting your starters get bombed!…. and the long man for the Tigers is ————-.. don’t have one!

    1. I was thinking that maybe Ray would bump Smyly back to the BP, then we’d have a long guy. That thought was premature. That’s not on Ausmus though, he can only cook with the ingredients he’s got.

      1. Smyly needs to go back to the pen for one simple reason…they need him there!!..this starting business is just fine BUT the TEAM has more important needs..with Ray you only worry about him one day just like Smyly in the rotation…with Smyly in the pen you get a reliable guy 2 or 3 days out of 5

        1. Doug Fister was a long man, but they traded him.

          I don’t see Smyly going back to the bullpen, or Ray in the rotation as anything but an injury replacement. The rotation is what it is and is likely to remain in place for the rest of 2014. It used to be pretty good. I guess it wasn’t really that long ago, either.

  35. Are Zubas flammable? I think some kind of Zubas burning ritual nay be called for here.

      1. Strongly suggested this about 4 or 5 losses ago; from the looks of them they should go up like a dry christmas tree or any part of So Cal.

  36. In other news, Brayan Pena and Ramon Santiago batting back-to-back for the Reds tonight.

  37. If anyone is around, check out the Dodgers/Reds game–Ryu has a no-hitter through 7, after Beckett pitched one last night. History in the making?

        1. The Reds would have tied it on the Hamilton double if Dave Clark was their 3B coach. Positioning.

              1. Reds might lose, but Pena was clutch. That was nice to see. They pinch hit for Santiago and it backfired. Probably cost the Reds the game.

            2. Cozart ruined the perfect game by making the error on Ryu’s grounder…he ended up scoring, but I think the baserunning wore him out.

              1. Strategy or accident? You decide. Too bad pitchers don’t bat in the AL. That strategy could come in handy for the Tigers.

            3. That hurts, sending Lasorda your way to convert you, it is very painful!

  38. Well, the good news is that after this week long+ fiasco, the Tigers are still 5 games up in the division as the other four teams continue to battle for 5th place.

    1. good point! As the saying goes for real-estate, pitching, etc – “location, location, location” …and DET is “located” in the right division, as they’re the only ALC team above .500

      …and as many chinks in the armor that have been recently exposed regarding DET, the other AL Central teams appear to have even more. How about that for today’s silver lining playbook?

      the west coast swings have not typically been kind to DET, so the some bleeding may continue for the next week, and hopefully the tourniquet won’t be necessary

      1. That’s what I meant associating West Coast with trouble. The opponents are secondary. West seems like trouble for the Tigers, always.

        Let’s see when the last good West Coast swing for the Tigers was…

        1. The inexact but close enough impression is that the Tigers lose more often than they win out west going back to 2006. (And undoubtedly farther back.)

          In 2008, Detroit took of 4 of 6 between the Giants and Padres. I associate this trip with Marcus Thames.

          In 2006, the Tigers climb to the top began with a 6-3 trip only slightly marred by getting shut out twice by the Angels.

    1. My All-Star is All Star Game, All-Star Team, and All-Star Break reform. Never gonna happen, but I have my ideas. Let me tell you what I don’t like:

      Popular vote for All-Star selection (yeah, I know – whatever)
      All this takes place in the middle of a season; it’s the All-First-Half Team
      The pretense at making the All-Star Game “count”; it doesn’t, so let it be

      Interleague play (which I also don’t like) has taken away the novelty of seeing a Hank Aaron bat against a Mickey Lolich. The novelty left is that fans at the game get to see a bunch of illustrious players all at once. That’s fine.

      I think the game and the honor of being deemed an All-Star – for a full season of work – need to be separated. The selection ought to be left to the experts – those who play, manage and coach the game. They could do away with the redundant Silver Slugger stuff if All-Star meant more than it currently does. People already vote with their pocketbooks on favorite teams and players: merchandise.

      I could get interested in the game if the AL and NL managers – fine, smack dab in July, no other good time for it, really – got to make a roster of 30 guys each, 2 from each team, and played to win for some ridiculously huge cash prize to be distributed evenly among 15 charities in the 15 AL or NL cities. That, I could get behind.

  40. You can tell things are going badly for the Tigers when Beck’s Blog practically dries up. Or maybe he’s on vacation, who knows.

  41. Well, can’t think of any reason to dwell on this rough stretch. There’s really no bad guy in particular. Just hoping for a game that’s fun to watch one of these days. The level of alarm has, however, reached the point where I’m not going to stay up for these West Coast games. I’ll avoid the spoilers and watch the next day, cautiously observing how the Tigers starter looks through 2 before committing to anything more.

  42. All I care about as regards the All-Star Game: please oh please, no Tigers in the Home Run Derby!

  43. All we hear about this days is the lousy pitching…how about the 75 stranded runners this week??? This game is also about scoring…how about when you are down 3-0 we concentrate a little on 3-3 for a change..

    1. True, all those runners scoring might have tied some of those games. Briefly.

Comments are closed.