Wil Ledezma had a solid debut pitching 5 shut out innings. He only allowed 4 hits and no walks to go along with 4 strike-outs. Ledezma threw 72 pitches, and 47 of them for strikes. I was thrilled with the performance, and happy that Trammell kept his pitch count fairly low. His previous high for pitches was a 4 inning 58 pitch relief outing. Ledezma left with a 1-0 lead which Chris Spuling let disappear the in the 7th.
Speaking of Chris Spurling, he is in a serious funk. This was his 5th straight appearance where he allowed runs to score. After an impressive May where his stats were 14 G, 13.1 IP, 2.70 ERA, 9K, 2BB, .275 OPP BA, he has become highly ineffective. Since May his stats are 15 G, 17.2 IP, 7.02 ERA, 6K, 2BB, .400 OPP BA. He’s not really walking more guys, and I’m not sure why he’s getting hit so hard. Because he is a Rule 5 guy, the Tigers can’t send him to Toledo without risking losing him.
Deja Vu moment: When the Tigers played the White Sox on May 25th, Kevin Witt was due to come to the plate in the 8th with the bases loaded, nobody out, and facing a struggling left handed reliever (Kelly Wunsch). The same thing happened tonight, only the reliever was Marte instead of Wunsch. In both games Kevin Witt was 2 for 3. In both games Trammell pinch hit Craig Monroe for Kevin Witt, thus inviting Tom Gordon to enter the game. In both games Craig Monroe struck out. I complained about this last time, and I’ll do it again. If you’ve got a pitcher on the ropes, don’t give the other manager the opportunity to take him out, especially since the guy you’re pinch hitting for had been having a good game. Back in May Munson managed to drive in a run with a sac fly, and Torres singled in another one with a bloop single. Tonight Munson followed with another strike out and the inning end when Ross grounded out. Bases loaded, no outs and no runs to show for it. While the Tigers got the win, that is exactly the type of thing that will often come back to haunt you.
But, let’s not dwell on the negative and just enjoy the win.