2011 Season, Game Post

Game 2011.66: Rays at Tigers

40 Comments

Well, after a forgettable performance to close the Seattle series, we are still sort of tied for first with Cleveland.  As it so happens, there are only two American League games scheduled for today, the Cleveland and Detroit games, so all eyes will be upon the Tigers.

Just kidding–Cleveland plays the Yankees, and Derek Jeter might get a hit or something.

The big news is that after a month away, Magglio Ordonez has returned from the Toledo mud, and will be stepping into that 6th spot in the lineup reserved for right fielders. Ordonez hit a home run in his last start for the Mudhens Saturday, so hopefully this portends a return of at least a bit of his customary power.

According to the official Tiger twitter, Magglio wants to walk up to the plate to a Motown song, but is looking for suggestions. Detroit Tigers (official_tigers) on Twitter. Anything but Tears of a Clown!

And guess who the roster sacrifice for Magglio was.  Enrique Gonzalez! We currently have a bullpen with no Enrique, and no Brad Thomas.  It’s a nice feeling.

Phil Coke takes the mound tonight as Detroit tries to complete a delayed sweep of the last Rays series.  The Rays counter with Relatively Unknown Guy (Alex Cobb), who historically tends to give the Tigers problems.

Oh, and just for fun, how about a 104-yr old Tiger fan

Today’s Player of the Pre-Game:  Magglio Ordonez

He’s back.  Is he Magglio? Singglio? Mendozlio?

Today’s Surgically Repaired Lineup:

  1. Austin Jackson CF
  2. Don Kelly 3B
  3. Brennan Boesch LF
  4. Miguel Cabrera 1B
  5. Victor Martinez DH
  6. Maggio Ordonez RF
  7. Jhonny Peralta SS
  8. Alex Avila DH
  9. Ryan Raburn 2B

40 thoughts on “Game 2011.66: Rays at Tigers”

  1. Call me crazy, but how about filling out a lineup card that provides your best (or hottest) hitters with the most AB’s… how about putting Peralta in the #2 spot or moving Boesch to #2 and Avila or Martinez to #3?

    JL seems to be stuck in an era where teams felt compelled to put their two ‘fastest’ guys at the 1 & 2 spots… which too frequenlty leads to the result of Cabrera serving as the lead-off hitter (in the 2nd inning).

    Welcome back Maggs! as mentioned above by Coleman, if Maggs could return to something close to his power numbers (a doubles machine, he was) that would be a huge lift and make up for the fielding concerns… and there will be some.

    1. JL is never going to change. And if the Tigers keep on winning, JL isn’t going to change.

      1. BTW: CONGRATS to the Mavs for beating the Heat and the self-appointed “King James”

  2. Funny how SS (Peralta) and Catcher (Avila) were perceived as two gaping holes in the line-up on opening day, now everyone seems to want them to bat higher in the order. I think they are fine where they are. They are better suited for driving in runs than setting the table.

    Personally, I like having good base running and athleticism at the top of the order. Guys like that can handle the workload better without hurting themselves. Avila already soaks his legs in ice water after the games, he needs as much rest as we can get him, so he’ll likely be cemented at the bottom of the order.

    VMart is a perfect 5 hole hitter. He’s here to protect Cabrera and besides that he’s slower than molasses on the bases.

    1. This comment is humorous in hindsight — VMart didn’t look elegant tearing around third in 10th last night, but hey, he made it!

      1. VMart was on full steam. Thank goodness he didn’t break his ankle sliding into home like Magglio did last year.

  4. Raburn has got to go….I don’t care if he got a lousy hit today, he just ruined it on that error.

      1. Fair enough, kinda hard for me to tell on Gamecast. I’ll be honest, I just want Raburn gone. I’m tired of his antics and Leyland giving him the longest leash possible for a player…

        1. Part of the problem is who would replace him on the roster? We’d get nothing immediately useful for him in a trade right now, and the cupboard is pretty bare in the minors at the moment also. I think we have to ride him out at least until the trade deadline, when, if he hasn’t turned into 2nd-Half Raburn, perhaps DD would be willing to overpay for a 2B rental to get us to the finish line. Barring that, a platoon seems like it might be the best we can hope for.

          1. I think we are definiltey going to need to trade for 2B….and I’d honestly be willing to give Will Rhymes another shot…

            1. I was looking at the stats leaders for 2B’s. It’s not inspiring. Nearly every other team has a huge hole at 2B.

          2. Hmmm…. 2B Rental… Carlos Guillen says he’s ready to play. I mean, they’re already paying him. Are they trying to keep him fit for retirement?

  7. LOL OUT

    isnt that a weak arm now from that position? maggs has made a few slow plays tonight ou in the field. i know its been mentioned earlier in the season, but never noticed it a whole lot until ive seen our other outfielders roam a bit to compare

  9. Benoit is a over-priced whipping boy…this is ridiculous….Coke gets screwed once again…

  13. What’s the point of having a multi-million dollar set-up man if he is only going to continue give up runs and blow leads?

  19. Walk off win. Yawn. Try sticking up for the entire NBA against the axis of evil.

    But Cle just can’t shake us! See everyone tomorrow night. I’m on the Tigs full time these days. (though I am gonna watch the NBA tv replay of game 6 here in a few minutes)

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