2011 Season, Game Post

Game 2011.139: White Sox at Tigers

40 Comments

We all knew what it meant last night with Justin Verlander taking the mound following a Tiger loss, and he did not disappoint, becoming the first Tiger pitcher to record 21 wins since Jack Morris in 1986.  It was also a milestone for Ol’ Smokey, as Jim Leyland notched his 500th win as a Tiger manager.

Today features the odd 4:10 start time, which means we don’t quite know what to expect.  Is it a day game?  A night game?  Does it begin as a day game and end as a night game?  This is relevant because Brad Penny takes the mound for Detroit.

Penny’s day game stats have gotten worse since we last visited them, so to update:  Day ERA: 5.58, Night ERA 4.19, which makes Penny easily the worst day starter on the team (unless we count Turner’s one outing yesterday).  Which is why Leyland throws him out there in the daytime more than any other pitcher (Day starts:  Penny 17, Porcello 11, Scherzer 9, Verlander 8)–clearly, he’s due.

The Tiger hitters don’t seem to like the daytime much either–team BA/OPS for day games is .258 / .723, at night .278 / .769.  Maybe they should work on scheduling fewer day games next season.

Player of the Pre-Game:  Wilson Betemit

Wilson is the one Tiger starter with positive day game splits, hitting .323 (.848 OPS).

Today’s Return of Carlos Lineup:

  1. Austin Jackson, CF
  2. Andy Dirks, RF
  3. Delmon Young, LF
  4. Miguel Cabrera, 1B
  5. Victor Martinez, DH
  6. Alex Avila, C
  7. Jhonny Peralta, SS
  8. Carlos Guillen, 2B
  9. Wilson Betemit, 3B

 

40 thoughts on “Game 2011.139: White Sox at Tigers”

      1. With the late start not being quite a day game or night game, perhaps we will be treated to Halfbad (or Nothalfbad) Penny.

  4. Freakin’ Penny….when he gives up runs, he gives them up in style, in bunches….This inning could get ugly…

    1. Penny and big innings are synonomous. I don’t understand why they haven’t figured that out yet.

  5. The defense is really not helping today…As if it isn’t bad enough to have Penny pitching…

  6. Freakin’ Penny! I’m ready for the Penny ERROR to be over with. Man, this guy can’t pitch his way out of a paper bag…

  8. And 4 of those runs were unearned. Yeah, BP gave up the hits, but Jimmy is the one who out Guillen out there.

  9. Wow! What a pleasure it is to listen to Mitch Williams do color on today’s game. I love Mario and Rod but Mitch brings ten times the analysis and insight as color analyst that Rod ever has. His early comments about Cabrera not being able to see the ball on throws to first, explaining what pitches work and why, the strategy mistakes the teams are making and other factors such as the effect of the heat and pitching strategy are a delight to hear.

    Rod, my man, take a lesson. Add some meat to your telecast and you will find you gain much more respect as a color analyst. Share your knowledge about the game and stop being afraid to point out strategic mistakes or criticize a Tiger when they strike out looking with the bases loaded and one out (Inge).

    Like Ernie used to say…”He stood there like a house on the side of the road”!

    GO TIGERS!

    1. I totally disagree. I thought Williams was terrible. Give me Rod and Mario any day. One of the things I love about Rod Allen is that he has a knack for commenting about something I recently taught my team (I coach 14U). It might be something mechanical about a batter’s swing, or it might be where to throw in certain situations, etc. Whatever it is, he brings a wonderful knowledge of the game to the air.

  10. Brad Penney simply does not have big league stuff anymore to be a starting pitcher on a pennant challenging team. He won’t be back next year, along with Guillen, Ordonez and Rayburn. Trade Inge for another infielder.

  11. With the way Scherzer’s last outing went, we may lose 2 games out of this series, making me a little nervous…

  13. Penny is a middle inning reliever at this point, give Below and Turner some starts this month and let Penny clean up their messes for a while.

  16. Wow is right. TIGS WIN in a walk off. A potential 5.5 game lead just jumped up to 7.5 over Ozzie and the Sox. Wow!

  18. Awesome Comback Win!!!!! Yeeeeeaaaaa!!! Ajax, Raburn and Miggy… To all of you Raburn haters, armchair managers, now do you see why Smokie plays him?

    1. Not really. I mean, sure I am glad he got the big HR, but one hit hardly justifies the .237 average and the below average defense!

      1. I agree that his defense has been a bit offensive this year. But who cares about his batting average. It’s low because he had a really bad first half, which is now over. Now, Leyland is playing him more strategically and sparingly and he’s back to being the productive platoon guy. Yea, Rayburn is not a complete player. But he’s a gamer and I like seeing him come to bat.

  20. Great game! Loved watching that. So many contributors today, and Cabrera was smoking everything he hit.

    Felt good for Raburn, too. Good for him.

    I agree with the previous poster about Mitch Williams.

    If you weren’t watching, they announced that this was the best comeback in Comerica history.

  21. It was a great comeback win, and probably the most meaningful.

    But I remember a game at Comerica Park against the Blue Jays where the Tigers were down by 3 with 2 out in the bottom if the 9th, nobody on, and the Tigers came back and won.

  22. awesome comeback… and a well placed dagger in the CWS playoff hopes.

    The Tigers really need to find some stability and effectiveness from their starting pitching (beyond Verlander). The Tigers can play with (and beat) any of the other playoff teams in a series… if the starting pitching (and middle relief) can rise to the occasion.

    1. It’s going to have to be Verlander, Frister and Scherzer. We just have to hope the Tigers can score runs when the #3 guy is up there.

  23. Just listened to the bottom of the 9th on the CWS radio broadcast. Farmer may be worse than Hawk.

    Santos had 25 or 26 straight road appearances without allowing a run until today…

    JL kinda threw Tigers’ fans under the bus today…”I just wish more of our fans could have stayed to see the whole thing.”

    1. I don’t think of that as throwing the fans under the bus. It’s kinda understandable that fans would leave when the a a tigers are losing badly and there is what looks to be a big down-pouring.

      1. not to mention the heat, it was down right oppressive until that rain hit. i don’t blame anyone for leaving at that point. especially those who watched the last few games there until the end.

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