PREGAME: The Tigers will lean on Edwin Jackson to try and avoid being swept in Houston. Jackson has been a little afflicted by the walk phenomenon that is spreading like swine flu through the Tigers clubhouse with 10 free passes in his last 3 games.
Russ Ortiz has some pretty dramatic reverse platoon splits with an 840 OPS against for right handers and 663 for left handers.
Detroit vs. Houston – June 28, 2009 | MLB.com: Gameday
POSTGAME: I missed this entire game live. I was at an outdoor thing, and was limited to updates on the Blackberry. The offense looked pretty frustrating from that regard. We were in the car on the way home for the 9th inning and the family let out a huge yelp in the car. When I got home I saw the Cliff Notes version I DVR’d. Not as dramatic but just as satisfying as seeing it live.
A loss today wouldn’t have been the end of the world. The Tigers still have a cushion in the division. It would have been frustrating but I think the team would have coped with it better than the fan base who’s emotions are tied to the mini winning losing streaks the team takes them on, only with a multiplicative factor.
That said, if this season turns out the way we’re all hoping for, the Inge homer could be one of the defining moments. The unexpected star put the team on his back and limping them home on an injured knee. Marcus Thames and Curtis Granderson get to be the supporting cast where Granderson and Inge pound it out for the team lead in homers and Thames is one strike from capping a sweep and ends up scoring the tying run.
In other words, the win is likely bigger than the loss would have been.
According to Beck, Robertson to the DL, Fu-Te Ni up from Toledo. http://beck.mlblogs.com/archives/2009/06/robertson_to_dl_ni_in_houston.html
Sweet. Looking forward to seeing Ni’s stuff for the first time.
Maybe those splits mean Magglio will continue getting unslumped today.
Do we lead the league in GIDP? Sure feels like it.
Yup, 71. Tied for first. Texas Rangers are least likely to GIDP with 36.
considering Granderson- Polonco- Inge- Anderson- Thames seldom do, that 71 is even more amazing
Tiger GIDP leaders, most GIDP:
Ordonez 12
Cabrera 10
Polanco 8
Inge 7
Guillen 6
Everett 6
Larish 4
Anderson 4
(7 is a lot for Inge…he had 4 in 2008, and 8 in 2007)
Tiger GIDP leaders, %GIDP / GIDP Opportunities:
Treanor 75%
Ordonez 24%
Larish 21%
Guillen 19%
Cabrera 17%
Polanco 15%
Everett 14%
Anderson 13%
Raburn 12%
These are the Tigers who fall above the league avg of 11%.
You can’t really count Treanor; Guillen was on his way to record numbers before he was DL’d…Inge drops off the list, looks like he has been hittting with a runner on 1st a lot…If Anderson ran like an ordinary mortal he may be at the top of the list…Polanco seems much higher than you’d like your number 2 hitter, but since Granderson rarely gets on leading off it may not matter.
Where’s Dick McAuliffe when you need him?
Wasn’t ol’ Mac a bit of a ruffian? Maybe they’ve got him manning the umbrella…
OK, I’ll throw in a more positive-view angle on this…here are the guys who get the GIDP at or below league-average rate:
Granderson 2%
Laird 5%
Santiago 5%
Pineapple 9%
Inge 10%
Clete 10%
Thames 11%
This is another reason, btw, that I like Granderson batting 5th…not to rob the Pineapple of his glory, but usually when he’s got a runner on and less than 2 out they ask him to bunt…it’s funny how many of these special situation type lists end up with Santiago among the leaders…I think he’s playing even better than his .291 .328 .496 indicates…I wonder how many AL catchers can beat Laird’s 5%?
Although we are tied for league total with 71 (and may be in 1st alone after today anyway) with Toronto, it is worth nothing Toronto has played more games, had 250 more PAs and far more GIDP opportunities; in fact TOR has 71 GIDP in 616 opportunities, DET 71 in 551 opportunities, so we are far more likely to get the GIDP.
In fact one team is more likely to get the GIDP, the Royals of all teams, with 67 in 483 opportunities…lack of baserunners keeps their total lower than ours. But we’re one of the top 2 any way you look at it…
Why don’t the Tigers ever have offense on days that Jackson is pitching?
Maybe on Jackson pitching days they just wait for that Inge 2-run HR?
oops! cross Polanco off my list of non DP guys…#72
Can we get some offense now? I am so sick of Jackson losing games after only giving up very few runs.
