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PREGAME: One thing about the Tigers team the past couple years, they have a short memory. Crushing defeats don’t seem to linger, and dramatic wins don’t carry over either. That will be important with the Tigers sending out ace Justin Verlander.
Verlander has been great, and he’ll have to do it again. One because the Tigers don’t want to be in sweep avoidance mode on Sunday, and two because the other guy is John Danks who has been pretty good himself.
Danks fans 3 for every batter he walks and has allowed only 8 homers in 118.2 innings which is a huge departure from the 28 in 139 he gave up last year. He’s a lefty with no discernible platoon split.
CHW @ DET, Friday, July 26, 2008 Game Preview - Baseball-Reference.com
{ 116 comments… read them below or add one }
easily the biggest game of the season so far… Will determine if there are any more biggest games of the season
This is the game.
Don’t over estimate the importance of Todays game. It’s just another game and still a month to go before the games get big. A win would be real nice, but a loss doesn’t end the season. We’d need to lose about 20 games in one night to call it a season. We need about 40 wins in these next 60 games.
Nope. Lose tonight, which means you lose the series at home, go down 7.5 and trail two teams
it’s pretty much over. At some point, these become must-win games.
It’s still July though. Back in 2006, the Tigers had a 6 game lead going into September. You know the rest.
I can give about 20 great examples of September stretch runs.
Last year, The Mets choked on their 6 game lead in September. The Rockies won 15 of their last 16 games to tie for the Wild-Card. It’s not over til it’s over.
The Mets were 7 games up on Sept 12.
The Phillies won the division by a game
Nevermind.
I’m sure most people don’t care about history and how big comebacks happen every year in September.
The lineup: Thames and Inge in, Joyce and Pudge out:
Granderson, CF
Polanco, 2B
Guillen, 3B
Ordonez, RF
Cabrera, 1B
Sheffield, DH
Thames, LF
Renteria, SS
Inge, C
The reason everyone will remember 07 is because it’s so rare. I’m sure someone smarter than me can figure out how often a team has come from 7.5 back with 59 to play and passed two teams. I’m guessing the odds are like one in forty.
You also have to think about whether we’re a buyer or seller at the deadline, chief. Agreed we could come back from 7.5 or 8.5 back, but what if it means we deal guillen or maggs for prospects?
What do we more need prospects for? We got a clear shot at making the playoff run now and for the next 8 years.
Surely, We won’t be sellers.
I hope that whistling whack job isn’t at tonight’s game. I wonder if Billfer heard it as loud as we did on tv. Go Tigers~!!
We need to start getting the bottom of the line up out.
Justin seems a little too juiced tonight. Let’s hope he settles down here.
Haha! Amanda, that dude was driving me insane last night.
Verlander’s pitch count up early again, does not bode well for the later innings.
Verlander getting hammered.
4-1 Sox.
How big was that loss last night?
I was just signing in to say how badly the Tigers will be beaten today when off went 3 runs for Chcago. It’s a shame to be able to forsee such sad things at this early stage.
This sox lineup is no joke. Good god.
Despite what is happening in the 3rd inning right now, I’m with your Chief Monday. I like your optimism. Sometimes I wonder why the others still watch.
Go Tigers!!
There goes another! 4-1 now! Of course, this happens just when the Tigers need a great performance.
Weird stat, the Tigers have scored a couple more runs on the season than the Sox, but the Pale Hose have about 25 more home runs — and counting.
This might be the most difficult half inning to watch all year. If you’re watching on Fox Sports you’d understand
Sox were down three last night. We’re gonna get to Danks. Just sit tight.
Haha. Matt, the dude is deserving of serious respect but I’m with you. He doesn’t leave a lot of air time for Rod and Mario.
And we got Ramirez out! That’s reason to cheer.
yeah, I meant no disrespect there at all.
Matt, at the game what happened on fsn?
ditto Joey C & Matt. Homeruns being hit left and right and he’s going on like there isn’t a game going on. Bless his heart
I’d really be happy to see more of Santiago.
