Monthly Archives: August 2015

2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.130: Tigers at Blue Jays

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Well, yesterday’s game was about as ugly as it gets. Edwin Encarnacion had 3 home runs and 9 RBI, which is about a month’s work for Victor Martinez. Which is not to say today couldn’t be just as bad: last outing Aflredo Simon dispelled the mirage he created when he through a 1-hit shutout, and was banged around for 8 runs in 4 innings. The Blue Jays may be having a big plate of pasta this afternoon.

Brad Ausmus said he was “embarrassed” by yesterday’s game, which for him is practically a tirade.  So today Brad will be taking extreme measures: he swaps the Martinezes in the batting order.

Today’s Wait, How Many Outs are There? Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, LF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. JD Martinez, RF
  5. Victor Martinez, DH
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anthony Gose, CF
2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.129: Tigers at Blue Jays

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Today Buck Farmer takes his turn at trying to keep the Blue Jays in the yard. This lineup is truly potent, as opposed to the “potent” Tigers offense that Rod Allen is always talking about. The Tigers have leadoff hitters who can’t get on base and a cleanup hitter who can’t hit in runs, but hey, other than that they are fine.

When David Price made his last start fort the Tigers, the Tigers were 48-52, and the Blue Jays were 50-51. That’s a 1 1/2 game difference. The Tigers decided to sell, the Blue Jays decided to buy, and now Toronto is 12 games better than Detroit.

Today Brad swaps Gose and Davis in the lineup, and decides to prank Buck Farmer by giving JD Martinez the day off.

Today’s Lineup:

  1. Anthony Gose, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
  4. Victor Martinez, 1B
  5. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  6. Tyler Collins, RF
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Rajai Davis, LF
2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.128: Tigers at Blue Jays

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Matt Boyd returns to Toronto, and takes on his former team, as does Anthony Gose. David Price is there, and not doubt will be renewing acquaintances, but we won’t see him pitching this series.

Justin Verlander’s near no-hitter was a tough act to follow, but crafty veteran Randy Wolf did a pretty good job of it. He has now had two good outings, which is probably as much or more than the team expected to get from him this season. Wolf now has a WHIP of 1.143, which is the 2nd lowest among Tiger starters (Verlander now, by the way, has a lower WHIP for the season than David Price did). Wolf says he isn’t yet ready to concede to age.

If Miguel Cabrera gets 5 plate appearances tonight, he will appear in the official batting average leaders list.

In Minor League notes, current Erie pitcher (and former Binghamton pitcher) Michael Fulmer has been named Eastern League Pitcher of the Year. Some hope for the future.

Today’s Where Did the Runs Go? Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, LF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
  4. Victor Martinez, 1B
  5. Julio Martinez, RF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anthony Gose, CF
2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.127: Angels at Tigers

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I wish I had more time to give JV his full due, and to apologize in part for some things I may have said earlier this year…but I doubt he’s reading.

But you know who is…billfer. Check out his thoughtful post on JV this morning.

1. Ian Kinsler, 2B

2. Tyler Collins, LF

3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B

4. Victor Martinez, DH

5. J.D. Martinez, RF

6. Nick Castellanos, 3B

7. Alex Avila, C

8. Jose Iglesias, SS

9. Anthony Gose, CF

2015 Season, Fan Experience

JV Reminds Detroit Baseball is Fun

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The 2015 Detroit Tigers season will go down as a failure. A constant stream of faint hope drowned by a deluge of disappointment. At a point in the season when most of us are watching games with a detached interest, just passing the time until football season starts or classically “waiting ’til next year” Justin Verlander gave us a reason to care again. What might have been the most fun though was that it came out of nowhere.

There’s almost a monotony to a baseball season, and the last 6 weeks or so can be brutal when your team is out of it. There are things that should still spark your interest, like seeing how many home runs JD Martinez will hit, and watching Miguel Cabrera make an unbelievable batting average surge late in the season. We can watch our young players like Matt Boyd adjust and see what late season call-ups will excite. But there is an absence of drama  and it reminds me of the Lions during the Barry Sanders years where often the team was a lost cause but we always wanted to see what Barry would do.

