Sorry. Pressed for time. Jeremy Bonderman and David Huff in Cleveland tonight.
Detroit Tigers at Cleveland Indians – May 7, 2010 – MLB.com Preview
Category Archives: 2010 Season
Tigers Minor League Wrap 5.5.2010
Toledo – DNP
Binghamton 2 Erie 4
Jon Kibler lasted only 4 innings, allowing 2 runs on 2 solo homers to go along with 2 walks and 4 K’s. Zach Simons pitched 3 innings allowing just one baserunner with 5 strikeouts. Brendan Wise got the 2 inning save. Michael Bertram doubled and singled. Cesar Nicolas homered. Cale Iorg picked up 2 hits and is hitting 324/395/471 in his last 10 games.
Dayton 4 Lakeland 3
Brent Wyatt had 3 singles. Kody Kaiser tripled. Rawley Bishop hit his 4th home run. Luke Putkonen allowed 3 runs on 7 hits and 2 walks in 6 innings with 5 K’s.
West Michigan 6 Great Lakes 8
Jacob Turner made his return from the disabled list. He left with 2 outs and 2 on in the 4th inning. Both those runners would score and his final line read 3.2 innings, 3 hits, 1 walk, 3 K’s, 1 HR, 4 R, 2 ER. He evidently battled command as he became fatigued in the 3rd inning with 31 of his 64 pitches going for strikes. Michael Rockett homered and doubled. Jamie Johnson and Mike Gosse each had 2 hits. Jordan Lennerton drew 3 walks.
Game 2010.029: Tigers at Twins
Rick Porcello will take on Kevin Slowey as the Tigers try and stave off a sweep in Minnesota. Brandon Inge gets the day off with Don Kelly playing third base. The Tigers uniforms will have the Ernie Harwell patches today.
Ernie Harwell information
Here is a compilation of Ernie Harwell related articles, videos, and information about ceremonies and remembrances. The above picture was taken by current Tigers broadcaster and former radio partner of Harwell, Dan Dickerson shortly after the news filtered out last night.
Ceremonies
The funeral and memorial will be a private affair. However, there will be a public viewing taking place at Comerica Park on Thursday May 6th. The viewing begins at 7 a.m. at Gate A. It will last as long as it takes and complimentary parking is available in Lots 1, 2, and 3.
To further the endowment of the Ernie Harwell Collection at the Detroit Public Library and to fund partial college scholarships, please send memorial donations to the Ernie Harwell Foundation c/o S. Gary Spicer, 16845 Kercheval Ave., Grosse Pointe, MI 48230.
The team will wear uniform patches for the remainder of the season and a flag will be raised at Comerica Park prior to the May 10th game against the New York Yankees.
In light of the news of Ernie Harwell’s passing, MLB Network will re-air Harwell’s interview on “Studio 42 with Bob Costas” tomorrow, Wednesday, May 5 at 4:00 p.m. ET/3:00 p.m. CT.
Multimedia
Below is an audio clip of Dan Dickerson and Jim Price both announcing, and coming to terms with the news during the first inning of last night’s game. It was painful, poignant, and touching. Dan and Jim had to experience their grief over the air, live. A terrific job by both.
[audio:http://www.detroittigersweblog.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/ernies-passing.mp3]- Ernie’s Comerica Park farewell
- Vin Scully remembers Ernie
- Jim Leyland’s post game media session
- A compilation of clips as broadcasters remember Harwell
- Paul Carey on WDFN
Commentary
- Detroit Tiger Tales: Ernie Harwell Passes Away at 92
- Bless you Boys: Tigers icon Ernie Harwell passes away
- Detroit News: Baseball reacts to Harwell’s death
- MLB.com: Harwell’s passing felt in Tigers clubhouse
- MLB.com: Harwell’s passing hits broadcasters hard
- MLB.com: Tributes flow about beloved Harwell
- Fox Sports Detroit: Ernie Harwell Tribute
- Big League Stew: Ernie Harwell, owner of Motown’s sweetest voice
- Hardball Talk: Ernie Harwell 1918-2010
- Joe Posnanski: Ernie
- Jon Paul Morosi: Tigers legend installed love of baseball
- Ian Casselberry: This is our last goodbye
- Curtis Granderson: Remembering the good times with Ernie
- NYMag: Ernie Harwell died yesterday
Tigers Minor League Wrap 5.4.2010
Charlotte 3 Toledo 8
Josh Rainwater picked up the suspended game and allowed 3 runs on 7 hits in 3 innings. Caniel Schlereth continues to rack up the strikeouts (3) and walks (2) in a 2 inning effort. Clete Thomas homered before the rain. Angel Flores, up for the injured Mike Rabelo had 2 hits, as did Jeff Larish. Larish added 2 walks as well.
Charlotte 1 Toledo 3
Phil Dumatrait was 2 outs shy of the 7 inning complete game. He allowed 1 unearned run on 4 hits and a walk. Wil Rhymes doubled and singled. Jeff Frazier singled and homered.