I was just signing on to note that “sky” only shows up when the Tigers are trailing in a game. So I’m sure we’ll hear a lot from him tonight.
Ya haven’t quite figured out “sky” is he a pessimistic Tigers fan? Or a woody woodpecker type instigator. Or both
they were interviewing and old Negro League player, didn’t catch his name, who was telling stories from back in the day. Rod and Mario didn’t get a word in for a good part of the inning, and you just kept watching the Sox hit balls around.
Hilarious. I think Mario subversively just agreed with us by commenting on Bebop’s impressive focus on detail.
Thanks. Sorry we missed it!
I think if Guillen and Cabrera were a competitive dance team, they’d be called, “Diagonal Excitement.”
Here we go. 2nd time through our lineup and we have the heart of the order coming up. Polanco gets it going.
Let me take the pressure off Sky. Verlander on pace for 220 pitch complete game and Twins lead 9-0. Man the lifeboats!
Maybe we could trade Maggs for Cameron Maybin and Andrew Miller.
Yeah Stephen, not picking up a game on the Twins doubles the sting of last night’s game.
Tigers Team 2008 DVD — Motor City GIDP
I think we’ve just discovered the secret formula for destroying the sox…the bouncing infield ball….
Another rally killing DP!
Shef had the right idea, but he hit it too hard, next time make it more choppy like, it’ll work out fine.
It seems that every time Shef bats he takes the first pitch no matter how hittable it is. He isn’t happy unless he has an 0-2 count on him.
The DP sucks, but I’ll take the 3 runs and racked up pitch count on Danks.
If form holds (and I hope it doesn’t)….ChiSox score 3 this inning.
Verlander is gassed.trouble coming.
Gad, I hate being right!
Verlander’s pitches seem to have a life of their own; Inge has looked fooled on a couple of them, especially a couple that seem almost like they are tailing UP…it’s as if the pitches are harder thrown then he is intending…
My crystal ball sees a 3-run homer for Thome.
Tigers will be ok. I feel 9 hard innings after last night.
Sorry, only a double!
We really need a pitcher to step up and get it done. I give a ton of credit to this sox team, who keep going the other way, but this is ridiculous. Someone needs to step the frag up and get some big outs.
Isn’t Jermaine Dye retired? I think I’ll look that up, maybe we can have his RBI disqualified…
We’re gonna need a lot of runs today…luckily we lead off with Renteria next inning,…
what the?
^^insert yosemite sam grumble
The Sox keep extending at bats and grinding out hits and wearing down our staff. Have to give them credit.
The best news of the day is we are done with casey blake!!!
I’m actually hoping Inge Ks because I’m so terrified of a double-play right now.
And good ol’ Brandon obliges.
Ya haven’t quite figured out “sky” is he a pessimistic Tigers fan? Or a woody woodpecker type instigator.
Compound words have parts, some more descriptive than others.
Pessimism is saying “we’re up 6-1 but I think we’re going to lose”. Staying away when the team is ahead then showing up to rant when the team is losing isn’t pessimism, it’s just weak.
Mario announces 115 DP’s this year for Tigers. And a lot of them have really made a difference in scoring chances lost.
Hope the Tigers can give this record attendance crowd a game to remember.
Yeah, 90,000 in two games–135,000 for the weekend.
This is like a playoff game. Huge AB for Guillen here.
Well, at least he kept the ab alive long enough that it got the wil pitch..
Man, the bullpen has been great. Keeping us in this game.
I feel a Jenks blown save coming on.
That sucked. Leadoff double in a 1 run game, and he never moves off second. Not good situational hitting.
Brian
That is where all the power hitters kill us. Bunt, sac fly, tie.
It’s our turn tonite.
mcb
I hear ya. I was hoping Miggy would try to go to right field.
Problem was, all three of them tried to hit the go-ahead homer rather than waiting for their pitch and going with the pitch.
Renteria, Inge, and Grandy. Uh, good luck Curtis . . .