Then things like last night happen. A random Wednesday night with a team mired in yet another losing streak. You’re passively watching a game and things are going well, but you’re expecting the other shoe to drop. Then you kind of think to yourself about the 3rd or 4th inning, that the line score going into commercials has a ‘0’ in that hit column. You get a little more interested in the 5th as nobody reaches base and when you get through the 6th stuff gets real. Even watching at home you can feel the crowd start to react more with each at-bat and Verlander is picking up momentum fanning the last 2 of the inning.

It comes to the 7th, we’re now down to needing single digit outs and with the heart of the order up Verlander strikes out the side. It’s basically JV and James McCann going to work and everyone else holding their breath. We all know that we’re seeing something special, and the bottom half of the inning is something you endure as you wait for Verlander to take the mound again. You find yourself way more invested  on a late August evening than you ever expected to be, hanging on every pitch. Whether you’re in the stadium or at home we’re all feeling uncomfortable with every ball and tensing up with every swing. It’s that wonderful and agonizing feeling that every pitch matters, you’re stomach is twisted in knots and you hate it and love it at the same time.

On this night it wasn’t meant to be. The no-hitter was broken up in the 9th, it was a clean hit, no controversy. It was disappointing for sure, but that’s okay. In his post game interview, Verlander was a  bit emotional as he thanked the fans for supporting him and the fans thanked him for a tremendous outing. It’s been a long time coming for JV and clearly it meant alot to him.

Justin Verlander may or may not “be back” and it’s not worth extrapolating too much out of one game (though the recent trend is exciting). For me it was a reminder though. Tigers fans have been so fortunate over the last decade. We’ve watched the best hitter in the game at his peak. We’ve seen some of the best pitchers ever to wear the Tigers uniform. We’ve seen JV do this multiple times, captivate us with every 97 mph fastball and nasty curve ball. We’ve been treated to more meaningful baseball than most other teams. And on a random night late in a lost season we all had a chance to have fun.

 

2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.123: Rangers at Tigers

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Ian Kinsler continued to be hot, and hit a 2-out, 9th inning home run to save the Tigers from being shut out in back-to-back games. Randy Wolf really did quite a decent job, only giving up 3 earned runs in 7 innings. They could hardly have expected more. Wolf said he used his experience to keep the Tigers in the game.

Scratch one tool off the list of things Ty Collns brings to the game: two nights in a row he has made absolutely awful throws home. Makes me miss that Cespedes guy; that and that 5-for-5, 3 HR, 7 RBI night he put up while the Tigers were in the process of being shut out.

Collins was swinging a hot bat, but moving up to 2nd in the lineup seemed to cure that (8 at bats, .000 OPS in the 2nd spot), so Brad gives up and moves him down to 9th.

More bad pitching news: as StorminNorman posted, Shane Greene has an artery problem and has been shut down for the year.

Today’s Boyd in the Hood Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, CF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
  4. Victor Martinez, 1B
  5. Julio Martinez, RF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Ty Collins, LF

Note: Victor swaps with Miggy at 1st

2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.122: Rangers at Tigers

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Last night may have been frustrating and disappointing, but you can’t say it wasn’t a classic 2015 Tigers game:

  • Pitching or hitting but not both: Justin Verlander easily pitched well enough to win, but once again was the tough luck guy, losing on a 1-earned run performance. Of course, the 2nd run was his fault, but it may not have made any difference. The offense was Miggy and a bunch of human fans. That and the next two categories below meant Cabrera pulled the rare feat of three doubles with no runs or RBI.
  • Bad base running: the Tigers got their 19th runner of the season thrown out at home, and one doubled off second. It was the same guy, and both instances were bad base running. Not so much the actual out at the plate; but Miggy had two very easy chances to tag and advance from 2nd, and failed to take them.
  • Double-Plays, of course: The Tigers have now grounded into a league-leading 118 DPs, and have a comfortable 13 DP lead in that category.
  • Bad umpiring: Justin was visibly upset for not getting calls on the corner, and I don’t blame him, since Colby Lewis was getting an extra 6 inches. In the JD at bat in the 9th, there were literally 5 pitches in the exact same spot, and 2 were called balls, and 3 were strikes. The replay guys weren’t any better, overturning a call at home, even though there was at best sketchy evidence, and leaving a bad call at 2nd, because hey, there has to be clear evidence.