Binghamtom 4 Erie 3
Justin Henry had a triple and a single. Jeff Kunkel homered. Andy Oliver allowed 3 runs on 3 walks, 5 hits, and 4 K’s.
Daytona 3 Lakeland 7
Gustavo Nunez went 3 for 4 with a double. Rawley Bishop doubled and singled. Twenty year old Julio Rodriguez homered and singled in his Lakeland debut. Charlie Furbush fanned 7 and allowed 1 run on 3 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings.
West Michigan 5 Great Lakes 4
Mike Gosse had 2 doubles. Wade Gaynor and Alexis Espinoza each had 2 hits. Trevor Feeney had a strong 8 inning start where he allowed 3 runs on 6 hits, 2 walks and 7 K’s.
Dombrowski Q & A
Dave Dombrowski is in Erie to watch the AA prospects. Nick Underhill caught up with him and they discussed the decision to send Wilkin Ramirez to AA, Cale Iorg, and Cody Satterwhite. And there was good news on the Jacob Turner front and he will make his next start.
RIP Ernie Harwell 1918-2010
When it was announced late last summer that Ernie Harwell had cancer, everyone knew this day would be coming too soon. Sadly, it came May 4th, 2010 as William Earnest “Ernie” Harwell has passed away at the age of 92.
I don’t have a unique story to tell about my relationship with Ernie. It was similar to the relationship millions of fans had over the years. He was a comforting voice, a soothing sound of summer on a warm evening. But you all knew that.
I had the pleasure to speak with Ernie one time. He agreed to do an interview for this site (Part 1 & Part 2). It was only the second interview I’d done and I was incredibly nervous. Mr. Harwell was incredibly gracious and instantly put me at ease. As I stumbled through my questions he would start to spin an answer so eloquent that I’d forget I was the one he was actually talking to. It was like I was a kid listening to him call a game.
There isn’t too much left to say at this point. Instead I will link to an article I wrote following the game in which he addressed the fans at Comerica Park.
Game 2010.028: Tigers at Twins
Yesterday Max Scherzer built upon a previous underwhelming outing by performing considerably worse. Maybe Dontrelle Willis can build upon a satisfyingly strong outing by doing better. Of course better than 0 runs is tricky.
Last week Willis fanned 6 Twins in 6 innings while allowing only 6 base runners and his 3.75 ERA would certainly qualify as surprising.
The Twins send out Nick Blackburn. The Tigers torched him for 9 runs in 3.1 innings the first time they faced him last year. Then he held them to 3 runs in 16 innings over his next 2 starts. Blackburn’s peripherals are pretty ugly this year with 8 walks, 7 K’s, and 6 homers allowed in 23.2 innings.
Your stat to watch tonight: opposing hitters have led off an inning get on base at a .520 clip off of Blackburn this season.
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins – May 4, 2010 – MLB.com Preview
Maxed Out
Max Scherzer didn’t really give his team a chance to win, and that’s pretty much the game story in a nutshell. Speaking of shells, Scherzer was pummeled early and often and the Tigers were down 7-0 nothing before they even got their bearings at Target Field.
In the first inning Jim Thome drove in the first run on a pitch low and away. Thome did a nice job with a tough pitch. The rest were pitches up and in the middle and pitches that Scherzer can’t make.
In Max’s defense Jim Reynolds wouldn’t give him calls on the edges of the strike zone, but Scherzer has to do a better job. Especially after the Tigers started to chip away. In a way the 5th inning which featured 2 walks after the Tigers had cut it to a 4 run deficit were just as damaging as the early inning barrage.
- Brad Thomas didn’t exactly clean up Scherzer’s mess, but he did go 3.2 innings to finish the game.
- Austin Jackson is damn entertaining to watch. He ended up with another 3 hits and a strike out free game. He has 5 games without a strikeout, 4 of them are against the Twins.
- Brennan Boesch continues to impress at the plate with 2 more hits of his own and he just missed his 2nd homer.
- Detroit went 0 for 11 with RISP. A couple of those outs did plate runs, but it also kep the rallies short and harmless.
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins – May 3, 2010 – MLB.com Wrap
Tigers Minor League Wrap: 5.3.2010
Toledo – suspended in 2nd inning
Binghamton 7 Erie 5 (10 innings)
Cale Iorg was the offensive star with a double and 2 singles. Andy Dirks had 2 hits. Audy Ciriaco tripled, but also fanned 3 times. Eastern League Player of the Week Wilkin Ramirez had a double. Thad Weber started and allowed 4 runs in 7.1 innings. The Seawolves tied this game up late, but Brooks Brown allowed 3 runs in 2.1 innings of relief.
Daytona 6 Lakeland 3
Adam Wilk allowed 2 runs on 7 hits and no walks, but he hasn’t found the strikeouts yet with only 1. Lester Oliveros is back from the DL but was charged with 2 runs and the loss. Rawley Bishop had 3 hits and Billy Nowlin had 2.