That ball Edgar hit carries ealier in the night with wind
That ball Edgar hit carries ealier in the night with wind. And Joyce should have ph for Inge.
back up the truck. maybe we can sell Todd Jones to the Brewers for a couple 30-packs of Miller Lite.
Come on Polly
Grandy!! 2 out double!!
Just another 1-run loss, right?
Season hopes now hinge on….Zach Miner.
Damn.
No joy in Mudville. Ouch. Polanco K, all over, 7-6 Sox.
Hard to say who I loathe more, A.J. or Jenks…well, actually all the peroxide guys on the Sox. This sthinks. This stinks a lot.
The Tigers have already set the all time MLB record this year for gut wrenching losses
52 and 51, unbelievable. Nice job rallying the troops, Jimmy.
Too much trying to be a hero in the eighth. Stupid leyland not hitting joyce for bi in the ninth.
Sheesh.
Pablo–the guy just doesn’t k. Cabrera has hit a ton lately. JV–no L since the beginning of June.
Verlander didn’t have it. Marcus Thames is falling back to earth lately. Bullpen musta done a good job, though (I missed innings 5-top 8th). Kudos. Say hello to your new closer. As prophesized, it’s Freddy Solid.
Check the odds for a 52-51 team in the AL Central going on to make the the playoffs. That’s over, folks. But it’s OK. The Tigers are still a fun, interesting team… especially when they win.
So… what’s next?
Absolutely NO clutch hitting. Lead off double in the 8th and cannot score with your heart of the lineup batting. Way to many”Fat-Cats” on this team. We need speed and get back to moving runners over and playing good fundamental BB
We are near the top in hitting into DP’s.
Time to be a seller B4 the trade deadline. What a disappointing
year.
Absolutely frustrating repeating patterns we see here. Two weeks ago against the Twins Jones blows the game, and the team goes on to lose two more one run games. Now the same goddamn thing seams to be happening with the Sox.
I BLAME JONES. I never want to see him pitch in a tiger uniform again.
I’m with Chris on that one. We need a closer who can come in and SHUT DOWN the other team. It is time for Mr. Jones to say Buh Bye! I’m really puzzled by the moves or lack of moves that Leyland makes. I’m sick of it and I’m sure the top brass may have seen enough.
I feel kinda bad for Thames. Leyland throws him out there in tonight’s lineup and he goes 0-4. Marcus is always better just coming off the bench.
Marcus has definitely come down to earth. He strikes out way to much. No way we will come back from 7.5 games. So much promise before the year, and now so much disappointment.
I have been a fan for 35 years and this is worse than a 100 loss season.
It sucks because there seems to be hope, and as soon as we get within striking distance down we go. Last night was a killer. This one hurts just as bad. We had chances to tie the game or take the lead in the 7th, 8th, and 9th.
I feel bad for Marcus because he was really showing signs of being a better hitter, quite apart from all the home run spree hoopla. A Cinderella story. I love those. Well, I guess the clock has struck midnight. I have a feeling some other team is gonna come around with the glass slipper.
He needs to work with a “real” hitting coach. Bring Larry Herndon from A ball Lakeland to be our hitting coach. He did a great job a few years back with Detroit. He had one of the sweetest swings.
I will always love my Tigers, but it is not our year. I would rather have the Sox win the division instead of the Twins. I can’t stand Minnesota! Cuddyer sucks!
Ok, I officially give up. Thinking of transfering allegiance to Yankees. At least they bring it on a regular basis and make deadline deals that actually help the franchise.
God help me.
Pudge for Rabelo? Ha.
Guess not.
I missed this game tonight. Even I am quickly reaching a breaking point, though.
I have a ticket to the Sept. 28 game against the Rays, the last game of the regular season. I keep dreaming that we get to that game and we have to win to get the wild card or win the division. There’s no way in hell I’m about to give up my ticket in July.
Say it ain’t so Mike R. Depressing crap to say the least. I wonder what’s in store as the deadline approaches.
I must say, that I hoped out fate would be “sealed” so to speak one way or another. Either a sweep in the Sox favor or we sweep them (obviously would prefer the latter) just to make us clear cut buyers or sellers.
