PREGAME: The Tigers hope to get their offense going and Neifi Perez gets his first start of the year…let that sink in for a minute.
Perez will be starting in place of the struggling Brandon Inge and batting ninth. The rest of the lineup is what we’ve come to expect.
The Tigers will throw Nate Robertson tonight. Miguel Tejada is 5 for 13 with 2 homers in his career against Nate.
The Tiger bats will try to beat up on Jaret Wright. Magglio Ordonez who hits well in Camden Yards, and who has doubled in each of his last 2 games, is 8 for 18 with a homer off of Wright.
In his only other start this year Wright was gone in the 3rd inning after surrendering 4 hits and 5 walks.
Game Time 7:05pm
POSTGAME: Absolutely outstanding pitching by Nate Robertson tonight. He was uber efficient needing only 86 pitches through 7 1/3. He gave up only 4 hits, while fanning 5 and walking one. I said it in the comments, but he should have been given a shot to finish that game. That said, very nice 1-2-3 by Jonesy in the 9th.
The Tigers also got some very good defense. Curtis Granderson picked up an outfield assist on ill-advised baserunning, and an accurate one hop throw to 2nd. Craig Monroe made a nice play digging a ball out of the corner and sending a strong accurate throw to 2nd just missing Kevin Millar. Neifi made a couple nice plays at third and Polanco’s play to end the game was sweet.
The offense is still struggling, save for Curtis Granderson and Placido Polanco. The Tigers first 2 runs were fortunate to say the least with both runs scoring without a ball leaving the infield.
Gary Sheffield continues to struggle with a couple more strikeouts including one with the bases loaded.
Jim Leyland frustrated me on several occasions tonight. I already mentioned pulling Robertson, but then the two “strike-em-out-throw-em-out double plays” were both questionable decision with guys who were struggling at the dish.
But enough doom and gloom. The Tigers picked up the win. I’ll choose to just relish in the fact that I’m disputing the quality of the win for a change. Even with all the good of 2006, those 12 years prior are still pretty fresh in my memory.
the tigers replace inge’s 0 for 20 with Neifi….I didnt think it could get worse at 3rd base so far this year, but if it can, Neifi will find a way to do it.
Hi everyone — happy to be back for another year with you all.
Just wondering: Did anybody else get a job application from the Tigers today for a position at third base?
I can’t help checking out Nate Robertson. Nate has a really cute butt.
Okay – regardless of what Zumaya does here I don’t agree with taking Nate out. Leyland kept him in for over 100 pitches in a blowout last week. Today he’s under 90 in the 8th pitching a shutout and gets yanked? With no sign of trouble?
I’m going to pretend Lisa didn’t say that…let’s just go with “Nate looks great tonight”, how ’bout that?
Hey Mark, welcome back! I was wondering what that envelope I got today was…thanks for clearing it up.
Here comes Zoomzoom. Let’s see how the BAL radar is calibrated. 🙂
Ok, billfer wins. I had a “well, let’s just be happy Nate looked so good” post, then that. I give, you win.
Inge has been horrible no doubt, but let’s remember he bats 9th. If we’re going to disect what the hell is wrong with this offense, I think we can start by looking at the two guys in the middle.
Does Sheffield have a history of starting slow? The two Ks with 4 left on isn’t exactly what we were expecting from this dude.
And before someone jumps all over me, I realize it’s early in the season and we can probably expect Sheffield’s numbers to go up as time passes.
Billfer, LaRoch is killing me!
Lisa – Welcome!
And fellas – it’s always nice to get some other perspectives. Really, how many of you feel qualified to comment on the cuteness of Nate’s butt?
Mark – glad to have you back!
Good win, although a fortunate one. Our #3 and #4’s look terrible.
Hopefully, a day off (only his 3rd since OD ’06) helped Brandon clear the cobwebs a bit and he gets off the schneid tomorrow…
On a related note, I understand he’s only the second man in MLB history to be benched in favor of Neifi Perez, although I understand the first one was a country singer and it was only spring training…:)
Some Sheffield thoughts…
His monthly splits are pretty even over his career; April is no better or worse really than any other month. I watched the O’s telecast tonight on Extra Innings and Gary Thorne made what I thought was a good point about Sheffield – he’s probably bothered by playing in cold weather, even if he doesn’t say so. He’s a Florida guy and has played the bulk of his career in warm weather cities (SD, FLA, LA, ATL). It’s not a great excuse, but it’s something to consider.
He was the victim of an inconsistent strike zone in his first AB, when he should’ve been on first with a walk, and he roped a ball to left his second time up, just right at Gibbons. The bases-loaded AB was a letdown – after all, we traded for him b/c he’s supposed to put the ball in play in those situations. I think he’s adjusting to becoming the full-time DH. I bet he wasn’t too happy on the bench after those first two AB’s, and he has to fine-tune his mental approach for this new role.
All of this is to say, I think it’s going to be a couple weeks before we see the real Sheff. If we continue to get pitching like Nate turned in tonight, I can wait on him.
Yeah, but Leyland has made no secret of the fact that he likes to do that to help guys break out of slumps. We loved him every time he pulled it off last year, so we can’t second-guess him too much when it doesn’t work out this year.
Well, I feel qualified enough to say mine’s cuter. I just don’t have the benefit of the press coverage. You’ll have to find me on the Parks & Rec diamonds this summer, Lisa. 😉
I think I heard Rod saying they’d probably sit Maggs at DH for a few games and let Sheff get some starts in Right. Hopefully that’ll bring him out of whatever he’s in. He has the same number of strikeouts as Inge and one less than Monroe, and he’s not supposed to be that kind of player. Through 39 games with the Yankees last year he only had 16 SO’s and this year he’s on pace to do that in only fourteen games.
Pudge looked really tired while he was being interviewed after the game and he was going to have treatment for his foot. We only have Rabelo who’s a stone-cold rookie. Now Vance has been sent to a specialist. To me, this is an extremely serious situation if Pudge gets hurt and/or really needs a day off. This concerns me alot more than the Tigers weak offense. It’s a disaster in the making if Vance continues on the DL and Pudge gets hurt. It could be a nightmare for the Tigers!
I think they are playing tight. With the exception of Placido and Granderson.
They seem to be thinking too much about their start last season. I know we are.
They need to loosen up and remember to have fun out there. They can’t lose site of the fact that they’re the team to beat until proven otherwise.
I like resting Inge.
Nah, if Vance is out long-term, they’ll sign a journeyman to fill in for him. Rabelo won’t play more than five games unless he greatly exceeds expectations.
I don’t know if they’re thinking too much about their start last year. But I do wonder if they’re thinking too much at the plate.
Could always have Neifi catch.
Yeah!
Leyland is the closest thing to Sparky Anderson in today’s game. While he has a pretty firm grasp of statistics, he makes a lot of moves (lineup and in-game) based on instinct or feel, not the numbers. When it works, he looks like a genius. When it doesn’t, he lays himself open to criticism. Either way, he’s self-confident enough to carry on. And he has a long track record of success, so I give him the benefit of the doubt.
Even when he puts Neifi in the starting lineup.
They started last year 7-7
Well, after they started 5-0, yeah.