West Michigan 3 South Bend 0
Alexis Espinoza doubled and singled pushing his season line to 333/385/479 (but with 17 K’s and only 1 walk). Ramon Lebron fanned 6 and allowed just 4 hits and a walk in 6 innings.
Game 2010.027: Tigers at Twins
For the first time ever I’m excited to see the Tigers play in Minnesota. Sure, I’ve been excited for games that have taken place in Minneapolis, but never excited by the prospect of the Tigers being there. But with the Metrodome no more, we can just enjoy the Twins new digs. Oh yeah, and the winner of the series will be in first place come Thursday.
Max Scherzer is coming off his worst start, which was against the Twins. He’s also got this thing where he fares poorly against a team when he sees them in a second consecutive start. Which if the trend follows it would mean that his last start would no longer be his worst of the season. I’m not expecting that, just sayin’
He’ll be opposed by Scott Baker who happened to be the opposition last time too. Not much has changed since the Tigers faced Scott Baker last, so I’m going to cheat and just say read last week’s pregame.
There is no word if Paul Emmel will be on hand to haunt Denard Span.
The big news from the Twins camp is that Joe Mauer may miss the series. In typical Twins fashion though his replacement, Wilson Ramos, stepped in and had a 4 hit day on Sunday.
The Tigers lineup will be:
- Jackson, CF
- Damon, DH
- Ordonez, RF
- Cabrera, 1B
- Boesch, LF
- Inge, 3B
- Raburn, 2B
- Laird, C
- Santiago, SS
I haven’t complained too much about lineups this year, but I really think Alex Avila should be catching today.
Also, I talked with FS North in a Know the Enemy segment that they did to preview the series.
Detroit Tigers at Minnesota Twins – May 3, 2010 – MLB.com Preview
Tigers Minor League Wrap 5.2.2010
Charlotte 4 Toledo 0
Wil Rhymes went 3 for 3 with a stolen base and a walk. Jeff Larish, Jeff Frazier, and Danny Worth all doubled, but that was all of the hits. Alredo Figaro gave up 4 runs on 8 hits, a walk, and 4 K’s in 6.2 innings.
Trenton 3 Erie 4
Duane Below fanned 4 and walked none and allowed just one hit besides a solo homer in 5 innings. Ramon Garcia gave up 2 runs on 4 hits in 2 innings of relief. Cesar Nicolas had 2 doubles. Max St. Pierre hit a walk off homer to win it. It’s St. Pierre’s 4th homer of the season.
Dunedin 4 Lakeland 3
Alden Carrithers, Rawley Bishop, and Chao-Ting Tang each had 2 hits. Brayan Villarreal was touched for 4 runs (2 earned) in 5 innings on 6 hits, 2 walks, and 4 K’s.
West Michigan 5 South Bend 6
Giovany Soto struck out 5 and walked none in 6 innings of 2 run ball. Melvin Mercedes got knocked around for 4 runs while recording just one out. Alexis Espinoza went 4 for 4 with 2 doubles and a walk. Avisail Garcia also had 4 htis. Jamie Johnson reached base 3 times.
Verlander is back
When Jim Leyland said he was going to put Justin Verlander on a strict, but undisclosed pitch count today, who thought it would be 120? It probably is a few more than Jim would have liked, but when you have a pitcher as in control as Verlander was today, 120 doesn’t seem to be a stretch at all.
By the numbers
The numbers really do tell a story of how dominant Verlander was today:
- 23 – The number of consecutive hitters Verlander retired after Torii Hunter singled in the first inning.
- 82% – The rate at which Verlander racked up first pitch strikes
- 9 – The pitches that Verlander threw from the stretch. It’s safe to say he wasn’t pitching under duress.
- 4 – The number of times Verlander went to a 3 ball count. He didn’t walk any batters.
- 3 – The hits allowed.
- 72% – Verlander’s strike rate for the day
That’s pretty much as good as it gets and not a moment too soon.
Everybody else
The bottom of the order led the charge today and 5 runs proved to be more than enough. The bottom 4 in the lineup went 5 for 14 and set the table for Austin Jackson who does what Austin Jackson does. He gets a hit or strikes out. Five ABs, 3 hits, 2 strike outs. It really is incredible.
- Alex Avila reached base 3 times. I’m not sure what was more impressive, his rope double down the line or the 8 pitch walk he worked in the 8th.
- Brennan Boesch continues to hit and picked up another double. Boesch has been mashing first pitch fastballs since getting called up. This time though he jumped on a first pitch slider. It was nice to see the adjustment for the youngster.
- It was unfortunate that Jose Valverde had to come in today. He’s now appeared in 14 of the team’s 26 games and is on pace to make 84 appearances this year. It would certainly help with his goal of 74 saves, but that is a heavy workload.