All posts by billfer

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 19th

9 Comments

Pawtucket 6, Toledo 3
Dmitri Young went 2 for 2 with 2 walks and I don’t really see him spending much more time in Toledo. Humberto Sanchez started and took the loss allowing 5 runs, 4 earned, in 5 innings. He struggled with his control walking 5.

Erie 4, Bowie 1
Nick McIntyre and Don Kelly each picked up 2 hits. Brent Clevlen was 1 for 3 with a wakl. Nate Bumstead went 8 innings allowing 1 runs on 6 hits with no walks and 6 strikeouts.

St. Lucie, 4, Lakeland 1
Casper Wells homered and that was pretty much it for the offense. Jeremy Johnson lasted 5 2/3 innings allowing 2 runs on 3 hits while walking 2 and fanning 5.

West Michigan – DNP

Oneonta 6, Brooklyn 0
Scott Sizemore, who was named NYPL player of the week for last week, added 2 more hits last night. Santo De Leon, Deik Scram, and Brennan Boesch all contributed multi-hit games as well while Ryan Strieby hit his first homer. Matt O’Brien (7 IP), Randor Bierd (1 IP), and Brett Jensen (1 IP) combined for the 3 hit shut out.

GCL Tigers – DNP

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 94: White Sox at Tigers

16 Comments

PREGAME: That’s it. I’m convinced that the Sox are in the Tigers collective heads. There is no way the Tigers can compete. This whole winning thing was nice while it lasted because even if the Tigers make the playoffs it is impossible for them to get by the Sox.

The preceding paragraph was all sarcasm. I felt the need to clarify because I’ve heard those sentiments all day today and there is a large contingent that is convinced of this. Of course I would feel better if the Tigers reciprocated last night’s pounding, but I’m not concerned – at least not 5:00 today.

Jeremy Bonderman will take the mound tonight. For the last 6 weeks Bonderman has been awesome with out run support – except for last week’s start against the Royals where he wasn’t awesome and got lots of run support. He’ll face a much more formidable task tonight and the key will be Bonderman’s ability to keep the ball in the park. He’s been quite proficient at the task with only 8 long balls allowed – but 2 of those came in his last start.

POSTGAME: Jeremy Bonderman was everything that Tiger fans could have hoped for last night. There were only 2 hard hit balls all night. Unfortunately both found the seats, but because Bondo was so dominant they were both solo shots. Most importantly after the Craig Monroe slam, Bonderman came in and retired the White Sox in order the following inning. Fernando Rodney, Jamie Walker, and Todd Jones kept things from being interesting in the late innings.

As for the offense, in the early going it seemed they were poised to jump all over Vazquez. In the first inning Pudge Rodriguez hit the double which was followed by an Ordonez line drive to right field that again found Jermaine Dye. The Tigers managed to get baserunners in subsequent innings, and unlike the night before against Garland, they worked themselves into hitters counts. Yet they had nothing to show for it until the 6th inning when a couple singles were followed by a seeing eye grounder (redemption for Maggs from the first inning liner) and a bloop shot to no-man’s land. The Tigers were finally on the board and after the force out at home on the Marcus Thames grounder Craig Monroe battled from a 2 strike count to hit the granny.

And a good time was had by all.
Meanwhile Javier Vazquez who was rumored to be dealt to the Tigers for Curtis Granderson and Joel Zumaya this offseason (PHEW) will be starting for the White Sox.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 18th

Toledo 7, Pawtucket 7 (in progress)
Dmitri Young hit his first homer of his rehab stint and added a single and a walk. Josh Phelps also homered among 3 hits and David Espinosa was 3 for 4. Jordan Tata lasted only 4 innings. He allowed 3 runs on 5 hits, 3 walks, and 4 K’s.

Bowie 7, Erie 0
Erie only mustered 4 hits and 3 errors. Jon Connolly took the loss allowing 6 runs in 6 1/3 innings.

Lakeland 2, St. Lucie 1
Clete Thomas tripled and hit a sacrifice fly. Dallas Trahern allowed 1 unearned run in 8 innings of 5 hit balls. Kevin Whelan picked up his 20th save with a scoreless 10th inning.

Beloit 5, West Michigan 4
Cameron Maybin doubled, singled, and stole his 20th base. Matt Joyce added 2 hits and a walk. Erik Averill allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, in 7 innings with a 4:0 K to BB ratio.

Oneonta 4, Brooklyn 2 (in progress)
Scott Sizemore went 2 for 3 with 2 walks. Zach Piccola pitched 5 shut out innings allowing only 3 hits and a walk.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 93: White Sox at Tigers

11 Comments

PREGAME: This game has certainly received considerable hype. I vowed earlier in the year not to overdo a game or series, so I’ll stick to that. Each game is important. I’ve heard repeatedly today the debate about which team is under more pressure. The reasoning for the Tigers is that they need to show they can beat the White Sox. While this may be a little true, who do they need to show? If they need to show themselves, I can see it. If they need to do it to make you, me, or Dupree believers then it’s bunk.