Anyway, today is another day, and it’s hard not to root for journeyman Randy Wolf, who is getting his first Major League start in 3 years today, on his 39th birthday. Has he been around the block? Let’s just say Brad Ausmus has caught him.and managed him.

Today’s Clap for the Wolfman Lineup:

  1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  2. Ty Collins, LF
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. Julio Martinez, RF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anthony Gose, CF
2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.121: Rangers at Tigers

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A 1-hitter by Mr. Eephus, the Big Pasta? I did not see that coming. What it means is that the Tigers are now on a 3-game winning streak for the first time in 2 months,  when David Price picked up a win on June 23. It sure would be nice to have a David Price to send out there every 5 days right now, wouldn’t it?

The last time the Tigers won 4 or more in a row? The first week of the season.

The Tigers do at least have their ace on the mound tonight, as Justin Verlander looks for his 3rd strong start in  a row. His last start he got through 7 innings with no runs and only 3 hits and 2 walks, against 7 strikeouts.

Verlander started the season off injured, then was a shaky 5th starter, then turned into a decent enough starter, then a good starter, then staff ace, if not the only reliable starter at all (with all due respect to Simon’s performance last night). It’s been quite a season’s journey for Justin.

In other Tiger-related news, the Latino Baseball Hall of Fame has named its class of 2016, and it includes Pudge Rodriguez and Omar Vizquel. Vizquel, incidentally, will be coaching 3rd tonight (with Trammell at 1st), with Dave Clark off to attend his daughter’s wedding. Omar promises Clark he will do his best to send Castellanos home at some inappropriate time.

Today’s Let’s Make it Four Lineup:

  1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  2. Ty Collins, LF
  3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  4. Victor Martinez, DH
  5. Julio Martinez, RF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. Alex Avila, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anthony Gose, CF

Kinsler continues to smoke the ball, although his success at bat seems to be having and adverse effect on his fielding. No matter, we need Kinsler to keep getting on base.

2015 Season, Game Post

Game 2015.120: Rangers at Tigers

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Hmm. Kevin is apparently still stunned by 38 hits in 2 days. Hard to blame him.

Unfortunately, Babe Norris is on the 15-day DL with an oblique strain. I’m calling shut down for the season.

Anibal Sanchez is also on the 15-day DL with a rotator cuff strain. Oh.

Did I mention: oh?

The Tigers went out and bought LHP Randy Wolf from the Blue Jays for 25 delicious sandwiches, enough for each player on the roster. Coaches will have to eat sunflower seeds and leftovers. The Sandwich will also be starting Saturday. Did I mention: oh!?

The Tigers have also purchased from Toledo the contracts of RHP Jose “Oil Spill” Valdez and RHP Guido Knudsen, who has the coolest odd name since Vlad Guerrero.

This is a huge series for Texas. A Tiger sweep would pretty much bury their chance to win the division.

Today’s I Bet Castellanos Gets a Big Hit Lineup:

  1. Rajai Davis, LF
  2. Ian Kinsler, 2B
  3. Miguel Cabrera, DH
  4. Victor Martinez, 1B
  5. Julio Martinez, RF
  6. Nick Castellanos, 3B
  7. James McCann, C
  8. Jose Iglesias, SS
  9. Anthony Gose, CF

Alfredo “I’m Glad I Don’t Have to Bat After What Babe Norris Did” Simon, P.