PREGAME: Well, you have to score to win. That “duh” statement looms large with the Tigers being shutout Friday night and facing Carl Pavano this afternoon. Pavano of course has shut down the Tigers in each of 4 starts this year. He’s been good enough that he’s thrown 30.1 innings against Detroit. You’d hope that would be enough for the hitting coach to build a competent and executable game plan for the Tigers to follow.
Justin Verlander had a light day his last time out when he threw only 104 pitches. He did allow 5 runs though in his 7 innings as he was bitten by a one winning offensive outburst. It’s an affliction he’s suffered too many times this year (against the Mariners, the Angels, the Orioles, etc). He’ll likely have to be near perfect today.
POSTGAME: I waited several hours to write the postgame in hopes that I could paint a game story that would make sense. Yet nothing about this game made sense.
PREGAME: Don’t get swept. Don’t get swept. Don’t get swept. That’s basically the message. Don’t get swept. Don’t get swept. Don’t get swept. If the Tigers take 1 they still have a 3 game lead, anything beyond that and they are sitting very pretty. A sweep and Tigers fans will really start to sweat.
The Tigers play their final 3 games in the Metrodome. Thank goodness. Tonight it is Brian Duensing against Rick Porcello. Duensing has only a 3.53 ERA despite allowing 90 baserunners in 66.1 innings. The ERA is probably low because despite the baserunners, he isn’t being hit hard with only 11 extra base hits. He is coming off his strongest performance, 7 innings of shutout ball with 6 K’s against the A’s. He’s been harder early in the count rather than later. The Tigers swing early in the count. This might work out.
The Twins chased Porcello after only 4 innings in his last start in the dome. They knocked him around for 6 runs on 90 pitches. That wasn’t good. Porcello shut the Twins out for 7 innings on 4 hits the first time he faced them. That was good.
Your, “hey it’s another freakin’ southpaw” lineup:
The Tigers just got done playing about a week and a half of their worst baseball. They dropped 5 of 6 to the Royals and managed only a split in a 4 game set with the Blue Jays. They struggled against bad teams while the Twins shaved 3 games off of what looked to be a nearly insurmountable lead. Thoughts of a Metrodome sweep and blowing the division are prevalent. But haven’t we been here before?
Don’t we go through this every couple of weeks when the team struggles, and the division lead appears to be in jeopardy? We look at the recent performance and don’t understand how the team can ever win another game. Remember when the White Sox tied things up just ahead of a 4 game set. The Tigers lead was at its most tenuous then, and the Tigers won the next 3 games.
A couple of weeks ago the Twins were charging and the Tigers dropped 2 of 3 in Oakland. Once again the division was surely lost. Except Detroit took 2 of 3 in LA, split a 4 game set with the Rays, swept the Indians and then went on the road to sweep the Rays in Tampa.
But here we are with 90% of season in the books and people are still caught by surprise with this team on a regular basis. The Tigers are essentially a .500 team. They’ll go on little win streaks where people think they are clicking and then little funks where it doesn’t look like they’ll win another game. They are a couple wins above .500 due to some luck or late inning magic, but the team is average to maybe a little above average. That’s why I don’t understand why a 3-7 stretch should forecast doom more than 146 games should predict mediocrity.
With a 4 game lead the Tigers don’t have to play great down the stretch. They just need to be themselves. There are no magical teams chasing them. With the 3 games in the dome a worst case scenario is that on Monday the Tigers are still in first place. That’s not a horrible place to be with what would be just 13 games remaining.
The above paragraphs don’t make me any less nervous, but it is an excited kind of anticipation type nervousness. Nothing is a sure thing and with only 16 games left either the Twins or the Tigers could get hot or cold. But based on what we know about these teams the odds are that both will remain fairly mediocre. In any case, the last 3 weeks of the season should be interesting. Maybe agonizing, maybe exciting. But don’t put too much into the struggles with the Royals. It was just 6 games.
Long time readers of this site remember a feature called the Inning Report. Reader Sam Hoff would break down the season into 18 game segments or “innings.” Why 18 game? Because there are 9 18 game segments in a season. Tuesday’s game against the Royals completed the eigth inning. Sam is still putting these together, but he’s posting them on his site this season. So click through to read The 8th Inning is Over with games through Tuesday.
Despite the recent suckitude the Tigers still managed to post a winning record over the 18 game stretch. And for the 4th inning in a row they were outscored. The 92 runs surrendered was the most allowed over any inning and the 5.28 ERA posted by the bullpen was the worst mark since the second inning.
Offensively the team did okay posting a .355 OBP which was their highest inning all season and the first one over .340 since the 2nd inning. The 85 runs was tied for the 3rd highest total.
POSTGAME: So was everyone amazed that Josh Anderson was actually able to hit a ball to the wall, let alone over it? Your amazing factoid for the series is:
The Royals have hit 13 3-run homers this season. Five of them came in this series.