As for the matchup, the Tigers send out Nate Robertson. Three of the four starters to go since the All Star break have come out rusty. We’ll see what Nate does.

As for the White Sox, they’re sending out Jon Garland. In his last start against the Tigers, he labored through 7 innings on 124 pitches while being touched for 6 runs. Last hope the Tigers can have the same type of at-bats tonight.

POSTGAME: There wasn’t a lot to like about tonight’s game. Nate looked wonderful at times, but there were a number of hard hit balls off of him. On the other side, Detroit couldn’t muster much offense, and the few hard hit balls they had ended up in Jermaine Dye’s glove.

The key moment was probably Paul Konerko’s first homer. The Tigers had managed to scratch out a run the inning before, only to give it right back on the next batter. And then the Joe Crede homer and so on and so forth.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 17th

Pawtucket 8, Toledo 6
Dmitri Young may have heard some trade talk today. He went 3 for 5 with 2 doubles while playing first base (he did commit an error). Ryan Raburn added 3 hits and a stolen base. Colby Lewis allowed 6 runs on 7 hits in 6 innings. He walked 1 and fanned 5.

Bowie 4, Erie 2
Brent Clevlen homered and walked. Danilo Sanchez added a homer as well. Bobby Jones struck out 6 and allowed 2 runs in 4 2/3 innings.

Erie 5, Bowie 4
Nic McIntyre who was just promoted from Lakeland picked up 2 hits, as did Vincent Blue. Eulogio De La Cruz made the spot start and allowed 3 runs on 4 hits and 3 walks in 3 innings.

Sarasota 6, Lakeland 3
Jeff Larish doubled and hit his 16th homer. Andrew Kown lasted 7 1/3 innings and allowed 6 runs, 3 earned. Kevin Whelan pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings fanning 2.

Beloit 10, West Michigan 4 (in progress)
Michael Hollimon had a good day with 3 solo homers. Cameron Maybin is 0 for 4. Josh Rainwater was knocked out after 3 1/3 innings and 7 runs, 6 earned.

Oneonta 7, Mahoning Valley 1
Ronnie Bourquin picked up 3 hits and Scott Sizemore added 2. Brennan Boesch hit his 3rd homer.

GCL Tigers 6, GCL Yankees 1
Chris Carlson homered twice and Luis Arlet added 2 hits. Audy Ciriaco hit his 3rd homer.

GCL Tigers 2, GCL Yankees 1
Gorkys Hernandez picked up 2 hits and Audy Ciriaco singled and errored.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 16th

Scranton 4, Toledo 1
Josh Phelps homered and singled in 4 at-bats while Dmitri Young doubled, singled, and walked. Cory Hamman allowed 4 runs, 3 earned, in 6 1/3 innings on 6 hits and 2 walks. Bobby Seay pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings fanning 2.

Altoona 4, Erie 3
Jair Jurrgens allowed 4 runs on 6 hits and 2 walks while fanning 5 in 5 1/3 innings. Brent Clevlen who had been rolling took an 0 for 4. Adam Haley added a triple and single.

Sarasota 3, Lakeland 2
Jeff Frazier went 3 for 5 and Brent Dlugach added 2 hits. Kevin Ardoin lasted 6 1/3 innings and surrending 3 runs on 8 hits.

West Michigan 4, Beloit 1
Michael Hollimon and Jeremy Laster homered and Wil Rhymes added 3 hits. Cameron Maybin was 1 for 5 with 4 K’s. Sendy Vasquez pitched 5 shutout innings allowing only 3 hits and 2 walks against 5 K’s..

Mahoning Valley 7, Oneonta 3
Scott Sizemore tripled and walked. Tom Thornton allowed 3 runs in 5 1/3 innings. Brett Jensen surrendered his first 2 runs of the season, coming in his 9th appearance.

GCL Tigers 8, GCL Braves 3
Gorkys Hernandez doubled, tripled and walked in 5 plate appearances. Chris Carlson was a single short of the cycle including a grand slam. Christian Martinez went 4 innings and allowed 5 hits and a walk and 2 unearned runs while fanning 3.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 92: Royals at Tigers

23 Comments

PREGAME: Coming into this series, I didn’t expect the Tigers to sweep. First of all, it’s tough to sweep in 4 game series. Second, the Tigers will lose to the Royals at some point this season. But now that another sweep is one win away, I’m greedy and I want it.

Zach Miner is making his 8th start and has yet to give up more than 3 runs in any game. Really, the only knock against Miner is that he hasn’t been particularly efficient. He hasn’t made it out of the sixth inning since his complete game against the Brewers as his pitch count has climbed into the 100’s early.

The Royals send out Scott Elarton who hasn’t been good this year, but has a pretty good history against many of the Tigers. Placido Polanco and Pudge Rodriguez are a combined 7 for 43, which is probably part of the reason they’ll get the day off.

Game Time 1:05. Game Time Temperature: eleventy billion degrees.