I feel so bad for Jax. Its gotta be in the back of his mind “I need to be perfect”
that fan reaching out and touching that ball has done more to account for a run (taken off) then the entire Tiger offense today so far
He may be 6-5 with a sub-3.00 ERA after this game… That’s just not right…
And I think we just lost Inge to the DL…. NO MORE NL PARKS….We lose so much here..Players, Games…
Mario and Rod have determined the Pudge is the reason the Tigers aren’t scoring in this series. He has also helped The Stro’s hitting the Tiger pitchers because he knows them like Figero and Jackson??????????????????
GRANDY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Nice Grandy
Uh oh…that didn’t look good…
Here’s how bad Jax luck is ..two of the three runners who scored got on by getting hit by a pitch. If it weren’t for bad luck he wouldn’t have any luck at all
just another good outing for Jackson with nothing to show for it
Jackson earned a star in my grade book. That’s just as good as a win. 😆
INGE baby Inge! Oh my!!!!
We need this Rodney. First batter is key.
games like this cause even the dead rabbit to sound off. that’s what i’m talkin’ about, inge.
This could be a huge one cmon Rodney.
sit that growth hormone addict down
yes!!!!
Rodney nails it down again. Awesome comeback to avoid the sweep.
Wins like this are what makes a season a playoff season not just a good season. It would have stunk to get swept by the Astros especially with JV and EJ starting two of the games and the Twin and WS both winning right now. Also nice to see Seay get his first W of the season although we need to get Edwin some more victories.
You know, Seay hasn’t even given up a run this month. Just like April, he has a 0.00 ERA in the month of June.
If Ni and Dolsi are even somewhat good, our bullpen will be greatly improved because Nate/Perry weren’t even serviceable this month. Perry wasn’t nearly as bad as Nate (14.14 ERA in June), but he did have a 9.00 ERA this month.
Great win. I must admit, though, that Inge hit the home run when I was switched to the soccer game for a moment 🙁
Inge once attended a World Cup match on vacation, and while signing autographs during warmups got 4 consecutive kicks past Buffon, 2 with each foot, never stopping the autographing, and occasionally making small-talk in perfect Italian…
I had to leave with one out in the ninth..almost got in a car accident with the home run………..wooow!
Again Inge delivers with the game on the line. If he doesn’t make the AS team and win a gold glove this year, I don’t think he ever will.
It still amazes me he is getting anything near the strike zone in these situations, with guys like Anderson, Everett, Laird, or time-for-another-haircut-Ordonez waiting on-deck
But he sure hasn’t been wasting the chance when he does (and something to keep in mind when you’re comparing him to Longoria, who bats in front of the AL HR leader and in the middle of a lineup with the highest PPA in the league…both Inge and Granderson regularly put themselves in disadvantageous count situations since they seem to be the team’s designated pitch-count guys).
it looks like pieces are following place bring up thomas you need the long ball
FYI: These are the standings before and after the two and one-half week stint vs. NL teams (excluding the first three IL games). Note the big gains against KC and CLE. On the other hand, perhaps it is coming together for MN and CHI as well.
June 11th -pre IL play
W L Pct GB
DET 33 27 .550 —
MIN 30 32 .484 4.0
CHI 28 33 .459 5.5
CLE 27 35 .435 7.0
KC 25 34 .424 7.5
June 28 end IL play
W L Pct GB
DET 42 33 .560 —
MN 39 38 .506 4.0
CHI 37 38 .493 5.0
CLE 31 46 .403 12.0
KC 32 42 .432 9.5
be nice to see Minn and Chi play around with that 1 over .500 or 1 under .500 for a couple more weeks
The pattern I see is that we struggle against the bottom of the Central, but can handle the top: 7-2 vs StL/Chi/Mil, 2-4 vs Pit/Hou…in other words, bring on the Twins and Sox!
Also there could be worse places to play right now than against the A’s who have been imploding, losing 5 in a row while giving up 28 runs to the offensive Jugger-naughts of SF and Colorado…check out this A’s blog for some amusement, they seem good at the bitter irony stuff… http://www.athleticsnation.com/
Today’s headline: “It Was Little League Day Today? How Ironic” with a nice photo of Jack Cust colliding with another outfielder with the caption, “NOW you make contact. Thanks a bunch, Jack.”
Way to go Coleman. I had that post bookmarked and slated to go in tonight’s game post 🙂
DOH! Well you probably should post it anyway…I have the feeling not many end up seeing the tail-end-after-everyone’s in bed-posts
The “NOW you make contact. Thanks a bunch, Jack.” really did crack me up.
It must increase the irony/bitterness that the SF Chronicle etc are very concerned about the A’s–because the rumors are that the 2nd Moneyball script has been rejected, and what if Brad Pitt never gets to be Billy Beane?