This one isn’t worth dissecting. I’ll have more in a “state of the team” type post before the Minny series starts. In the meantime feel free to fret, complain, rationalize, give-up, and stay optimistic in the comments here. I’ll be watching the Ernie video until I’m ready to write.
The downside of going to the game is less time to write about what happened. But I wouldn’t trade the experience for anything. Ernie was perfect as always and instead of being sad to see and hear him for what would likely be the last time, I was just thrilled to be a part of it. Ernie just makes things better, even the saddest of days. With that said, here’s some links and videos from around the internets.
(if you’re reading this in an RSS reader, the video embeds and such won’t appear)
PREGAME: Tonight it will be Eddie Bonine and Lenny Dinardo doing that pitching thing. I think the Tigers will hit DiNardo pretty hard and I am certain they won’t hit into 5 double plays tonight. I can’t make guarantees about the Bonine/Royals interaction.
Yes, the game should be the focus tonight. But there is something else really big going on and that is Ernie Harwell returning to Comerica Park to say thank you to the fans. I will most certainly applaud until my hands hurt. I will most likely cry. But I feel compelled to be there tonight to say thank you.
Harwell will address the crowd in the 3rd inning and Fox Sports Detroit will carry it live. I’m sure it isn’t in his wishes to be disruptive in any way. The game at hand always comes first with Harwell. I just don’t know that is possible when the living embodiment of the game shows up to say Thank You.
POSTGAME: I’ve heard this game described as an ugly win. I had some of those same thoughts as first, but I quickly pushed those away. First, all wins are beautiful at this point. Second, while the Tigers did have to rely on the Royals ineptitude to pull this out it wasn’t like the Tigers were making a bunch of mistakes. Detroit played a pretty crisp game with two outfield assists, a caught stealing, and some nifty defense by both Adam Everett and Placido Polanco. They also got the hits when they needed them to capitalize on the Royals mistakes. I see nothing ugly about that at all.
Eddie Bonine did a fine job. He is a spot starter and he gave the team 5 innings and held Kansas City to 3 runs. The numbers weren’t outstanding, but they certainly were acceptable given the situation. That the game was close was more about the Tigers inability to pound Lenny DiNardo. He was followed by Zach Miner who had an easy inning thanks to a nice throw by Ordonez. Seay followed and benefited from a caught stealing in the 7th, and then some magic from Brandon Lyon.
Lyon once again came up big. With runners at the corners, nobody out, and Billy Butler at the plate I was sure that David DeJesus would score from 3rd to tie the game. I didn’t know if it would be a sacrifice fly, a hit, a ground ball double play that scored the run, I was just sure that Butler would get the job done. Yet Lyon induced a come backer, followed by a strike out and suddenly there were 2 outs and thoughts of extra innings didn’t seem so imminent.
Granderson had a good game picking up 2 singles against the lefty and then driving a ball to the wall in left center.
Adam Everett doesn’t hit a lot, but he certainly makes the most of the hits.
There was much rejoicing in the comments about the BOOBs (bottom of the order boys) and it was well deserved.
The Tigers have activated Alfredo Figaro from the DL. There is no word yet on his role but with the Tigers down to 3 healthy starters and Eddie Bonine filling in already one could presume he’ll be used as a starter.
Tom Gage pens a marvelous column about Ernie Harwell and tonight’s events. The itinerary is that Harwell will meet with the team, and then the media, and then take in the game from Mike Ilitch’s suite. In the 3rd inning he will head down to the field, get behind the microphone, and address the fans. Those are the facts, but I highly encourage you to click through to the article below. Gage was masterful in expressing his thoughts and those of thousands. I quoted the end of the article, but really, read the whole thing. I mean it.
You all, of course, have shown what Ernie means to you. You’ve shown it with your letters to him, your notes, your e-mails, your thoughts, whatever you’ve directed toward him for years — but specifically lately.
Now you’ll be required to make a difficult adjustment when facing the thought of losing him.
Don’t be sad.
He’s not.
He’ll be out there on the field, in front of all of us, celebrating the magnificence of a relationship.
We won’t be entirely successful in not being sad, of course. As Marc Antony said in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, “If you have tears, prepare to shed them now.”
And tears will be shed, no doubt.
But, otherwise, cheer yourself hoarse.
That’s what you do at celebrations.
Cheer — and be happy that you’ve known such a friend.
The Tigers 2010 schedule is out. Next year the Tigers are scheduled to play 162 games which is pretty much league average. They also have an even split of home and road games with 81 apiece. Let’s take an even deeper dive though and see what’s what.
Interleague-ness
One of the first things to look at is who do the Tigers draw in interleague match-ups. The Tigers host the Pirates, the Nationals, and the Diamondbacks. Let this be a lesson to other teams who go over slot and show complete disdain for Selig’s recommendations. MLB will try and limit your gate so that you don’t do it again.
On the road the Tigers will get the Dogers, the Mets, and the Braves. The Dodgers series is in the middle of a 7 game, 3 city left coast trip. Yep, they have a pair of 2 game series on the West Coast. Nice.
PREGAME: Tigers fans a couple weeks ago looked at the schedule and though, “dude we’re playing the Royals at home, that’s like a sweep,” and the dudes probably would have been thinking the Tigers would win. But then the Tigers lost. And Jarrod Washburn struggled in his last start. And Robinson Tejeda was bringing serious stuff in his last start and suddenly things don’t look so bright and shiny. At least not in this match-up.
Maybe the Tigers can learn from their last time out against the Royals though. Like maybe the hitters should try a different game plan against Tejeda and maybe Washburn should try a different game plan against the Royals. (oddly enough Washburn didn’t allow a homer in that game, just lots and lots of baserunners). It is noteworthy that Washburn has allowed homers in every game he’s pitched as a Tiger – except when facing the Royals.
Your, “Drinks are on Maggs, the boy is vesting tonight” lineup:
The Tigers are 6-1 in 2009 when Amber Grand sings the National Anthem. Leyland is a fan.
On Sunday the Tigers went into the game mired in a 5 game losing streak. I jokingly (well, half jokingly anyways) mentioned that the Tigers would win because Amber Grand was singing the National Anthem. It seemed that the Tigers have had decent success with Grand on the microphone this season (yeah, I try and take it all in when I’m at the game). That was later confirmed when after Sunday’s game she had pushed her record to 6-1 in 2009.
Here at DTW we are big fans of Grand. She’s got a tremendous voice and a wining record this year and we’d like to see more of Grand belting out the National Anthem. This is meant as no disrespect to the other singers in the rotation who all do an excellent job (especially my friend Cliff Erickson who you can check out around the metro Detroit area). But we’re in a pennant race here people.
DTW: How long have you been doing the National Anthem at Tigers games? Do you know your overall record and is it in line with your 6-1 mark this year? Why have you been so effective in bringing the Tigers wins this year?
AG: This is my 9th season with the Tigers now. I started right out of high school because Dan York who was one of the in house announcers also announced for my hometown’s high school sporting events which I also sang the anthem for. He gave the Tigers one of my basketball game tapes, and the rest is history.
To be honest, I don’t know my record, my dad keeps a good eye on it, so I do know that it’s normally pretty good and not too far off from this seasons, give or take a few. I don’t know why I’ve been so effective in bringing in wins this year, Jim Leyland has come up to me a few times though and told me he really enjoys when I sing…it’s probably just luck, but wouldn’t that be great if it wasn’t? LoL!
DTW: Do you sing the Anthem for any other teams? Do you have any other singing endeavors or are Tigers games your main gigs?
Grand aspires to be like Karen Newman (that's Grand in the picture, not Newman)
AG: I have done the Anthem for The Wings and Lions as well, but my home base is definitely with the Tigers. Other than sporting gigs, I sing for my hometown city in support of Veterans Day, Memorial Day, and the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. I also sing at weddings and other events when asked.
DTW: What do you do when you’re not singing the National Anthem?
AG: I am in my last year at University of Michigan Dearborn studying Elementary Education. I also work as a server/bartender at Chelis Chili Bar. I’ve been there since we’ve been open (6 yrs now) and absolutely love Chris and everyone I work with. Chris has helped in getting me a few of my singing gigs too.
DTW: How about that Michigan-Notre Dame game?
AG: Oh Boy! You asked! I’m Michigan all the way, but I’m from and Irish Catholic Family whose love runs deep for those Irish. We survived the game through our love for one another…it wasn’t easy, I was there and had 10th row seats. It was a great game… and their broken hearts will mend right around January I’m sure!
DTW: Who’s your Tiger?
AG: Curtis Granderson all the way…I do love them all though!
DTW: Are the Tigers making the playoffs this year and if they do how far are they going to go?
AG: The Tigers are definitely making the playoffs this year, and they’re going ALL the way. Are you crazy asking me that question? This is our year baby!
DTW: Sparky Anderson or Jim Leyland?
AG: I have the utmost respect for Sparky…but I think Jim Leyland is amazing. I just love him!
DTW: Karen Newman became a local celebrity singing the National Anthem for Red Wings games. Do you have dreams of hearing “…the Tigers own Amber Grand” before every home game?
AG: That is my main goal. I’ve been at this for 9 years now, I love Karen…I’ve actually sang with her before at a Dearborn Fundraiser with the Red Wings and firefighters. She did the Anthem, I did the Canadian. She is so nice and it was so fun. I would love to follow in her footsteps for the Tigers. All they have to do is ask!
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