The Cleveland Curse continues. Verlander takes the mound looking to keep this from becoming the Hey, It’s Football Season! Series. If he is going to get any run support this time, look to Cabrera, who has hit Carrasco at a .375 pace.
Today’s Every Day Andrew Lineup:
The Tigers are a uniquely frustrating team: when they are good, they really do seem like they belong in the playoff picture. Then they flail against batting practice pitchers and throw out starters like Not Ready Yet Zimmermann and It Is What It Is Pelfrey, and give up a load of runs, and struggle against the mighty White Sox and Twins etc. So I fully expect them to run the table against the Indians here to get your hopes up, then tank shortly after.
Today’s Glass Half Fulmer Lineup:
The Lettuce is hot, and not wilting.
Uhhh, we still have Mike Pelfrey?
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Jose Iglesias, SS
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Justin Upton, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. JaCoby Jones, CF
9. Andrew Romine, 3B
Last night was a throw-away game. Gonna happen. Hopefully not too many more times over the next few weeks.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Justin Upton, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Andrew Romine, 3B
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
I heard last night that 10/20 Tigers last games are against the Twins and Braves; teams with the two worst records in the league.
And we have 7 v. Cleveland.
The playoffs are there for the taking.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Tyler Collins, LF
7. Erick Aybar, 3B
8. Jarrod Saltalamacchia, C
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Two games behind the O’s and Jays for a wild card spot. Twenty games to go. Romine at 3B today. I predict that Miggy gets a hit.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Justin Upton, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Andrew Romine, 3B
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
It’s a bad sign when you clear the bench in the middle of a playoff run game, although the subs did just as well as the starters had been. Signs were that Zimmermann was not ready to come back yet: in his rehab he had lost a couple of mph on his fastball, and was having trouble with location. But I assumed the coaching staff knew something we didn’t. Not so much I guess. I guess the plan was to cross their fingers and hope for the best.
The good news is we have Verlander on the mound today, although it seems the better he pitches, the fewer runs the offense scores, and the O’s have their ace on the mound also. Who will step up?
Today’s How About Some Run Support? Lineup:
The Tigers now sit with basically a 50-50 chance of making the playoffs, if you believe the projections. That’s not really what we were looking for before the season started, but considering the Tigers went into June at 24-27, it’s not so bad.
Tonight is the Zimmermann Experiment phase of the Wild Card Project. Zimmermann’s last comeback from DL was forgettable, or, even worse, not forgettable. Zimmermann faces off against Ubaldo Jimenez, who the Tigers knocked about for 5 runs in 5 innings last time up. Jimenez got in such a funk that he got the Sanchez Bullpen Banishment treatment, but he has been good lately, with a 1.01 WHIP over the last 30 days, and a 2-hit complete game win last time out.
I was pretty off with my prediction for a good Upton game last night. The Upster whiffed 3 times and left 5 guys on base. I’ll try again tonight and predict good things from the Bottom of the Order Boys: Erick Aybar is 6-for-16 with a HR against Jimenez, and Iglesias is 4-for-7 with a triple.
Today’s Lineup:
The Tigers may have let a chance at the division slip away by losing what should have been a very winnable series against Chicago. Now the Wild Card is on the line with three at home against the Orioles. A playoff team would take this series. Let’s see what happens.
Gausman has been pitching lights out the last month—1.82 ERA, 10.9 K’s per 9 innings. Let’s home Fulmer can last longer than 5 or 6, considering the shenanigans the bullpen has been up to lately.
Today’s Wild Lineup:
Victor has been slumping, and is 1-for-12 off of Gausman. Maybe the day off will help, otherwise look for a hole in the middle of the lineup. Mr. September Justin Upton continues to be hot; he has faced Gausman twice, and is 2-ror-2.
Well, you can’t win every game. But we do need to win series v. the White Sox.
1. Ian Kinsler, 2B
2. Cameron Maybin, CF
3. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
4. Victor Martinez, DH
5. J.D. Martinez, RF
6. Justin Upton, LF
7. James McCann, C
8. Casey McGehee, 3B
9. Jose Iglesias, SS
Shout out to coleman for the last min substitution yesterday. Traveling with the fam and the time difference got the best of me.
Though once I did recover, I was treated to following along (from a theme-park no less) a really entertaining game. JV is not going to get to 20 wins this season, but not for lack of effort. He went toe to toe with Sale yesterday, and in many respects was better than him. I can tell you that one beat reporter in Dallas expressed on the radio the other day that the Tigers scare him the most as an opening round vs. the Rangers; “Verlander is pitching like it’s 2011.”
So I’m following along on the At Bat app, and I see that J-Up is at the plate with two on. I immediately flip the video on (that app is the best app. period.) just in time to see him drill a no-doubter to right center. And I think that he expected it just as much as I did.
Orioles and Indians keep winning, so there is no time to stop and congratulate ourselves. These wins are Ws that we missed earlier in the year.
Kins still day-to-day.
Baseball-Reference game preview here.
1. CF Cameron Maybin
2. SS Jose Iglesias
3. 1B Miguel Cabrera
4. DH Victor Martinez
5. RF J.D. Martinez
6. LF Justin Upton
7. 3B Casey McGehee
8. C Jarrod Saltalamacchia
9. 2B Andrew Romine
Well, I’ll do a little pinch-hit post here, and hopefully move the runner along. I like our chances with Verlander on the mound, and the Tigers have never seemed to be particularly intimidated by a legit Cy Young pitcher, Chris “All Jerseys Half Off” Sale.
Today’s Laborious Lineup:
