After playing Andrew Romine every day for no apparent reason, Brad teased us by saying he was thinking of playing the Lettuce at all 9 positions…then promptly affixed him to the bench.
But that’s ok, there are plenty of other reasons to watch today’s game, like, um, well there’s that one thing…
Today’s Lineup:
- Ian Kinsler 2B
- Jeimer Candelario 3B
- Nick Castellanos RF
- John Hicks DH
- Efren Navarro 1B
- Mikie Mahtook LF
- Bryan Holaday C
- JaCoby Jones CF
- Dixon Machado SS
Pitching: Matthew Boyd vs Dylan Covey
Well, this is nice, even if 5-0 is nothing to rest easy about.
Castellanos left ’em loaded, but he’s actually been the best with runners on and two out. The only other good guy there is – surprise – Iglesias. The team as a whole has not been good at this.
This team as a whole has only been good at losing this year. There is faint hope such as Candyman who continues to impress me with his at bats from both sides of the plate.
Casty continues to demonstrate he is also dangerous as a base runner, to the Tigers.
As good as Casty numbers are developing he has to show us he can do stuff like this when games are on the line… So far he hadn’t…
The baserunning is a mystery. I’ve given up trying to understand it or hoping for something different. Apparently these decisions are his own?
This is hurting Detroit’s chances for allowing 900 runs this season.
Hey Boyd.? . Where you been all year?
I knew there was one reason to watch this game!
Candy man can play… O AND D….. We are going to like him….
Candyman is starting to show off! It does give some insight as to the condition of ChiSox pitching staff in that Pelfrey is still there.
As the 9th Inn starts… Boyd… Great job today!… Great Tiger pitching rare this half of the season. Almost doesn’t matter if he finishes it off or not. Just a great pitching performance…..
A Double wow anyway!
Well damn, when he hit that ball it looked catchable. Great pitching though.
Woulda been hard for anyone anywhere to get to it unless they were positioned for it, which they were not and who can say whether they should have been. Hard hit and came down fast. Maybe not the best pitch selection or pitch from Boyd, looked like Anderson was more than ready for what was coming. Oh well. Boyd was a genius for practically every one of the other 120 pitches. One of a small handful of superhuman starts for Detroit this year. Defense was super, too. Woulda been something of a different game with different guys at 3B and 1B, I’d say,
Wow, that was exciting. What a great game for Matt Boyd and the Tigers.
WOW! Matt Boyd with the best start of his career. I’m sorry but I have to wonder if a defense change in RF might have saved the no-no. No, not Fingers but perhaps Parsley. 2nd guessing by me. I agree with C-Mo that his aggressive pitching inside made the difference. Doc also called a great game. Couldn’t be happier for the kid.
Casty didn’t play it very well, but I think in general in that situation guys might want to play more shallow that usual to keep one from dropping in in front of you.
Another thing to consider is that Candelario made a couple of plays at 3rd that Castellanos probably wouldn’t have.
+2
I wanted to find fault with Castellanos but could not. He was miles away, and so was Jones. Split the seam in the gap, nothing for it. Don’t know what the Statcast catch probability on it was, but I’m calling it 0%.
+3
Not that the euphoria has subsided or anything, but Detroit has now gone 42 games without putting together two wins in a row. In a season where the longest winning steak was 4 games.
Does that mean that the Indian’s streak is safe?
42 games without two wins in a row is pretty impressive itself. Different strokes for different folks. Sure, the Indians had to go with the flashy, look at me approach, focusing only on wins. They’re a bunch of hot dogs.
Things are certainly going well for the traded Tigers, except for Wilson, and they will all be in the postseason except for maybe not Upton, too early to say. Helping Upton’s Angels into the postseason by playing spoiler vs. the Twins is the one thing with impact left for Detroit.
JV had another bad start, 7 innings, 1 ER, 3 hits only 10Ks.
Boyd has potential and has pitched like a top 3 starting pitcher (like today – one out shy of no-hitter, but still a 1 hit complete game shutout) and has pitched like a AA or AAA pitcher… if he can develop and improve – along w/Norris and Fulmer (successful recovery from surgery…and back to form), DET will have the makings of a pitching rotation for next season…. but the bullpen – that’s another story.
I like what I’ve seen thus far from Candelario – and DET may have found a diamond in the rough w/Mahtook …there is some legit young talent, but having said that, DET will have a LOT of holes to fill for ’18 …beginning I hope w/a new manager and coaching staff
Manager, coaches and medical staff should go 1-2-3.
There’s no way Dr Strange glove makes that play. First he was playing way too shallow. But I agree with you guys he should be playing shallow because of the situation.
Second he breaks laterally where we teach our high school outfielders drop step on the first step and Third… It was Casty…
The home crowd was great. Good to see them excited for their hard earned $$….