POSTGAME In only saw 2 innings of this game, the 2nd and the 9th, so I can’t comment too much. The offense didn’t show – literally – as many guys had the day off. Marcus Thames continues to mash. Zach Miner got knocked around, as did Wil Ledezma. For both it was really the first time this year. The Tigers get an off day to enjoy some air conditioning before the recently swept and angry White Sox come to town.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 15th

Scranton 9, Toledo 2
Ryan Raburn tripled and singled in 4 at-bats and Dmitri Young picked up 2 singles. Chad Durbin was knocked around for 11 hits and 9 runs, 5 earned, in 4 2/3 innings. Lance Davis and Mark Woodyard combined for 2 1/3 scoreless innings.

Altoona 5, Erie 2
Brent Clevlen hit his 8th homer of the year. He now has 4 in July which matches his total prior to this month. In fact, Clevlen managed only 4 extra base hits in all of June. Virgil Vasquez went 7 innings allowing only 4 hits and 3 runs.

Lakeland 11, Sarasota 6 (in progress)
Jeff Larish is 1 for 2 with 3 walks and Nic McIntyre has walked 3 times as well. Eddie Bonine pitched 4 innings and was touched for 4 runs on 3 hits and 3 walks.

West Michigan 7, Beloit 2 (in progress)
Michael Hollimon and Dusty Ryan each had 2 hits. Cameron Maybin is 1 for 4. Lucas French pitched 8 innings allowing 2 runs on 6 hits and 1 walk while fanning 5.

Oneonta 14, Mahoning Valley
Scott Sizemore was a triple short of the cycle, and really the whole team hit in this one. Jeff Gerbe allowed only 4 hits in 7 innings with one walk and 6 K’s.

GCL Tigers 11, GCL Phillies 0
Gorkys Hernandez was 2 for 5 with a double and walk. Mikes Sullivan and Bertram each had 3 hits. But the real story was the pitching. Eric Beattie who has struggled to find his way as a professional pitched 5 no hit innings, despite 4 walks. Kyle Sleeth followed with 4 innings of 3 hit ball with one walk and 4 K’s. While the organization shouldn’t be too excited about 1st and 2nd round picks combining for a shutout, considering where these guys are coming from it is great news.

2006 Season, Game Post

Game 91: Royals at Tigers

17 Comments

PREGAME: Mark Teahen (4 for 7, 2 HR’s, 2B, 3B, 2 walks) and the Royals offense have done a pretty good job knocking Tiger pitching around the last 2 nights. It will be up to Justin Verlander to try and not spot them a 4 run lead again.

Jimmy Gobble will be making his 4th start this season as he transitions from the bullpen to a starting role. His first start was back in May against the Tigers and he allowed only 3 hits and one run in 4 innings before being lifted because of pitch count.

Game Time 7:05pm

POSTGAME: Now that looked more like a first half pitching performance. It looked like it took Verlander an inning to settle in as he appeared to be overthrowing and couldn’t get the ball down. But then it was all over.

Once again it was a very balanced offensive effort. But why has Granderson sacrifice bunted 3 times in the last 2 games?There are places for it, but not tonight, especially after a pither had walked 2 guys in a row and was about to face the teams most selective hitter. It all worked, but there’s no need to go small ball with a 4 run lead late in the game – especially when the guys on base stood a good chance of being advanced and the batter had only bounced into one double play all year. But I digress.

The Tigers go for the sweep tomorrow afternoon.

2006 Season, Minors

Tigers Minor League Wrap – July 14th

Scranton 14, Toledo 2
It wasn’t a real good night for the Mud Hens. Humberto Sanchez was tagged for 6 runs in 4 2/3 innings. Mark Woodyard was the main culprit though with 6 runs allowed in 2/3 of an inning, and I can’t believe he’s long for the 40 man roster.

Erie 3, Altoona 2
Brent Clevlen had another multi-hit game with a double and single in 4 at-bats. Don Kelly reached base safely in all 4 plate appearances. Nate Bumstead was solid with 2 runs on 6 hits and no walks in 7 innings.

Clearwater 10, Lakeland 2
Chris Robinson was 2 for 4 and Jeff Frazier, Clete Thomas and Jeff Larish each were 1 for 4. Jeremy Johnson took the loss as he allowed 5 runs on 5 hits and 6 walks in 4 1/3 innings.

West Michigan 5, Southwest Michigan 2
Cameron Maybin led the way with two doubles in five at-bats. Michael Hernandez who started off great has been fading. He posted another 0 for 4 tonight and his average is down to .282. Burke Badenhop went the distance scattering 8 hits and no walks for only 2 runs.

Staten Island 5, Oneonta 3
Scott Sizemore singled and hit his 2nd homer. Santo De Leon was 3 for 4. Chis Cody allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 5 2/3 innings. Randor Bierd pitched 2 scoreless innings with 2 hits, 2 walks, and 2 strikeouts.

GCL Tigers – DNP