Like I said earlier, this game meant little. Just 1/162 of the season.
We’ll let the other teams do our dirty work.
Chicago has a very tough schedule ahead of them.
Chicago has 7 more tough games on their current road trip. 4 games at Minnesota and 3 at KC. That’s when things will get rough for them.
Then they play the Tigers again and Boston the following week. They are in a world of trouble.
Chicago’s pitching is in pure disarray right now. They have given up 5+ runs in 12 of their last 14 games. They’ve given up 91 runs in the last 14 games. That’s 6.5 runs per game.
C’mon Chief, I expected more spin out of you! After all, you actually got your stated preference- they lost another close, tight one that they could have won. You must be pretty cheery about that! And so what if its another loss, its a GOOD loss, right?
No bold predictions for us? Still think the Tigers are going to finish 10 games ahead of the White Sox?
The best part of the baseball season hasn’t even started yet.
The Tigers are getting primed for the stretch run.
“Still think the Tigers are going to finish 10 games ahead of the White Sox?”
Absolutely.
I’ll give you credit, you have outstanding optimism Chief.
AND, the Sox have something like 2 more 10 game road trips?? I think, so the Tiger could capitalize there.
But, I’ve said this before, they lack something different in these games each day. An X factor, so to speak.
The Sox are winning games a first place team wins (close 1 run games on the road in playoff like atmosphere)…the Tigers haven’t responded.
That 8th inning last night was disgusting. No heart was shown there. I’d like to think teams like the Yankees or Red SOx, or even the friggin White Sox would have brought home the leadoff double. Pathetic effort.
Sucks. This team needs to get their collective head out of their collective rear… I don’t care what Jimmy L. says, momentum and chemistry matter, and this team doesn’t believe it itself. These guys don’t believe in each other, so they don’t step up often enough.
Todd Jones is a competitor, and no, he’s not been good enough. BUT, before we send him packing, it’s worth asking who is going to take his job. Freddy Dolsi has NOT earned the spot yet, and Zumaya needs to work on the mental aspect of his game. No, you don’t add by subtraction; you need to have a post-Jones plan before you move him.
And finally, Jim Leyland might deserve firing for the way he handles Marcus Thames, if nothing else. When a guy is hitting homers at the fastest rate in the league, he’s in the lineup every day. This isn’t hard. This isn’t even close. This is a (strong language omitted) easy call. And when he’s not in the lineup on a regular basis, that’s when owners should be calling dugouts and having short, one-way conversations with managers. That said, 0-4 doesn’t mean much. Thames gets, on average, 2.5 hits per 10 at-bats, and one of them’s a homer. That means there are 7.5 outs in there somewhere, so no big deal. He ain’t Polanco.
Hey Chief Monday, pass the dutchie on the left hand side. I want some of that Maui Wowee.
Stephan, don’t make the move. You’re reputation as a die hard will be ruined. The Yankees will never win it all with A Rod. They have two teams to contend with just like us and we have a better team; just a lousy manager who should have been fired a long time ago. We could have had Girardi, but no one wants to pull the trigger on Leyland. Look at the Mets who fired Randolph, Leyland’s African-American twin. It’s hard reading the sports pages in N.Y. right now, but we need you desperately, now more than ever. DON”T JUMP!
Three Words. PULL THE PLUG! Send Ordonez to the Rays. It’s fire sale time. This team is gutless and reached it’s pinnacle in ‘06. It’s time to change the furniture…..
Ok, Ron. I will be strong for you and my fellow Tiger brothers.
Mike R., Chief might have a spare room for you to bed down in and he can hook you up to that Monday Therapy Machine he has sitting in his basement. You’ll come back as Chief R, looking like Randall P. McMurphy but inside you’ll be brimming with confidence.
Oh, oh, I’m seeing that dreaded word HEART popping up here and there.
What could Jim and Dave be discussing when just the two of them are sitting in the office discussing the team’s woes? Are they propping each other up, or is there so much finger pointing going on that they’re both wearing goggles?
Jim and Dave are going to blame this on Kwame.